Pups At Chernobyl

Igor's Plan

Back at Chernobyl, the miners were slowly turning into human fountains as they entered and left the tunnel, time after time. For most of the miners, they slipped off their shirts so their chests were fully exposed to not only the air. Carts came rolling in, rolling out, in, out, none stop. Hundreds of pounds of dirt they dug, carted off and piled elsewhere didn't help their situation. The heat was immense. For most of them, they worked in warmer conditions, but this mission took the bite out of the cake. Some of them weren't willing to keep up. It was during one night as Igor and Ustinov were planning the next stages, Tracker raced into the tent and requested for both men. Upon first sight, the miners had stripped off their clothes but still continued to work. Ustinov squinched his eyes and faced away with crossed eyebrows. Legasov stared in horror. Glukhov approached the men and pup, from toe to face uncovered. Ustinov regain his eye contact with the leading miner with a face steamed. Glukhov raised his hands in confusion.

"What?" He spoke. "You're unprotected." Igor stated. "We're still wearing the hats." Glukhov protested.

He turned back to his men. All of them were completely naked, sweating and boiling. He turned back to the officials. "Look, it's a complete blast furnace in there. We need fans." Glukhov requested. "You can't. The fans will blow the dust inside." Igor pointed out.

"I don't give a fuck. I've been breathing dust for most of my lifetime." Glukhov stated. Then Ustinov approached him and stood an inch away from him.

"Not this kind of dust," Ustinov daunted. "Now, if Legasov says you're unprotected, he says you bloody well are. Put your clothes back on or your lives will be at the end of the chambers." Glukhov looked at him like the Soviet Commander wasn't intimidating, but he knew what his words meant. Glukhov grabbed his hat and threw it down on the ground, then walked away to his men. Ustinov stormed toward him, but Igor called him out of his thoughts. "Killing these men isn't going to help their situation."

Ustinov paused. He slowly turned around, only for Igor to be met with an enraged stare. Igor gulped and waited for what the commander had in store for him. The professor felt the Commander's presence growing nearer. To his surprise, Ustinov walked around him and entered back into the tent. Igor was ready for a punch, a kick, something to hurt him physically because he ticked off the Commander. Igor looked back at the miners, gathering all the tools that had their name on them and left the site before their skin was completely melted. With no heat exchanger to slow the meltdown, what else did Igor have to...

"The wind." Igor whispered to himself.

Raising his eyes up at the exposed block unit, he knew that the wind would carry more particles further than Adventure Bay and Foggy Bottom. Igor returned back to the tent where the Soviet Commander stormed into and found the blueprints for the power plant. Ustinov raised his eyes in annoyance. "The core is still exposed," the professor warned. "We've got to cover the core somehow."

"Then why haven't you done so?" The professor heard the Commander say. Igor slowly turned toward Ustinov with a face of both fright and annoyance. "We could've done so, but I think there might be graphite on the roof." Igor stated. He turned back to the diagrams and skimmed through the layouts. "It should be easy to cover up the core within months, or maybe years. But the roof will be a problem. I need men to go onto the roof and take dosimeter readings so we know how much ionizing particles are in the area." Igor added. Ustinov got out from his desk chair and approached the professor. With a click from behind him, Igor stood straight and kept his face away.

"Bullets never solve problems," Igor spoke. "It's the one who pulls the trigger in the wrong direction, not the weapon." The sudden urge for the Commander to pull the trigger intensified more and more by the seconds Igor was still breathing. Keeping his finger wrapped around the trigger, he slowly pressed the chamber against his head.