Prip'Yat: The Beast of Chernobyl

Chapter Ten

When Lucas’s boot first made a squishing sound, he didn’t think much of it. Only after he had trouble moving his foot did he look down to see what was keeping it in place. In the darkness, he had trouble making it out, so he pulled out a small flashlight from his vest pocket and turned on the red filter, shining a pale red light down on the ground.

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.