It was terrible!

In the space of a few minutes the land, and the lives of every person living there, was irrevocably altered. The disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was, without a doubt, the biggest and most catastrophic man made disaster that the human race had ever witnessed.

The cost to the planet’s ecology was huge. The area around the power plant was covered with the greatest concentration of radioactive particles. Whole forests simply died off, along with all the animals that lived within them. The radioactive cloud that was produced drifted almost all the way around the planet. However, while the planet dealt with the physical effects of the disaster, it was the people who were left to cope with the psychological effects. An area covering thirty kilometers around the power plant was evacuated. This included two major cities and over seventy smaller villages. Most of the people were given hours to prepare for the evacuation. At the time, many were not told why they were being evacuated. It wasn’t until much later, when the truth of what had happened finally filtered down to these refugees, that they realized that they could never go back to their homes.

To return to ‘The Zone’, as it was being called, would be suicide. Initially the radiation from the accident was reason enough to stay away; after the second explosion the Zone had reputedly changed from being hazardous to downright dangerous.

There was nothing left anyway. After the initial accident the bulldozers had moved in quickly to ‘make safe’ many of the settlements. Nowadays then only people who entered the Zone were those with very specific reasons. The army patrols generally stayed on the perimeter, but there were those who ventured further in. Scientists were fairly common. They were still trying to figure out exactly what was going on in there. There were others who would regularly brave the dangers of the Zone for fortune, for glory and some of them even for the thrill.

But, apart from the people who saw the Zone as an opportunity, there were still those who saw it as something else entirely. They saw it still as their home.

*****

It was perfect!

The young boy lay back on the dew covered green grass. He closed his eyes and felt the warmth of the morning sun gently beating down on his body. He could hear the soft whisper of the wind and the distant chirping of the morning birds. He breathed deeply and the clean air felt good in his lungs.

Slowly, he became aware of the dew seeping through his clothes and the cooling, tingling sensation it was having on his skin. Then the tingling feeling began to spread. It spread across to his arms, then around to his chest. It was an odd sensation, yet somehow familiar. He tried to ignore it and enjoy the warmth of the soft earth beneath him, but the earth was now somehow harder. The tingling sensation reached his neck, spread around to the back of his head and there it seemed to focus - a niggling, almost irritating presence.

He tried harder to ignore it. To remain with the bright sun, the fresh air, the warm earth and the sweet singing of the birds, but now it was suddenly dark. The air stank of sweat and mould, the surface beneath him was hard and cold, and the birds were not singing, they were........

The tingling in the back of his mind flared briefly and he pulled himself from the dream into the total darkness of the real world. He listened.

He could hear his own breathing, slow and shallow, though amplified by the cramped, metal, coffin-like compartment he currently occupying. The rain had stopped. That was good. He waited, straining his ears for the slightest sound.

And there it was! A faint, distant howl. A blind dog. The tingling in the back of his mind flared slightly, and then began to fade.

He waited a few moments, then reached up with both hands and as quietly as he could he pushed on the metal just above him. With a slow, dull scraping sound the boot of the car he had taken refuge in opened a few inches and the early afternoon light lanced in. The boy stopped for a second, squinting and listening until his eyes had re-adjusted to the light. Still hearing nothing and with the tingling in his mind almost faded to nothing, he pushed hard, opening the boot fully, and quickly hauled himself out onto the roadside.

He had climbed into the car to shelter from a recent fall of caustic rain. Of all the anomalies that occurred in the Zone, he hated the caustic rain the most. It was by no means the most deadly. In fact on some days, usually just before a blowout, it could be downright mild. However, he hated it all the same. He'd been caught outside in it, without shelter, only twice in his life and, if he was honest with himself, the last time had been almost deliberate. He had been walking back from the village of Zalissa, not far from Pripyat itself. He'd found a small bicycle on an overgrown road and was playing on it. It had no handlebars, and it was badly bent, but it was fun all the same. Then the rain came. He heard it first. A sound like a whisper drawn out and amplified a thousand times, yet still only barely audible. Then he saw the curtain of rain floating fast towards him from down the road. It was beautiful. Then it was upon him. The sun was still shining and he could see rainbows of light all around him. He was fascinated. And then he was in pain. He leapt from the bike and ran for the shelter of a nearby, dilapidated shack. As he ran could see the beautiful rainbows dancing around him, and even though he knew it was the stupid thing to do, the wrong thing to do, he slowly came to a stop.

