Prip'Yat: The Beast of Chernobyl Read online

  Yuri pointed at the small book, nodding in Lucas’s direction. “Yeah, from that last page. He was talking about a device that would kill the creature. So where is it?”

  Lucas’s mind finally started to shift back into the present. Distracted by the journal, he had momentarily forgotten where they were. With the creature still at large and no doubt still in pursuit of them, they would have to move quickly to try and kill it before it got to them again. He pushed himself up from the table, arching his shoulders and checking his SVD’s magazine and safety.

  “We need to check Iosif’s body, or what’s left of it for the device. Come on.”

  Lucas led Yuri back down the hall, fully on alert again for the beast. The hospital was quiet again, devoid of all sounds save for their footsteps and the wind. The scratches and rustles that heralded the arrival of the creature were nowhere to be heard, so they moved quickly, taking advantage of their time alone.

  “Use your light and check for anything that looks like what he wrote down. It’ll probably be silver or black.”

  Stepping gingerly through the blood and gore, Lucas and Yuri conducted a hasty examination of the hallway where Iosif had been killed. Moments passed in silence as they checked the full length of the hall, with Lucas going so far as to look in the hole the beast had created when it broke through to slaughter his partner.

  “Nothing. Damn!” Lucas kicked the wall in anger, sending a thud reverberating through the wall.

  Yuri looked over at him. “I’m not seeing much of anything, actually.”

  While the floor, walls and ceiling of the hallway had been coated with blood and a small amount of flesh, the majority of what constituted an average body was nowhere to be found. Clothing, limbs and even Iosif’s equipment – including his gun – weren’t anywhere in the hallway. Lucas stopped his mumbled ranting and pondered the fact before turning to face Yuri.

  “Okay, so he’s not here. Did that thing eat him?”

  Yuri shook his head. “How would I know? His body’s not here, and neither was Dimitri’s. Either that thing’s eating them or carrying them off somewhere.”

  Lucas nodded slowly and turned to head out the front door of the hospital. “Come on, I have an idea.”

  As the pair exited the hospital entrance, a brisk wind caused Yuri to shiver involuntarily. He pulled his jacket tighter around his body, clutching the shotgun tight against his chest. The dark silence of the city felt more ominous than ever before, thanks to the revelation of the creature that was now actively hunting them. Yuri kept close to Lucas’s side, hanging back only a few feet to keep from bumping into him or his rifle. Lucas had his SVD at the ready, occasionally stopping and kneeling down in the grass to look at the area with the SVD’s thermal and night vision scopes.

  As they walked, Lucas held his Geiger counter in his left hand, waving it about as he let it guide them around the city. A half hour passed in silence, aside from the frantic ticking of the radiation meter. Finally, as they paused again for Lucas to do thermal and infrared scans, Yuri crouched next to him and whispered.

  “Where are we going?”

  Lucas didn’t stop his scans as he replied to Yuri, his hushed tone nearly drowned out by the background static of his mask’s speaker. “The way I figure it, this thing is so overloaded with radiation that it’s got to be releasing it from time to time. Maybe not everywhere it goes, but enough that it leaves certain clues to where it’s been. We’re following the biggest hotspots of radiation around the city, trying to trail this thing back to where it spends the most time. Hopefully that, wherever it is, is the thing’s home. If we can find its home, maybe we can find what’s left of Iosif.”

  “What about the radiation? Won’t it harm us?”

  “No, the masks will keep us – oh. Right.” Lucas glanced at Yuri quickly, looking him up and down. He turned the Geiger counter on Yuri, giving him a quick scan. “You look pretty clean. Just don’t rub your hands in the hotspots and stick your fingers in your mouth and you should be okay. The hotspots I’m seeing so far are very condensed, so as long as you keep your distance you’ll be fine.”

  Yuri gulped nervously, rubbing his hands on his jacket in a vain attempt to remove the radiation he was now certain was coating them. Lucas stood again and continued walking forward, and Yuri hurried to catch up. They continued to weave their way through the city’s depths, stopping to check for radiation, backtracking along false trails and checking any buildings in their path. The utter stillness of the city was unnerving to Yuri, particularly since he and Dimitri had spent much of their time fleeing from their pursuer. The moon was past its apex now, slowly making its way down through the sky. Yuri was glad that daylight would soon be on its way, though it was only just past one in the morning. With several hours of darkness left, Lucas and Yuri had to remain vigilant against the shadow lurking in the city.

  After an hour of wandering through buildings and fields, Lucas and Yuri came to an open area in between the city of Prip’Yat and the Chernobyl power plant. Located just over a mile from Prip’Yat, the power plant was clearly illuminated against the night sky by the moon. Lucas walked past the main road out of the city, sweeping the Geiger counter back and forth. He stopped after a moment and motioned for Yuri to come close to him.

  “Tell me something. If this thing loves radiation and leaves trails of it behind as it walks, what would be the best place to get all the radiation it wants at the same time as it hides its trail?”

