Radiation/Issue 9

This is Issue 9 of Radiation.

Issue 9
Neil Wayman was probably the smartest person in Tonopah. He knew pretty much everything worth knowing. His sarcasm made him look a lot more stupid than he was, though. Currently, Neil was sitting on a couch next to Lisa Crick. Neil knew who Lisa was, but he never had an actual conversation with the girl. He thought it was about time he began to approach some women. “Sorry about your father.” Neil said, sounding more happy than he should. With a silent nod, Lisa managed a “thank you.” This was awkward for Neil. His last girlfriend was in sixth grade, and back then it was even more awkward. The most awkward thing was the fact that Neil was around ten years older than Lisa Crick. Neil knew it was wrong, so he just gave her a smile and got up from the couch. Headed toward Gene Miller, who was talking to his daughter, Neil rubbed his neck. Neil was pretty confident regarding the abilities now. The Wanium allowed the human brain to do things that was considered impossible before. However, it also gave corpses the ability to turn into cannibals. “Gene?” Neil muttered, approaching Gene and Sarah Miller. Gene looked at Neil for a second, then finished his conversation with Sarah within seconds. Turning to Neil, Sarah walking away, Gene said “How can I help you, Neil?” “I was thinking about those abilities. Should we tell everyone or just let them find out on their own?” Neil said, his sarcastic tone always being present. Gene sighed. He had been thinking about telling people, but it would cause chaos. Like with Nathaniel Jones; as soon as he found out he could make things invisible he almost killed Kenny Frickster. Gene knew they had to tell everyone, but he wanted to leave that to Neil. Honestly, he had no idea what was going on. “I want you to make a list of people with these abilities, allright?” Gene just said. He knew that Neil would understand what he wanted him to do; tell people and find out if they had an ability.

While Gene and Neil talked, Math Daniel and Dominique Coolidge were working on a shortwave radio. It was an old radio they found in the main hall’s bomb shelter. While neither Math or Coolidge knew how this radio worked, they were the ones with the most experience at the point. Math was in the army as communication officer for a few years. He soon enough retired and became a nurse, forgetting everything about communication. Coolidge was never in the military, but as a kid he had a shortwave radio which he always played with. It was a long time ago, though. “Try the red wire.” Coolidge muttered, pointing with a screwdriver at a bunch of wires. “I don’t think we should touch the red one.” Math responded, taping two wires of pure cobber together. “I think we should.” Coolidge said with a friendly smile, now looking at Math. Math sighed and pulled out the red wire, only to tape it onto the pure copper wires. Then static noise appeared. “What’d I say?” Coolidge said with a satisfied grin. Instantly began Math to change channel, trying to see if there was anyone out there. Everyone inside began to crowd around the radio. Gene making his way up to the radio, kneeling down next to Math and Coolidge. “We... Carson City... help... sick...” A man’s voice said, slightly mixed with static. “Carson City... send help...” Then the static stopped, and the radio died.

Janine was able to tell what ability people had, and as she revealed this, Neil began to bomb her with questions. However, Gene made him scrap that for now, and Janine revaled that Gene had an ability; he was able to adapt high amounts of radiation. “We shouldn’t go to Carson City even if we could.” Zuko Baldwin muttered, trying to stay as calm as possible. The radiation in Carson City would be around three times as high as in Tonopah, and that would kill a person within hours. “That’s right.” Gene said, showing a Glock 19 down his pants. “We shouldn’t. I should.” Maistro made a dry, fake laugh. “You can’t just leave us, man.” Gene looked at Maistro. As much as he hated him, he was family and he was partially right. On one hand, Gene felt guilty over all the people he had been mean to. He wanted to, at least, try and save some people. On the other hand, he had no idea how it looked out there, and he could very well die. “I will save that man, and then I will return. Safe.” Gene said, looking Maistro in the eyes. And while nobody got why Gene did this, they let him do it. Gene left Dale in charge while he was gone, and after saying goodbye to his family, he drove away in a grey stationcar.