He stood, just yards from the shelter of the shack and watched the rain. He watched it fall gracefully from the sky, watched it bounce on the stones, watched it soak into the earth, watched it run in rivulets down the trees and the walls of the shack. When it slowly came to a stop, only a few moments later, he stood and listened to the deafening silence. A clean and pure silence. And then, only then, did he scream.

It had taken him over a week to fully recover. When he had heard the rain coming as he entered Pripyat today, he had ran straight for the shelter of the car near the road. He had jumped into the boot, pulled it shut, and thanked God that he couldn't see how beautiful the city had looked. He had closed his eyes tight and he had fallen a sleep.

The boy stood next to the car and gave a little yawn. The city of Pripyat stood as silent and empty as always. The only sounds were the occasional brush of wind in the trees and the sound of the boy’s own movements. He stood on a road that ran through a scheme of several apartment blocks. At the end of the road, several blocks away, he could just see the sign at the top of a tall hotel building that stood in the city center. Near the hotel was the amusement park. It was there he was heading for. That was where he always met the 'Crazy Lady'.

The road itself, along with the pavements and pretty much the entire town, was cracked, crumbling and over grown. Every window was dark and empty, doors hung from their hinges, paint peeled from the walls. The chassis of the car in which the boy had sheltered was bleached a rusty white. The upholstery inside had rotted away and the tires looked as though they had melted, but the windows were still intact. The same was true of the buildings. Thought the buildings had fallen into dis-repair and had, over time, probably been subjected to just about every anomaly the Zone could produce, there was very little broken glass. This small detail pleased the boy. To him, it meant that there was no malice towards the town, it was simply the case that no one would live in it. Or rather, that no one could live in it.

The boy coughed. Then he hocked up a wad of bloody phlegm from the back of his throat. Instead of spitting it out straight away, he walked over to the overgrown patch of grass and trees in front of the nearest building and scanned the ground. He soon found what he was looking for. A yellow tulip-like flower. It stood out fairly well among the green and brown of the usual flora. With perfect precision the boy spat his bloody phlegm straight onto the large yellow petals. Almost instantly the petals folded in upon themselves and the flower shrank down into the earth, leaving only a few leaves showing. The boy smiled, then turned and started off at a brisk walk towards the hotel.

Even though it was among the stupidest things he ever did, the boy liked coming to Pripyat. Not because of the rewards the 'Crazy Lady' gave him, though they were of course, the main incentive. He liked Pripyat for several reasons, though many of the reasons were double edged.

The boy liked the way that Pripyat was always quiet. Some people described it as eerily quiet, but the boy always felt that the city was simply quiet because it had no one to talk to, or rather it had none of it's people to talk for it. It was a sad quiet, but it was much better than the quiet of death that could be found in many other places in the Zone.

Also, the boy always felt safer in Pripyat that in other areas of the Zone. He couldn't explain why. He knew that it wasn't really any safer. He was very close to the Chernobyl Reactor - close enough to see it from the rooftops if the weather was clear enough. Ignoring any of the other anomalies, he knew that out here the radiation alone was enough to kill him if he stayed for long enough. Despite all that common sense told him, it was rare that he ever got 'the tingling feeling' when he was in Pripyat - his 'sixth sense' that warned him when danger was near.

The main thing that the boy liked about Pripyat was that it told him of a life that once belonged to his people. A life that should have been his now, and perhaps would be one day. Everywhere in Pripyat there were signs of a good life, but most were covered over or hidden away.

The playground he had stumbled upon during his first visit was his favorite. He remembered cutting through a small clump of trees and being amazed to find a small castle-like play area. He had spent so long climbing and playing on it that he had been late to meet the 'Crazy Lady'. She'd been mad at first, but let him off in the end. With a little luck he'd be able to go there today before he had to return home. Maybe next time he'd be able to bring his friends along as well.

