Red Forest

Well hello there. Oh, a curious one are we? Well how about you tag along then.

         Well, let’s see if you’re ballsy enough to make it through this place. You ready?  There’s no turning back now buddy. Don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine. You don’t need a gas mask or any kind of thing like that. No- Look, you’ll be fine, I promise. Trust me. Goodness gracious man, calm down and come on. Haha. You’re more nervous then a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Come right along here beside me.

         Now, I’m going to tell you right now, I’m not wrong very often or  maybe not at all and I’m positive that soon the day’s going to come when we are all invited back into Chernobyl again.  Now, we being here right now is a treat, a real good opportunity. I haven’t lived here for long so this is real exciting for me too. You don’t need to know how I managed to pull this off. It’s a need-to-know. I pulled just some strings, that’s all. Anyways, back to the point. So as I was saying, soon everybody will be back here. It may not be in our life time mind you. And most likely not even in our children’s lifetime. But somewhere down the line, mark my words, they are going to cut down that barbed wire.  We probably shouldn’t be coming back here at all though and I don’t think people will be too thrilled about it either. What I’m saying is, I don’t think we’re going to have the same kinda enthusiasm as we did with Berlin. You know what I mean? Yeah, of course you do. I mean, this city is already forgotten. Nobody is going to care about something that they didn’t even mind forgetting. But the day will come when we will walk down these old roads and stand in shame over the city that those damn Soviets single-handedly destroyed. This is just my opinion being thrown out here but I don’t think they should get this place back. They’ve done enough.

         Haha, you nervous yet? Well, I hope not. I’m just getting started.

         Now look around. Like really take a look. Take a look at all that brick crumbling from those buildings. Now I wouldn’t get too close if I was you. You might get smashed in the head and I don’t want to have to leave you here to rot on this street. Haha, oh my, there really is nothing left but the metal skeletons of everything. The amusement park... Everything! Who would have guessed how quickly a city could fall apart without us living in it. It’s quite a thing to think about, isn’t it? I’ve walked into some of the few houses that are still in some okay shape and the wallpaper is peeling just like an August sunburn and the drywall is looking more and more like someone sprinkled cocaine all over the God damned hardwood.

         I can see it in your eyes now. You starting to think this was a bad idea? Probably.

         Ah, finally. We’re almost to what people call the Red Forest. I can smell it. I may be getting old, I mean my back is gone and I can’t see very well anymore, but I can always remember the smell of this place. The air here is cursed with an evil far greater then anywhere’s else in the city. Oh no, this isn’t just some old wise tale. No. I’m not a man to believe in superstitions or luck. But I believe in what I know to be the truth and I’m also enough of a man to admit that I don’t quiet understand everything either. Now for a newcomer such as yourself you’ll be able to tell that we’re in the Forest just by the bloody tinge to just everything! Haha. They don’t call it the Red Forest for nothing, eh?

         Now, you seem like a smart person. No, I’m being serious here, I am. So I’m going to tell you something. But I’d appreciate it if you could keep it just between the two of us, alright? You hear me? You see, some of the others around here don’t like to talk about what I’m about to share with you and I think they’d get mad if they heard that I’d told another. Spread foolishness as they say.

         Come in closer now. I don’t want to have to talk real loud. I also want you to listen good and hard to what I’m about to tell you, okay? And don’t tell a single soul. See, me and a couple of the guys were talking and we’ve basically come to think that the government is hiding a lot more then they’re telling when it comes to this abandoned city. To cut a long story short, there are some rumours floating around about those who were once what we would be  able identify as human who may still be hiding within all the little  nooks and crannies around here. Back in ‘86 they said that they all were successfully evacuated but during the night all can here when we're out drinking is a child’s giggle traveling from somewhere in the middle of the city out to where we sit and we wait. Oh, believe me boy; there are some people who can no longer show their faces to anyone, much less the entire world. Do you understand what I’m telling you? These people do not choose to stay hidden within the city. They are forced too. Their limbs are mangled and deformed and their eyes are exploding right out of there their heads. There’s no way they can go outside the barriers ever, ever again.

         So, are you scared now?

         You should be. But, oh well. Come on, let’s get outta here.

         Oh, and one more thing, I was lying before buddy boy. You won’t be alright after you leave here and go back to your home. You’ll be eaten alive or at least your children will. Why? Well you’ve been inhaling pure radiation all this time that’s why! Haha. Oh, you’re mad? Well maybe it is bad that I lied too you, I’ll give you that one. But think, it was also equally bad that you trusted someone like myself.

         As for me, I’ll be fine. Right as rain. After all, it’s not like I’m really here.

         Haha.