Prip'Yat: The Beast of Chernobyl

by Kraus, Mike

  The red light reflected and shimmered off the surface of the substance that surrounded his boot. It was only a few inches high, but it was like glue and kept his foot still, preventing him from moving.

  “What the hell…” Lucas mumbled to himself, then he keyed his microphone.

  “I’ve got something back here.”

  Up ahead, Iosif stopped and turned around. Lucas waved him back, then crouched down, looking around to make sure that he was safe as he examined the substance around his boot.

  “Report.” Iosif stood just a few feet away, scanning the area around them.

  “Something’s got my boot. I can barely budge it.”

  Iosif pointed his rifle down at Lucas’s boot, viewing it through his infrared scope. He bent down, examining the substance under the red light, then pulled out a knife from his belt.

  “Hold still.” Iosif stuck the knife into the substance, which showed no reaction as he cut through it. The knife passed through cleanly, making a clear incision around the edge of Lucas’s boot as Iosif cut him loose. Once he finished cutting, he pulled the knife out of the substance and stood up.

  “Okay, pull hard, quickly.”

  Lucas braced himself on his left leg and jerked his right leg back and up. With a loud snap, his boot came free and he started to tumble backward. Iosif reached out and grabbed his arm, keeping him from falling.

  “What the hell is that?” Lucas shook his boot as he spoke, trying to remove the remnants of the substance from it without success. Iosif was once again on a knee, examining the substance up close, lost in thought.

  “Shit, not this stuff again.” Iosif spoke to himself, not keying the microphone, though the soldiers were close enough to each other that Lucas could still make out what he said through their masks.

  “What do you mean? This isn’t like anything I’ve seen before.” Lucas leaned down to get a closer look. While the substance had sounded like a liquid or gel when he stepped in it, Lucas could see that it was now completely solid. The substance was opaque in color, with a slight white and grey tint to it.

  Iosif looked up at Lucas, meeting his gaze for a moment without speaking. He reached into his vest pocket, pulled out a small object and then pressed it into Lucas’s hand.

  “I need you to hold on to this for me. I’ll take it back once we finish our sweep.”

  Lucas looked down at the small notebook in his hand in confusion. He started to open it when Iosif shook his head. “No. Just keep it in your pocket for me.”

  Lucas nodded slowly and stuffed the notebook into the front of his vest, unsure what to make of his partner’s behavior. Iosif stood and continued moving down the road, scanning the area as he had before. “Stay alert. It looks like this wild goose chase is turning into a real hunt.”

  Lucas moved forward, hanging behind Iosif as they advanced through the city as he tried to put the notebook out of his mind. “Sir, what were you talking about with that stuff?”

  Iosif kept moving, not replying for a moment. Finally, Lucas heard the hiss of an open communication line. Iosif had depressed the button for his microphone, but was hesitating to speak. “I can’t say anything about it, I’m sorry. I want to, but I can’t.”

  Operational security was crucial for soldiers and Lucas understood this well. Although he was technically the same rank as Iosif, he still fell into the habit of calling him “sir” and looking up to him as his superior. If Iosif knew anything, Lucas trusted him enough to speak up if it was serious. Until then, he decided, he’d just keep his mouth shut about it and try to push the questions from his mind.

  After several moments of walking in silence, Iosif spoke again. “I’ve got another one here.”

  Lucas pulled up his scope and zeroed in on Iosif’s location ahead of him. Enlarged in the scope, the object was difficult to make out at first, though it quickly became apparent that it was the same substance that Lucas had become trapped in earlier. Lucas moved up next to Iosif who had crouched down next to the substance, viewing it from mere inches away.

  “Don’t touch it. Just watch.” Iosif motioned for Lucas to stand back, then pulled out his knife again. The knife blade was clean, unlike Lucas’s boot, which still had remnants of the hard substance on it. Iosif slid the knife into the substance quickly, slicing it from side to side. The substance quivered like gelatin as the knife moved through it, and Lucas could hear the same squishing sound he’d heard when he’d stepped in it earlier.

  Within seconds the substance started to change. The color darkened, going from clear to opaque. The consistency changed as well and it turned from being soft and malleable to hard and rock-like, freezing the knife in place and holding it firmly upright. Iosif let go of the knife and shook his head, watching the substance finish its rapid transformation.

  Lucas said nothing as he watched, and he kept checking the area around them for signs of trouble. With a grunt, Iosif grabbed the knife and pulled hard on it, flexing it from side to side. The blade finally came loose and Iosif held out his hand to Lucas. “Give me your knife.”

  Lucas pulled out his knife and handed it to Iosif, who used it to scrape dried chunks of the strange substance off of his own knife. Once his blade was clean again, he passed back Lucas’s knife and they both sheathed their blades. Iosif gave Lucas a look before turning around and continuing down the road. Once again Lucas was overwhelmed with questions, but Iosif’s look was enough to keep him quiet. Later. I can find out later.

  As the pair moved forward, Lucas was grateful that they didn’t run into any more patches of the strange material either on or off the road. This gratitude was tempered by the new phenomenon that reared its head once the pair entered the main square of the city.