The boy was nearing the city center now. He was walking away from the apartment buildings and towards what the 'Crazy Lady' had called Palace Square. The tall hotel building looked onto the square as well as another big, long building the 'Crazy Lady' called the Palace of Culture. There was a big painting on one of the walls in the building that the boy had seen the last time he came to Pripyat. He didn't know what it was for, really, and he wasn't sure if he even liked the painting. He did like that the people in it were not sick, or frail. They seemed normal and healthy. Still, none of them seemed to be all that happy. Parts of the painting, inevitably had crumbled from the wall, and the boy planned to find some paints in and try and restore it as soon as he had the time. But, so far, he had never come to Pripyat unless it was to meet the 'Crazy Lady', and she was always grumpy if he was the slightest bit late.

As the boy walked across the square, his footsteps echoing off the buildings around him, he could see the top of the large ferris wheel, behind the Palace of Culture, where the 'Crazy Lady' always met him. He didn't know why she always insisted on meeting at that exact spot. Whenever he asked she would always say, "I'll tell you sometime later", and change the subject. The boy reached the crumbling steps to the Place of Culture and picked his way up between the plants that were growing through them. Then he walked around the side of the building and made his way into the amusement park.

The Crazy Lady stood near the base of the ferris wheel. From where the boy was, some 400 meters away now, she looked like she was making notes in a small book. She was dressed in her usual attire. A large yellow Macintosh, several sizes to big for her, was secured to her body with several large belts that criss-crossed her torso and chest. In addition she wore a pair of dark green rubber boots and a wide brimmed, brown hat. On her back she carried a large rucksack and she had a hunting rifle slung over one shoulder. The boy had no idea what her face looked like, as she wore a heavy looking gas mask and refused to take it off.

When the boy was halfway across the park, she looked up, shut her notebook and motioned for him to hurry up. The boy obligingly quickened his pace to a jog and as he approached she slipped the notebook inside her coat and stood with her hands on her hips, waiting.

"Your late, Kolya!", she said as the boy came to a halt in front of her. Her voice was muffled by the gas mask she wore, but she spoke very clearly and the boy never had any trouble understanding her. Her Russian accent was rather good too, but the boy could tell that it wasn't her native tongue. He figured her for a Westerner.

"Probably.", said the boy with a shrug and a half smile.

"Don't you have that watch I gave you last time?", asked the woman.

"No. I traded it for some fishing equipment.", said the boy.

The 'Crazy Lady' sighed, but most of her stern attitude seemed to melt away and she relaxed her stance a little. As usual her grumpiness was more of an act than anything else.

"What did I tell you about eating the fish?", she asked.

"The same thing you told me about living here.", replied the boy with a smile. "It is not healthy. It will kill you. You would be better off somewhere else."

"And you would!", she said sternly.

"No, ", said the boy calmly, ", we would not. This is our home. They took Grand'mama and Grand'papa away from here, when it all happened the first time. Grand'mama said that was why Grand'papa died. She said his soul died. So she came back, and she brought mama with her. And here we all live."

The 'Crazy Lady paused for a minute, then said, "But, Koyla, this place...this land..."

The boy coughed loudly, stopping the 'Crazy Lady', then he hocked up another wad of bloody phlegm. He held it in his mouth, as he looked around for the familiar yellow flowers.

"What are you doing?", asked the 'Crazy Lady'

The boy didn't answer. Unable to find what he was looking for, he gave a quiet sigh, then spat the phlegm wad onto a nearby clump of grass. Then he turned his attention back to the 'Crazy Lady'

She regarded him for a moment.

"How long have you been spitting up blood?", she asked.

"Um. Since just after the last time I saw you, I think.", replied the boy.

"Look, Koyla", she said seriously, ", you need some medical attention."

The boy shrugged. "I'll be okay."

"You..", She stopped. "You need to see a healer, Koyla.", said the lady, slowly.

"Grand'mama used to say: 'Heal the land, then the people will heal themselves'."

She wanted to say more, but something about the way the boy spoke, about the way he held himself, made her stop. Something in his eyes told her that he already knew everything that she could say, but none of it would change anything for him.

"So,", she asked instead, "what have you got for me?"

The boy reached into his pocket and drew out a silver coin, a 5 ruble piece. He regarded it for a second, then looked up at the 'Crazy Lady'. She simple waited. The boy smiled and tossed it up in the air between them. The coin reached it's zenith and then began to fall back to earth. The boy stepped back and let it fall to the ground. Instead of hitting the ground, however, the coin seemed to bounce softly at ankle height and then came to rest in mid air, floating between the two of them. The boy smiled at the 'Crazy Lady' and looked extremely pleased with himself.

