If I recalled correctly, Geremiah had mentioned that there were random rules even he wasn’t aware of when he created this game with his ability. Breaking those rules would result in punishments. Still, I hadn’t expected the first few punishments my team received to be so detrimental to our goal—it really annoyed me. Now, I found myself in some random bedroom with no sign of my daughter. If I didn’t find her soon, she’d have to fight a Radius user on her own, and I had no idea how close those users might have been teleported to us. They could’ve been a couple feet away, right in front of you, or… sleeping in a rocking chair?

I immediately hopped off the bed, noticing a faint trail of green energy coming from the opened door to the sleeping figure at the other end of the room. I crept toward them, debating on whether I should just attack them while they were still sleeping or not. They had a blanket over their whole body, so I couldn’t see who it was. It might’ve been an Underground Radius member given the energy near them. Although, it wasn’t uncommon for normal humans to have some trace of radioactive or nuclear energy on them. If they had zombie blood on their clothes or if they were bitten by a mutated animal, then it would definitely be there.

However, upon yanking the blanket off of them, I realized that it wasn’t just some random person unfortunate enough to face a zombie’s wrath. It was an old enemy of mine. It was Dante, snoring without a care in the world. I almost thought the guy was awake considering his eye on his scarred half was wide open, but it didn’t move or react to me at all. Either he was blind in that eye or he somehow trained himself to sleep whilst ignoring he could still see. Either way, that must’ve been a shitty experience for him.

Not like I cared though. After all, I was the one who did that to him.

I poked his chin a couple times, and when that didn’t wake him, I resorted to smacking him in the face. His eye shot open upon the slap, jumping out of the chair as he activated a forcefield around his body.

“Who the hell… Oh, it's you, Jerome.” His face became calmer till he began to look around. “Where the hell am I? Did you take me here?”

“And why would I do that?”, I asked, placing my hands on my hips. “My team were all teleported to different places, and I ended up in this room. Apparently, we broke a few dumb rules, so now I got no idea where my daughter is right now.”

Surprisingly, he deactivated his forcefield and began to survey the area. “Did the ref give you guys any location names? Or at least the radius that you guys would be in? A hundred foot radius? Five mile radius?”

“No, it only said it would separate the players,” I answered, walking towards the window. It was still raining outside, thunder reverberating across the sky. I noticed a group of zombies huddled up together in a bus shelter near a bus stop. Zombies weren’t damaged by the rain, but it did cause them discomfort for some reason. “The weird part is the rule was only considered broken when an ‘extra player’ stepped on the ground, but the guy didn’t even know about the damn game. Maybe it’s ’cause I touched him?”

“That’s weird,” he responded, somberly staring at a superhero hat in his hands. “Me and Geremiah were chilling in someone’s shack, and the referee didn’t give us any problems. It probably is because you touched him. Then again, that doesn’t explain why I got separated from my teammate too. What was the other punishment you guys got?”

I turned my head back to the window. “Three radius ability users getting teleported to our locations. I’m sure Jesus should be fine and it’s not like I doubt Sunshine, but I still wanna see if she’s ok.”

“Hmm, then there’s no need to worry. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked, annoyed by how casual he sounded.

“Well, it’s not like the ref specified what it meant by Radius ability users, right? Just in case you forgot, the Underground City A Radius members aren’t the only ones in this world with powers. You and your kid are perfect examples of that. But there’s also ones out there with powers who aren’t affiliated with those guys. Like Geremiah and some of Anthony Corelone’s guys. You do know who that last guy is, right?”

A burning rage filled my mind the moment I heard that name, but I quickly snuffed out the flame. “Yeah… I actually know him quite well.”

“Oh, don't tell me you were a slave?”, he joked, laughing a little. It didn’t really sound like a laugh coming from someone who wanted to get a rise out of me. It sounded awkward, as though he expected me to laugh too.

Obviously, I didn’t laugh back, and my blank face swiftly wiped the smile off his face. “No, I wasn’t. I knew someone who was though—really messed up her head.”

