Radiation/Issue 1

This is Issue 1 of Radiation.

Issue 1
The Miller Family’s kitchen had always looked like this. When Gene and Jessica Miller moved into this house, they liked the kitchen exactly as it was, and choose not to change a thing. They haven’t done anything to it since, and have no intention of doing so. Around an oak table, with numerous scratches, were Gene Miller eating steak and potatoes with his wife and daughter. Gene was the mayor of Tonopah, Kansas. The town where he grew up. His sharp rounded face allowed his old and tired appearance to make him look younger than he was. Most people liked the tall, grey-haired man; everyone knew Gene. “Could you pass the salt, honey?” Jessica Miller said with a soft voice. He was used to Gene’s strict personality, which usually made her stand in the background. She liked it that way, though. Jessica and Gene met each other in high school. The clumsy Gene Miller asked her out to see a movie, even though Jessica has a boyfriend back then. She dumped him for Gene. Without saying anything, Gene took half-full salt can and gently reached it across the table, handing it to Jessica. She took it with a faded smile. “Dad?” Sarah Miller, Gene’s daughter, asked. The 17-year old girl had her hair dyed recentley. Something Gene wasn’t happy about. Now her hair was black. Her shy face impression made her, like her dad, look younger than she was. “Yes?” Gene said, almost chocking on his steak. “Graham and I talked...” Sarah began, and turned her eyes to Gene, who kept his eyes at his food. “He wants to come over thursday.” “Thursday?” Gene muttered. “We’re eating with Dale there. Can you find sometime else?” Sarah had a boyfriend named Graham Jones. He was just as shy as Sarah, though he was way more intelligent than her. Namely one of the smartest people at Sarah’s high school. Sarah sighed, indicating a ‘yes’. Gene had nothing against Graham. He liked most people, actually. Or, well, at least he had to act like it. After being mayor for nine years, he knew how to make people vote for him. A knocking on the door interrupted the family dinner. Jessica lay down her knife and fork as if she was going to get up. “I’ll take it.” Gene said, quickly finishing what was on his plate. He got up and walked through the living room and out in the hall. Looking like someone with a big authority, which he did have, he opened the door. “Jeff?” Gene asked, a bit of dissapointment in his voice. Jeffrey Miller, more commonly known as Maistro, was Gene’s brother. After their parents died in a car accident when Gene was 27, Maistro moved to Las Vegas where he made debut as comedian. “Hey, bro.” Maistro said, giving Gene a pat on his shoulder. He then walked past him, going into the hall to take off his jacket. Gene rarely saw his brother, namely because Gene hated him. He couldn’t stand how easiley Maistro got everything. From money to respect. Everything, just by being funny for twenty minutes. “What are you doing here, Jeff?” Gene asked, closing the door. Even though he did hate Maistro, he was family, and that was one thing Gene priotated; family. “It’s Maistro.” Maistro commented, walking into the living room. “Yea, but I will not call you that.” Gene said, leading his brother out in the kitchen, where Sarah and Jessica now were doing the dishes. Their dishwasher had been broken for a while now. The plumber hadn’t fixed it yet. “Hey, Pet.” Maistro said, hasting towards Sarah. ‘Pet’ was a name he used for his niece due to her as little, wanting to pretend to be a cat or a dog. It just stuck with her. Sarah turned around. She was the only one from the family to liked Maistro. Jessica hated him, probably more than Gene. “Uncle Jeff!” She said happily, dropping the towel and running towards Maistro, giving him a hug. “What are you doing here?” Jessica asked in a bitter tone. “Hey, can’t you just visit your family?” Maistro said with a smirk, letting go of Sarah. “Normal people can.” Gene said, just as his phone began to ring. “You haven’t visited us for three years.” Maistro kept his smirk, as he went towards the dinner table, grabbing the remote to their TV. The Miller Family had two TVs; one in the living room and one in the kitchen. Sarah always ranted about the next TV being in her room, though there wasn’t money for it. Gene was working on getting a new, bigger, car. Gene left the kitchen, going into the living room. He picked up the phone; one of the newest smartphones. He always took Sarah out shopping for things like telephones and computers. She would usually get super excited and choose which one Gene should have. “Gene Miller.” Gene said, sounding annoyed. “Dale. I got your mail.” The rusty voice of Dale Willston, the sheriff of the town, said. “Good, good. Rewrite it and send it to Mac, Kenny and Leo. We’ll discuss it tomorrow.” Gene said, refering to a robbery that happened earlier this week. Gene was present during the robbery, so he wrote a statement on what happened. “Will do.” Dale said. “Listen, Dale, I have to go. My brother just appeared.” Gene said, taking a quick look in the kitchen. “I see.” Dale said. He was usually a man of few words. It was hard to have an entire conversation with the man. “See you tomorrow, then.” “Yea, bye.” Gene said, silently letting out a sigh. He hung up, walking back to the kitchen. Jessica, Sarah and Maistro were all standing, looking at the TV. “What’s going on?” Gene asked, walking towards his family. He joined them, looking at what they were looking at. A fat man with round glasses were sitting, announcing something horrifying. Something absolutely terrible. “Let me repeat.” The fat man said. “Sixty-three nuclear bombs have been dropped all over the world. Fourty-one of them in America.” “Oh my god.” Jessica muttered, holding Sarah. The fat man continued. “If you are still alive, stay where you are. Avoid radiation, and any contact with people infected with the radioactivity. It has been claimed from several sources that corpses exposed to high radiation will rise from the dead. However, this is not fully confirmed yet.” “What the fuck do we do?” Maistro uttered silently. “Language!” Jessica managed to whisper under her breath. “If you are withing radius of radiation, there is risk of your body cells mutating. Therefore, search resuce in your basement or a smiliair place. I will now list the bombed areas.” The fat man said, with an impression like nothing ever happened. “New York, Washington DC, Las Vegas...” The room got silent as he mentioned Las Vegas. It was so close to Tonopah that the radiation most likely would reach them. Gene had to think of a solution, and fast.