Radioactive (Hisao) - part 3

“Here it is, man. Told you it was a piece of work, huh?”

“This is what you've been begging me to get pieces from Mutou for?”

I watch the scene as if from a distance. Maybe I have a vivid imagination, or maybe it's just because I've been having this dream off and on for months now.

“Yeah, man. Don't you know, normally you have to go through all the proper channels and shit like that. But your science club must have some pretty good connections.”

“It's not... real, is it?”

“Hell yeah it is. You'd be amazed by what you can find instructions for on the internet.”

“Kenji, tell me you're kidding.”

“What the hell, dude? How do  you expect us to quell the feminist uprising without needless bloodshed unless we strike their headquarters? One fell swoop, just one detonation and we've won!”

“Kenji, I didn't borrow all those parts just so you could build a bomb out of them. Warning people about your theories is one thing, but building a bomb...”

“Oh, now you're doubting me? I know what I'm doing, here, look. It's solid as a rock.”

“Hold on, don't--”

A presence is suddenly standing next to me. I turn my head only the tiniest bit and can make out a tuft of sea-green hair.

“So that's how it happened.” The intruder says.

“Get the hell out of my head.” I reply, glaring. But not at her. At the scene in front of me. It's frozen now, Kenji still poised to bring his wrench down on the metal container in front of him. He had dragged me out to his bunker in the heart of the woods, behind the school. Said it was important. Said he had something to show me.

Fuck, if I had only known.

“Sorry.” The new voice says quietly, pulling me back to reality. Or, not really reality. It's still my dream. Mine, not hers.

“I can't help it.” She mumbles.

“Get. Out.” My hands are balled into fists at my sides, I don't want to turn to look at her. I don't want to see her. Not until I have to. Not until it's time.

Anyone who's fallen asleep within a few clicks of the school has run into her, in one way or another. And anyone who's had encounters with the shambling, mindless husks that wander through the excluded zone have seen her handiwork too.

But not for much longer.

“I'm going. It's good to see you, Hisao.”

“Piss off.”

Her presence withdraws, my dream resumes just as Kenji's wrench lands. Everything erupts.


I wake up in a sweat, my instincts already screaming to check my surroundings. It's still dark, although the sky is beginning to show the faintest hints of the sun rising. The most important thing right now, though, is that there's a campfire crackling a few feet away from me, and I don't set campfires. It's a damn stupid thing to do out here, and a good way to get you--

Something small and cold touches the back of my head. “D-don't move.”

“I wasn't planning on it, Hanako.”

“H-H-Hisao?”

“It's him, Hanako.” Another voice says. I look up, someone I hadn't noticed before is sitting across from me, on the other side of the fire. Damn it, why hadn't I seen her before? Was I careless, or sleepy? Or did she really just appear out of nowhere?

I feel the muzzle retreat, stupid, stupid. “Don't lower it.” I mutter.

“S-sorry.” Hanako shakily returns the gun to my head, fuck, she'd better have the goddamn safety on.

“Just relax, Hanako. Hisao isn't here to fight.” Lilly calls.

I stare at her, focusing on my former classmate and not the barrel digging into my hair. She's dressed in fairly light gear, and her skin still looks as clean and fresh as ever.

“I'm not, but you still shouldn't let your guard down that easy. How have you two managed to last this long?”

Lilly smiles, reaching forward to retrieve a tin mug from within the fire. She blows on it carefully, how the mighty have fallen, I guess.

“We have our ways.” She says, taking a tentative sip. Only now do I notice the veins between her eyes and her hairline are dark and purple, bulging slightly. That explains the lack of a gas mask, at least. Maybe it was all worth it if it meant she could keep drinking her precious tea.

“I might have something you want.” I begin slowly digging through my pockets, maybe I can throw some bandages at them and be on my way.

“We don't need anything from you, Hisao.” Lilly smiles brightly, her eyes still closed. “You are our guest, feel free to stay awhile and rest.”

At this, Hanako retreats from her position behind me and sits down next to Lilly. Her gear is painted in a camouflage scheme, she peers at me through a wide, clear faceplate. Nice suit, it looks like it might even have been traded for at--or stolen from--one of the military outposts.

