Radioactive: Chapter Ten

Radioactive

Chapter Ten

~Jump~

“You sure this…doctor…can help me?” a woman asked as she leaned up against a wall. She had several tattoos and body piercings along with other strange bodily mutations.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not,” a man with blond hair and blue eyes smiled.

“I mean, like, I saw this guy a while ago, right, and I mean I saw him lift a vase with his mind! There were no strings attached or anything. He even told to throw things, anything, up in the air and he would float it. And he did! It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen!” she exclaimed. “I asked him if he could teach me and he said that he was just born with it. I’ve heard even other people say they died first before they could do anything cool like that.” She leaned in, “I won’t have to die will I?”

The man laughed, “No way! I mean I’ve seen the doc work, it’s now cake walk. There is pain but it shouldn’t be any worse they what you’ve already been through.”

“Really?” the girl chewed her gum.

“Really, really,” the man smiled.

“Like is the power you get random or could I, like, chose? I think it’d be a lot of fun to levitate things with my mind, know what I’m saying?” she asked.

The man nodded, “I’m sure he can do something like that.”

The woman crossed her arms, “You aren’t pulling my leg are you? I mean, you aren’t just saying this to get in to a creeper van with you, right?”

“No, we can walk there,” the man said, “It’s not that far but not that close either.”

“I rather we walk,” the girl said. “Just so you know, I’ve taken defense classes. I can throw you three feet if I have to!”

The man laughed, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

He started walking down an alleyway. The girl followed a reasonable distance behind. Old buildings with broken or boarded up windows stood all over the area. People tried to keep themselves safe in the gang ridden neighborhood where drug deals often went bad and some innocent got shot. Prostitutes stood on several corners often never heard of or seen ever again. Even as she followed the man she reasonably trusted she held up to her pepper spray and kept in mind the collapsible baton in her purse. She watched him carefully keeping a few feet of distance between her and him. He seemed like a nice man but nice men turned mean quick in this neck of the woods. She wasn’t about to risk anything.

The man walked up to an abandoned subway. He descended half way down the stairs and looked behind him. The girl stood at the top. She laughed uncomfortable in order to release the awkward moment. The man smiled at her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” she waved dismissively. “I just thought we would be above ground.”

“Oh, this is only the short cut. If you want, we could take the long way around,” the man offered.”

“No, that’s fine,” she smiled. She stooped a little and peered into the darkness. The girl was fairly sure that it was okay. She stepped down a few steps and walked just behind the man.

He tried to make light conversation with her as they walked on the tracks. The path ahead of them was illuminated by a flashlight that he carried. He made sure that he didn’t lose his guest by looking over his shoulder at her every so often. She smiled uneasily at him when he did and he tried to make her feel more comfortable.

After walking almost a mile, they came across a door.

“Here, can you hold this?” the man asked as he handed her the flash light.

The girl took the light and held it so it illuminated the door way, “Sure.”

“Thanks,” the man said.

He turned the wheel that unlocked the door. The old wheel creaked and squeaked loudly. The girl jumped a little at the sudden loud noise. The man pulled the door open and sighed.

“I keep telling them to fix that,” he said, “I guess I’ll have to do it myself later.”

“Yeah, I guess,” the girl muttered.

“That didn’t scare you too much, did it?” his brow furrowed with concern.

She shook her head, “No, no, I’m fine.”

“Well,” he bowed, “Ladies first!”

She walked through the door way and looked around. There were several lights on so there was no longer any need for the flashlight. She stepped into a well lite hallway with white walls. It was a stark difference from the subway tunnel. The man she was with closed the door and relocked it. He motioned her to follow him to follow him down the hallway.

As they walked, several people walked passed them. A few of them were wearing the paper medical gowns. The man explained that they were most likely on their way to their operation to turn them into mutants. Soon they came to an open room. The girl looked around with great interest, she had no idea that this place was here underneath the city’s feet.

