On April 30, 1986, nearly five days had passed since the reactor exploded.
Over the past few days, Zhang Heng and the others had been investigating the various forces involved in the disaster relief, trying to find the key figures. Unfortunately, although they had been very active in their actions, and they even took huge risks to return to the nuclear power plant twice, there was still no progress to be made in the main quest.
Not only that, but the players' physical conditions were also getting worse. After losing the doctor, no one knew to what extent the radiation had affected them. However, they could still feel the changes in their bodies.
The swollen arm of the slash boy was now twice its original size, and the sleeves could no longer fit into it. All he could do was tear a hole in his shirt. Other than that, there were ulcers on his tongue and cheeks, and layers of mucous membranes were peeling off, making it difficult for him to speak.
Rat's condition wasn't so good either. One of his legs was now bluish-purple, not only swollen, but it was also shiny and smooth to the touch. There were blisters on the inside of his leg, and it hurt whenever he moved. By the fourth day, he could no longer move freely, and on the fifth day, he could only sit in a car.
Kratos's condition was slightly better than the other two. Her face was swollen, and her eyes were a little bloodshot. Other than that, she had also begun to lose her hair, eyebrows, and body hair.
In contrast, Zhang Heng's condition was the best among the four. He only had some dark brown patches of different shapes on his skin, and he would feel constant pain. However, it basically didn't affect his movements.
Other than that, all five of them, including Besonova, felt different degrees of fatigue. This was something the doctor had mentioned when he was still around. It should be nuclear fatigue.
The five of them had just returned from the cement mixing plant. To be honest, when they went there, they didn't have much hope. Although the work there was important, it was obviously not that important. The only reason they went there was because they had nowhere else to go.
At this point in the operation, even Kratos, who was the most resolute of them all, could not help but waver a little. He began to wonder if he had made the right decision to stay in Pripyat. Although there were many names on the list that had not been investigated yet, they were all rescue missions that were relatively late in the timeline. Everyone knew that the most valuable one was actually the chairman of the committee, Shelbina, who ranked first on the list.
The four of them were worried that it would cause too much of a commotion, so they decided to postpone the investigation of Shelbina. Zhang Heng also found a way to get the estimated time Shelbina would stay in Pripyat from the DW office. The latter planned to wait until the reactor fire was completely extinguished, and the situation was further under control before returning to Moscow. The earliest they could return to Moscow would be May, so the players weren't in a hurry.
But as time passed, as if everyone had agreed on it, they stopped mentioning Shelbina. It wasn't because they were afraid of causing a commotion, but because Shelbina was the players' last hope. They didn't know what else they could do if they couldn't get any clues about the main quest from Shelbina.
On the way back, the atmosphere in the car became very quiet.
Zhang Heng drove past one empty building after another. Occasionally, he would see some militias hunting for animals. Their silhouettes with guns flashed past the car window. At first, the players were worried that they would be noticed by the militias. They might stop the car and interrogate them. But now that they were in this deserted city, the players felt a sense of kinship when they saw their own kind.
Zhang Heng parked the car outside the stadium.
He looked up at the sky. The sun was about to set, and it was almost time for dinner. When Zhang Heng opened the door of the stadium and walked into the room where they stored their food and water, he found that it was a mess.
The glass bottle was broken, and the biscuits and sausages were all eaten. Only the packaging and residue were left on the ground. The only things that were still intact were the cans of fish.
"What's wrong? Did the militias find this place?" Kratos asked.
"No, it's the other guests."
Zhang Heng bent down and picked up a can at his feet. He then saw a row of teeth marks on the iron box.
"Stray dogs?" the boy asked in a muffled voice.
Although the militias started to clean up the pets left in the city on the day of the evacuation, there were still a lot of them that slipped through the net. Over the past two days, the players encountered a few stray cats and dogs. Under normal circumstances, when the players saw them from afar, they would use stones to chase them away. After all, these animals had a lot of radiation in their bodies.
When the cats and dogs sensed danger, they would immediately run away before the stones were thrown at them. However, there were occasional exceptions, especially when the cats and dogs became more and more hungry. Some of the hungry dogs began to hunt the stray cats in the city, swallowing them to fill their stomachs.
But soon, these dogs would become manic due to the increased internal radiation. They would then begin to attack the humans in the city. Some of the militias responsible for hunting were bitten by these mad dogs.
Since the players had been moving around the city, they encountered these dogs. Fortunately, they were not in any danger.
In terms of combat power, these mad dogs weren't particularly powerful. However, since they had entered the stadium, they couldn't just leave them alone. If these dogs sneaked into the stadium while people were sleeping at night, they might get bitten. There was no tetanus in the stadium.
So when Zhang Heng saw this, he took the Pestilence Bone Bow from his back, drew an arrow from his quiver, and chased after the dog's paw prints on the ground.
This level of pursuit wasn't difficult for Zhang Heng. The culprit obviously didn't think about disguising itself. After eating to its heart's content, it swaggered out of the stadium, leaving traces of its tracks everywhere.
It didn't take much effort for Zhang Heng to locate the dog's lair. Outside the locker room of the badminton hall on the top floor, a shepherd dog was lying on its stomach. It didn't seem to be in good physical condition. Just like humans, the radiation had affected it as well. A lot of its fur had fallen off, and it looked like a bald spot. What was worse was the wound on its buttocks.
It seemed to have fought with the team responsible for hunting animals. After being shot, it miraculously survived. The bloodstains on its chest indicated that it had swallowed some small animals in order to satisfy its hunger. It was just not sure if it was a stray cat, a rat, or a dead bird.
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