Radioactive: Chapter Four

Radioactive

Chapter Four

~Other Others~

“Hello, Kaiba,” the secretary chimed.

“Good morning, Bridget,” Kaiba muttered.

“Is Sirius coming in later this morning?” Bridget asked, “Will you be taking on his duties until he gets here?”

Kaiba nodded, “Yes, to both.”

“I will forward any official calls to you then,” Bridget looked at a post-it note on her computer, “Oh, and Kiri said that Jekyll has finished with the autopsy.”

Kaiba looked at her, “Where is the doctor?”

“In the basement laboratories,” Bridget answered cheerily.

“Thank you,” Kaiba said as he walked off.

He walked briskly through the halls of the Tower. It was a splendid building, build anew after the events of what was now known as the Turn. Windows let in as much natural light as possible. The Tower was the by far the most powerful force in the world. Because of the Turn, people knew more about the Island and the Tower than previous generations. Others had begun to be generally accepted in society. It was still a slow process but someday Others would be a common sight in the world.

Kaiba got into the elevator and proceeded to the basement floors. When the doors opened he proceeded through the cooler hallways. The temperature here was kept at 62°F compared to the rest of the building that was kept at an average of 72°. Kaiba was glad for his coat, he wore it almost everywhere. He wasn’t at all fond of cooler temperatures.

He went down a narrow hallway and walked through some thick doors. There was a small hallway and at the end of the hallway was a sealed door. Kiri stood there in her usual attire looking out through a large window. Kaiba stood beside her and looked out as well. There was an operation table. Tower doctors and their assistants, all in their protective gear, hovered over a mutilated creature. They looked like some kind of spacemen with their helmets and baggy safety suits and boots. Kaiba crossed his arms and watched.

“I thought Jekyll was ready,” Kaiba muttered.

“He is ready,” Kiri stated, as she pointed to a figure in the corner, “He just hasn’t issued the all clear. The air samples are still being processed.”

A woman came in just then from the outer hallway. She walked confidently into the other room after dialing in her code. It took her a few moments to get on the safety gear and go out into the larger room. She walked up to Jekyll and handed him a folder. He looked it over and nodded. Jekyll took off his helmet. Kiri turned to the door and Kaiba followed. After entering their code they walked into the room.

Jekyll’s expression didn’t change as he saw them approach. The other doctors were taking off their gear, breathing fresh air again for the first time in hours. Kaiba had been forced to wear one before. It was uncomfortable, bulky, and the air supply always smelled musty. Kaiba looked at the creature on the table.

“Well, Kaiba,” Jekyll sighed, “You really do know how to make a mess of things. You couldn’t have gotten it back in one piece? Not three…”

Kaiba shrugged, “I was rather annoyed about him biting me.”

Jekyll raised an eyebrow; a small trace of a smile was on his face, “Sounds like you need anger management classes. I can require for you to take them, you know.”

“I’m good, thanks,” Kaiba glared at the doctor.

“Did you find anything doctor?” Kiri asked.

Jekyll looked at the creature’s corpse for a moment. He had conducted all the necessary tests along with the unnecessary tests that would just sooth his curiosity. Now he was putting all the data together into something that made sense.

“It’s a mutant,” Jekyll reported and walked off to talk with one of the other doctors.

Kaiba walked after him, “What does that exactly mean?”

Jekyll was looking at something one of the other doctors had noticed, “I mean it isn’t human, it isn’t an Other, and it isn’t an animal. I mean there are genetic strands of each mixed together but not enough to say one way or the other. It’s a new creature. A mutant. A deviation from the norm.”

“Technically, we’re mutants,” Kaiba stated.

“Yes, but we don’t look like that,” Jekyll pointed.

Kaiba had to admit, he had never seen an Other with scales quite like this before. The way it was acting as well was questionable, more like an animal stalking its prey as if it had lost its human awareness.

The intercom crackled to life, “Code 437, I repeat, code 437.”

Kaiba sighed, “What now?”

