Kiss Me, I’m Radioactive by Joachim Heijndermans

With a swift motion of her fingers, Katie pulled the zip-safe bag shut, finishing her lunch preparation for the day. And what a lunch it was. A canteen of water. One apple. One pear. Two slices of sandwich bread that held a few slices of genuine Gouda, a quarter of an avocado and a leaf of lettuce together. What more could she ask for?

Then, two arms wrapped themselves around her waist that answered that question. “Hey,” said Will. He kissed her neck and pressed himself up against her. His warm breath tickled her slightly. She could also feel how excited he was, even though her thick insulated suit.

“Hey yourself,” Katie said, giggling slightly. With a tap of her director glove, she let the lightest of sparks fly from her fingertips against his skin.

“Yow! That smarts!”

“Oh, don’t be a baby. That was barely enough voltage to raise a hair.”

“It still hurt like nobody’s biz,” Will said with a pout.

“Serves you right for being fresh,” she said. “You know I don’t have the time for your shenani-zoids. I’ve got to get to work.”

“Don’t. Take the day off,” Will said, grasping hold of Katie once more, burying his face in her hair.

“No. I can’t. We’ve got the jump at oh-seven-seven. That means everyone on the team has to be on call. No exceptions,” she said.

“C’mon. Stay, please. I’m sure they’d be fine if you didn’t show. Stay, please?” Will said. He took one step back while his hands stayed on her hips. Katie’s eyes wandered down, taking note of Will’s lack of pants. She smiled, as she felt tempted to take him up on his very alluring offer. Being forced to crawl through vents, encased in a bulky suit or spend the day goofing off with Will? The fun choice was the obvious one. But that wasn’t her. She chuckled, shook her head and lunged herself into his arms, planting her lips firmly on his.

“Later, okay? We’ll pick it up later,” she said. She then stepped back, clasped her tool belt around her waist and exited their shared quarters. Not that she left, mind you. She stood there in the gangway, her gloved hand clasped on her neck. It was so tempting to blow it all off and stay home. To sit in all morning. Eat breakfast together with Will. Watch some stupid crap on the stream that wasn’t funny, but made them crack up anyway. Make sloppy love, then laugh awkwardly about it afterward.

“Yow!” she yelped. While lost in her daydream, she’d inadvertently fired off her glove’s tasers again, this time striking herself. Will was right; it did sting like a bitch, she thought. Her little goof snapped her out of her funk. With a laugh, a shrug and a click of a button, she called up her suit out of standby, which leaped down from its perched spot on the ceiling and clasped itself gently onto her back like a long coat of steel. The visor slid over her eyes and turned to a sapphire blue, activating its OS. She logged herself in on her time-clock, then leaped into the air to make her way toward Deck 3-4-1. Just another day at the rat-race that was Vessel maintenance team Seven-Two-Shark.

She couldn’t wait to go home. Back to Will.

#

“Hey,” said Will.

“Hey yourself,” said Katie, as she tried her best not to cry. Even with his entire body covered in yellow plastic and the black oxygen mask obscuring half his face, she was still glad to see him. It was his bright green eyes that really did it. “So, they let you in?”

“Not at first, but the Commodore had final say. They weren’t going to say no to him. You saved your team. You saved the whole ship. You’re a hero.”

“Yeah, a hero with a half-life of seventy years making all the Geiger counters screech just by walking past.”

“I still think you’re cute.”

“Yeah? Even with me glowing in the dark?”

“Are you kidding? It means I can see you better when we get freaky.”

Katie laughed. “Don’t be fresh, you. You’d get sick from just being in my vicinity.”

Will edged closer, extending his hand. Katie took it, though she missed feeling the warmth of his skin. Instead, she was forced to touch a tacky plastic glove, another barrier between her and the living.

A tear rolled down her face. “I should have taken the day off.”

“K–,”

“I’m so stupid. I should have taken off.”

“That’s not you. You’ve shown that.”

“Yeah, I suppose I did,” Katie sighed, as she wiped the tears from her face.

“Do they know how long you have?” Will asked.

“Well, I’m the first person or animal or plant to be exposed to such extreme radiation that didn’t drop dead on the spot, so they haven’t got a clue.”

“So you’ll turn into the Hulk then?”

“That would be She-Hulk. And no; I’m just gonna die. Nothing fancy or cool. Just dead.”

She could hear Will choke up from behind his mask. “Will it hurt?” he asked.

“A lot.”

“Shit,” he whispered. “Anything I can do?”

“Not really. I’m gonna just have to sit it out. They set up a screen and a feed to keep me entertained. I’ve got a library of over six-thousand shows for me to watch.”

“Yeah? What’re you watching now?”

“‘Joanie and Chachi’.”

“Any good?”

“No.”

They laughed. It wasn’t a hearty laugh. And it certainly wasn’t tears of joy that ran down their cheeks. Katie wrapped her arms around Will’s neck. When he squeezed her tightly, he felt the small lumps on her back pushing through her thin shirt.

“Oh, Katie. Why’d you have to be so damn selfless,” Will said.

“Why did you have to have a thing for selfless chicks who rock?” she retorted. “And what happened to all that ‘that’s who you are’ talk from before?”

“There’s a big difference between selfless and suicidal.”

“No, there isn’t,” Katie said, leaning back, while she kept her hands locked on his hips.

“Where did you get this dorky shirt?” he asked, pointing to the drawing of the smiling isotope saying: ‘kiss me, I’m radioactive’.

“It was all they had they could spare. Couldn’t let me keep my old clothes, with all that radiation clinging to it like a bad smell. They even burned the bracelet you got me for my birthday.”

“That’s all right. Besides, the shirt looks good on you.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Hey, just trying to cheer you up.”

“That’s sweet of you,” Katie sighed. “But please don’t stay here for that. You can go.”

“Go where?”

“The Teiga park on deck three? Or go to our little pond at the fourth dome, where we fed the koalas? Anywhere where you can remember me fondly. After that, move on and be happy, okay?”

“But–?”

“Shh. Just go. It’s all right. We don’t even know if your suit keeps you safe enough. Don’t get sick from hanging around me, all right?”

Will looked at her, brushed his hand against her cheek, and smiled underneath his mask. “Before I go, could you close your eyes?”

Katie did as asked, but darted them open again when she heard the hiss of sealed air escaping. She saw Will’s face, unmasked, grinning like an idiot.

“What did you do? Why–?” Katie gasped.

Will answered her by placing his lips on hers. She returned the kiss and stroked her fingers through his hair. His body felt warm against her fingertips. It had only been a day or two, but it seemed like eons since she last felt his skin on hers. Together they stood in the quarantine bay, locked in an embrace, while sirens blared and the bay’s doors slammed shut into a deadlock, sealing them both inside.

—

Joachim Heijndermans writes, draws, and paints nearly every waking hour. Originally from the Netherlands, he’s been all over the world, boring people by spouting random trivia. His work has been featured in a number of publications, such as Metaphorosis, Hinnom Magazine, Every Day Fiction, Asymmetry Fiction, Kraxon Magazine, Gathering Storm Magazine and Ahoy Comics. He’s currently in the midst of completing his first children’s book. You can check out his other work at www.joachimheijndermans.com, or follow him on Twitter: @jheijndermans