"Post 2. To Save and Preserve" by Dmitry Glukhovsky, summary Automatic translate

This book is a sequel to the post-apocalyptic novel about Russia disintegrating after a devastating civil war. Published in 2021, the story unfolds in Muscovy, a region cut off from the rest of the world, where a strict monarchy has resurfaced, and an unknown and deadly threat lurks beyond the Volga River. The novel details the mechanisms of mass insanity, the pernicious influence of state propaganda on human consciousness, and the authorities’ desire to conceal the truth in order to maintain their absolute control.

Royal favor and a new appointment

Captains Yuri Lisitsyn and Alexander Krigov receive gold St. George’s Crosses from Tsar Arkady Mikhailovich. The ceremony takes place in the opulent St. George’s Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace. Krigov boldly informs the Tsar of Ataman Poluyarov’s injustice toward their comrade Balasanyan, and the Emperor promptly demotes the old commander. That evening, the Cossacks go to Patriarch’s Ponds to celebrate the awards ceremony. There, Lisitsyn meets the fragile ballerina Katya. She invites him to a prestigious charity ball, where the officer knocks out the rude patron.

Krigova and his select squad are sent on a dangerous expedition beyond the Volga.

Some time passes. Army counterintelligence Colonel Surganov assigns Lisitsyn an urgent mission. The centurion must immediately head to the Yaroslavl outpost, locate his friend’s missing expedition, and deal with a suspected mutiny among the local garrison. Before leaving, Lisitsyn is promoted to podsaul. Yura calls Katya from the officers’ club and proposes to her. The ballerina promises to give him a definitive answer upon his return.

The Bloody Mystery of Yaroslavl

A Cossack company under Lisitsyn’s command arrives by rail at the Yaroslavl outpost. The soldiers encounter a horrific scene.

The entire yard is strewn with the torn corpses. A long passenger train with its blind, painted-over windows stands on the tracks. Red crosses are painted on the sides of the cars, along with protective prayers. Dozens of executed people lie inside. Lisitsyn, horrified, discovers Krigov’s murdered friend among them.

There are almost no survivors. The Cossacks discover the former garrison commandant, Pirogov. The colonel is locked in a punishment cell, delirious and unable to coherently explain the cause of the massacre. Lisitsyn orders the bodies of the dead soldiers loaded onto a train for transport home. The soldiers are openly afraid to touch the dead because of the frightening symbols. The podsaul harshly suppresses disobedience, ordering the dissatisfied to be flogged with whips.

Flight of the Deaf

Teenager Yegor, along with his deaf girlfriend, Michelle, and three small children, wanders along the railroad tracks toward Rostov. Michelle was previously the fiancée of the murdered Cossack, Krigov.

Yegor’s mind flashes back to the recent bloody events at the outpost. He was the one who carried out the mass shooting of the doomed people on the locked train. The young man tried with all his might to stop the spread of a dangerous verbal virus. This infection was transmitted exclusively through hearing, turning victims into rabid monsters. To save the orphans he was escorting from madness, Yegor mercilessly pierced their eardrums with nails. He himself lost his hearing due to the constant gunfire in the confined space. Michel is also deaf after a severe concussion.

Yegor is secretly in love with Michelle. She coldly rejects his feelings and announces her pregnancy with the Cossack Krigov. The young man completely loses his mind with jealousy. That night, he brutally rapes Michelle in an abandoned booth. The next day, the fugitives reach Rostov. Yegor attempts to warn the local commander, Richter, in writing about the impending disaster, but he refuses to believe in the existence of a verbal virus.

Betrayal of commanders

Lisitsyn and his armed company arrive in Rostov. Michel meets Yura. The girl begs him to take her to the capital, citing her unborn child with Krigov. Lisitsyn promises to help.

Surganov orders Yura over the phone to cold-bloodedly eliminate all witnesses to the Yaroslavl events. The Cossacks promptly shoot Pirogov. Yegor attempts to escape behind the garages but is fatally shot in the back. Lisitsyn secretly spares Michelle’s life.

Meanwhile, Lisitsyn’s Cossacks are infected with a deadly demonic prayer. The soldiers throw off their outer clothing and form a terrifying circle dance in the waiting room. They chop off each other’s heads with sabers and drench themselves in fresh blood.

