Ever since this whole apocalypse started, I’ve always wondered about something every time I caught a glimpse of one of these radioactive birds. Just how strong would a freak of nature like this have to be in order to fly at this size? I mean, its wingspan was almost the same width as this side of the third floor! The side it destroyed, by the way!

And look at it flying there in front of me… it obviously knows just how terrifying it is. Eyes blacker than obsidian, only staring at prey it’s confident it can devour. Bone-like spikes at the tips of its feathers. A beak shaped like a giant spear. Not to mention all this green aura radiating from its body.

Geez, what kind of idiots would name this thing Jerry? This ain’t no Jerry! I can’t believe Sunshine had this same view for who knows how long… I cannot let that slide!

I lunged at the monstrous beast with my fist, hoping to end this fight quickly, but the bird didn’t even flinch at the sight of me—instead, it opened its beak, preparing for its meal.

Skipping the fight and already opening that stinky mouth of yours, eh? Just like my daughter… skipping the hard work and going straight for the prize. Don’t be so damn greedy, bird!

I pulled back my arm, aiming for its dark brown beak that hadn’t fully opened yet. I swung, but the bird moved quicker, opening its beak to its full, gaping extent, dwarfing me. With my fist left punching air, I was swiftly trapped in the mouth of the bird.

However, my new body wasn’t so weak that I could be swallowed easily, and that’s exactly what the bird discovered as I gripped its beak with all my might. Its slimy tongue curled beneath me, clearly trying to scarf me down, and let me tell you, this was definitely not a pleasant feeling. Though, with my hands on its beak like this, I was sure it wasn’t enjoying it either.

C’mon, you dumb old animal! Show me how much pain you’re in right n—

To my surprise, the beast’s expression was the same as when it first appeared before me. Calm and confident that it would devour me. Shit! Don’t these things feel pain in their beaks!? Hurry up and let go already!

Instead of letting go, the bird’s mouth stayed put, intent on its goal. Suddenly, this green, foaming liquid began to froth from its mouth, building up until it eventually covered my entire body. There were bones within it too—human remains. Sheesh, was this that vomiting technique birds use to feed their babies!? But if that’s the case, wouldn’t that just make me fall out? What was this thing trying to do?

My questions were answered when I felt myself slip further into the bird’s mouth. It was swallowing back the vomit, and unluckily for me, I was right inside it. I knew I didn’t have much time left, so I desperately slammed down on the beak, but it did nothing. I guess it really didn’t feel pain there. Just my luck…

At that moment, a surge of energy filled my feet as the vomit started to bubble and sizzle profusely. It was the same feeling as the one that launched me toward the apartment complex, and I had a feeling the two of us were about to go flying.

Although, unlike last time, we weren’t about to rocket into the sky. Fortunately, we zoomed through the air and out of the apartment complex, slamming into multiple trees until we finally hit the ground hard. I skidded across the terrain, feeling the energy in my feet dissipate with each scrape against the earth.

Finally, the last remnants of my power faded as I lay in a small crater—the dirt beneath my head acting like a soft pillow. I couldn’t stay down for long, though; I had to make sure my plan worked. I sat up and, as I expected, the radioactive bird was a few meters away, trying to fly up but failing miserably. I know I was gassing the bird up about its strength earlier, but even a monster like this should have trouble ascending with all these trees in its way.

Good to know logic still works in a post-apocalyptic world.

But with the bird losing its best ability… wait, what the hell is it doing now!?

Using the spikes on its wings, the bird shredded through the trees like they were paper. I quickly moved out of the way before any trees could land on me, ending up right behind the bird in the process. Once the path to the sky was clear, the bird extended its wings and prepared to ascend.

But there was one problem it had that I immediately noticed from behind: one of its legs was broken. Oh yeah! How could I forget how fragile those limbs are? They’re built like sticks.

The bird crouched down but squealed in pain as it quickly shifted to one leg. It then turned its head toward me and, for the first time since we started this battle, its expression changed. Pure rage—further reinforced by the deafening roar it released, along with an intensifying green light around its body. But like I said earlier…

There are scarier things in this world than some stupid bird!

I rushed toward the bird with all the speed I could muster, and with tremendous force, delivered a powerful punch to its belly, forcing it to vomit more of that disgusting green mess onto me. The second it covered my body, my feet blasted both of us into the air, my fist still buried in the bird.

Somehow, it managed to plant its uninjured foot on my chest, its talons digging in and making me flinch. Was this… pain!? I thought I was done with that feeling! How is it hurting me!?

