Prip'Yat: The Beast of Chernobyl

Chapter Twenty-Six

A mile away, running through the woods as the faintest rays of sunlight began to break over the horizon, Yuri stumbled and fell to the ground as the thunderous explosion echoed across Prip’Yat and the surrounding area. Yuri closed his eyes tightly, trying not to imagine what Lucas’s final moments must have been like.

Now safely away from any radiation hotspots, Yuri pulled off the mask that Lucas had given him. He threw the rubber boot liners to the side and turned the mask over. On the inside of the mask, near the left ear speaker, he found the small indentation again. He pushed the indentation and twisted his finger, rotating the mechanism and freeing a small slot to open. Inside the slot sat a memory chip no larger than a thumbnail, painted black with gold connectors at one end.

Yuri slowly pulled the memory chip out of the slot, rotating it in his fingers as he stared at it. It contained the entire video and audio log of Lucas’s mission, from the camera and microphone embedded in his mask. The only proof of what had occurred at Prip’Yat was contained on the chip, a fact he found difficult to comprehend.

Once he eventually got back home, he wasn’t sure what he would tell his parents or his aunt. His appearance was disheveled and he was covered in dirt and cuts, though that was the least of his worries. His sole focus was on getting the information on the memory chip out to the world, no matter the cost. If he couldn’t stay and help Lucas avenge Dimitri’s death, he would have to ensure that the world knew of Lucas’s sacrifice along with the atrocities committed by the shadowy beast.

Obeying Lucas’s instructions, Yuri hurled the mask as far away as he could, watching as it bounced down a hill into a group of trees and brush. He did the same with each of his shoes, doing his best to touch them as little as possible during the process. After retrieving a bottle of water from the trunk of the car and using it to rinse off his hands, Yuri climbed into the driver’s seat and gripped the wheel, taking a moment to catch his breath before he started the engine.

A bright light appeared in the sky and Yuri shaded his eyes, surprised that dawn had arrived so quickly. When he lowered his hand, though, he saw that the light was not from the sun, but from the spotlight of a helicopter, one of a dozen that were flying toward Prip’Yat and Chernobyl. One of the helicopters had broken off from the main group and was headed toward him and the sound of the rotors soon filled the air, along with a stern voice speaking through a bullhorn.

“Step out of the car now! Keep your hands high and do not reach for a weapon!”

Yuri gulped and slipped the memory chip under the rubber lining of his car’s cup holder before he stepped out of the car. Showtime, he thought. Obeying the order from the helicopter he slowly raised his hands above his head and did his best to put on the face of someone who was shocked to be faced with a military helicopter in the wee hours of the morning. The helicopter landed a short distance from Yuri’s car and two soldiers in standard camouflage gear stepped out and ran toward him, keeping their rifles low but at the ready.

One of the soldiers spoke harshly while the other circled his car with a Geiger counter. “Who are you? Why are you here? Were you in the city?”

Yuri stammered purposefully, blinking in the bright lights of the helicopter. “Wh-what? I’m Yuri! Please don’t hurt me! P-please! I’m just here to meet my girlfriend!”

The soldier rolled his eyes and stepped back to confer with his partner. “What do the readings show?”

The soldier with the Geiger counter pointed at the device. “Everything looks okay. He’s higher than he should be, though.”

The soldier who had been addressing Yuri approached him again, glancing down at his shoeless feet. “How long have you been out here? Where are your shoes?”

Yuri thought quickly and began stammering again. “Oh no, you’re going to kill me aren’t you? I just wanted to try a little bit of the stuff before she got here! I was walking out in the grass and took off my shoes and just wandered around some! Please don’t kill me!” Though Yuri had never used recreational drugs before, many of his schoolmates had, and he did his best to emulate their after-school behavior as he spoke.

The soldier addressing Yuri shook his head disapprovingly and was about to say something else when his radio squawked. “All units to the plant! Code red!” Upon hearing this message he looked at his companion who nodded at him and started to head for the helicopter. The soldier spoke to Yuri again as he backed away. “Get the hell out of here, junkie! And stop coming out here or the radiation will eat you alive!”

Yuri felt a wave of relief wash over him as he nodded in response. The soldier followed his partner back on board the helicopter which took off and banked steeply away toward the power plant. Yuri stood and stared at the helicopter until it was a speck in the distance before coming to his senses. He jumped back in the car, dug the keys out from underneath the seat where Dimitri had stored them and jammed them in the ignition. As he drove down the field and out toward the road back to his home, he pulled the memory chip out and held it aloft, clutching it in his hand like it was made of pure gold.