He turned to leave. Kiri followed close behind. Together they went up to the Central Control room. It was half way up to Sirius’ office. The Central Control room was large. People sat in front of computers typing away, concentrating on the task at hand. The elevator opened in the center of the circular room. Four large screens took up the walls on the four sides.

The room was loud and chaotic, unusual unless there was an emergency. Kaiba looked around. He saw his father in front of one of the screens. Kaiba walked quickly to join him.

“I though you weren’t coming in until later,” Kaiba said as he approached.

Sirius smiled, however his blue eyes betrayed his concern. He brushed a strand of white hair out of his eyes and looked up at the screen. Kaiba looked up as well. A grainy cell phone video was playing. It looked to have been taken by a passenger in a car during rush hour. It looked like they were stuck on one of the suspended highways in all the traffic. There was a large explosion; cars flew everywhere narrowly missing the person in the car. There was screaming and part of the highway in front of them collapsed. A moment before the video was cut there was something in the back ground. Someone rewound the video and paused it.

“What is that?” Kaiba asked.

“I was hoping you would find out for me,” Sirius turned.

Kaiba looked at his father, “Couldn’t you send an Agent?”

“I would but I already have most of them out on missions,” He smiled at Kaiba, “I need some here for the Islands safety. Besides, you aren’t doing anything right now.”

“How about Chaud?” Kaiba asked, “Can’t you send him and his team?”

Sirius looked at Kaiba, “They are on a mandatory three month vacation. This mission doesn’t meet the requirements needed to pull them in for emergency reasons.”

“Fine,” Kaiba said. He looked at the picture again, “I’ll need to bring Jekyll along.”

Sirius raised a curious eyebrow, “Really? Are you sure you want Jekyll?”

“It’s not Tuesday,” Kaiba turned to leave, “It will be fine.”

“It’s fine with me as long as you get going. The attack is still going on. Oh, and bring Kiri with you,” Sirius smiled.

“I don’t need a babysitter, Father,” Kaiba called as he walked off.

Sirius looked over at Kiri, “Keep him safe, will you?”

Kiri nodded silently and followed after Kaiba. A person handed Kaiba a folder with all the mission information in it. He walked passed without acknowledging it. Instead, Kiri grabbed the file and scanned through it. In the elevator, Kaiba was on the phone, asking Dr. Jekyll to meet them at the front desk.

“May I ask how you plan to get this done?” Kiri asked when Kaiba was done on the phone.

Kaiba thought for a moment, “Well, if possible, I want it taken alive. It isn’t like any Other I’ve ever seen. It might be like the creature in the labs.”

“The picture wasn’t of the best quality,” Kiri noted, “It was difficult to determine what exactly we were seeing.”

“It was blue, Kiri,” Kaiba looked at her, “Last I checked, Others looked like humans, meaning no blue skin.”

“They could just be the nature of their powers,” Kiri stated.

“True,” Kaiba shrugged, “Either way, we’ll try to take it alive.”

The doors opened and the twosome walked out. They walked toward the front desk where Jekyll was waiting for them. The doctor was out of his white coat and was dressed in his black suit attire. He was looking to the ground. His wide brimmed hat covered most of his upper face. Upon their approach, Jekyll looked up. As usual, he didn’t look happy. He tugged on his hat with a gloved hand, colored white. With a sigh, he straightened his suit and tie.

“Just when things were starting to get interesting with that creature you brought in,” Jekyll glared at Kaiba with a cold black stare.

Kaiba smiled sarcastically, “Is there ever a time when I’m not bothering you?”

“Not really,” Jekyll smiled darkly in return, “I wouldn’t have minded if your father had called me instead.”

“Gentlemen,” Kiri stated, glaring at both men.

“What if I bothered you to help me inspect another incident,” Kaiba crossed his arms, “One where the creature is alive.”

Jekyll straightened his posture, “That might be enough to still my annoyance.”

“Good,” Kaiba turned to the door, “Shall we go?”

