Ever since becoming a zombie, the strangest part of it all was not having any of my internal organs anymore. The inside of my body was just a hollow void, occupied only by my skeleton. However, there was one advantage I could think of to being less human than before, and that was how fast, how loud, my heart would be pounding if it were still in my chest.

The goal of protecting my daughter allowed me to push through the fear of fighting all those enemies, but that didn’t mean it erased that feeling entirely. So when I looked into the crimson eyes of Jason, staring at us as if he had just found his prey, I was thankful I didn’t have a beating heart. Thankful I couldn’t breathe.

Because I knew that psycho only had one goal in mind at the moment. Listen for another sign of life. That was gonna be a problem considering my daughter was asleep, unbeknownst to the danger standing in front of us as she slowly inhaled and exhaled.

To my surprise though, Jason didn't seem to notice it at all, instead shifting his attention to Johnny’s severed hand on the floor next to me. The boy’s lifeless eyes were locked on me and I didn't dare take a look back at them. The man approached the head, a surge of murderous aura increasing with each step he took.

That’s when a realization dawned on me. If this murderer was willing to put an end to three innocent civilians from his own city, imagine what he’d try to do with my daughter! The guy just murdered a child for no reason other than to quell some sick desire. According to Dante, the Radius never intended to kill my daughter in the first place, but why would he carry around a machete if that was the case? Then again, he could still do some painful things to her without necessarily killing her.

Even with this new form of mine, I wasn’t sure I could defeat someone as strong as Jason. Especially with Sunshine still-

Jason towered over me, his sheer presence dimming the light radiating from my body. His eyes narrowed as he flaunted Johnny's head at me, twirling the kid’s hair around his finger.

Almost everything in me told me to run. Except for the tiny part that kept screaming “Punch him now!” Well, that tiny part was gonna need to shut up because there was no way I was going to risk my daughter’s life for some kid I talked to for a couple minutes. A kid that…I could’ve saved. If I had just mov-

Drip

For a second, I thought that familiar sound was Dante’s saliva spilling from his mouth. But I was wrong. Jason was crouched down close to the unconscious Sunshine and had dragged the tip of his blade across her cheek.

My child’s…blood.

My child’s blood!

The world around me froze for a single second and then…broke. A roar erupted from my mouth, echoing across the room. It shook the trophies, blew away the comic books, and even shattered the one window in the boy’s room. The force of my voice pushed back Jason quite a bit, but swiftly regained his footing and lunged at me, his machete aimed at my skull.

But before the tip of his weapon could even touch me, I thrusted my fist straight into his jaw, the shockwave of the attack rupturing the room as the energy on my arm pushed it even further. His skin felt rock solid and his body didn’t waver, but a thick boulder wasn’t enough to contain the rage of a father who had just seen his kid get hurt.

With the fire igniting inside my imaginary heart, flames dancing on top of my body, I released the majority of my stored nuclear energy in one burst. It expanded and expanded even further until it encased Jason entirely. Then, with a gigantic boom, the child murderer was blasted away by the explosion, obliterating the wall behind him.

Despite my brutal attack, I couldn’t stay to continue the battle. For Sunshine’s sake, I needed to get the hell out of here!

I began to channel my ability through my feet, scorching the wooden floor as I ascended into the air. Just as I was about to escape through the hole Jason had created, the masked man suddenly burst back through the hole I’d punched him through and tackled me. His unexpected entrance threw me off balance, causing me to lose control of my rocket feet and crash through the wall behind me.

We zoomed through the air, tearing off traffic lights and skidding off buildings while bricks rained down on all the terrified civilians. I made sure to cover my daughter's head through all the chaos, tightly clenching Jason’s face, hoping that would make him let go.

But the guy was unyielding, drooling in my mouth as tried to stab Sunshine. Eventually, we slammed into a random alleyway, forming yet another created in the Underground city. Luckily for my daughter, my back was facing downwards the entire time, so she didn’t take any damage once we hit the ground. Unluckily for me, the psycho still wasn’t finished; his hands were now wrapped around my neck. The energy I had taken from Dante’s forcefield had unfortunately run out, forced to lie there as the manic failed to kill me.

At that moment, I heard crackling above me. I turned my focus to the sky and I saw something…green. A green light plummeting toward us. Then, Jason stopped, releasing his hold on my neck. His pupils were dilated and his spiky hair now looked even spikier than before.

“You idiot!” yelled a familiar voice. “Who the hell said we were supposed to kill them?”

Jason dropped on top of me and I never realized how heavy this guy was. Probably heavier now that he’s unconscious. While I struggled pushing him off me for a few seconds, I was finally able to get him off.

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I sat up, massaging my pained neck. “That guy was so-”

“Strong?” I looked up and realized Kofi was looking down on me. “You’re lucky I came here before he killed that brat of yours. It probably would’ve happened soon,” he laughed.

“I would never let that happen. I’m already a shitty dad,” I said sadly. “Letting her die like that would’ve just cemented that.”

Kofi scoffed and stepped back. “The hell? You expecting me to deny that self-insult and reassure you that you’re the ‘best father in the whole wide world’? Well, guess what? I don’t give a shit about your parenting problems. I’m only here to give you some good and bad news.”

How did beating myself up over making some bad decisions mean I wanted him to reassure me!? Also, does he not notice my new form?

“Tell me the bad news fi-”

“Nope! I'll just start with the good news!” He folded his arms in a child-like confidence “Good news is…the Radius themselves have decided to call off their capture of you.”

I jumped to my feet in excitement. “Really? That's good! So, that means we're sa-”

“No,” he cut off. “It doesn't mean you're safe. All I said are the Radius members you saw in our building, including me unfortunately, aren't gonna capture you two at this point in time.”