Yura narrowly escapes infection. He takes a powerful blow from the pistol butt and loses consciousness for a long time. Michel finds the unconscious officer, drags him to safety, and hides him in the back of a car.

The way to the capital

Lisitsyn awakens from a prolonged stupor. Michel explains the nature of the deadly infection in detail. The only way to escape is to permanently lose his hearing. Yura categorically refuses to have his ears pierced. The fugitives start an abandoned grocery truck and speed toward Moscow. Along the way, they persistently warn local residents about the approaching hordes of the possessed. Most people they meet dismiss them as crazy alarmists.

On the way, Lisitsyn begins to experience frightening symptoms of verbal contagion. Michel locks him in the empty back of a truck with a heavy chain.

Yura soon recovers. The fugitives reach fortified checkpoints on the Moscow Ring Road. Guards mercilessly machine-gun all approaching refugees. Lisitsyn, using his officer’s uniform and knowledge of army passwords, safely escorts Michelle through the strict military cordons. She finds herself in the capital.

Moscow intrigues

Ballerina Katya is busily rehearsing the role of Marie in the ballet "The Nutcracker." The coveted role comes to her after the sudden arrest of prima ballerina Antonina Rubleva. Katya’s former patron, the high-ranking Prince Belonogov, is imprisoned by the Security Department on suspicion of treason. Investigators harshly interrogate the young ballerina, but ultimately release her. She focuses entirely on the upcoming high-profile premiere.

Michelle is staying in the warm apartment of the parents of the murdered Sasha Krigov. She tries to tell them the bitter truth about the virus. Sasha’s father confesses on a piece of paper that the first monarch, Mikhail Gennadyevich, himself cold-bloodedly used this sonic weapon against the rebels during the war.

The security service, acting on a tip, tracks down Lisitsyn. Yura escapes from the apartment through the courtyards. Sasha’s parents strictly forbid her from talking about the virus, desperately fearing imminent reprisals.

Premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre

Yura is forced to hide in abandoned buildings in the capital. He forcibly obtains a gold ring, granting him unimpeded access to the city center. Lisitsyn comes to Katya just before the evening performance. He begs her to gouge out her eardrums. The ballerina secretly calls Colonel Surganov and cold-bloodedly betrays Yura. Counterintelligence promptly arrests Lisitsyn in the entryway.

Surganov secretly brings the beaten Yura to the Bolshoi Theater. The colonel wants to use the stubborn Cossack to reveal to the Tsar the terrible truth about the impending threat.

Lisitsyn bursts into the imperial box right during the first act of the performance. He shouts loudly about the approaching hordes of the possessed and desperately warns: "People were transformed into beasts there!" Tsar Arkady Mikhailovich falls into an indescribable rage. The monarch publicly denounces Lisitsyn’s words as a brazen lie and a vile slander against his late saintly father.

In a fit of uncontrollable rage, the emperor begins shrilly screaming the words of a demonic prayer. The virus instantly strikes the monarch. The Tsar kills his son and wife right before the eyes of the shocked spectators. The infection spreads rapidly throughout the vast hall. The Muscovite elite goes completely mad. The musicians throw down their instruments, and the ballet comes to an abrupt halt. Katya dances desperately on stage until she loses consciousness. The frenzied crowd tears each other to pieces.

Awakening

Michelle wakes up in a dark, empty cell at the Security Department. She had been arrested earlier during a religious procession on the Garden Ring.

The prison locks are now wide open. The Moscow streets are unnaturally quiet and completely deserted. Deaf surviving citizens accidentally discover the wandering Michelle. These miraculous survivors sincerely believe her to be a prophetess and a true saint.

The rescued children carefully bring Michelle to the church, to the ancient icon of the Archangel Michael. The girl obediently crosses herself before the icon. She clearly feels a kick in her belly and realizes she is truly pregnant. Her hearing suddenly and miraculously returns. Michelle clearly hears the solemn ringing of bells. She boldly stands at the head of a disorderly procession of deaf people, slowly making their way along the boulevards of deserted Moscow.