"It's good, isn't it!", he said. "I almost kept it for myself."

The 'Crazy Lady stepped forward and plucked the coin from the air. She weighed it in her hand.

"It actually feels heavier than it should.", she said. She reached into one of her pockets and drew out a small plastic envelope, into which she deposited the coin. Then she stuffed the envelope into another deep pocket and secured the flap.

The boy, still beaming, waited patiently.

"Okay, " said the 'Crazy Lady', "you can get a bonus for that one." She removed the rucksack from her back, placed it heavily on the ground and began to rummage around in one of the large outside pockets. The boy stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked on eagerly. Then the back of his mind started tingling. His smile vanished instantly. The tingling was stronger than when he had been hiding in the car. The tingling flared strongly and the boy noticed that the 'Crazy Lady' went rigid and stopped her rummaging. On instinct, the boy turned around and looked back toward the Palace of Culture, in the direction he had come from. A blind dog stood at the corner of the building.

"Oh no.", whispered the boy.

As the dog stood at the corner, another walked around from behind it. Then another. They seemed to be sniffing the air. One of them gave a bark. It was a quiet bark, but in the silence of the City of Pripyat it carried all the way to the boy's ears. Then the tingling in his mind flared for a second time, but this time it was accompanied by something else - the feeling that several minds had just locked their attention on him. As one, the three blind dogs at the corner of the Palace of Culture turned their heads towards the boy... and charged. The boy was frozen. As the three dogs left the corner of the building more came around behind them. As each new dog came into view he felt another mind lock onto him. There were at least 10 dogs coming now, the first of them had just reached the edge of the amusement park and he could hear the scrabbling noise as their claws scratched on the tarmac.

There was no where to run, no where to hide. Why had the 'Crazy Lady insisted on meeting in this place? It was...

CRACK

The sound was deafening and it came from right next to where he was standing. His left ear drum felt like it had exploded and the pain and fright was such that he jerked to the right, stumbled and fell hard onto the tarmac, banging his knee. Almost instantly however, he felt a strong arm grab him and pull him quickly upright. It was the 'Crazy Lady'. She had her rifle in her other hand. The boy looked over to where the dogs where coming from. They had stopped running and were milling around looking confused and stunned. The boy realized that their minds were no longer focused on him. One of the dogs, the first one he had seen, was dead. It looked as though it's head had exploded.

The 'Crazy Lady' gave the boy a little shake.

"Run!", she said. She pointed over to some apartment buildings, past the ferris wheel and to the right.

The boy, still a little stunned by the gunshot, gave her a puzzled look. Then he felt the minds of the blind dogs snap onto him. They had been stunned, like him, but now they were back. The tingling in his mind flared and his heart leapt. He didn't need to turn around to know that they were once again, charging towards him.

"RUN!", shouted the 'Crazy Lady', and this time she gave him a firm shove in the direction of the apartments.

The boy didn't need the shove, he was already moving. His right knee protested at the effort, but the boy ignored it. He could feel the minds of the dogs upon him and tingling in the back of his mind was stronger than he had ever felt it, so he ran as he had never ran before. Adrenaline coursed through his body. His heart was pounding harder than it ever had and his muscles were already starting to ache, but he continued to push them. It was either that or he would die.

CRACK

The minds of the dogs left him again. He didn't look back, though. He had a long distance to cover before he got to the shelter of the buildings. He had only gone a few meters when he felt the minds focus sharply upon him again. This time, however, they seemed more determined.

He did his best to ignore them, to focus on running as fast and as hard as he could.

CRACK

This time only some of the minds left him, and not all of them returned. Some of the dogs must have broken off from him to get the 'Crazy Lady'. She would be fine, the boy told himself. She probably did this sort of thing all the time.

CRACK

Once again, all of the blind dogs lost their focus on the boy. He was over halfway to the buildings. He would have to cut through the overgrown park in front of them and hope that he could get inside quickly. However, getting through the park looked like it would be difficult enough itself. It was more like small forests.

This time only the mind of a single blind dog returned to focus on him. What had happened to the rest?