I wiped the blood off Sunshine's cheek. “But weren't you guys pretty serious about my daughter’s disease and how it'll start a whole new apocalypse or something like that?”

“You already heard it from Dante, didn't you? The dumbass had his speaker open on his status board the whole time and we heard everything he said. You already know what she is and why we're not gonna kill her…yet.”

“Yet!? Does my daughter have an infectious disease or not?” I asked, holding Sunshine closer.

“Yes she does. But she's a Radius so we have to keep her alive for a little longer.”

“What the hell is a ‘Radius”? Why do you people keep calling Sunshine and me that word!? We've been called that word for days now and I still don't understand what it is yet. Is it like people with superpowers?”

“Listen, man, I never really paid attention that much when they told me about it the first time. But from what I understood, a Radius is someone whose ability can ‘fix the effects’ of the apocalypse from all those nuclear bombs. I don't know what your kid’s ability specifically is though. It's like some mind changing shit. All the scientists there want to study her brain and find something useful out of it.”

“I won't let that happen,” I asserted. “But you already know that, I'm sure.”

Kofi chuckled, electricity circling around his dreads. “Yeah, now that's the Radion I wanted to hear. Someone crazy enough to try and fight all of us Radius at once and think he has a chance of winning. You know that'll be pretty hard considering you're the one they really want to capture.”

“Huh? Why's that?”

“I don't know the exact details but I noticed something whenever they talked about you specifically. When Daemon and Granny Teresa talked about recruiting Jason and a few other people you haven't met, they said those guys we're going to fix the effects of the apocalypse. But with you, they only said fix the apocalypse.”

“That doesn't really sound that different.”

“Like I said, I'm not really about all that sciency technical shit they talk about in there. Take my words however you wanna take ‘em.”

It really didn't sound like much of a difference. I guess it has something to do with my absorption ability but how would that “fix the apocalypse”. From what other people have told me, other states and even countries are still in the “extreme winter” stages. Then you have others which are basically just uninhabitable. I can't fix any of that!

“I’d be lying if I said I understood fully but anyways, tell me the bad ne-”

“Time for the bad news!” he interrupted once again. “Remember when I said there were a few other Radius members you haven't met yet? Well, those members are allowed to go after you. Unluckily for you, none of them live down here. And since I assume you're going back to the surface somehow, you're gonna have to face them once they find you. How does that sound?”

He asked me that last question with a smile on his face, like he already knew what my answer would be.

“I guess it sounds like I'll have some more assholes to beat down to a bloody pulp! Should be a lot easier with this new transformation I got.”

Kofi raised an eyebrow, running a hand through his hair. “What transformation are you talking about? You look exactly the same since the last time I saw you. Or is this one of those ‘I transformed mentally’ kind of things?”

Huh? I looked at my body and…Kofi was right! My skeleton had retreated back to the inside of the radioactive ooze. Well, that power didn't last long. Where the hell am I gonna find another one of those Type Two Radions!?

“I think there's something else I'm supposed to tell you.” He paused for a couple seconds, intensely trying to remember whatever it was he had to tell me. “You know what? Remembering kinda hurts my brain. Let's just assume I told you everything I already knew.”

He better not have forgotten something actually important…

“Ok, I get you telling me how to better use my ability so I could beat Dante’s ass since you don't like the guy, but why tell me all of this? Are you not on their side?”

Kofi cackled. “Like I told you in the elevator. I want to see how far things can be broken. When you're forced to live underground for so long, you tend to start seeking more than what you already have. You're the only thing I've met that holds the capacity to ruin the world as we know it, keeping that dying kid with you. I want to see how far you'll go. I want to indulge in your chaos and strip you away from your goals as painfully as possible. Maybe you'll do the same with me. Who knows?”

I stepped back a few inches, creeped out by his ominous threat. “I'm not as crazy as you think I am, Kofi. I'm just a father trying to protect his daughter.”

“If I had a tier list on me, I'd put that description of you on S tier. Just right before a man who has nothing left to lose.”

I stepped back a couple more inches. “You know, if I'm gonna be doing all the things you think I'm going to do, then you should tell me how to get the hell out of here already.”

“Why don't we just go back the way we came?”

I looked down and the dark cloud over my mind cleared when I saw Sunshine had finally woken up. “Hey, you're back! It's about time!”

“What do you mean I'm back?” she asked, dropping down to the ground. “I've been here the whole time, right?”

“Yeah, but you were like…unconscious for a bit.”

“Again? Why am I always out cold? And…Ow!” She carefully caressed her bloody cheek. “How many times am I gonna wake up with blood somewhere on me!”

“She's right, Radion. If you use that flying ability you got, you can just fly through that giant hole up there.” He pointed up to the sky. “Don't know if you two can see it, but there's a faint trace of nuclear and radioactive energy. Keep following that and you'll make it eventually.”

“Ah, I just noticed that,” I said, looking up. “Thanks. But I’ve run out of energy to use so-”

“Don’t thank me. And I already gave you some juice when I shocked the big guy back there. Just enough so that you can fly out of here.”

He summoned a bolt of electricity shaped like a lightning bolt hoverboard. “Hurry up and get stronger, Radion!” he shouted, riding out into the sky.

I gotta admit…he's crazy. Really crazy. And yet, something about his expression when he was explaining his motives to me…it reminded me of Sunshine’s face when she talked about wanting a bedroom.

“All right, Sunshine. It’s about damn time we get out of here, right?”

She didn’t respond.

“Sunshine, I said-”

“That guy is…really cute.”

“Wh-Wh-What!?”