Concrete Jungle

Chapter 16

       The entire trip back to Kiev was the polar opposite of their arrival to Pripyat; Sasha was quite lively in conversation with Ben and Vasily. She it seemed had started to let go of the biggest ghost in her life. Which reminded her and she spoke about it at length with Ben. Though he was a very straight forward scientist, the paranormal did intrigue him and he said he would do some research and seek out those who had run paranormal investigations in Pripyat proper. Vasily was incredibly skeptical but he didn't dare voice his objections to the other two. Sasha had already done her homework before they left and gave Ben the names of the investigators he should contact. Though he shouldn't have been surprised at her usual all around professionalism, this portion actually did.

"When did you get the idea about the paranormal investigations, Sasha?" She had to think for a minute.
"It was on our first or second day when you both were investigating the apartment buildings and I went up to the roof and just looked out on the entire town. I swore I heard the voices of the townspeople and saw the Ferris wheel turning. It was like--I can't really describe it--I would blink one minute and I'd be back there with them, then I'd blink again and I'd be back in the present." Both men nodded.

        There was no doubt the place had a powerful presence. So much had happened there; not just death but life also. Families raised their children there and for many years it was an ideal place until one night it all went to literal hell in a hand basket. So the paranormal investigators to interview were a very good idea indeed. Five hours flew by on angels wings as they saw the capital city sprawled before them and before they knew it, they were back at their hotel. They had been gone only three days but it seemed like an entire lifetime had passed. It was very late at night and after grabbing their gear, they thanked their guides and drivers whose job was done. Vasily and Alexei would return the following day to start going over all of their evidence and material. They had another 4 or 5 days in Kiev before returning home, unless they wanted to extend their trip.

       After a round of many thanks and goodbyes or goodnights, the threesome headed quietly into their hotel and to their respective rooms. They were all very tired especially Sasha. When they got to their rooms which were all close to each other, they just waved goodnight and went in. Sasha was so emotionally, mentally, and physically drained that she didn't even call her mom to wish her goodnight but just sent her a text saying she was back, very tired and going to sleep. She mentioned that she would call when she could. This didn't worry Ekaterina because once Sasha was on assignment, her mind was 100% in that project. She was just glad her daughter was out of Pripyat and away from that danger zone. The rest, she would hear about when Sasha returned home. It was not uncommon for her to extend her trip but as long as Sasha didn't return to the site, the family was fine and breathed a sigh of relief. Sasha was already fast asleep as soon as she hit send.

      The next morning, everyone awoke by 10am and after showering and putting on comfortable clothing, met Vasily and Alexei in their pre-booked conference room. Breakfast was served to them there in buffet style. They had a lot of work to do; while Alexei and Rahel were in one corner going over his drone footage and her photos now uploaded safely to a hard drive and her Mac, Sasha, Ben, and Vasily were going over their notes on absolutely every nook and cranny they investigated. The two pictures that were sitting prominently in the middle, were going to be their own article and Sasha was going to credit all three in the actual article because they were the before and after pictures of the room they washed and preserved. The photographs alone told their own story, without any words but it would be the second piece Sasha would work on.

       For the next 5 days, they sifted through thousands of photographs, tons of pages of notes until they finally had a semblance of what would be used and what could be discarded. The expedition had been a resounding success but Sasha's part of it was not over. On their second to last day in Kiev, she had called headquarters, gotten the go ahead, along with all of the necessary paperwork, and walked to the train station to purchase a one way ticket. That night, she invited Rahel and Ben to dinner. Both were very surprised as their last official dinner with Vasily and Alexei plus their guides Oleg and Kirill wasn't until the next evening before their flights, but they accepted the invitation nonetheless. Once they met up in the restaurant Sasha chose and ordered drinks as well as dinner, she spoke up:

"I know I haven't said anything about why I invited you both out tonight, but I'm not leaving tomorrow night."
"Wait what? What do you mean you're not leaving?" Ben asked as he and Rahel exchanged shocked glances. They thought they had agreed and finished everything.
"Well, I should rephrase that. I'm leaving Ukraine but taking a train to Belarus. To my birth city of Gomel. Because of Vasya; I want to see where the hospital stood, where I lived, went to school. Want to buy flowers and lay them on the place where he died. Since the hospital was bulldozed due to radiation, they wouldn't have built anything on top."

         Everyone was quiet for a moment especially when the drinks and food orders arrived. They waited until the waiters left before Sasha continued:

"I called DC and they changed my flights from Ukraine to Belarus and as long as I don't stay more then five days there, I don't need a visa. Which I won't. I figured 2 days would suffice and then I can take another train to Minsk and fly out of there through Paris back to New York. There is a hotel in Gomel where DC got me a hotel, looks nice but you know I don't care about such things." Sasha smiled as she finished.
"How long is the train ride from here to Gomel?" Rahel asked curiously.
"Actually not bad at all, about an hour and a half."
"And then from there to Minsk?" Ben was too lazy to dig out google but he knew Sasha already had her entire itinerary in her head.
"About 3 hours. So not too bad at all. And I'll take a taxi right away to the airport which is like 20 minutes outside of the city." The other two nodded. Comparing to their 5 hour trundle back and forth to and from Pripyat, none of these were too bad. As they dug into their dinner, Rahel asked:
"Why did you decide to tell us, Sasha? Well more me, then Ben since you two are close. You didn't owe us any extra explanation." Sasha gave a half smile and sighed.
"You're right, I didn't. But inadvertently, it was you Rahel that brought Vasya to the surface out of that secret storage locker in my heart and soul. And though perhaps I wanted to keep him there, hidden from the world forever, you were right, I couldn't. Not with this opportunity and to tell the world his story, from the eyes of a little 6 year old girl. So the invitation to dinner was in part to tell you my plans and in part to thank you. As your team leader, you gave me the gift of starting the healing process which I never realized until that evening in camp that I never really went through. I barely grieved back then, hell I didn't know what grief even was at that age. And as you know, my parents don't know of his existence either."
"Will you tell them or....." Ben's voice trailed off. Sasha chewed on her potatoes thoughtfully for a moment.
"Honestly, since I've decided to write his story, I've been mulling it over in my mind and I decided that they should wait until it is written. It would just be too hard to talk about it until it's in print. I do want to tell them about our room experiment as that's just too cool not to."

        She finished off with a giggle like that of a little kid. That before and after of the room was indeed a really spectacular idea and she knew her family would get a kick out of it. The others laughed along with her. They kept the conversation light the rest of the night as they had one last day and evening altogether and the next night's dinner to get through with everyone before they all left to their various parts of the world. They rode back to their hotel in the same taxi and hugged before entering their respective rooms that night. An unbreakable bond had formed between them; though Ben and Sasha's was already strong before then, now it was held together by strong steel cables and had arms reaching towards Rahel and she to them. The ultra arrogant woman who only thought of herself and didn't take orders from anyone, had grown up in just two short weeks. She was now part of a team--a family if you will--that she didn't want to lose no matter what. NatGeo decided on an expedition but the universe was the ultimate designer.