The talons were too sharp for me to handle, so I was forced to pull my arm away from the bird. In one powerful motion, the bird’s wings surged forward, and the sheer force knocked me back. I was flung away, the makeshift rocket boots on my feet spiraling my body out of control. My attempt to regain control failed as the bird tackled me with its skull, pushing me toward the apartment complex.

I grabbed onto its feathers, trying to rip it off me, but Jerry was unyielding. Was he really that hungry for zombie meat!? Damn it… If only I could control this stupid power of mine! I could absorb all these attacks like they were noth—

Wait… absorb. Just how is this energy coming out of my feet anyway? If I’m right, then the moment that green vomit spilled all over me was when I started flying. Plus, after that, the vomit mysteriously disappeared, as if my body had absorbed it and used it as a power source. And if that’s the case, then why wouldn’t my hands be able to do the same thing as my feet?

I pretended to close my eyes—I didn’t have eyelids—and imagined having mini rockets for hands. My arms tightened as I squeezed, squeezed, and squeezed with all my strength.

Just as we reached the apartment complex, energy gathered in my palms, growing until it matched the size of Jerry’s wings. Then, in one powerful burst, it erupted into a beam that blasted the bird off me, sending it crashing to the ground.

With no bird or energy left in my feet to keep me airborne, I instantly fell, landing on the remains of the now-dead bird—reduced to a smoking skeleton. Even though I knew I wouldn’t be hurt from that height, it was still pretty scary for a man who’s never flown before.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Although, clearly the fear I felt up there was nothing compared to the fear all these loan sharks felt seeing their tamed radioactive beast killed by a mere zombie like me. Their screams were music to my ears.

“Th-Th-That monster just killed Jerry!”

“What the hell was that power it used!? It nearly killed me!”

“This is bad. Without Jerry… how are we supposed to get more resources!? He was our only bird! Our only flier!”

“Who cares about that? This radion’s gonna kill us next. We’re all gonna die!”

“There’s no way Dante didn’t hear that explosion! Somebody call him so he can release that radion he captured! That’s our only chance!”

“Screw that! Everyone, run!”

I could have easily brutalized every single one of them right then, getting them back for all the money they took, all the times they beat and humiliated me. But there was only one thing on my mind as I walked through the crowd of fleeing loan sharks.

Sunshine. I’m finally here to save you!

I reached the cage where they’d locked her, and for a couple of seconds, she looked horrified, which shook me to my core. Of course she did. I was a zombie now. My own child probably thought I’d eat her… just like the ones who ate her dad.

Could I even call myself her dad now? I’m… dead, aren’t I?

“Da—Jerome, is that you!?”

If I still had a heart, that question would’ve made it skip a beat.

“Yeah, Sunshine... it’s me,” I said, trying to contain the excitement building in my voice. But I couldn’t hold it back for much longer. “It’s your dad, who came all this way to save you! Did you see me fighting that bird!? Pretty cool, right? That was all the power of a father protecting his kid!”

Her expression softened a bit after hearing my rambling. “...You’re crying. Are you okay?”

“Huh?” I ran a finger down my face and realized that I was, in fact, crying. I didn’t even know how that was possible! And green tears? Why is everything so green nowadays!? “Yeah, I guess I am. I’m just happy, that’s all.”

I got on one knee and grabbed the cage’s metal bars. “Don’t worry about me. Are you okay? Those losers didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“What do you mean, don’t worry about you!? Why do you look like that!? You look like that zombie we saw a couple of months ago while we were going to Savir’s store!”

“I wonder the same thing, kid. Why does Jerome look like that?”

A familiar voice from my right made the imaginary blood in my body boil. I got back up and turned my head. There he was.

“Dante!”

Although he was shocked for a moment, Dante’s smug face, which I always hated seeing, quickly returned. “Not only are you a radion,” he continued, slicking back his jet-black hair, “you’re also a radion capable of thoughts and emotion, with enough power to kill one of my beasts that I worked so hard to get. Don’t tell me you’re a radiu—”

Before he could finish his irrelevant sentence, my fist was already sailing toward his face—only to collide with a sudden green bubble that sprang up around his head, stopping my punch entirely.

“Woah, woah, woah. You’re angry, I get that. But don’t act like this didn’t start beca—”

I threw another punch at his torso, and once again, another shield came to protect his entire body.

