Radioactive - Book 1: Birth 🪼⚛️🤕💻❤️ 🚀 🔨

Twenty Four

I stay in the hospital for a couple more days when I'm finally able to get out. God, I hate being in the hospital. Now that I am not exactly 'welcome' in them as well due to being RH-, it has given me more of a reason to hate them. Dad loads me into the car and I notice that there is a bag in the back seat.
"What's that?" I ask.
He looks back there and gets in the car.
"It's meat for Nalak."
"I guess he got his appetite back..."
"Yeah, he's been eating up a storm... Will you be alright with this? I mean, I think it would have been easier to have your reunion at the hospital where he was limited in time..."
I shake my head. "I have to do this like this. I don't want to feel guilty anymore and I don't want to have this feeling again. I know Nalak is just as scared as I am about our reunion but I want him to know that I'm okay with everything. The hospital was stressing me out and I wouldn't have been able to do what I want in there. Plus, all he would do would blame himself and we've already passed that feeling back and forth like a bad tennis game."
Dad smiles as we stop at a red light when his smile fades and he suddenly locks the doors. I look at him but other than the pensive purse of his lips, he looks completely calm. I look out the windows to see what's going on but the light turns green and we speed off quickly. I look out the back window but there is nothing there.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
"What was that about?"
"What was what?"
"You got serious all of a sudden and just locked the doors without reason."
"You should always lock your doors, son, you never know the shady type of people that come out of the alleys."
I lift an eyebrow at him but I can tell he won't answer me no matter how hard I try to get him to and so I sit back, putting my hand on my stomach. The stitches hurt but I know I'm okay now and I hope that I don't ever have to go back to the hospital again.

***********************

We pull up to the hotel and Dad stops the car.
"This is the same one we were at..."
"Yes, but you're in a different room this time. Nalak said he paid for the other room, including damages, and then went to look for you. You'll be in my room."
"Is it a suite?"
"Yeah, Nalak was kind enough to let me upgrade."
"Is he okay? I mean..."
"He's fine. I think the abandonment just got to him, thinking he was the only one left. He may look a little different though, skinnier. He's had a rough time and so have you. Just... make up already, okay?"
I smile as Dad pulls out his key and slips it into the slot. I breathe in, getting ready to see Nalak. The door opens and Dad walks in, I behind him, and Nalak looks over.
"Mr. A, you're back... Where's R?"
I had been hiding behind Dad so I lean to the side and wave a little. He waves back with as much trepidation as I have and Dad puts the bag on the counter.
"I'm going to let you two figure this out on your own. I'm going to go take a shower."
Dad leaves and now it's just Nalak and I. I feel bad because I still have a piece of lavender on me and I can tell Nalak knows but it's helped me for some time. We both did things wrong against each other and it is going to be hard to bring those things up and rectify them, but we have to in order to move forward. The lavender has helped to keep Nalak away while I think of how to fix this...
Nalak gets up and walks towards me. He stops a little in front of me and seems to reach out, but stops short and looks away.
"I see you still have some lavender with you."
"It's not because I'm afraid of you."
"Then why?" He looks at me with hurt in his eyes. "I asked only one thing from you, R, and that was to never make it where I couldn't smell you. Why did you do that? Why did you abandon me?"
"I wasn't trying to abandon you, I was... I just wanted you to forget about me and go to the Badlands without me."
Nalak gives a humorless laugh. "As if I can forget about you..."
"Well, I thought maybe if you didn't smell me you'd give up."
"Why? If I didn't want you to come with me, I would have left you alone. I never asked you to bring me here yourself; you volunteered for that. I just asked you not to call the RDC and you decided to take me to the Badlands yourself."
He has a point but the pained look on his face was too much and I just couldn't look at him very long.
"That's true."
"Ramey, why are you doing this to me? We're friends, right?"
"Of course..."
"Then stop hiding from me with that stupid flower. It hurts to know that you're standing right in front of me and I can't smell you."
"Yeah, well, it hurts that if I remove it, you could jump my bones." Nalak looks heartbroken and I run my fingers through my hair. "That's... that's not how I wanted it to sound. I just don't want to say anything like I did that day. If I hadn't have said what I said, we'd be fine. We'd have left the city weeks ago... but we're here, acting like a couple who can't figure out if we love each other or not."
"And whose fault is that? It's not mine. You keep doing things that cause issues for everyone else. You take it upon yourself to make these decisions and then people have to come after you."
I gripped the piece of lavender in my pocket.
"That's not fair."
"Oh it isn't? Well tough luck, R, shit happens. It's not fair that I lost my entire family, it's not fair that I'm an albino, it's not fair that I have to go to the Badlands, it's not fair that my best friend makes me want to eat him, and it's not fair that you think you can dictate our friendship with that fucking flower in your pocket. I'm still not okay about what happened to my parents, those creatures and stuff, but when I lost myself, you brought me back. You helped me realize my mistakes and its time someone show you yours."
Nalak walks over to me and holds out his hand as if he will touch me but I can physically see that there is some sort of barrier keeping him from doing so.
"This is one of them. I can't touch you. If I needed to save you, help you, comfort you; I couldn't do it. All because you got pissed off. I wouldn't be able to find you if you got kidnapped by a rogue albino or something because of that stupid flower, but that's okay because for you it keeps you safe. Don't get me started on the way you think. I've never met someone so fucking selfless in my life. You're so selfless that you put yourself in harm's way and don't even care how it affects everyone else. Your dad had to come all the way into the city just to help you, you put your friend Girvan at risk, and you left me without a care. It's like you're selfishly selfless. It's mindboggling."
I set my jaw, clenching the flower hard. "Are you done?"
"Not in the slightest but it doesn't matter because that's just how you are... That's what makes us friends..."
I swallow a little as Nalak stares at me, his too bright blue eyes pleading.
"Please throw the lavender away. Let's just get to the Badlands and go about our business."
I pull out the lavender and then set it on the table. My scent must have been released because Nalak breathes in deeply and he grabs hold of the bar.
"God it still smells divine."
I grab him and hold him in a hug. He seems surprised and I squeeze him tight.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Nalak. I'm sorry that I caused you so much pain and didn't even care. I never wanted it to be this way... I just... I just wanted to help you so that the RDC didn't get to you. I don't know what they will do but I know it won't be good." I pull back from him and wipe my eyes a little. "Let's go to the Badlands together."
"Promise me you'll never do that again. Don't go where I can't follow you."
"I promise to never make it where you can't find me."
As if a spell had been broken, Nalak suddenly fell into my arms that were still on his shoulders where I had hugged him and he sobbed into my chest.
"Thank you! Thank you, R..."

