Subject 116

1

Mom was already dying before she got wound up in the explosion. The weak ones were picked off, they had no chance from the start. I didn't know what happened inside that lab, but something went horribly wrong. They called it a failed experiment of sorts, though I honestly didn't care. Mom was going to die anyway, but that blast shut her down all the way, and now she was gone. I hated those doctors and scientists more than I had hated anything, which wasn't much. I'd say I was a pretty happy person before most of the town was wiped out, but I still had my dad, which was something. He was the one to tell me that all my friends died too. I don't know how I was lucky enough to still have him around, technically he should be dead according to the statistics of what those scientists had given us. Not everyone was working that day, so some of them survived. But those who had become more than human weren't allowed to work with them anymore, since they were still figuring out a lot of details. I figured out my ability after Mom died. All the lights in the house went off, and I was miraculously able to get them working again. It didn't make sense until I started watching the news, and I saw more people like me existed. None of them had exactly my conditions, but anyone hit by the nuclear waves were given some sort of inhuman ability. Not like powers or anything, just little tweaks to the human condition. Dad never figured his ability out, but from what I could understand, abilities were only activated when a severe amount of emotion was coming from the person responsible. But I could only assume he had one, since he was alive after all. I was surprised he hadn't shown any symptoms yet, he was losing his wife to cancer, just to have her die in a nuclear accident. He hated the lab employees just as much as I did. Just for the hell of it, we had the news on TV one day, and when one of those losers in a white coat walked on screen, I made the power go out again. I thought Dad would be mad at me, but he just laughed it off, understanding how I felt. We smashed the TV to pieces afterwards, it felt good to let off some steam. I'm not saying I wanted Mom dead at all, but Dad and I had become so much closer after she was gone. I would say we bonded over the trauma, we had both been through the same thing, and it was a lot easier to understand each other now. I was willing to keep going for his sake, and him for me. He was all I had at the time.

I woke up one morning to the sound of a large vehicle pulling into our driveway. Nobody ever visited us after what happened, they knew we didn't want to see anybody. I always woke up late in the day, so I guessed it was just mail or something. My curtains were closed, so I didn't see who it was, and I really didn't care, so I pulled the covers back over my head, tangling my long hair even more than it already was. Suddenly, my door burst open, and slammed shut, making me jump, and I lurched forward to see Dad holding it shut with a harsh force. He looked out of breath, and his face was flushed a pink color, sweating a little bit. I let my eyes adjust to the light from my window, while it was shielded by the curtains, it still bothered me that I was woken up so abruptly. I rubbed my eyes, still oblivious from sleep, but his concern soon spread onto me, and I felt my heart start to race.

"Dad?" my voice cracked, and he held a finger to his lips telling me to be quiet. Dad was never this serious, he had always been a really laid back guy, so to see him like this was petrifying.

"Hallie, get in the closet right now. Trust me, you're not safe." he whispered as lowly as possible. I didn't have time to think about why, I rushed out of bed, almost tripping over the covers dangled over the side of the mattress, and opened the door to my closet. I looked back at him once for reassurance, and he nodded me on. "Turn the light off and get in the corner, make sure you're hidden."

I did as I was told. I was always scared of people telling me what to do without an explanation, that's how I knew it was a serious matter. My own breathing was an annoyance, I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to smother any sounds from being released.

My bedroom door opened and closed once more, and then the doorbell rang. I tucked my legs close to my chest, and buried my face in my knees, aggressively breathing through my nose. There was distant talking, I couldn't hear over how far away they were, but there was a man's voice outside, and I didn't recognize it. Someone I didn't know being here wasn't a good sign.