Dante’s eye widened a bit, nodding in understanding. “My bad. I was just trying to uh… lighten the mood, I guess. Anyways, what I was trying to say was that the ref teleported any random Radius user. That's why I'm here in this room with you. It counted me in that category. So, odds are the kid should be fine.”

“It’s not just that…”, I muttered, turning back around. “Sunshine was… Hey, Dante, you were around her for a bit, right? Did she ever… fake cough?”

“Fake cough?”, he murmured, folding his arms. “I couldn’t say. She’s usually an honest girl. There was one time I thought she was lying about my face ‘looking cool’, but those eyes…” He smiled a bit, scrunching his brows. “Those eyes never lied to me.”

“Hey, don’t get all soft-eyed reminiscing about my daughter,” I demanded, causing him to sneer. “I asked you if she ever faked something about her disease.”

Dante scratched his scarred scalp and said, “And like I said before, I wouldn't know. Damn, would you get off my back already?”

“Hey, I don’t even know why you’re helping me!”, I shouted, approaching him. “You think just ‘cause you were nice to my daughter means that we’re friends?”

“Look at me!”, he said, gesturing to his scarred half. “Everyone back in the Underground thinks I’m a freak. I know how you feel now, and I got no right to belittle anyone anymore.”

“You think you’re a freak?”, I exclaimed. “Bitch, I’m a zombie! I’m the king of all freaks. Your face is a work of art compared to mine, and I don’t even have one technically. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be a zombie? I can’t eat, sleep, smell, and I don’t have a dick. I haven’t worn actual pants in a month.”

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“I heard scissoring’s not that bad with girls.”

“I’m not a girl!”

Dante firmly gripped my shoulder and smirked, eye lighting up. “We have more important things to discuss than your scissoring fetish, Jerome. Do you really think… my face is a work of art!?”

What the hell was this prick babbling on about? I only meant in comparison to mine, not in general!

“What I’m trying to say is that our situations aren’t comparable.” I pinched my forehead in frustration, which was hard to do considering I was trying to squeeze bone. “If only you knew who was the reason for this happening…”

“Who? So it wasn’t just bad luck with a zombie, eh?” He removed his hand from my shoulder and started scratching his chin. “I guess that makes sense considering you’re a Type Two Radion. Hmm… Maybe if I help you get revenge, you’ll accept my apology.”

What kind of stupid logic was that? You were the one who did this to me!

Unfortunately, my “Fatherly Beam” hitting Dante’s skull not only screwed up his face, it also screwed up his memories. According to Sunshine, every memory from when I confronted him near Savir’s store to when I defeated him in battle had been erased. I’d love to just punch him in the face and force him to remember, though he would be useful as some sort of ally. Which meant I needed to keep him in the dark for now.

So when Dante asked me who was the reason that I became this way, I simply told him I didn’t know. It seemed like he didn’t believe me as he was about to say something else. That was until we heard something shatter in one of the other rooms.

“The hell? Was there someone else in the house when you got here?”, I asked, keeping my voice low.

“How would I know?” He pulled out his pistol, forming spikes near his head made of energy. “I was teleported here.”

“There’s a trail of energy leading into the room that stops at you,” I whispered, creeping out of the room. “You’re telling me you didn’t just pop into the house and walk up here?”

“And just take a nap after the sight of you?” he said, following me. “Do I look stupid to you?”

I continued down the hallway. “You can answer that question better than me.”

“What you sa-”

“Hold up, you hear that?”, I interrupted, holding up a hand. We were a few feet away from the next room, and I heard someone talking to somebody in there. It didn’t seem like they heard my conversation with Dante, so it was likely we had a chance to catch them off guard. And if they were just a normal human, then we’d just leave them alone—simple!

I peeped inside and saw that the person speaking was… my daughter!

“Sun-”

Before I could call out my kid’s name, Dante quietly told me to shut my mouth and listen.

“But why should I do that?” I whispered, crouching down next to the door.

