Prip'Yat: The Beast of Chernobyl

Chapter Twenty-One

“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 beast 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.”