Literally Dead: Tales of Halloween Hauntings by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Alienhead Press
Published: 2022-09-21T04:00:00+00:00

Ghosts of Enerhodar

HENRY HERZ

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Enerhodar, Ukraine – February 27, 2022

Russian Spetsnaz Kapitán Nikitin peered through swirling dust as he crouched behind concrete rubble with three of his special ops soldiers. Sweat dripped into his eyes, and the sulfurous, somewhat metallic odor from sustained gunfire stung his nostrils. Sharp reports from Ukrainian AK-47s contrasted with those of his commandos’ AS Val suppressed assault rifles. He turned to his radioman. “Get me headquarters.”

A minute later, the sergeant handed Nikitin the secure radio headset.

“Drakon, this is Volk, over,” Nikitin began, using call signs dragon and wolf.

“What’s your status?” replied a lieutenant colonel.

“Not good, Drakon.” Nikitin scowled at having to report unwelcome news to the commander of the 70th Special Purpose Detachment. “The Ukrainians somehow knew we were coming. Their defense of the power plant is much stiffer than Intelligence predicted. We could probably take them out with RPG-27s, but we weren’t issued any anti-infantry thermobaric warheads. All we have are bunker-buster rounds, and I’m reluctant to use those given our proximity to the reactor containment buildings. Our mission was not to set off another Chernobyl. Over.”

His superior swore eloquently. “The general staff will not tolerate delay. It’s imperative that we seize the power plant now. I’m initiating fire mission dobro in fifteen minutes. Pull back immediately and put on your chemical warfare gear. Out.”

Damn, thought Nikitin, running a dirty sleeve across his forehead. This just gets worse and worse. He and his Spetsnaz followed orders. They knew from experience that the worst things happen to Russian soldiers who do not.

Fifteen minutes later and twenty kilometers to the south, a battery of three 2S5 Giatsint-S self-propelled howitzers elevated their barrels. Each fired six times. Their gun barrels incrementally depressed between salvos, as directed by fire control computers, to achieve simultaneous arrival at the target.

Eighteen 152mm rounds detonated above Enerhodar’s nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe. Rather than shrapnel, the warheads spewed a colorless, odorless aerosol. The synthetic organophosphorus compound drifted downward, an invisible hellish snowfall.

The result of Ukrainian defenders breathing in the nerve agent turned out exactly as planned. Within minutes of inhalation, the sarin interfered with the degradation of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine at the victims’ neuromuscular junctions. Drooling, runny noses, tightness in the chest, and nausea preceded difficulty breathing. The continued loss of muscular control led to suffocation in a horrific series of convulsive spasms.

The sarin also produced an unintended effect. A breeze blew remnants of the nerve agent two hundred meters southwestward, asphyxiating over a hundred civilian men, women, and children caught in its murderous path.

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