C.N.P.P.

Chapter I

"Tag, you're it!" yelled Vlad.

"I'll get you!" yelled Yuri.

The next moment they heard a roaring bang and a huge cloud resembling a mushroom. They were terrified but amazed at the same time. They ran to investigate.

"What do you think that was?" asked Vlad while running towards it with Yuri behind.

Yuri was a thirteen-year-old boy and his friend Vlad was only 3 months older than him. Yuri lived with his Mom, Dad, and his two brothers.

"Won't our parents be mad at us for running off into the forest?" said Yuri.

"C'mon man, we're old enough!" said Vlad with some offense in his voice.

After a few minutes, the mushroom cloud disappeared, they were lost, sirens were blasting, and panicked voices could be heard. They were scared, cold, and lost.

"Let us set up camp here," suggested Yuri, "they might wonder here and find us!"

"I'm going and I won't stop just because of you," yelled Vlad with hysteria in his voice "and if you want to be a lunatic, you can stay here." Then he left without any word.

As Yuri laid with remorse on the ground, he remembered his family, his friends, his life. His dad worked as a crane operator in Siberia. He went off to Siberia a few days before the accident therefore, only his mother and two brothers were home. His dad traveled constantly. His mom stayed at home, raising him and his brothers. She did not work, and they had little money. She was a small, bony woman with a strong spirit. She never gave up on her responsibility to raise her family. Yuri remembered the promise he made to his mom before he went outside. He said that he will not go further than the fence. He broke his promise. His two brothers are Joseph and Stanislav. Joseph was 8 years older than him and Stas was 7 years older. Joseph had worked part time jobs to supplement his family. He worked at a department store. Stas was home, studying at a university.

Then he heard something. He heard a motor roaring closer and closer to him. He had lost the track of time. It was already sunset. Yuri was cold. Then he stood up to investigate the noise and saw that he was near a road. He saw a green car speeding down the road. It was a military vehicle. He ran, waving his hands so that the car would see him.

"Move it kid!" yelled a soldier out of the car.

"Please help me," said Yuri pathetically, "I'm lost and cold."

"We have an emergency, sorry kid..."

"Please!" whined Yuri.

"Ok, fine, get in."

Yuri then stepped into the truck, hoping to get home. But then when they drove him home, it was deserted. Nobody was there.

"Hey, kid," said the soldier, "maybe they were evacuated?"

"Can you take me to them?" asked Yuri.

"Sure"

They got to the train station. Even though it was packed, he did not see anyone he knew. No family, no friends, nobody. He scrambled through the crowd to get to the front, hoping to find his family.

He got on the train and then he heard something that sparked hope inside him. He looked around to see who it was. He could not believe it. It was his eldest brother Joseph. He was talking to his mom on his Nokia 3110, what is now known as the Nokia Brick Phone, about him not finding Yuri and going to Siberia to their dad. His mother told him that she is on the first train going to Siberia with Stas, but no Yuri. Yuri decides to come up to his brother.

"Hey, Joseph," cried out Yuri, with happiness in his voice.

"Huh, oh, OH, Yuri." Joseph started crying and hugging his little brother. "I got to call mom and tell her that I found you. We are going to go to dad together. We're going to meet mom and Stas there."

He then went to Siberia with Joseph to meet his mom, dad, and Stas. He then read the global news and found out what had happened. The Chernobyl Nuclear plant had exploded. There was a picture of the disaster. Dead people and ruins. He had nightmares of this picture for weeks. At first, he missed his home of Pripyat. He missed the warmth and his friends. He eventually made some friends and got used to Siberia, where he will live for the rest of his life.