I can't stay much longer, I feel rested enough now and it would probably be easier to sneak into Yamaku with the low light. But I've had colder reception than this, and they haven't tried to eat me or anything, like that time last week.

“What brings you to this area, Hisao?” Lilly asks. “We thought you were mostly doing jobs for those two these days.”

Those two? Oh, she means the Council. I guess she and Hanako probably don't get out very much. Which raises the question...

“That's actually why I'm out here. And have you been keeping tabs on me?”

The whole time, Hanako has been watching me intently. Her hair is tied up behind her, too dangerous to keep it in front of one eye anymore, I guess. And there are people with far worse scars than her, now.

Lilly opens her eyes for a moment, and I see that they've gone completely clear. Her companion glances over at her, looking uneasy.

“Like I said, Hisao. We have our ways.” Lilly smiles sweetly, but I feel something tugging on the edge of my mind. I grimace, but Hanako still has her gun out and the last thing I need is to spook her. I notice she's been letting Lilly tend the fire this whole time, but I'm distracted by the sensation of a hand rooting around my consciousness. I can't help it, a growl escapes my lips.

Hanako blanches, but Lilly closes her eyes again, a melancholy look on her face. “I see.” She says.

Somehow, I doubt that. Or I would, if this had been the old days. I don't quite think this is the Lilly I used to know, though.

“Yeah.” I mutter. There doesn't really seem to be a point in keeping things from her now.

Lilly frowns. “She won't go down without a fight.”

I can't help but chuckle at that. “Really? It never took much to put her down before.”

She pouts for a moment. “You know what I mean, Hisao.”

Hanako seems to have figured out the subject of our conversation, either she picked up the hints or Lilly clued her in somehow.

“W-we tried to get into the library, last month.” She says. “To get some books.”

She stares down at her hands, cradling her gun as if it were a stuffed animal. “We h-had Natsume and N-Naomi with us, too.”

She stops there. I listen to the fire crack and rumble for a few moments.

“And?”

“And they died.” Lilly says simply.

“It's n-not just h-her.” Hanako adds. “There are a c-couple members of the l-literature club that still c-control the second floor. And the z-z-zombies, too.”

Even she can't utter that last part and sound like she believes it. And I can't blame her, but it's the truth. The mangled things wander around the whole area, usually they just prowl and steal things, but when they get closer to the old school building they get violent. They get fast, even. Or so I've been told, the things the Council has me doing have kept me closer to the outskirts of the excluded zone these days.

Hopefully it won't be a problem, though. I brought enough ammo for the whole damn gang.

“Yeah, well. We'll see how things go.” I climb to my feet, still keeping one eye on Hanako's trigger finger.

“Before you leave, Hisao.” Lilly calls. She's probably going to ask about the lack of a gas mask, but whatever heightened senses she has might have spelled that one out for her already.

She speaks slowly, choosing her words with care. “She would want you to know that she was thinking about you. At the end.”

I don't know whether to laugh or bristle. I end up just staring at the fire in front of me.

“How could you know?” I ask quietly.

“I didn't, not at first. But, well... once the changes set in.”

Lilly takes a short sip from her tea, or whatever it is that passes for tea these days. “She left an impression. She really cared about you.”

“She was...” Lilly trails off.

“She was the fastest thing on no legs.” I almost whisper, staring at the heart of the fire, not bothering to look up.

She would have been the perfect partner, I think. Agile, good endurance. Checking her prosthetics would have complicated things, though it wouldn't have been too difficult to manage. But Emi has been gone since the beginning, since the day it all came down.

She was fast, faster than anyone I had ever seen. But even she wasn't fast enough to outrun the blast.

I turn to go. I can't stop, gotta keep moving. I have to get this done, then I can head back and crash and maybe even hunt down some whiskey. Or vodka, that seems to be all anybody has in stock. But none of that matters until this job is over.

“H-Hisao! Wait!” Hanako calls. I glance back.

She stands there, her frame bathed in the warm glow of the fire that flickers in the low, early morning light. All decked out like that and with her gun still in hand, she seems like a completely different person from the one I used to know. But she hasn't changed so much. I'm glad at least one of us hasn't.

“D-don't get dead.” She says.

“Not in my forecast.” I reply.