Dante’s face was soaked in sweat. “Jerome…you’re actually trying to kill me here, aren’t you!?”

“You kidnapped my daughter and left me for dead! And don’t think I forgot the last thing you said to me before you left. You’d sell my daughter to some weirdo who’d ‘enjoy her company.’ I should kill you right here and then kill that same weirdo you mentioned before!”

“Don’t be so gullible,” he laughed, wiping the sweat off his face. “I wasn’t actually going to do that. I was only going to sell her to the Slavelands. That’s all. You don’t have to be so angry about it.”

“Dante!” I pulled back my arm and began to claw at the forcefield.

“You already tried punching through it and failed. What the hell do you think this is gonna…wait, what!?”

To his surprise, the barrier began to seep into my hands, slowly weakening as I absorbed its energy. This power Dante wielded was similar to that dirty vomit the bird used, and since it was, this energy was mine to take!

“I can’t believe it! You’re absorbing my forcefield. So this is where that nuclear energy blast comes from…you really are a radius!”

“Shut up with all these terms already! The only thing I know is that I’m going to blast you to pieces just like I did your b—”

“I know about your daughter’s disease.”

I stopped, baffled by what he just said. “Wh—What do you mean?”

Dante jumped back, the cracks I created on his shield sealing up. “Ah, so now you want to listen to me.”

“Shut up and tell me what you know about it!”

“It’s a pretty rare disease, but I can say for certain that she would’ve been infected by it at the start of this whole damn apocalypse. Probably when that nuke first hit our city.”

“I already know how it started.” I took a few steps forward. “Just tell me how to get rid of it!”

“Don’t worry, I will. But if you want to know how to cure her, you have to understand just how much worse you made it for her.” Dante took out a red handkerchief from his pocket. “You see this? This is blood. Blood that your daughter coughed up before you got here.”

“What!?”

“Oh, don’t act so surprised. I’m sure she’s been coughing like this for a while now, and it’s all because of those damn dollar-store drugs you keep feeding her.”

“You mean the painkillers and sleeping pills!? I was only trying to stop her pain.”

“And by doing so, you’ve effectively shortened her lifespan from a few decades to now only a single year. In other words, by the end of this year, your daughter will die.”

My whole world shattered in front of me once I heard this. Sunshine is gonna die…and it’s all my fault. But that’s impossible! Yeah, there’s no way this guy’s telling the truth! Dante’s not some intelligent doctor. He’s just a normal loan collector.

The only thing special about him was that tricky power of his, and even then, it’s not like that was his own power. It was only some tool he bought himself at Woodhaven—the biggest human civilization that wasn’t attacked by zombies or rabid animals yet.

“You doubt me?” asked Dante, putting an end to my thoughts.

“You’ve given me many reasons to doubt you these past couple of months! And why the hell would you be telling me this anyway!?”

“Because plans change, and I’ve decided that you don’t owe me my money anymore. You’re a radius, and it’s only because of that that I told you about your daughter’s current condition.” He threw the bloody handkerchief at my feet. “You and her need to come to the Underground immediately. My words about you two won’t be enough. The guys down there have to see you both in person.”

“Underground? I thought you were gonna at least say Woodhaven, but you tell me some city that I never even heard of. Give me one good reason why I should believe everything you said at this point!”

Dante scoffed, flashing the green circle on his chest. “I can’t give you a good reason to believe me. But I can give you a good reason as to why you’re going to follow me there.”

A sudden shrill scream from Sunshine broke the air, setting me in panic mode. I whirled around, the ooze around my skeleton bubbling as I saw a bubble around her head, tightening with every second.

Without any hesitation, I rushed to her cage and slipped my hands through the bars. I was just about to try and absorb the energy with my hands when Dante said something that forced me to stop.

“I’d stop if I were you. I could crush or decapitate her head at any moment, and your absorption ability is far too slow to prevent that from happening.”

That asshole. If only I could get my fucking hands on him!

“Jerome…this thing…it’s hurting my neck!” she shouted, attempting to pull the shield off of her.

“Don’t worry, Sunshine! I’ll make sure to get this thing off you, okay?” I held her hands tight as the forcefield loosened, which seemed to calm her down a bit.

“All right, Dante! You just want us to come with you, right? Okay, we’ll come! But if this is just some trick that gets my kid killed, then I swear I’ll blow you to bits right then and there!”

The man curled his lips into a foxy smile. “After all the damage you caused here, you should count yourselves lucky I spared your lives.”