Kiri sighed as Kaiba walked away. She turned to Jekyll. A small mischievous smile could be seen forming at the corner of his mouth.

“Why is it that you two can’t seem to get along?” Kiri asked the doctor.

Jekyll looked at her a moment then smiled, “Who said we don’t get along? We haven’t killed each other yet.”

“Are you two old maids finished gossiping? We do have a narrow window to get to where we’re going, you know?”

Kiri shot Kaiba a look that could kill, “Old Maid?”

Jekyll walked slowly toward the doors, “He really can be quite the arse, can’t he?”

“I thought you said you liked each other,” Kiri questioned.

“I never said anything of the like,” Jekyll looked over his shoulder, “I merely said we haven’t killed each other…yet.”

Iridescent: Chapter Twenty-Four

Iridescent

Chapter Twenty-Four

~The Great Oasis~

After the Fall

“Pineapple or peaches?”

Zara looked over her shoulder, “What?”

Deontay raised up two cans, “Pineapple or peaches?”

Zara rolled her eyes, “I’m not hungry.”

“Suit yourself,” Deontay shrugged. He opened the can of peaches with a knife and ate while he walked.

Zara narrowed her eyes as a gust of wind blew through the desert throwing sand into the air. She took a swig of water as she tried to think. There was a storm coming. She could just feel it and it wasn’t a thunderstorm either. If they were caught out in the desert during a sandstorm they probably wouldn’t make it through.

“How much further?” Zara asked Miwa.

The robotic dog turned his head, “A few more hours maybe, until the oasis.”

“Come on, Deontay!” Zara called, “Lift those legs! Make sure to keep up!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Deontay said as he ate.

They were running out of supplies and decided to stop through the oasis. Miwa said that their way off the Island was near there so taking a slight detour wouldn’t be any problem.  There were several oases that lay like peals in the desert sand but there was one that was unusually large. It was large enough to support several vacation hot spots. In fact, really it was several large oases clustered together in the same area.

Zara wasn’t sure what to expect. There weren’t many people living in the desert but the desert could have attracted several people from the city after the Tower fell because of the fact not many people lived there. The people that came to the desert would need to find water and since most of them didn’t know the ins and outs of the desert the only source of water they would know would be the Great Oasis, where they were headed.

There wasn’t anything she could do about it now. All Zara could really do was to wait until they reached the Great Oasis to figure out what to do from there.

The wind grew gradually stronger as the group of three walked toward the Great Oasis. Zara struggled through the sand. After a few hours, the traveling group crested a large dune they saw the tourist attraction ahead of them in the distance. The buildings in the distance looked abandoned and empty. Zara made it within a mile of the resort type. She ducked down and the others took notice and crouched beside her.

“What’s up?” Deontay asked.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Zara said.

Deontay looked over at Miwa, “Why don’t you ask Miwa?”

“I don’t need to ask Miwa,” Zara stated.

Deontay rolled his eyes, “So Miwa, what is the say on what’s ahead?”

Miwa looked ahead. He scanned the area of the Oasis, “There are a lot of hostiles in the area.”

“Great,” Deontay sighed, “I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.”

“How many oases are there?” Zara asked.

“Seven,” Miwa stated, “Five of them are large bodies of water while the other two are simply smaller connecting lakes.”

“That is a lot of drinkable water,” Deontay nodded.

“The water level has dropped 20% since the Tower fell,” Miwa reported

Zara got back to the problem at hand, “How many resorts and hotels are there?”

“A lot,” Miwa answered. Zara looked at him and scowled. Miwa shrugged in a doglike manor, “What? I just like Deontay better.”

Deontay shrugged, “You are a little rough around the edges.”

“Says someone who likes me,” Zara muttered.

Deontay shook his head, “I told you! I don’t have a crush on you! Someone else does!”

“Right,” Zara didn’t believe a word he said, “Come on, we’ll have to sneak in.”

“What’s the plan?” Miwa asked.