Barking! He could hear the barks and howls of the blind dog pack far behind him. That was bad. Blind dogs were silent when they were attacking. They only barked and howled when squabbling or communicating over long distance. The sounds behind him meant that they must have gotten the 'Crazy Lady', and were fighting over the spoils.

The boy entered the overgrown park at a run and instantly had to remain focused on dodging the thin tree trunks and not tripping over the fallen branches that littered the ground. The dog behind him though, was a constant presence in his mind. He could sense that it was getting closer. He risked a quick look behind him.

CRACK

The boy ran full force into something solid and unmoving. He fell to the ground, stunned, his mind reeling. He became acutely aware of a blinding pain in the side of his head, then darkness took him.

*****

"Okay, you can get a bonus for that one.", said the woman.

From the point of view of her research, the coin he had just given her wasn't really all that amazing. However, she had to admit that it was still kind of neat, especially to a young boy like Kolya, and she was grateful he had given it to her. She took off her rucksack, placed it on the ground between them, opened up one of the outside pockets and began searching for the gift she had brought for him. He was sure he would appreciate it, and it was nice for her to be giving him something in addition to the food supplies she usually traded with him. This would be something he would like, as opposed to something he would need.

She felt him tense. Over a year of excursions into the Zone had made her acutely aware of everything around her, and when those around her reacted to danger so did she. She looked up. The boy was slowly turning around, looking back toward the palace of Culture. She followed his gaze and saw a blind dog standing at the corner of the building. The boy whispered something, but she wasn't listening. In one slow, fluid movement she stood up, un-slung her rifle and popped open the covers on the telescopic sights. There were three dogs now. The boy was still watching them, seemingly transfixed. How had he survived this long if his first reaction to danger was to freeze, she wondered. The dogs charged. By the time the dogs reached the edge of the park she had checked her ammo, and was lining up her sights on the leader. She exhaled. A beat.

CRACK

The head of the first dog exploded. Momentum carried the body forwards a few feet, rolling and bouncing on the tarmac. The other dogs, she counted twelve of them now, all flinched and abruptly came to a halt. They began milling around in confusion at the abrupt silencing and loss of one of their pack. She knew she only had a few moments before they would re-organize themselves. She lowered the rifle and was a little shocked to see the boy lying on the ground, one hand covering his ear, the other holding his knee. Perhaps she had over estimated just how capable the boy was. She reached down, grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. He looked over to the dogs, his eyes filled with confusion. She gave him a little shake.

"Run!", she said firmly, and pointed to the apartment buildings behind the ferris wheel.

The boy turned and stared at her for a moment, then abruptly the confusion vanished from his face and was replaced by fear. In that instant the woman saw the boy for exactly what he was - a child in a place that no child should ever be. She wanted desperately to apologize for bringing him here. She wanted to make everything alright for him. She wanted to make him safe. She could make him safe!

"RUN!", she shouted and pushed the boy, harder than she had intended to, in the direction of the apartments. Fortunately the boy had come to his senses and was already sprinting for the apartment buildings. She hoped he could make it. The blind dogs were most certainly faster than a malnourished young boy, but he had a good lead on them. She just had to make sure he kept it.

She turned her attention back to the approaching dogs. The last of them were just coming into the park. She lined up a shot with the new leader and fired.

CRACK

A second dogs head exploded in a cloud of gore. Exactly as last time the whole pack came to an abrupt stop as their collective mind was violently disrupted. They were about 200 meters inside the park now. At the moment they could only sense the boy, but it was still possible they would detect her soon. For the time being she thanked God for the little artifact she had picked up during her first visit to the Zone. Somehow it masked her from the telepathic senses of most creatures in the Zone, a fact that had saved her life more than twice.

She lined up another dog in her sights, but she didn't fire. It was better that she wait till they were moving again. If the dogs were all focused together on one thing then the death of one of their members, providing it was sudden and violent enough, was much more disorientating to them than if they were all individually confused. Within seconds, the dogs shook away the shock of their last pack mates death and, as one, re-commenced their pursuit of the boy.

She let the dogs get just a little closer. The artifact, she knew, only masked her mind. When the dogs got close enough they would very probably smell or hear her, and they would eventually zero in on the rifle reports. In the meantime however....

