48 Hours a Day

The team searched through the town’s grocery stores and shops before they found a notebook wrapped in parchment. Zhang Heng used the parchment and Besonova to complete the Vow Rings ceremony.

If Besnova harbored any bad intentions toward them, Zhang Heng would be the first to know and stop her.

Of course, it would be best if such a situation didn’t occur.

To make Besnova realize this, Zhang Heng even invited her to play a little game. He allowed her to think about anything.

Besnova thought about her boyfriend and whether the hospital would send people to look for her after they found out that she was missing. Zhang Heng didn’t respond. However, once she thought about how to escape, a small knife was placed on her neck.

The chill from the blade caused goosebumps to sprout on her neck. Even with Besnova’s boldness, she was shocked by the sight. The way she looked at Zhang Heng changed completely.

“She said you’re the devil,” Coconut, who was in charge of translating, said.

“Okay, let her think I’m the devil then,” Zhang Heng said lightly. He paused before continuing, “Ask her if she knows about Jartolov.”

Coconut closed her eyes and said after a while, “She said that she has heard of the name. She knows that Jartolov is the deputy chief engineer of Chernobyl reactor No.4. Some of the nuclear power plant workers who used to go to the hospital for treatment used to chat about Jartolov in private.”

“Is that so? What did they talk about?”

“Most of the time, they complain that Jartolov wasn’t easy to get along with. He is always shirking his responsibilities. He often shouts in meetings and is dissatisfied with everything, stubborn, and does not socialize much. In addition, there is a worker who came to see the dentist who said that he likes to be corny. Most of the physicists hired are from the Far East, where his old boss lives.

“The foreman called Jartolov a despicable b*stard because before the reactor unit even started operating, he had a chance to study, but Jartolov didn’t give it to him. He said that he had enough knowledge and didn’t need to study anymore, so he sent two other people to do it. However, during the final assembly and start-up phase, those who didn’t study did most of the hardest work, and they didn’t get paid as much as those who went to study. The foreman angrily went to Jartolov to demand an explanation, but Jartolov told him that those people had gone to study, but he didn’t; hence it was reasonable for those people to get a high salary. He was so angry that he scolded them for the whole morning.”

“It may sound like a jerk, but as long as the company and organization are large enough, there will always be such inappropriate leaders,” Zhang Heng said. “Now that we know that our deputy chief engineer of Jartlov is not very popular at the nuclear power plant, we can’t blame him for the accident. We need to meet with him to understand the details of the accident.”

Zhang Heng glanced at the watch that he had taken from the bus driver. It was 5:30 in the morning. It had been four hours since the explosion. After a night of heroic fighting by the firefighters, the fire in the direction of the nuclear power plant seemed to have been put out. At least there was no pillar of fire that soared into the sky. However, the crisis did not pass as smoothly as most people thought.

The doctor stood on the second floor of the old bookstore and looked out of the window, looking very worried.

At this moment, the sky had begun to turn white, and the sun was ready to take over the position of the moon. It seemed it would be another bright and sunny morning. On the balcony of the residential houses opposite, laundry and sheets were fluttering in the wind, and some early women had already started preparing breakfast for their husbands and sons in the kitchen. The flower beds downstairs were in full bloom.

For the residents of Pripyat, the day seemed no different than usual.

People woke up from their warm beds, opened the windows, poured themselves a glass of water, kissed their loved ones, and contemplated the day’s work. They thought about the weekend, on whether they should go fishing, set up a picnic, or just go hunting in the forest across the river.

In fact, it was May Day in a few days, a holiday for workers around the world. All factories and units would be on holiday, and cities would hold grand celebrations, with throngs of people flooding the streets. The whole city would be beaming with joy. No one, however, realized that their lives had already been completely different since the explosion at 1:23 a.m.

The radioactive fallout had drifted into Pripyat with the wind, sticking onto their clothes that had been hung out to dry, and into the room as the windows opened, onto everyone’s skin. Adults, children, and the elderly could not escape, where particles even made their way into uncapped cups and breakfast plates, filling the air with plutonium, cesium, strontium, and massive amounts of iodine-131, not to mention the huge radioactive cloud that was slowly drifting in the sky.

Unfortunately, these real dangers could not be seen with the naked eye.

“They should evacuate the residents here as soon as possible,” the doctor sighed.

“I saw the news on the internet. It was said that Soviets only began evacuating the residents here after 34 hours,” the maintenance man said.

“Is it because it takes time to gather vehicles?” Mouse asked, confused.

“Yes, it takes a lot of vehicles to transport 50,000 people, but it shouldn’t have taken that long. Also, apparently, ordinary people haven’t been notified since the accident,” the repairman said as he looked at Besnova.

As expected, Besnova was confused. She didn’t seem to understand why the players looked like they were about to face a great enemy. Everyone was fully dressed, trying not to leave their skin exposed. They also wore gloves on their hands, and masks over their faces.

Zhang Heng also tossed a “protective suit” to Besnova. They were quite lucky. Previously, they had passed a fire supply store and found a respirator and breathing apparatus, but now that they were quite far away from the radiation source, they didn’t have much use for it. The mask could stop some large particles of radioactive dust from entering their mouths.

“Although this might sound cruel, it’s actually a good thing for us. Since the main culprits on the list are still here and haven’t been dragged to Moscow or anywhere else, it’ll be easier for us to investigate,” the young man said, blinking his eyes.

“Yes, the owner of this old bookstore is about to wake up. He’ll probably be here soon, so it’s about time for us to leave,” Zhang Heng said.. He then glanced at Coconut, the latter started to vomit again after finishing the conversation with Besnova.