13_cz1_04. Coyote - Bad Decisions. The Aftermath.pdf - 13 [opowiadania] - trzynasty_schron

ROZDZIAŁ 4

Coyote

Bad decisions. The aftermath

“You gotta be shitting me!”, that was the first thought that came to

my mind when Major Rucinski ordered me to enter the radiation zone.

“I know this mission puts you soldiers at great risk. But this is the

only way to see if any of our man are still alive out there.”

“Sir you understand that...”

Major interrupted me at once: „Yes, I do understand that the

radiation there is about 20.000 Radians but we’ve got the equipment

which will keep you safe from this. Beside, the explosion took place about

7 days ago and the wind changed the course of the radiation cloud to the

south.”

I still couldn’t believe that Rucinski was asking me to enter the

radiation zone – the place which was probably totally destroyed by the

nuclear weapon used against – what government called – terrorism.

There hasn’t been any message or sign of life from there since the

explosion. And the radiation was so high, that if I got my anti–radiation

suite ripped just a bit, I would die from leukemia within next 3 days.

“Are you listening corporal?”, asked the major – sounding angry.

“Sir, yes sir. Where exactly are we going?”

“Well, the place that used to be Katowice. You will land in the city

centre right next to the roundabout. If there’s still such a place as the

roundabout. Our station was about 10 km from that point.”

“So why don’t we land right there?”, I asked having a strong feeling

that the answer will depict some kind of extreme obstacle on the way

between our landing point and the destination.

“There were lots of brigdes and underground excavations there.

Basicly, the whole city is one big coal mine – and the explosion could

destroy it all – the helicopter cannot land on a ground that may fall down

right after. You will land on the closest safe place to your destination

point.“

When I was listening to him, I thought about all the people that

suffered from this government’s decisions. Yeah, installing those

American anti–nuclear shields was the best idea but... well... who could

think that one day Americans will just use them. I mean, it’s obvious that

some afro–american guy would care about some Poland place in the

middle of Europe. And yet, they did not like having Russian atomic bomb

kicking their asses. I guess people have just stopped caring about each

other 7 days ago.

“I’ll give you five men, corporal. You won’t need more cause, let’s

face it – nobody’s gonna attack you there. There’s one more thing...”

Yeah, I love those “one more thing” speeches. It’s like you wake up

in the hospital and the doctor’s saying “The dog attacked you – you’ve got

no arms and no legs. Oh and there’s one more thing – it ripped your balls

off”.

“What thing?”, I asked not caring anymore about “sirring” the guy

again.

“The helicopter that will transport you there, will not be waiting for

you. The pilots will be wearing the suits as well, but the machine has no

anti–radiation shield whatsoever. You’ll call another one by the radio.

And if you don’t, it will come to get you anyway from the same landing

point about 10 hours later. It will wait for you for about 1 hour. If you

don’t show up, we consider you dead. The machine will be burned right

after it leaves the radiation zone.”

“Oh yeah, that makes me feel like I’m coming there to visit my

grandparents”, I thought. But instead of saying that, I told the stupidest

thing I could think about: ”I’ll do it, sir.”

“Private Slowinski is going with you. Yeah, I know he’s annoying

but he’s the best radio operator we have now. If something goes wrong,

he’ll tell some idiotic joke but then will be able to call immediate evac”.

Slowinski was one of those guys, which can be funny and rude at

the same time. Nobody really liked him and that’s because of his way of

joking around. He could tell you that your mother is being fucked by the

dog as we speak but in a way that you would laugh and then add

something like: “I never thought my father–in–law would have a tail and

react to the name Fluffy.” But he was good at what he was doing. He

saved some asses in Korea and Israel and although nobody likes his

company, everybody DOES respect the guy.

Major stood up, shook my hand like I just won the Noble prize and

said: “Good luck, corporal. I hope you bring are guys safe and sound. But

not at all costs. Remember that your suits are able to stand the radiation

up to 30.000 radians. If the Geiger counter shows even one point higher

– you won’t be coming home for dinner, soldier. So this counter is now

your best friend.”

“Yeah”, I thought, “that really sounds like winning the Noble prize.

Only the difference is that right after receiving this golden shit I’d be

throwing up, twitching and then vomiting again till I drop dead.”

When I left and closed the door, I overheard a conversation

between Major and some authority guy. Actually, I could hear only this:

“No, sir. I don’t think they’ll be coming back. But we have to take that

chance.”

I’ve always hated flying. Being about 20 meters above the ground

makes me dizzy and now I have to be 2 kilometers above the surface. But

today I wasn’t really paying much attention at this. 7 days ago my country

was bombed by the splinters of Russian nuclear weapon and has to suffer

from the radiation. And it’s just the matter of time when the radiation

will spread throughout Poland. We watched the news before the flight

and pictures I saw there were like a very good Hollywood production.

There was no such city as Warsaw anymore. There were only streets

covered with soot, people screaming to the heaven before they died. And

now I have to go there, and search for some people who, if miracles

happen, had survived this catastrophe. There were 3 explosions. I was

lucky, Gdansk was not even touched by any of those but whole Silesia and

Middle Poland were actual graveyards.

It is the time when I was ashamed of being one of the human race. I

was wondering, how people responsible for that can sleep at all – being

responsible for every person who’s choking to death because of the

disease or whose entire family was wiped out from the face of the earth

within 10 seconds. Still, those motherfuckers get up every morning, put

on their fancy shmancy suites and look in the mirror without a single

blink. And yet, we are the same animals – same heart beats, same brains,

same needs. I had a fever – suffering from stress and anger… and from

the fact that I realized how small I was. I opened my wallet with a picture

of my girlfriend and my dog – before the next question – my daughter

asked me to keep a photo of our dog in a wallet so I protect him by

thinking of him. Its silly but who could say no to 6 year old child?

“Whooo, your girlfriend sure needs a barber“, said Smolinski, “and

who’s this pretty girl on the other photo?”

13_cz1_04. Coyote - Bad Decisions. The Aftermath.pdf

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