CRACK

Another dog died a violent death. The woman didn't waste time watching the packs reaction. She turned and ran straight for the ferris wheel. Slinging her rifle over her back she jumped up and grabbed onto one of the lower cars. Quickly she hauled herself up and into the car, then un-slung her rifle and aimed towards the dogs. To her horror, she saw that only some of the dogs had been affected by the last death. Five of the pack had continued their pursuit towards the boy, and they were gaining. As quickly as she could she aimed for the leader.

CRACK

The shot hit the dog in the midriff and practically blew it in half. The other four dogs in pursuit thankfully felt the effects of the death and they all jerked and stumbled to a stop.

A wave of relief rushed over her, and she made a mental note to get more of these bullets. Glasers the dealer had called them. The sound of clawed feet clicking on tarmac made her turn and look down. The other dogs had given up on the pursuit of the boy and were searching the area around the ferris wheel for their phantom attacker. They made no sound, but they would occasionally lift their heads in unison, then lower them back to the ground and continue their search. She looked back towards the boy. And her heart jumped. In the time she had taken observing the dogs beneath her, the others had re-organized. Three of them were headed back towards her position, but one of them had continued after the boy - and it was gaining.

As fast as she could she brought the rifle back up and aimed after the dog. The range was becoming extreme. Worse, the boy was about to head into the trees. If the dog got in there she wouldn't have a chance of hitting it. She almost had the shot, then the dogs below abruptly started barking. The shock made her lose her shot. The boy entered the trees and almost instantly disappeared from site. She forced herself to calm down. She aimed. She exhaled. She fired.

CRACK

The dog following the boy entered the trees just as the bullet blew it's back legs apart. It crashed into the ground throwing up a cloud of leaves, branches, dirt and blood.

*****

Consciousness returned to the boy, and with it came garbled memories. His body tensed as he frantically began trying to sort out his thoughts.

He had been running from something, something that wanted to kill him.

Blind Dogs!

Someone else had been there with him.

The 'Crazy Lady'. Was she still alive?

Then he had fallen.

Was he safe?

He became aware that he was lying on his back and that the ground beneath him was soft and warm. He realized that he was in a bed and allowed himself to relax a little. There was no tingling in the back of his mind, so he assumed that he was safe. He relaxed a little more. He listened. He could hear voices nearby. A man was talking. The boy could hear the words clearly, but he was speaking English and the boy could not understand. Then another person spoke. The voice was that of a woman, unusually clear without a gasmask to muffle it, but very familiar all the same. The 'Crazy Lady'! The last of the tension left the boy's body. She was safe and so, apparently, was he. Relief washed over him, and with it came peaceful sleep.

*****

"Koyla. It's time to get up.", said the 'Crazy Lady', softly.

The boy pulled himself through the warm fog of sleep and opened his eyes. He was still lying in the bed. He saw now that he was inside a large, brown tent. A single, low energy bulb hung from the roof providing light. There were two other camp beds to his left, but to his right, sitting on a chair was the crazy lady. He wiped the sleep from his eyes, pulled himself up a little, and beamed at her. She had taken of her outdoor gear and was wearing an old, worn, insulated military coverall. She had removed her hat and gas mask. The boy looked into her eyes, for the first time, and she smiled back at him.

"The doctor looked you over and said you' re going to be fine.", she said

The boy instinctively reached up and touched the side of his temple. There was a large, tender bruise.

"You ran into a metal climbing frame. I guess you didn't see it for all the trees that had grown about it.", said the Crazy Lady. "You gave me one hell of a fright when I found you lying there.", she said, but she smiled with it.

The boy’s eyes widened as he recalled those moments. "I thought the dogs had gotten you.", he said, "They were barking."

"No," she said, ", they found my rucksack and got a bit excited. Fortunately they didn't damage it too much."

"Ah," said the boy. "That's good."

"Anyway, we'd better be getting you back home. Your parents will be getting worried."

"They won't be too worried.", said the boy. Then he realized that he had no idea how much time had passed since the blind dogs had attacked. "How long have I been here?"

"It's early morning now. You've had a good long sleep. You probably needed it. Get yourself dressed. I'll bring you some breakfast and then we can drive you to your village."

The boy's smile widened. He had never been in a car, before.