Zara looked at Miwa, “Get ourselves a share of the water here and maybe take over a building while we’re at it.”

Zara crept forward through the dust and grime that blew in the growing wind. Deontay and Miwa looked at each other for a moment. Deontay shrugged and followed close behind Zara. Miwa walked beside Deontay. They reached one of the resort buildings. The building was made almost entirely of glass. The large swinging pool was a buddy brown instead of a crystal blue. People with guns walked into the building as the wind blew in their faces.

“Come on boss!” a grunt complained, “Let us in! A sand storm is coming!”

“Stay there until I say you can come in!” the boss yelled over the howling wind.

Another grunt groaned, “But boss! No one’s going to try to take out turf in the middle of a sand storm!”

“I’ll leave all of you out there if you don’t shut up and maintain the perimeter!” the boss yelled, “Do you want that!? No? Then shut up!”

The door slammed shut and the grunts that stood guard grumbled quietly to themselves. They walked toward their posts and stood guard. Zara looked at Deontay.

“So what’s the plan?” Miwa asked.

“Do we really need this building?” Deontay asked.

Zara shrugged, “I’ve always wanted to visit this resort. Never had the time though.”

Deontay cracked his knuckles, “Alright.”

“Really though,” Miwa sat in between them, “what’s the plan?”

Visibility was bad so Zara decided to use it to their advantage. Zara vaulted over the wall of dried bushes with Deontay’s help. She landed on her feet and couched in the sandy haze. Zara ran low to the ground toward the nearest grunt. She crept up behind him and pulled his legs out from under him. As he fell, she grabbed his gun and struck the man in the jaw with the butt of the gun.

She threw the gun over the bush for Deontay before turning to deal with the rest of the look outs. Zara ran toward another hazy figure in the sand.

The man took notice of a noise, “Don, what was tha—”

Zara ran up and kicked the man in the jaw. He dropped to the ground unconscious. Zara sighed. It wasn’t as stealthy as she had wanted but she could adapt. The rest of the men on the outside knew that she was there. They just still couldn’t see her. She darted toward another man and knocked him out. Then she grabbed his gun and aimed it at the others.

“Drop your weapons!” Zara called.

“There’s like five of us and only one of you!” a man called, “Why would we do that?”

Zara shrugged, “Suit yourself.”

Miwa lunged out of the swirling sand behind the men. He tackled one of them and quickly turned to take down another. His tail lashed out, grabbed a man’s leg and gave a short electrical shock enough to knock him out. Another man raised his gun at Miwa. Deontay hit the man’s arm upwards then hit him in the stomach with the butt of the gun Zara tossed to him. As the man boubled over, Deontay stuck him in the side of the head with the same weapon. In an easy movement, Deontay slung the weapon onto his back and raised his empty shot gun at another man.

“Not so fast, man,” Deontay stated. The man had raised his weapon. Upon seeing the sawed off double barrel shot gun, the man thought twice. He placed down the weapon in his hand and raised his hands. Zara walked up to him.

She looked down at the man, “It’s empty.”

Zara hit the man in the back of the head. She motioned to Deontay and Miwa to head to the door. The class door was covered in a sand film. Deontay walked up to the door and knocked on the widowed glass.

“I TOLD you! You come in when I say you do!” the boss yelled.

Deontay looked at Zara. She motioned to the door. Deontay shrugged and knocked again.

“You bunch of idiots! How many times do I have to say it?! You are not getting in!” the boss yelled.

Deontay nodded, “Challenge accepted.” He grabbed the handle.

“Don’t break my door,” Zara stated.

Deontay looked at her, “I got it, sheesh.”

He pulled on the door handle. The door remained closed, locked from the other side.

“Deontay,” Zara said with a hint of a threat, “I want a door by the end of this whole thing.”

“I know, I know,” Deontay waved a hand at her.

