Egor Lynch

Henry's plan became the death of all mankind, and of himself. That day, the news showed hundreds and hundreds of mutants "changing sides," finding symbiosis with the purple soil more appealing, which greatly enhanced all their characteristics and made them completely uncontrollable. Those who managed to hide in the basements, but most fled that day to the subway, not yet realizing that they would remain there for an unknown number of generations. On the surface, particularly large mutant nests are periodically bombed to prevent the infection from spreading too far, but it's too late. Heavy weapons are used, including tactical nuclear weapons, which cause major changes in the atmosphere and climate, depositing a lasting layer of snow and ice on the ground. In the chaos, the infection first touched John, thanks to the vampire genome remaining in his blood after succumbing to the VGM. Egor, clinging to his shoulders, desperately tried to pull his friend from the abyss, calling on his memory, to their past. But John's eyes were already blind, and his voice was choked by a growl. Lambton was there just in time: together they tried to restrain him, bind him, stop him, even for a moment. But John, tearing at his bonds, struck out in rage. The wound was too deep for an ambulance to arrive in time. Yegor died slowly and painfully, in Henry's arms, who for the first time in his life couldn't bribe him, intimidate him, or beg fate for an extra minute. He held him until the end. He held him and knew all this could have been easily avoided. But it was too late. While he could, Henry periodically visited the small, makeshift grave near the journalist's home, where he buried him that same day. He would sit and talk for long periods with the tombstone, bringing flowers. Suddenly, one morning, Henry discovered that his fingertips had darkened. He is infected. Usually, they just kill them, but remembering who this man was, practically in his "past life," no one would dare. So he had no choice but to allow the VGM to be studied on himself and contain the virus