  Yuri looked to where Lucas was staring, beyond the field and construction equipment in the distance to the sarcophagus and chimney in the distance. Built in the months after the disaster, the sarcophagus was designed to keep the radiation from the disaster contained. Together with the red and white chimney, the sarcophagus was another iconic image of Chernobyl, recognizable to anyone with even a passing familiarity of the disaster.

  Although the construction of the sarcophagus had helped to slow the leakage of radiation, the area surrounding the power plant still contained lethal doses, enough to fatally irradiate a man if he made even a single misstep. The radiation levels at the power plant were much greater than the radiation left behind by the beast, providing the perfect cover for a creature that thrived in such an environment.

  “Can’t you call in backup?”

  Lucas shook his head as he checked his rifle and gear again, preparing for the long walk to the station. “No. They wouldn’t send anyone even if I contacted them. This is a black op. Only the most senior officials in Ukraine even know we’re here. To send in any more troops or to call in reinforcements from Ukraine would generate questions that nobody wants to answer.”

  Yuri started to speak but couldn’t find the words to express what he felt. Traveling to the power station would mean almost certain death, but if they wanted to find the beast that had killed their comrades, it was the only choice left open to them.

  Chapter Twenty

  Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

  Reactor Number Four

  Water drips from the ceiling of the mighty sarcophagus, cascading down into the dirt and concrete below. Perpetual puddles form small rivers inside the remains of reactor number four, winding their way through the rebar and reinforced steel structure that was torn apart by the destruction in 1986. Inside the sarcophagus the air is still thick and stale. Though circulation was once assisted by blowers, they have been neglected over the years, left to fall apart due to the lack of funding and manpower required to repair them.

  The scent of rotting meat is strong inside the chamber. Strips of flesh, piles of bones and scattered remains of clothing, weapons and other gear are strewn in piles, adding to the bleak and gruesome atmosphere. Skulls that were gnawed clean months ago sit next to ones still covered in skin and muscle. Decapitated bodies lay in various positions, all in different states of decay and dismemberment. No light shines through, even in full daylight, thanks to the thick concrete walls of the sarcophagus. Time and nature have had their way, though, formi
ng small holes and crevices through which spores, seeds, water and other things have infiltrated the structure.

  Through this toxic maze of concrete, flesh, bone and radiation, a shadow walks. Darker than the blackness inside the sarcophagus, it moves slowly around corners and through passageways, winding its way along a familiar path from the exterior of the chamber into the very center. The beast’s bulky body is enormous, taller than a grizzly bear and as wide as an elephant. The beast makes little sound as it moves, only a slight rustle as it passes around obstacles in its path. The sheer size of the creature contrasts starkly with its movement as it behaves more like a liquid than a living being. Its body seems to shrink as it passes through narrow spaces in walkways and under fallen walls, treading a slow and steady path to the heart of the remains of the nuclear reactor itself.

  Covered in a thick, short fur, the beast’s eyes are sunken into its skull, protecting them from attacks by sacrificing peripheral vision. It walks on four powerful legs that each bristle with fearsome claws, most of which have been stained red. Large ears twitch at the sides of the beasts head as it walks along, paying attention for any signs of danger in its inner sanctum. The beast’s nose runs with moisture that drips to the ground, forming small clear blobs that stick to the floor. Beneath the nose, just at the end of a short snout, the beast’s mouth is closed, though the ends of razor-sharp teeth are still visible. Bits of bone and cloth hang from the creature’s teeth, remnants of its previous kills.

  As the creature passes into the center of the sarcophagus, it brushes past the steel beams that lay strewn about, shuddering in pleasure as it absorbs massive amounts of radiation into its body. The largest of these beams sits nearly vertical in the ground, having been lodged there from the room of the structure during the initial explosion. Here, at ground zero of the disaster, the radiation levels are off the chart, promising certain death to nearly any living thing that might try to venture this deep into the facility.

  The beast is not put off by the radiation. On the contrary, it actively seeks it out. At the base of the beam is a nesting area where a portion of ground has been flattened and smoothed out into a resting place. Satiated after its meal, the beast curls its body around the beam, preparing to slumber and rest after a long night of hunting. The glow of the beast’s red eyes gradually fades away to nothing as it falls asleep, its chest gently rising and falling in time with its slow breathing.

  Food.

  The slumbering form of the beast twitches as its sensitive nose picks up on the scent of fresh game. Its red eyes open into small slits as it awakens. The beast is driven ever forward by the pursuit of sustenance, though the smell of fresh meat is not the only odor in the air. Now fully awake, the beast holds its head high, picking out traces of other scents, too. Fear, determination and anxiety mingle with lead and explosives. The creature snarls at this scent, revealing rows of teeth. A long scar stretches down the side of its face, freshly made from its most recent encounter. Though it has faced opposition in the past, a single piece of game has never put up such a fierce resistance as the one earlier in the night. The damage to the creature was minimal but it remains on guard.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lucas Pokrov | Yuri Volkov

  “Walk only where I walk. If you don’t stay in my footsteps, you’ll wish for a quick death.”