  With several large buildings and a tall, decorative arch surrounding the city square, it was the official hub of the city of Prip’Yat before the disaster. It was also one of the loudest parts of the city, with sounds easily reflecting off the long patches of pavement and the walls of the surrounding buildings. On a quiet night the square would be relatively peaceful, though that was not the case on this night.

  A soft scraping echoed out across the square, barely audible to the soldiers. Microphones implanted in their masks picked up and amplified external sounds, though even with this advantage it still took a few seconds for Iosif and Lucas to realize that a sound was even present. Iosif noticed the sound first and immediately threw himself to the ground, bringing the scope of his rifle up to his eye as he scanned the area in front of them.

  Upon seeing Iosif dive to the ground, Lucas moved back into the shadow of some nearby trees, unsure of what was going on but reacting with swiftness to his partner’s movements. He whispered as he tapped the microphone button. “What do you have?”

  “Shut up and listen!” Iosif whispered back angrily, causing Lucas to grow quiet and hold his breath. He, too, began to hear the noise echoing around them. It was strange and out of place, and Lucas couldn’t think of what might be causing it. He popped up his thermal and night vision scopes, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in their immediate vicinity. Lucas was just about to key his microphone when Iosif charged forward, speaking to him at the same time.

  “It’s got to be in there! Move!”

  Lucas waited until Iosif was in the middle of the square before following him in. The two men raced up a set of stairs into a squat building, with Lucas trailing behind to provide cover from the rear. Iosif slowed his ascent as he moved through the door of the building, keeping his rifle scope to one eye to take advantage of the infrared sight. Both soldiers shuffled into the building, entering a large foyer with a greeting desk and the remnants of dozens of chairs scattered about. Iosif pointed to the left side of the desk, motioning for Lucas to move in that direction. The pair kept to opposite sides of the building, stepping around slowly and deliberately while they breathed as softly as possible, trying to pick up on any trace of the noise they heard outside.

  Chapter Eleven

 
Yuri Volkov | Dimitri Alexeiev

  Dimitri and Yuri were both more frightened than they had been before in their lives. Fearful glances back at the building as they stumbled along didn’t reveal any pursuers, though they weren’t about to take any chances by slowing down. Trees whipped by, slapping them in the face as they raced through a wooded area, running directly away from the children’s clinic. Out of nowhere, the trees ended and the road began, along with the introduction of more moonlight that was no longer blocked by the woods.

  Yuri nearly tripped as they ran into the road, catching his foot on the edge of the pavement as he jumped a few inches. Dimitri wasn’t so lucky, though, and caught his toes on the cement. He slammed into the ground, rolling as he went. The sleeve of his jacket was jerked up his arm by the friction of the road surface, scraping his bare arm on the pavement as his leftover momentum propelled him forward.

  Yuri hurried back to Dimitri and helped him up and they took off again. Dimitri held his injured arm as he ran, fighting to keep his Kalash on his shoulder. He didn’t feel any major pain from the fall aside from the long scrapes on his arm and the flow of adrenaline kept him from noticing more than a slight twinge from that.

  The cousins stayed on the road as they ran, still heading away from the clinic. It was a major road with buildings alongside it. Apartments were on the right while a market and other consumer shops were on the left, marked by their tall glassless windows. These stores, similar to the others scattered around the city, were once full of pharmaceuticals, groceries, and household goods that were sold to the residents of the city. None of the windows remained in the stores, though the remnants of scattered shopping carts spoke to the once bustling area.

  After several minutes of silent running, Dimitri began to slow down, prompting Yuri to slow as well. “What’s the matter?” Yuri whispered to his cousin, still fearful of whatever might be behind them.

  Dimitri said nothing as he raised his injured arm, pointing ahead down the road. A small field lay at the end of the paved road, with a dirt path leading from the road to a structure just beyond the field. Though it was difficult to make out in the darkness, as the cousins crossed through the field it quickly became apparent that the structure was a greenhouse.

  Like the windows on the shops and other buildings in the city, the glass on the greenhouse had suffered the same fate. Large and small pieces lay scattered inside and outside the steel structure which was itself covered in vines and creeping plants that had overtaken it. Most of the equipment from inside the greenhouse had been stolen or damaged by vandals, but a few rows of planting containers still remained as a confirmation of what the building had been used for.

  Working with a catalyst like the greenhouse, nature had moved more swiftly in this area than it had in the rest of the city. Nearly three hundred yards long by seventy-five yards wide, it was a massive structure, though all that was left of it was the metal frame. Spray paint adorned the metal poles of the greenhouse, giving evidence of the vandals that had been through countless times.

  Dimitri pushed aside a tree branch as he stopped low under a fallen metal support, holding the branch up for Yuri to follow. The cracking of the glass underfoot was quieter here, muffled by the trees and grass growing in and around the structure. While you once may have been able to see from one end of the greenhouse to the other, it was difficult to see more than a few yards in any direction due to the overgrown foliage.