**************************

After all the confusion, we stay in the hotel for a couple more days just to get back to normal with each other and the plan that we will have to follow for getting to the Badlands.
"So you're wanting me to stay at your friend's house?" Nalak asks, looking up at me.
"Her name is Sakina and she saved me from the streets after I had my collarbone broken and everything, remember?" Nalak nods. "Anyway, she lives close to the border of the Badlands, from what I understood. My plan was to get over there and stay for a couple of days so that we could figure out how to get past the first section of the Badlands, which is where the RDC is located. Dad said you have to go to the second section called Alter Town."
"Alter Town?"
"It's where those who are altered reside." Dad says, coming out of the bedroom with a yawn. "In all honesty, you should stay there too, R. It would be less hectic to try and sneak out of the Badlands with the RDC on the lookout."
I frown. "You would kick me out?"
"I never said that, son, I said it would be easier for you. You're always welcome back home."
The look in his eyes say something different but I ignore it and point to the holographic map.
"I don't know where Sakina lives but I know where she works. If we can get into to establishment, we can request her and see if she will be willing to let us stay with her for a bit."
"You're forgetting something."
"What?" I ask.
Dad comes over and narrows the map down and points to the line that separates Section N from the Badlands.
"This line right here is what they use to separate Section N from the Badlands but that line is also actually where the Arlecchino is located."
"The Arlecchino?" we both say.
"What the heck is that?" Nalak asks.
"The Arlecchino is the military base where we get all of our law enforcement, security guards, soldiers, etc. Any job that requires putting a life in harm's way is occupied by the Arlecchino Harlequins."
"Why are we just now hearing about this?" I ask.
"It's not made known to the public, that's why. But this is how they keep the Altered from the Badlands from going freely to and from Section N and the Heliotrope Sector. The Arlecchino are actually a form of Alters called Harlequins and they all have natural armor that can protect them from certain things. Like I said, they use them for the military or guards or the police force because if a fight breaks out, they have natural armor to defend themselves. They're raised from birth to be in combat. With that being said, they placed Arlecchino there for a reason... so you'll have to figure out how to get past that."
"We just can't seem to catch a break." Nalak says, falling back on his back to the floor.
I sigh because Nalak is right. It's like we take one step forward and two steps back.
"Look, right now you should just get to Sakina's and then figure it out from there." Dad says as he sips a cup of coffee he had made. "I mean, I usually would say plan ahead but the way that the barriers are structured, you'd have to get a good look at them in order to find a chink in the armor, so to speak."
"Yeah..."
"So when are we leaving?" Nalak asks, sitting back up.
"I'm thinking tomorrow?"
"Sounds like a plan."
"I'll let the man at the front desk know we'll be leaving in the morning. I think your car got towed for being in the parking space too long and no one claimed it so... will you rent one?"
"What? My car got towed?" Nalak says, looking at Dad.
"I think so. They had asked people in the building if one of the cars was theirs and they said that they would be towing it away if no one claimed it."
"Aw man..." Nalak says with a frown. "I guess we'll have to rent one."
"I guess you'll be leaving tomorrow too?"
Dad nods. "Yes. I have some business back at home to take care of."
"So this is goodbye..." Nalak says with a sad look.
"I'm afraid so."
"We'll see each other again though, right?"
Dad smiles but it looks forced. "Of course, Nalak."
There's something going on that Dad's not telling me but I know he won't say anything so I guess I'll have to stay in the dark, as usual.