“We should've been in her Energy Sense’s Radius, and yet she didn't come and see us,” he whispered back. “Isn't that a little weird to you? Especially since you're her father?”

“Maybe she got here before us and there wasn't anyone else in the house at that time.”

“That's unlikely if you guys were all teleported at once. You would've shown up here at the same time. Actually, she shouldn't even be here in the first place if all the players on your team were separated.”

“What are you trying to tell me?” I said, worry in my voice.

“Let’s just keep listening,” he replied, dodging my question.

As I watched Sunshine stand in the bedroom, I noticed that nothing about her was any different from when I last saw her. The same hair, clothes, baseball bat, and voice. She had a status board in her hand, and it looked like she was on a call with someone. It was the same one she used to track the beacon Elias activated in order to find my location. The only thing that was unusual was the white device covering her ears. They looked like headphones, but I didn't remember Sunshine having one or mentioning them.

“I already told you, I don't know my location,” she said. “I just know I was teleported to some random place, and I need to find… Jerome.” She didn't speak for a bit, and then continued with, “Yeah, I'll make sure to get that done too. I'll notify you once it's completed.”

Sunshine turned the status board off and took off her headphones. Once she shoved the phone back in her pocket, she turned back around and began approaching the door. However, the second she saw my face peeking from the side, she stopped as if she was frozen in time.

“Hey, Sun-”

A deafening scream from her mouth filled the room, causing both Dante and I to jump in surprise. Sweat dripped from her face, and her body was shaking like a frightened bunny had just come face to face with a hungry wolf. I hadn't heard my daughter scream like that since the day I saved her in that apartment complex, and I had no idea why…

“Woah there, Sunshine. What's wrong?”, I asked, slowly approaching her.

“Uuuuh… nothing!”, she exclaimed, straightening her body with an awkward smile. “I just wasn't expecting… you to be in-” Another boom echoed from the sky, sending the girl into a frenzy. She curled up into a ball on the ground and asked, “W-W-What the heck was that horrible sound? Has the… calamity finally started?”

I laughed softly, under the impression my daughter was playing around again. “Alright, that’s enough joking. We gotta hurry up and head back to our spot before Jesus gets-”

“With all the catastrophic events going on outside!? I think not. There are bullets raining down from the sky, the bellows of a giant filling my ears… Don’t you see? This is the end!”

“Girl, that’s… just rain and thunder.” I crouched down next to her. “You sure that disease isn’t messing with your head a little?”

“Jerome, this isn’t your daughter,” whispered Dante, who was now behind me. “I mean, look at her. She's freaking out over a little rain.”

“Well, maybe-”

“Woah, Dante Williams,” she said, quickly getting back up and giving Dante a fan-girly look. “Your face is more fascinating up close than from afar. The fact that you were able to survive an attack of such magnitude is a testament to your abilities.”

“Jerome, I was wrong.” Dante moved next to Sunshine and patted her back. “This is definitely not an imposter–totally the real Sunshine. Only the real Sunshine would've said something as nice as that.”

“Positive, I am definitely the real Sunshine,” she asserted, puffing her chest out with a confident smile.

You're only saying that ‘cause she complimented your face!

I picked up my daughter and carried her over to a window in the room with its sheets closed. “I was looking at the rain a couple minutes ago, and it was a pretty beautiful sight. You wanna see, don't you?”

“Well… as a girl born on the surface, I already know what rain is. But, I guess I can take a look.”

With a gentle swish, I pulled the curtains aside, revealing the rain-slicked world beyond. Droplets streaked the windowpane, and the earth below looked damp. Despite it being the same phenomenon I’d see every other week, Sunshine’s eyes said something different. There was a combination of fear and amazement in those brown eyes, as if this was the first time she had ever seen water falling from above. e.

“Dad… this is insane. Preposterous… Marvelous.”

She called me…

Without hesitation, I hurled her into the air, and as she came down, I drove a punch into her face, sending her crashing through a wall.

If I knew anything about my daughter, it was that she wouldn’t call me that word so damn casually, and only an imposter wouldn’t know something like that.