The squad made their way beside the narrow concrete channel that joined the larger river from the north.
Water moved slowly between its embankments. Its surface was darker than the river behind them, carrying thin streaks of discoloration toward the west.
Echo One-One advanced several meters ahead.
Dmitri followed with Rex, while the other Scouts and Attack Dog watched the utility structures on both sides.
The farther they moved, the emptier the surroundings became.
There were no trees near the channel.
A few broken trunks remained farther from the water, their upper halves gone and their bark scorched gray. Some had fallen across the open ground before being stopped by fences or concrete barriers.
Even the smaller vegetation was scarce.
Dead roots protruded from cracks along the embankment. Dry grass gathered in thin patches around the utility poles, but little else had grown close to the water.
Dmitri glanced behind him.
Weeds had already reclaimed portions of the industrial road they had crossed earlier. Plants pushed through damaged pavement and climbed over abandoned vehicles.
Here, the ground looked scraped clean.
The meteorite explosion?
The shockwave could have stripped the trees and thrown debris across the exclusion zone. But that did not explain why almost nothing had returned after several months of the apocalypse.
The chemical smell had also grown stronger.
Dmitri raised his fist.
Echo One stopped.
"Is there something?" Echo One-One asked.
"Not yet," Dmitri’s eyes scanned the surroundings. "Check the area before we move on."
"Squad leader, perhaps we should retreat."
Echo One-Two suggested. The ground ahead offered little cover. If there was something between the utility compounds, Echo One could be trapped against the channel.
Dmitri noticed it as well.
The concrete embankment gave them a clear route toward the station, but it also narrowed their options. Crossing the channel would expose them. Moving through the fences would require finding an entrance or creating one.
Dmitri glanced at Rex.
The dog’s eyes remained on the structures ahead. It was as if something had grabbed its attention.
"Buddy," Dmitri approached. "What do you have for us?"
The dog gave him a sidelong glance before pointing its nose at the utility structure nearby. Dmitri followed but could not exactly understand what the dog meant.
He took out his binoculars and panned toward the location Rex had indicated.
A low concrete structure stood beside the channel.
Its width was longer than its height, with thick pipes entering one side before disappearing beneath the ground. A closed maintenance door occupied the front, while narrow reinforced windows stretched across the upper wall.
Dust and dark stains covered most of its exterior.
Nothing appeared unusual at first. Then Dmitri noticed something beneath one corner of the roof.
A CCTV camera was mounted on a rotating bracket. Its existence was not what surprised him.
The camera moved.
Its dark lens followed Echo One-One as the Scout changed position. Then it shifted toward Echo One-Two before stopping directly on Dmitri.
It’s tracking us!
He lowered the binoculars slightly.
The camera remained pointed in his direction.
"Everyone, hold."
The Scouts froze.
Echo One-One glanced toward the structure.
"What is it now, squad leader?"
"Camera’s got us on the hook."
"Still working?"
Dmitri raised the binoculars again.
The lens adjusted.
"More than that," he replied. "It’s watching us."
Echo One-Two slowly raised his MP7.
"Do not fire," Dmitri ordered.
Destroying the first functioning equipment they had found would remove whatever information it could provide.
But it also left them exposed in the open.
Echo One-One wanted to argue but the words remained stuck in his throat.
The camera remained fixed on them and nothing else.
No voice commanded them to leave. And no alarms blared on their unexpected arrival.
Only the slow water moving through the concrete channel disturbed the silence.
Dmitri looked back at Rex.
The dog was no longer watching the utility building. Its attention had shifted farther ahead.
The second Attack Dog followed Rex’s gaze.
Both stared toward the same direction.
Dmitri raised his binoculars again.
Farther ahead, the channel passed beneath another set of pipes before disappearing between larger utility compounds. A paved service path continued beside it, heading deeper toward the Nuclear Power Station.
The camera moved again. It shifted toward Echo One-Three, paused, then returned to Dmitri.
"Move forward," he ordered. "Slowly."
Everyone followed, and so did the camera from the small utility structure.
Dmitri remained several meters behind Echo One-One with Rex, while the other Scouts watched the structures and the opposite bank. Their weapons stayed raised but pointed away from the camera.
Before long, the utility building vanished behind the bend.
The camera could no longer see them.
Echo One continued beside the channel.
Nearly ten minutes passed.
The smaller compounds gradually disappeared. In their place stood a continuous reinforced-concrete wall extending across both sides of the waterworks.
It rose several meters above the ground. Weather stains ran down its surface, but only a few shallow cracks showed damage from the meteorite explosion.
The channel passed through the wall beneath a heavy metal barrier.
Beside it was a recessed vehicle portal wide enough for maintenance trucks. One half remained closed, while the other had stopped partway inside the wall, leaving a narrow opening beneath it.
A separate personnel door stood beside the portal.
Unlike the fences behind them, this was clearly built to stop ordinary trespassers.
Echo One-One slowed.
"We reached the outer perimeter," Dmitri muttered.
Although it was not the core of the plant itself, but at least they were closer than minutes ago.
A new CCTV camera was mounted above the vehicle portal. Its housing sat partly recessed inside the concrete, protected by a thick metal frame.
The lens turned toward Echo One-One.
Then toward the others.
"This one’s watching us too," Echo One-Two muttered.
Dmitri studied the wall.
A faded warning panel remained fixed beside the personnel door. Most of its text had been dirtied beyond recognition, but several words remained visible.
RESTRICTED WATER-CONTROL ZONE.
BIOLOGICAL SCREENING REQUIRED.
"Wait, squad leader."
Dmitri turned to Echo One-Two who then gestured with his head.
"Look down under. Its—"
Then Dmitri’s eyes shifted to his feet.
There, he noticed something he should not have seen—bones.
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