He took a stance and yanked on the door again. The door flew open. Zara ran in and raised her weapon. Miwa ran in beside her. The people in the lobby looked up and got to their feet. Zara looked at Miwa and pointed to the balcony. Miwa ran up the stairs, his tail tazed the men he passed by. Zara ducked down as shots flew passed her. She darted forward and jumped behind the info desk. Zara reloaded her weapon and fired at arms and legs; nonlife threatening injuries. Deontay walked in as the wind blew the door closed again. He sighed and got to work.

Deontay made his way through the resort looking for something in particular. He spotted his target. The leader noticed Deontay’s interest in him and turned to run down a hallway. Deontay rolled his eyes and followed him. The leader ducked into an office with Deontay close on his trail. When Deontay neared the room the man let loose a string of bullets. Deontay crossed his arms and waited a few seconds until he heard a click. He entered as the leader tried to reload his weapon. His fingers fumbled with the clip as Deontay simply watched him.

“You done?” Deontay asked.

The man dropped his weapon and raised his hands with an unsure smile. Deontay grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him back out to the lobby. He raised the man to his feet and pressed his empty shotgun to his back.

“Alright!” Deontay’s voice boomed. Everyone quieted down to look at him, “I’m only going to say this once! The lady wants the resort! So everybody else, get out!”

For a moment everyone just looked at each other, wondering what to do.

Deontay raised his weapon, “I mean it! If you go now you should be able to get to the hotel down the street before the winds pick up to much.”

The men started running out the door. When the door closed behind the last man, Deontay let the leader go who dashed for the door. Miwa and Zara walked to Deontay’s side.

“That went well,” Deontay propped the gun on his shoulder.

Miwa sat down, “That was fun! I really should join your guys’ team!”

“No,” Zara said. She turned around, “Come on. Let’s barricade the resort and make it storm ready. I don’t want those guys coming back. That and I don’t want sand getting in my new resort.”

Iridescent: Chapter Four

Iridescent

Chapter Four

~The Mountains and the Fields~

After the Fall

Vicky ran up the mountain path and into a cave to get out of the rain. There was already a fire crackling inside. She threw down a pack she had scavenged. Once inside she took off her orange hood and set down an orange ice tool. She set the soaking garment near the fire beside a brown backpack and her shuriken and axes.

She went through the backpack she found in a ravine close my. Vicky smiled when she found a box of beef jerky, a treasure trove. She also found a steel metal box. There was key pad on it. Vicky tried to open it but without the code it was almost a useless venture. She grabbed her ice tool and tried to pry open the box. The box popped open and she looked at a stash of Blue Gold.

Vicky counted five blue vials. She smiled at her first find of the vital liquid. Up until that point she had only seen Others using the liquid. She had frequently wondered how she had survived as long as she did.

“Kew!”

Vicky looked over her shoulder. A small group of soaking wet neuws sat on their haunches at the cave entrance. The slender six inch high rodents swung their tails curiously. They all looked around the same age; the runt of the family was only a little shorter. The color of their fur was a misty combination of a lighter and darker grey as they lived in the mountains. Vicky smiled at the small creatures looking for shelter from the rain.

There was a low rumble and Vicky’s smile disappeared. The thing about neuws was that they didn’t stay six inches tall. They continued to grow though their adult size when they are about seven feet in length not counting the length of the tail. Adult neuw could be very violent when something threatens their family unit.

An adult crested the mouth of the cave. By the angular look to its body and its sheer size, Vicky could tell it was the male. Adults looked different from the cute fuzzy neuws that everyone knew and loved on the Island. Their tails were thicker and more deadly. It could be used as a weapon or used similar as a kangaroo uses it to balance before delivering a powerful kick. They were the most vicious omnivores on the entire Island. They took on bears on a regular basis.

The father growled a low and menacing growl deep in his chest. He walked on all fours and walked closer to Vicky. It roared at her. Vicky let go of her weapon and pushed the box away. The female neuw was slightly smaller than her mate and stood back with the children. The male sniffed at Vicky. Vicky was careful not to look in the neuw’s eyes directly and to keep still.