*****

After the promised breakfast, a thin salty soup, they set off for the boys village. They traveled in an old, beat up car that had been left in the Zone almost thirty years ago. Though the road was bumpy, and at times non-existent, the boy loved every minute of it. The 'Crazy Lady' sat next to him, once again hidden beneath her layers of clothing and behind her gas mask, concentrating on the road and occasionally scanning the horizon all around them. She didn't speak much, but the boy didn't mind because he was enjoying the ride and marveling at the beauty of the morning sunrise. It was a sight that even the dangerous, poisoned nature of the Zone had trouble spoiling.

Eventually they came to a stop on a small hill overlooking a village, or rather, what had once been a village. Now it was little more than rubble, with only the occasional solitary wall still standing. Perhaps fifty buildings had once stood there, but after the first incident at Chernobyl the government had sent in bulldozers to 'clean up' the land. The village below had been one of their targets. The people had been moved out and the village was destroyed. However, some of the people had come back. Here and there among the rubble there could be seen small buildings that showed signs of habitation. Some of them had been repaired, a few had been lucky enough to escape the bulldozers in the first place, and one or two looked like they had been built from scratch using whatever materials and tools could be found.

"I'll let you walk from here", said the 'Crazy Lady' and she got out of the car and walked around to the boot.

The boy got out and walked around to meet her.

"You can come down if you want to.", he said.

"No, but thank you, Koyla.", she replied as she reached into the boot of the car. "I have some work I really should get back to."

The boy smiled at her, and looked back down towards his village. Then he looked back as she handed him a large, fairly heavy cloth sack.

"Here, that should keep you and your family going for a while. And I think you earned it with your last efforts.", she said.

The boy's eyes bulged. It was enough food to last a month.

"Thank you!", he gasped, half from the surprise, and half from the weight.

"There's some medicine in there as well, make sure you give it to your mother.", said the 'Crazy Lady', "Oh, and I almost forgot.". She reached into her jacket and pulled out a dusty, leather bound book. "This is something I thought you might like." She handed it to him.

The boy rested the sack of food on the ground and slowly took the book from her.

"Um, I can't read.", he said, almost apologetically.

"I know, ", she said, ", you won't need to."

The boy opened the book at the first page and realised that it wasn't a book at all. It was a photo album. A single photograph had been arranged in the centre of the first page. It showed a group of children playing by the Pripyat river. As the boy looked at the picture he realized that he knew the area where the photo had been taken, of course it looked very different now. In the picture the children were playing right at the edge of the river, kicking water on to each other and he could see that one little girl in the picture, though she was screaming and running away, was ecstatically happy. The boy smiled.

"I'll see you later, Koyla. You take care of yourself.", said the 'Crazy Lady'.

The boy looked up. She had walked back around the car and was standing at the drivers door, about to get in.

"Uh, yes. Of course!", said the boy. "I mean....Wait!"

The 'Crazy Lady hadn't moved.” I’ll probably be working on the artifacts you've brought me for some time. I won't be needing anymore. Not for a while.", she said.

"Uh, okay.", said the boy. He wasn't entirely sure what she meant.

"That means you don't have to go on anymore adventures in the Zone. Not for me. Okay? I'll want you to help me out again," she continued, ", once I've figured out a few things, but that might not be for quite a few months."

"I like exploring the Zone. I've been doing it for ages." said the boy, but he was careful to keep the small note of unhappiness out of his voice.

"And you're good at it, "said the 'Crazy Lady', "That's why I asked for your help in the first place. But we have a feeling that things are going to be getting a bit more dangerous, especially nearer the center."

The boy sighed. He felt that she was suddenly doing the over protective thing, like his mother did with his younger brother. However, he noted that she wasn't completely smothering him. He also liked the way she said she'd need his help in the future. He gave her a sidelong smile.

"Just stay near your village for a while, Koyla that's all I'm asking."

He felt like pushing his luck a little. "How long do you think you it'll be until you need my help again?", he asked with a smile.

The 'Crazy Lady' put her hands on her hips in mock admonition. "Well, how about you just give us long enough to......" She paused, then relaxed her stance.

"Just give us long enough to try and heal the land, Koyla.", she said.

The boy beamed, then he stuffed the photo album into one of his pockets, heaved the sack of food onto his shoulder, and made off down the road towards his home.