Pups At Chernobyl

Liquidation of Chernobyl

While darkness still loomed across the land, the lights of Adventure Bay kept the seaside town illuminated. Ryder and Igor had walked across the bridge and were outside Katie's parlour. After hearing from the girl's unfortunate news, Ryder was keen to go inside and ask her if she was doing well. Not a single light shone down on the shop floor as Ryder could see through the windows. But Ryder had something else on his thoughts, specifically what Katie said she was diagnosed with. Whilst keeping his eyes on the parlour, he noticed Igor coming into reflection in one of the windows. Ryder knew Igor was a scientist. He prayed that he would know what Katie's condition would do. Feeling like he had no other option, he breathed in his confidence and turned to the professor.

"What does ARS do to you?" Ryder questioned. Igor knew that Ryder thought it was a sensitive question. A question he never thought a boy of his age would ask, not when there's a nuclear meltdown going on. Ryder had a question, and it needed answering.

"Acute Radiation Syndrome, or 'ARS' for short, occurs when ionising radioactive particles have enough energy to rip electrons from atoms. As this happens, the skin begins blisters, turns red like blood, then swells to a dark look. Then there's nausea, dizziness, fever, loss of consciousness." Igor explained. "All of this is followed by the latency period. A state where the patient seems to be recovering and shows to be getting healthier; they're not. This lasts for a day or more, then the cellular damage begins to manifest. The bone marrow dies, the immune system fails, and the soft tissue and organs begin to decompose. The arteries and veins spill open like sieves, to the point where you can't even administer the morphine for the pain which is quite unimaginable. And very unbearable. Within a couple of days after exposure to a high dose, you are dead."

Every word he took in only made the boy think even more that he had it. Then suddenly an assumed theory came to his mind. Not only he, Chase, Rubble and Skye was present at the power plant after the explosion, Marshall had been there since the explosion. Ryder's haunting images shot back to his eyes in the blink of an eye. He had nearly lost his mind with the same thoughts and visions coming back to him like they were glued to him for eternity.

In a split second flash, Ryder had caught a third concrete burial. Hoping Igor didn't see, Ryder jolted backwards and regained his focus. He shook off his thinking and reminded himself of his state. "What about us?" Ryder asked, ready to hear his own fate. Igor turned to him and kept steady eye contact with him. As the professor asked how long the boy had been out and about for, Ryder didn't want to believe that the third concrete burial was for him. A simple flashback brought him back to when he, Chase and Marshall drove around the damaged reactor block. A quick glance at the intimidating towering smoke climbing to the sky was enough to make the boy believe he had received a high dosage.

Once he gathered his words, Ryder remade eye contact and delivered his sentence. "We were at the power plant after the reactor blew up, but nowhere near the danger." Igor nodded. "In that case, the state yours isn't strongly fatal," the professor spoke. "Just like me and Edmund, you've been exposed to a steady dose. Not strong enough to kill, but consist of doing enough damage to the DNA. In time, you'll either develop cancer or aplastic Anemia. Either way, fateful." As he gulped down his anxiety, Ryder knew his fate was sealed.

Then he noticed that Igor's eyes were off in a different direction. The look on the professor's face was a sign of a temper slightly increasing its state. "Don't stare, but look over your right shoulder." Igor said. Ryder turned around and saw a man under a streetlamp. The boy couldn't tell of his face due to the face he wore a black fedora and donned what seemed to be a suit that mobsters wore.

"Don't stare." Igor whispered aloud whilst looking away from the figure. Ryder shot his back to the professor.

"Who is he?" Ryder asked.