LEGASOV
And yet.
They sit in silence for a moment. Then:
LEGASOV
I've spoken to the director of your institute. He says you're difficult and brutally stubborn.
(beat) Which I'm hoping for.
He takes her page of calculations.
LEGASOV
You're not going to solve this here. Not on paper.
She leans forward. Activated. Yes... a hunt. A chase. For the truth.
LEGASOV
I'm authorizing you to conduct a full inquiry. Begin in Moscow. Hospital Number 6. Talk to everyone who was in the control room that night-- Dyatlov, Akimov, Toptunov— we need to know exactly what occurred. Moment by moment, decision by decision. No detail is too small. Go now. While they're still alive. Because if we do not find out how this happened-- then it will happen again.
Understood. Feeling the thrill of the chase, she gathers her papers and rises to leave. Then:
LEGASOV And Khomyuk...
She turns back. He makes a subtle gesture around himself, as in— "the system around us is watching... listening..."
LEGASOV
Be careful.
And we see a twinge in her now. Asking questions and seeking truth in the Soviet Union is a dangerous game. She nods stiffly to him, and exits.
We hear BOISTEROUS LAUGHTER now, and cut to:
321 EXT. COAL MINES - TULA, RUSSIA - DAY 321
A group of forty-five MINERS on break. Vodka. Cigarettes. Behind them, conveyor belts and hoppers. Bulldozers and dust. Rolling hills pierced by cart tracks.
These men are hard. Blackened faces. Blackened lungs. Young and old. Thick bellies. Tough muscle. But right now...
OLD MINER Wait wait I have one, I have one... so every Friday, Maxim The Factory Guard sees Yaroslav The Worker coming out of the factory with a wheelbarrow full of hay. And each time, Maxim looks through the hay to see what Yaroslav's stealing, but he never finds anything. They do this for thirty years until Maxim says, "Yaroslav, I'm retiring. It's my last day. I promise— I won't tell anyone, but I have to know. What have you been stealing?" And Yaroslav says—
The other miners all shout back at him.
THE MINERS "I've been stealing the wheelbarrows!"
They all break out laughing, except for the miner who was telling the joke.
OLD MINER Oh, fuck off all of you...
GLUKHOV, 40, short and stocky-- a fire hydrant of a man- waves his hand to get their attention. His turn.
GLUKHOV
Okay okay, here's one— what's as big as a house, burns 20 liters of fuel an hour, puts out a huge amount of smoke and noise, and cuts an apple into three pieces? (beat)
A Soviet machine for cutting apples into four pieces.
The men explode with laughter. Except for:
OLD MINER That's bullshit! It's not even funny... !
But the miners keep laughing. And Glukhov is laughing the loudest at his own joke, until he sees:
TWO MILITARY TROOP TRANSPORT TRUCKS approaching in the distance, led by a BLACK SEDAN with a small Soviet FLAG on the hood. His smile fades. And now they all turn to see it.
One of the miners SPITS in disgust at the sight of the car.
Glukhov rises and starts walking out to meet their unwelcome guests. The rest of the miners follow, like a gang on their way to a rumble.
322 INT. TROOP TRANSPORT TRUCK - MOMENTS LATER 322
DRIVER'S POV - looking through the windshield of the lead bus as it follows the sedan into the mining facility. Wipers on to keep the COAL DUST from settling like snow.
And ahead... nearly four dozen angry men... waiting.
323 EXT. COAL MINES - CONTINUOUS 323
The sedan comes to a stop. The driver gets out, walks around to the passenger side, and opens the door for:
MIKHAIL SHADOV, 40's, ugly pale-blue suit. He emerges, already intimidated by the hardass miners glaring at him. So he puffs himself up. Opts for his most authoritative voice.
SHADOV Who is in charge here?
GLUKHOV I'm the crew chief.
Shadov makes a show of taking a NOTEPAD and PEN from his coat.
SHADOV
I am Shadov. Minister of Coal Industries.
GLUKHOV We know who you are.
And they clearly don't care. This isn't working. Don't let them see you sweat. Shadov tries again. Louder.
SHADOV How many men work here?
GLUKHOV
Forty-five on this shift. One hundred total.
SHADOV
I need all one hundred men to gather their equipment and get on the buses.
GLUKHOV Do you? To where?
TWO SOLDIERS have emerged from the troop transport trucks, each holding an AK-47. They're young. Shadov glances at them, then turns back to the miners. Renewed confidence.
SHADOV That's classified.
The miners look at each other. This could get ugly. But Glukhov isn't worried. He's looking at the soldiers.
GLUKHOV
Go ahead. Start shooting. You don't have enough bullets for all of us. Kill as many as you can, whoever's left over will beat the piss out of each of you.
Shadov deflates. Knows he's lost. But one of the soldiers...
YOUNG SOLDIER You can't talk to us like--
GLUKHOV Shut the fuck up.
The soldier shuts the fuck up. Now he knows he's lost too. Shadov and the soldiers stand chastened, like school boys.
GLUKHOV
This is Tula. This is our mine. We don't leave unless you tell us why.
Defeated, Shadov considers the men before him. "Classified" be damned. All he can do now is tell them the truth. He puts his notepad and pen back in his coat.
SHADOV
You are going to Chernobyl. Glukhov stares at him. Stunned. They all are.
SHADOV
You know what's happened there?
GLUKHOV We dig up coal. Not bodies.
SHADOV
The reactor fuel is going to sink into the ground and poison the water from Kiev to the Black Sea. All of it. Forever, they say. They want you to stop that from happening.
The miners whisper to each other. Can that be true?
GLUKHOV
And how are we supposed to do that? SHADOV
They didn't tell me, because I don't need to know. Do you need to know? Or have you heard enough?
Glukhov sucks his teeth. Thinks. Then turns back to his men. Well? The Old Miner lifts his head.
OLD MINER Who, if not us?
Glukhov nods. Then slowly walks up to Shadov... pats his DIRTY HAND on Shadov's shoulder, getting the Minister's blue suit all sooty...
...and heads toward the truck. Shadov barely has time to see the mess Glukhov's made of him when: THE REST OF THE MINERS slowly parade past him toward the trucks--
--each one making sure to PAT Shadov on the shoulder... the chest... the belly... covering him in BLACK COAL DUST.
As the OLD MINER walks by, he gives Shadov a very friendly, and very sooty, PAT ON THE CHEEK.
OLD MINER Now you look like the Minister of Coal...
The miners laugh, and we cut to:
324 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM 15 - DARK 324
CLOSE ON: Lyudmilla, sitting in a chair in the dark room. A vigil. From just off-camera, we can hear rattling breaths.
REVEAL: Vasily Ignatenko in his hospital bed. Barely recognizable. His hair is gone. Eyebrows too. His skin is covered in strange, discolored patches... red, green and blue bruising, as if he had been beaten.
His body is swollen.
His lips are split open in places, and covered in a thick, white plaque.
He is 25-years old. He looks so much older. And all she can do is watch him sleep. Until— he stops breathing.
LYUDMILLA
Vasya?
And then: he draws in a sharp breath.
Thank god. She leans over and kisses him on his forehead. He opens his eyes. Groans. Frustrated.
VASILY
They told you no touching. It's not safe.
LYUDMILLA
They touch you. If it's safe for them it's safe for me.
She reaches for a cup of water with a straw. He shakes his head. No. Then:
VASILY How are the others?
LYUDMILLA They took them to a special room. They won't tell me where.