"RUN YOU COWARD. RUN LIKE YOU ALWAYS HAVE!" Vasili tried his best to ignore the words, trying to ignore the hate and spite that they carried. His old friends screamed at him as his boots made loud tapping noises on the concrete road, his sunrise suit causing a shuffling noise as the fabrics rubbed together. In the distance, he heard more shouts from foreign sources, then the night sky filled with gun fire. The screams of hate at him dissolved into the yells of a war, a few bullets made their way to him but all of them missed. His breath coming out ragged and shallow, he trekked forward.

When he was confident he was a good few miles away, he let his legs fall beneath him and he fell to the ground. He did a short roll and then laid there in the middle of the road, ignoring the danger that accompanied his rest. He looked over at his PDA, the contacts screen showed there was no one near him. His Geiger meter was calm and there were no anomaly's to be seen, he was confident nothing was coming at him at the moment and sighed.

Suddenly, all of his hopes melted away into fear as he heard foot steps moving down the road, then a long groan of "Vassillliiii..."

Three months ago.

Some where in Russia.

Vasili walked into the travel agents office, he looked around curiously, his eyes slightly panicked and the fear obvious on his face. Easy listening music filled the room at a low volume and across from the door, a well dressed man sat at an old table. A nice chair across from him and a lap top turned on, on his desk. He looked up to see Vasili and motioned to the chair before going back down to his computer, tapping in some things.

Vasili sat down, shaking slightly from the waves of anxiety that assailed him with monster truck force. The man pushed the laptop closed and then leaned into the table, flashing him an obviously fake, pearl white smile.

"Hello mister... Romanov, what do you need today?" He said, looking at a paper that sat on the table. Vasili gulped and leaned in as well, hoping this would work.

"I... I need a trip to a special place. It needs to be one way. I do not think I will come back." The mans brow raised slightly in mock confusion. Vasili did not notice it and continued on.

"I... I want to get past the Ukrainian military and into the zone of alienation. Chernobyl." The blood left his face as he imagined all the possible outcomes, most ending with him in a jail cell for stalking and looting. However, the agent kept his smile on and pushed the lap top open.

"Well Mr. Romanov, it is going to co-" Vasili quickly reached into the pocket of his old trench coat, he found what he was looking for and pulled it out. He laid the money on the table in front of him, there were sixty-five hundred thousand rubles in a stack.

"All my life savings, all my insurance, loans from loan sharks and tons of favors. Please tell me this covers it."

The mans smile faded and he took the money, he hated to be interrupted. He quickly sifted through the bills, making sure they were all there and all real. Satisfied, he pocketed them and smiled again, looking up.

"This can cover a decent bribe to get you into the zone, my own expenses, food and a bed roll. However, I can not get you to safety and I can not get you armed with this much." Vasili shrunk a bit, he had no more money to spare and his only way in was to go without a gun, which he doubt he could survive with. He quickly tried to reason with him.

"Mother of god man please! I can not go there without a-" he was quickly cut off by the agent whose face was now in a sneer.

"You are lucky I do not throw your bum ass into the street, now fucking pay up or get out." Vasili put his head into his palms, he could either walk away humiliated with no money and a decent chance of being killed by loan sharks or he could stumble around the zone with no gun, let alone knowledge of how to use one. He sighed and straightened his back, trying to look reasonable.

"Fine, just get me there. Fine."

The agent smiled with those big, fake, pearls.

"I am glad we could reach an agreement mister Romanov."