  Once inside the steel skeleton of the greenhouse, Yuri and Dimitri stopped to catch their breath. Wheezing heavily, the cousins leaned on each other, slowly calming their racing hearts and fighting to regain control of their breathing. The interior of the greenhouse was relatively well protected due to the density of the tree and brush cover around it, giving the pair some small measure of comfort that they might not be immediately spotted by whoever or whatever had been chasing after them.

  Yuri abruptly collapsed to the ground next to Dimitri, still gasping as he fell. Tired and sore from their run, Yuri’s legs had simply given out and he sat on the rough gravel and patches of broken glass as he rubbed his calves. Dimitri wasn’t faring much better and knelt down next to Yuri, putting his hand on Yuri’s shoulder.

  “Are you okay?” Dimitri’s voice was hoarse as he struggled to squeeze the words out. Yuri nodded in response, keeping his head tucked low as he spoke.

  “Yeah, I’m okay. I feel like crap, though.”

  Dimitri looked around the greenhouse, then stood up and dragged a broken table over to Yuri. “Come on, better to sit up here than on the ground. Probably less radiation that way.” Yuri nodded in thanks and pulled himself up on the table alongside his cousin. Dimitri pulled the Kalash off of his back and laid it alongside him on the table. He gingerly pulled back the sleeve of his coat, wincing at the sight of his arm under his flashlight. Bits of grit and gravel were visible in the wound that stretched from his wrist to his elbow on the underside of his arm. While the injury wasn’t serious, it was painful and Dimitri could already see some oozing around the edges and center of the wound.

  When the boys had come into the city, they had left most of their belongings in the car, carrying only small shoulder bags with them that had enough food for two meals and the most basic medical supplies. A few antiseptic wipes, small bandages and a few feet of gauze was all that was available between the both of them. After Yuri saw Dimitri’s arm in the light, he insisted on helping cover it up to keep it from getting infected. Dimitri protested but eventually gave in to his cousin’s tenacity.

  After wiping Dimitri’s arm down with an antiseptic wipe, Yuri used a second one to pick out as many pieces of grit and dirt from the wound as possible. Dimitri then held on to the gauze as Yuri wrapped it around the injury, securing it in place with the adhesive bandages at both ends. While the dressing wasn’t perfect, it was enough to protect Dimitri’s arm from getting irritated by his jacket and to – hopefully – keep it from getting infected.

  Dimitri jumped down from the table and carefully slid his jacket sleeve down over his arm. He turned to his cousin to try and decide what to do next, but Yuri spoke first.

  “We should leave tonight, Dimitri.” Yuri slid off the table, wobbling slightly as he moved his legs. “Something was after us and I don’t want to meet it again.”

  Yuri was surprised to hear his cousin’s response. “You’re right. This is way too dangerous.” Dimitri started to walk toward the opposite end of the greenhouse from where they had entered. “Let’s get out here and get out into the fields. Then we can just go south and get back to the car before morning.”

  Yuri followed Dimitri along through the greenhouse, doing his best to avoid touching the plants that had taken over the structure. As he and Dimitri neared the opposite end of the building, Yuri idly glanced down at his open jacket, spotting the radiation meter dangling from his chest. He stifled a yelp as he grabbed the meter and turned it upright, blinking several times to make sure he wasn’t imagining things.

  “Dimitri!” Yuri whispered loudly, desperately calling his cousin over to return to him. Dimitri rushed back, looking at the radiation meter Yuri held aloft.

  “What the hell?”

  The meter was well within the yellow zone and rising, a level that wasn’t lethal to humans, but soon would be if they didn’t get out of the area quickly. Yuri ran back toward the section of the greenhouse they had entered, watching the meter as he went. With each step he took, the meter’s rise gradually began to slow until it stopped, halfway through the yellow section but still below the orange and red ones. Dimitri pulled his radiation meter off of his shirt as well, comparing it to Yuri’s.

  “Mine’s doing the same thing. Damn!”

  Yuri kept staring at the meter, wondering if it was going to spike upward again. A moment passed in silence as the cousins each watched their radiation meters until Yuri finally spoke again. “Why aren’t they moving anymore?”

  Dimitri shook his head. “There must be a pocket of moss or somethi
ng back there that we didn’t see. Damn!” Dimitri cursed several more times, angry at himself at the danger they had both just been placed in.

  In Prip’Yat, one of the most dangerous spots to be was on or near a patch of moss. Moss, it turned out, had a nasty habit of absorbing extremely high doses of radiation from the soil, which turned it into a deathtrap if you stood on it for too long. There were other hotspots of radiation around the city, but surrounded by greenery, it made sense that a patch of moss would go unnoticed for long enough to irradiate them.

  “Come on, Yuri, let’s get out of here.” Dimitri pushed through the side of the greenhouse, fighting with the tree limbs as he exited. When Yuri came through next, he nearly ran into the back of Dimitri, who was standing rigid outside the structure, not moving a single muscle on his body. Yuri began to move around Dimitri and tease him for his laziness when he looked up and saw what Dimitri was staring at.