Radioactive Evolution

Chapter 8: Captured

Jared looked at Scarlet and shook his head causing gobs of rabbit fur and guts to splatter on the ground. "Okay, you win! I won't tease you about the dang rabbits anymore." Jared stripped his nasty garments off and scrubbed them using the sand nearby. Water was a scarce commodity, so he often resorted to scrubbing his skin and clothes with sand. It sucked, and he always felt chaffing after, but it was better than walking around with blood and guts all over.

When it rained, he tried to stay under cover and only expose himself for short periods of time. The rain was often acidic and caustic, which quickly degraded his clothes and gear and often left abrasions or rashes all over. He once got the rain in his eyes and it felt like exposing alcohol to an open wound. His eyes puckered and burned from the acid. It took almost an entire day before he opened his eyes without the stabbing pain.

One of the great side-effects of nanites coursing through his body was they eventually consumed any residue left on his skin. It eliminated body odor, infections, and any foreign substance given enough time. It wasn't enjoyable to wait long enough for that to happen and it did nothing for his gear.

Jared finished going through his gear and scrubbing as much of the fur and blood out as possible before putting it back on. Finally finished erasing his embarrassment from the rabbits, Jared excitedly stood up and walked over to admire Scarlet's transformation.

"Scarlet, you are huge... Oh, um... in a good way!" Jared amended. He recalled saying that to a girl he liked after seeing her for the first time in a year. She'd smacked him across the face and ran off crying. His dad, seeing the whole event, tried hiding the wide grin that split his face. Poor little Jared stood there in mute shock, no understanding of what he'd done wrong. It wasn't until several years later he understood... Well, I thought I did. He looked at Scarlet chagrined.

"What I meant to say is... Wow, you grew a lot! I thought the growth would only be twenty percent?"

The nanites nanites increased my size by twenty percent, but I am also maturing as a dragon and my body is still growing from the essence granted by my mother.

"I have to say, it is awesome! You look... magical... ferocious..."

Thank you, Jared.

Jared ran his hands along her scales. "They feel so much stronger and appear a little darker than before... thicker maybe?"

Yes, they are much stronger and can withstand sharp objects like teeth or claws. I do not believe they will stop a bullet or phase round from your weapons yet.

While he was in physical contact with Scarlet, he amplified his admiration, awe, and excitement to travel along their bond adding depth to his words. He felt Scarlet's appreciation for him and their companionship. The more time they spent together, the closer and more intimately entwined they became.

Scarlet filled a void in Jared's life. A void that opened after his parent's died. The void was voracious like a black hole and no matter what he sought to fill it, the despair remained unquenched.

Until Scarlet... Jared used his mental bond with Scarlet to speak and tried to push his emotions along with his words. You are family now! He tried to show Scarlet that empty void and how it ripped a cavity in his heart after his mother and father died. That same space that'd been empty for so long, gone. In its place was Scarlet.

Scarlet expressed sympathy and shared her feelings with him in the same manner. A scene flashed in front of his eyes. The scene of Scarlet hatching followed by her first transformation.

If not for you, I would have be alone, without protection, and without the ability to use the nanites. I would have been half the size of my first transformation and left to fend for myself as my mother left.

Jared felt a pang of sadness from Scarlet, but it was not a sense of loss as he'd have thought. It was a sense loneliness; not being able to speak with her mother... No, it's more than that...