  Lucas’s warning was well heeded by Yuri, who used his flashlight to carefully ensure that he trod only where Lucas had stepped. While Lucas was somewhat protected from the massive hotspots of radiation around the power plant thanks to his specialized suit and mask, Yuri was not so fortunate. With a pair of hiking boots and civilian clothing, he would have no opportunity to save himself from a radiation hotspot should he inadvertently stumble into one.

  It had taken Yuri and Lucas just over an hour to make their way to the power plant. In addition to passing through fields and small stands of trees, they had to contend with more unpleasant obstacles, such as the neglected oil storage facility and pits filled with radioactive sand and soil. Lucas was vigilant with his radiation meter, scanning both the ground ahead of them as well as Yuri’s body. Lucas was certain they were on the correct path as he continued to detect random intense hotspots of radiation along their path. Though they certainly could have occurred as a result of the disaster, the direction they lay in pointed directly toward the power plant, which – in Lucas’s mind – was not a coincidence.

  The power plant’s outer perimeter was just as quiet as the city, though the wind was louder here, having picked up slightly since they left the protection of the tall buildings. Yuri’s hands were chilled and his lips chapped from the cold, but he still clung to the shotgun, fighting to keep from shivering as he kept it up and pointed ahead of them. Now that they were within the outer boundary of the power plant, Yuri could make out more details of the plant itself.

  Although the original sarcophagus over the plant was still standing, the newer one was not. The first sarcophagus had been built hastily and was only supposed to remain in place for twenty years. A new, more sophisticated one was designed, called the New Safe Confinement. Scheduled to be finished in 2015, the containment structure suffered a series of unfortunate accidents, resulting in the complete dismantlement of the portions that were already built. A complete suspension of the project was put into place due to a lack of funding, and a small amount of money was thrown at the original containment structure to help keep it in place until a new one could be built.

  Due to the fact that the sarcophagus was built in part on top of the damaged power plant, it was never entirely stable, a fact that was not lost on the residents in nearby cities and countries. Worsening international tensions decreased attention and funding to the problem and local authorities quietly slipped into a reactionary mode. While they did keep a close eye on the structure, they also put little additional work into repairing it unless serious problems developed.

  The remnants of the new containment unit construction yard were breathtaking to Yuri, who had never seen anything like it before. Curved pieces of steel and concrete towered into the air, joined together into unfinished half arches that were to be lined up and slid over the existing structure. Massive cranes and earth moving equipment were still present as well, more victims of the shutdown of construction on the containment structure.

  At the edge of one of the half-arches, Lucas paused and looked upward at the great piece of steel. He passed his Geiger counter to Yuri and put a foot up on the arch. “Keep this on. If it starts going wild, yell like you mean it and then get up here with me. I’m going to take a quick look from up there and see if I can spot anywhere nearby where this thing might have gone.”

  High up on the steel structure, Lucas felt the cold of the metal bleeding through his gloves to sting his hands. He climbed slowly to the peak of the half-arch and sat down, keeping his legs and feet tight against the surface to prevent himself from slipping. He slowly maneuvered his SVD from his back and raised it up, switching from his night vision scope to his thermal one. Since they were just a few thousand feet from the walls of the sarcophagus that covered the power plant, Lucas scanned the area slowly, looking for signs of thermal activity. Various portions of the building and surrounding land appeared slightly warmer or colder based on how much heat they had retained from the day, but overall there was no sign of anything significant that stood out.

  Switching to his night vision scope, Lucas continued scanning the area, focusing his efforts on the sarcophagus and the main chimney. He flinched as he caught movement near the top of the chimney, putting one hand out to balance himself and keep from falling off. At the top of the red and white tower, a dark shape emerged, showing up as pure black on the scope. Large limbs pulled the beast up and over the edge of the tower, then it slowly descended, leaping across support beams as it descended the structure.

  When the creature had reached the halfway point on the chimney, it stopped and lifted its head as though it was smelling the wind. As the b
east turned its head toward Lucas it stopped, its glowing eyes shining brightly in his night vision scope. Lucas felt a chill run down his spine as the creature stared at him, its head cocked slightly to the side. He could swear that it was studying him, though he dismissed the thought. It can’t see me from that far away, he thought.

  The beast snarled and gave one last look in Lucas’s direction before finishing its descent down the chimney, where it quickly disappeared into the structures around the power plant. Lucas continued to watch the area for a few moments, searching for any sight of the creature, but finally gave up when no more movement was present.

  After slinging the SVD on his back again, Lucas made a hurried descent of his own down the side of the half arch, half climbing and half sliding until he reached the bottom. He immediately pulled his SVD back out and dropped low into a crouch, scanning the area around himself and Yuri.

  “What happened? Did you see anything?” Yuri’s voice shook with cold and fright as he stood next to Lucas.

  “We found the right place, but I think that thing found us, too.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two