448 EXT. TINY VILLAGE - STREET 448
PAVEL - walks slowly. Dispassionately. SHOOTING. Aim. Trigger. Fire. Bolt. Shell. Bolt. Aim. Trigger. Fire.
It's only been a month, but he looks older somehow. A bit thinner. Sleepless eyes. A numbness.
REVEAL - BACHO and GARO walking along side him. Aiming. Firing. The sounds of barking. Yelping. Running.
At last, they stop. Animal corpses are scattered along the street in front of them.
BACHO
A lot today. More than I thought.
PAVEL (looks around) Where are they getting food?
Bacho points between two houses, where a large, ramshackle wooden CHICKEN COOP sits. Dark stains near the opening.
BACHO
They eat the chickens.
(loads more bullets) Then they eat each other.
He tosses the stripper clip aside. Chambers a round.
BACHO
Check the houses.
449 INT. FARMHOUSE - MOMENTS LATER 449
The barest light streams in through thin drapes. We're looking down a narrow hallway toward the front door.
Uneven wooden floors. Cement block walls painted in pastels, and stained with rust from the rain that's leaked through the tin roof. Almost no furniture. Utter poverty.
The door OPENS. Locks are either not needed or not available in a place like this.
Pavel enters slowly, eyes adjusting to the light.
A door to his right. He quietly pushes it open, wincing at the SQUEAK of the neglected hinges. Peers in. Nothing.
He moves down the hall, keeping his footsteps light. Eyes peeled for any movement.
Then he hears... a weird little chirpy noise. A bird maybe? He MOVES SLOWLY DOWN THE HALL...
450 INT. FARMHOUSE KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS 450
LOW ANGLE - a cramped kitchen. Basin with no tap. Rickety shelves nailed to the wall. Torn-open packages of food, broken jars, a spilled bag of flour on the floor...
And that weird little chirpy noise again. Louder here. And a soft BREATHING.
PAVEL - pushes slowly through the swinging door to the kitchen. He looks down. To the right. To the left.
And stops. Oh god.
PAVEL'S POV - ON THE FLOOR, amidst the garbage... a POODLE MUTT BITCH lies on the ground, panting softly and sitting with her LITTER OF SIX PUPPIES... just a few months old.
BACHO (O.S.) (yelling from outside)
Pavel?
Pavel looks dumbstruck at the poodle and her puppies. The bitch stares back at him. Helpless.
BACHO (O.S.)
PAVEL?
We hear FOOTSTEPS from outside, and behind Pavel, we see BACHO enter the kitchen from the back door.
BACHO (so there he is) You don't hear me?
Pavel doesn't respond. Or turn around. Bacho marches over, already enraged.
BACHO
Hey. I'm talking to--
Now Bacho sees the poodle and her litter. He slumps.
BACHO
Ah fuck.
Pavel finally turns to him. It's clear from his face that this is too much. He can't. He can't do it.
Bacho nods before Pavel has to say it.
BACHO Just go outside. (beat)
Go.
Pavel wants to stop this. But he can't. This is their job.
451 EXT. BACK OF FARMHOUSE - CONTINUOUS 451
Pavel emerges. Walks five steps and: GUNSHOT.
He stops. Another GUNSHOT. Another. Another. Another.
A pause. Pavel takes a small CANTEEN from his belt. Unscrews the cap. Takes a drink. Winces. It's not water.
GUNSHOT. Pavel steels himself. Canteen back to his mouth.
GUNSHOT. Pavel keeps drinking.
452 INT. TRUCK - LATER 452
POV - through the TRUCK'S WINDSHIELD as it approaches:
THE BURIAL PIT - a large hole in the middle of a field, maybe twenty feet wide and six feet deep.
Three men stand waiting with shovels. A fourth man is climbing up out of the pit. They've just finished. Behind them, backed up to the edge of the pit, is a CEMENT TRUCK.
ON BACHO - with Pavel and Garo next to him as always. He slows the truck and turns the wheel...
453 EXT. BURIAL PIT - LATER 453
The STAKEBED has been TILTED UP on its arm, and the last of the corpses drop down into the pit.
Garo and Pavel stand aside from the pit. Not looking in. They've seen it enough times.
BACHO - has his hand on the lever controlling the arm. He waits for the last of the corpses to fall, then signals to the men across the pit.
The cement truck operator begins the FLOW of CEMENT into the pit. It slops down, and we watch as it begins to flow over the corpses like a blanket.
SLOW FADE OUT:
454 OMITTED 454
455 OMITTED 455
456 OMITTED 456
457 INT./EXT. REACTOR SITE - THE PASSING OF DAYS - MONTAGE 457
SCORE - a steady pulse. Adrenaline. TITLE:
OCTOBER, 1986
- MILITARY TRUCKS PULL UP - soldiers hop out the back. Double-timing. No smiles. No chatter. Grim business.
TARAKANOV (O.S.) Comrade soldiers.
- SOLDIERS grab GEAR from a pile. Dingy mustard-yellow boiler suits. Rubber boots. Rubber aprons. Rubber mittens.
TARAKANOV (O.S.) The Soviet people have had enough of this accident. They want us to clean it up, and we are entrusting you with this serious task.
SOLDIERS suit up. Cowls pulled down over their heads. Boots and gloves. Goggles. Respirators. Faces disappear.
BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS - REACTOR BUILDING 3 - BRIEFING AREA - soldiers in full gear are gathered around Tarakanov. He paces as he addresses them.
TARAKANOV
Because of the nature of the working area, you will each have no more than ninety seconds to solve this problem.
SOLDIERS help each other don HANDCRAFTED LEAD APRONS, crudely hammered sheets of dark metal.
BRIEFING AREA - TARAKANOV, different day, unshaven, talking to different soldiers.
TARAKANOV If you follow instructions and perform your work correctly, you will be fine. There's nothing terrible up there. But safety is our first priority.
BOOTS clomp up the metal stairs that lead to the roof.
TARAKANOV (O.S.) You will enter Reactor Building 3.
THE SOLDIERS - covered head to toe, faces obscured behind masks, move slowly up the narrow stairway, their way lit by work lights strung along the low ceiling.
TARAKANOV (O.S.) Climb the stairs, but do not immediately proceed to the roof.
BRIEFING AREA - NEW SOLDIERS listen to Tarakanov's speech. His voice is hoarse. He's done this hundreds of times now.
TARAKANOV
When you get to the top, wait inside behind the entrance to the roof and catch your breath. You will need it for what comes next.
He points at photos of the roof that are pinned to the wall.
TARAKANOV
This is the working area. We have to clear the graphite. Some of it is in blocks weighing approximately 40 to 50 kilograms each. It must all be thrown over the side here.
- TOP OF THE STAIRS - a dark landing. Soldiers, all weighed down by their lead aprons, catch their breath from the long climb. BEYOND THEM - looking down a narrow corridor... an OPENING. A rectangle of BRIGHT LIGHT. Waiting.
BRIEFING AREA - different day, new soldiers. Tarakanov delivers his speech. Pointing to a BLACK-AND-WHITE TELEVISION, on which plays footage of prior soldiers.
TARAKANOV
Here. Watch your comrades moving fast from this opening-- TOP OF THE STAIRS - a masked soldier stares ahead at the bright rectangle of light. Like a portal to another world.
BRIEFING AREA
TARAKANOV --then turning to the left and entering the working area here.
TOP OF THE STAIRS - four soldiers walk slowly toward the rectangle of light, shovels in their hands.
TARAKANOV (O.S.) Take care not to stumble. There is a hole in the roof. Take care not to fall. If any part of your skin is exposed, exit the work area at once.