“Oh, there he is! Doc!” the man called to a man on an elevated catwalk.

The doctor was bald and wore goggles over his eyes. He wore a lab coat and black gloves. When he heard he was being called he looked around until he saw the man. He took a quick look at his companion and smiled. He walked briskly over to the couple.

“Oh, Jumper! Is that you under there?” the doctor looked at the girl, “Who is your friend?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” the man smiled. He turned to introduce the girl with him, “This is Samantha. She was kinda hoping to go through the procedure.”

“Well, I—” she started.

“Yes, yes,” the doctor wrapped an arm around her and started leading her off, “Let me give you a little information before you make a decision. The process is sort of like this, you see, we start out…”

Jumper shook his head as the doctor explained the process. He turned and headed off to one of the hallways. He reached a room where the room’s lighting was blue. There were several capsules that lined both sides of the room. All of them were contained a body held in some kind of stasis. There was a capsule in the front of the room that looked like it was more important than the rest. It was hooked up to several medical life support machines. Inside the capsule was a body. Unlike any human body the skins pigment was a rich black. White swirls decorated the body. Strands of silver colored hair floated in the liquid inside the capsule. Its eyes were closed as if only in slumber and only the slightest noise would wake it up.

Jumper placed a hand on the glass and sighed. He closed his eyes and focused his thoughts. The blond haired man collapsed suddenly and lay lifeless on the floor. The liquid in the capsule started to drain and the previously lifeless machinery started showing signs of life. The previously lifeless body was walking up.

His eyes opened, one was black with a white pupil and the other was the opposite. The glass opened and he detached all of the equipment off of his body. He stepped off the low platform onto the floor. He walked to a side door and opened it. There was a small bedroom there and he clothed himself. When he reemerged into the lab, he looked down at the blond haired body he had previously possessed.

“I guess I’ll have to do something with you,” he said.

He looked around and spotted an empty capsule. He stooped down and dragged the body to the device and hooked up the necessary devices. As he walked away the glass closed and the capsule started to fill with water. He walked out and down the hallway, looking for the doctor. He found him walking to one of his assistance. The doctor looked up and saw the strange man and smiled.

“Ah, I see you have jumped bodies again jumper,” the doctor grinned.

Jumper smiled, “Of course. This is my natural body. There is no place like home, as they always say. How is Samantha?”

“Ah, yes,” the doctor nodded. He held up a red vial to the light, “I have her blood sample right here. I’m headed off to do the test just now. She’s going to go through with it. Those are the best kind you know, the ones who do it willingly. She’s going to be a good one, I can just sense it.”

“That’s nice,” Jumper didn’t seem at all interested about Samantha, “I brought you one, where is my pay?”

The doctor waved a dismissive hand, “Be patient! It’s coming. Don’t you worry about that! For now, look!”

Jumper sighed and looked up at the vial. He was mentally preparing himself for another lecture, “What? It’s just blood.”

“Just blood? No! It is our life force, our blue print! In it are the basic building blocks of life, the potential for change and evolution! Without it, we are nothing! With it, we can be, no, we are everything! Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yes?” Jumper said, thinking that would be the quickest way to end the conversation.

“Of course it is!” the doctor exclaimed, “The only reason we are anything is because of this!”

Jumper nodded, “Wow, interesting, sounds great, hey, where’s my money?”

“Gah!” the doctor waved his hand in exasperation. He had yet to meet someone who shared his passion for the human body. “Here!” he reached into his coat and handed Jumper a paper bag.

“Thank you!” Jumper smiled.

“Now, Jumper, you have been bringing in less people in the past thirty days. Some of the others are starting to surpass your usefulness. Now I don’t want to have to dismiss you but I will if you don’t start bring in more subjects,” the doctor said.

Jumper took a few casual steps backwards, “As the doctor orders.”

He vanished suddenly leaving no trace of where he went. The doctor went back to what he was doing. He brought the vial of blood up and looked at it. The red seemed to glow against the light in the background.