It seemed to last a lifetime, but after giving her and her items a thorough evaluation, the father walked on. He gave a low call for the rest of his family. The younger neuws ran ahead and joined their father; some of them stopped to sniff at Vicky. The mother walked in after her mate and barely gave Vicky a second glance.

“Kew!” the runt crawled onto Vicky’s lap.

Vicky tried repeatedly to shoo the creature away. She didn’t want to risk ticking off the parents.

“Kew!” the runt sat on its haunches in front of her.

Vicky’s stomach growled. She froze hoping that her stomach didn’t say something in neuw that was offensive. Vicky looked at her bag and reached for the box of jerky under the watchful eye of the large male. She opened the wrapper and bit into the tough piece of meat.

“Kew!” the little neuw cried.

It stood up on its haunches and sniffed at the strange meat. Vicky tore off a piece and gave it to the small overly cheerful neuw. The neuw struggled to chew the strange meat. They were mostly plant and fish eaters. It struggled to eat the meat but found a way to eat it in small portions. It held the meat in its hands and nibbled on it instead of eating it whole.

Vicky watched the neuw. She learned about the creatures in school. They started out hatching from eggs. It took neuws ten years to get to their adult stage. For a majority of that time, neuw were on the near bottom of the food chain. All animals thought neuws were tasty. It was when they were around seven years old, when they had grown to about four feet that they were only hunted by a few animals. When they grew to their adult size, nothing hunted them.

The young neuws played with each other, jumping on each other and play fighting. The neuw finished its jerky and went to go play with its siblings. Being the youngest, he didn’t have as much strength as the others but he seemed more inclined to problem solving.

Vicky ate her fill and lie down beside the fire. The mother neuw walked over toward her and started giving her a tongue bath. Vicky hadn’t realized that she needed a bath so badly. Apparently neuws could be gentle when they needed to be.

<<<>>> 

Deontay walked through the fields. He wore a black trench coat with a sawed off shot gun strapped to his back. The gun was mostly to scare people. He didn’t have any bullets. He did carry a large duffle bag though. The long grass of the fields was up to his knees and higher at certain points.

The land was flat as far as the eye could see. There was the occasional tree in the distance but it was mostly flat. Deontay crested a small hill. There was a rumble behind him and he looked over his shoulder. Dark clouds rolled in from the west and the south.

“Shoot,” Deontay groaned, “I don’t have an umbrella.”

Lightning flashed across the sky.

“Let’s see if I can find a roof tonight,” Deontay groaned.

He jogged on as the rain fell caught up with him. The ground quickly turned into mud. His heavy boots weren’t the best shoes to be sloshing around in the mud with. He crested several more hills but after the latest one there was a small village on the next hill.

Deontay nodded to himself and continued on. The village consisted of only a few houses. The houses were made of mud and grasses. Most of the housed were square or rectangle but the village leader’s home was always circular based. Deontay walked through the center of the village. There was no greeting party as he walked toward the leader’s home.

An elderly lady stood at the door of her. Deontay tried to remember what he had learned in his language class when they studied the language of the Natives of the Island. He gave up as he approached and hoped she could understand English.

“Uh, hello,” Deontay waved awkwardly.

The woman nodded to him. Deontay dug in his duffle bag and pulled out a can of peaches and pointed to the sky as the rain fell down.

“I’ll trade food for shelter from the rain,” Deontay pulled the tab and opened the can.

He gave the woman a piece and she tried it. She spoke in her native tongue and pointed behind him. One of the houses pulled aside their cloth door and motioned to him. Deontay gave the rest of the peaches to the leader and walked to the home.

He entered the home of a family. Deontay smiled at the family who housed him. He gave them food as well as it was the least he could do for their hospitality. The two young girls loved the mixed fruit cups that he had found on his journey.

As the rain fell with great intensity, the father of the household told stories in his native tongue. His daughter’s laughed at his stories and so did Deontay. He laughed simply for the reason that he didn’t want to feel left out. The evening went very well. Family units were more alike than what he thought.