Radioactive

"Tail lights fading, dawn light breaking, standing there like a fool.."

---

Taniss stopped spinning in the computer chair, gripping onto the table as he pulled himself upright in alarm. "What's it say? You're not infected are you?" He asked hurriedly, dizzily walking forward.

Matt clutched the paper with both hands, his mouth hanging open as he stared down at it. "I-I-uh--"

"What's wrong?" Taniss asked, stopping a few feet away from him in case he ended up being infected.

Matt glanced up in alarm, looking as if he could possibly faint. "Harpers pregnant." He managed to choke out, his hands trembling.

Taniss stared back at him, and Matt seemed a bit surprised by his lack of reaction. "She's--she's pregnant. She can't be--we just--I--"

"Okay, dude, you look like you're about to faint, you need to chill."

"Are you kidding me?!" He was holding the paper so tight that the edges were crumbling in his hand. Taniss stepped over the broken glass and managed to pull it out of his tight grip, glancing over it real fast. "She can't be pregnant, this is a mistake."

"Matt, you seriously need to sit down, man." Taniss tried to tell him soothingly, not exactly sure how to handle the situation.

"She's not pregnant." He insisted, still saring at the paper, held in Taniss' hands.

"Look, Matt, she is, okay? She's been planning on telling you she's just been--"

"You knew?" He interjected, sounding suddenly furious, a hint of confusion still obvious in his voice.

Taniss froze, "uh, yeah, I mean. Amaryllis and I just--"

"I'm the last one to know?!"

"She didn't know how to tell you! This is pretty shocking news for her."

Matt lashed out, knocking Taniss' glass off of the nearby table. A mixture of glass and water pooled at their feet. "I'm the father, aren't I? They swore that those rednecks didn't do anything with them!"

"You're the father, Matt, but that--" He didn't get to finish before Matt sent a chair flying, one of the legs breaking off as it crashed against the wall. Taniss had only seen him go off like this once, only a few short months ago when they went to check on his family. Before Matt could break anything else, Taniss did the only thing he could think of. He pulled back his fist, and punched his room-mate in the jaw.

Matt was taken by surprise, so the force of the punch sent him stumbling backwards. Whether he was too preoccupied by his thoughts, or he was just too shaky to return the action, he simply pulled himself up into a nearby chair, slumping into it. The punch seemed to help somewhat, and he messaged his jaw, sure a bruise would form. "Why'd you do that?"

"Listen, okay." Taniss pulled up a chair in front of him, sitting down and leaning towards him. "I understand that finding this out has to be pretty difficult for you. If it was me, I probably would've ripped my hair out. But you have to realize that it's ten times worse for Harper. We're in the middle of a zombie apcalypse." Matt still looked as if he wanted to scream and throw more things, but he atleast was taking in what he was saying. "You need to make up with that girl. She's having a hard time with this."

Matt remained slumped in his seat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke in a cracked voice, running his hands nervously through his hair. "I can't be a father. I'm a mess, man. And what if she's not the girl I want to be with? Honestly, we have hardly had much time together. I admit I like her, but...enough to have a family?" He let out a deep breath, "i'm in deep, man."

Tanis gave his knee a rough pat, "I'm surprised you even managed to get to third base."

"I'm having a heart attack right now, do not insult me."

-*-*-*-*-*-

Brown lead them back through the twisting hallways towards the main lab. When they entered his little office area, Matt was crouched down on the floor beside Taniss, cleaning up spilled glass. "What happened here?"

"We dropped our glasses." Taniss replied after a moment of silence.

"Oh, that's fine. Happens all the time." He got distracted by the results, scanning over them.

Unlike Matts reaction, he smiled when he scanned over the results from Harper, but Amaryllis noticed that his eyes flashed with an undescribable emotion. "Oh, congratulations, Harper."

She forced a smile back, glancing at Matt, but if he had heard, he didn't show it. He scooped all of the glass up and left the room. She noticed that Taniss was making a face at Amaryllis, like he was trying to tell her something without using words. The confused look on her face made it clear that she wasn't getting it. Eventually, she turned and followed after Matt.

"Well, none of us are infected. That's good. You guys are welcome to stay for as long as you need." His smile appeared completely geniune.

The doctor supplied sandwhiches for dinner, explaining that he was being sent supplies every day. He emailed a list of things that he needed for his expirements, and he included food and water, although most of the food ended up being sandwiches. Matt didn't look at Harper once while they ate. Atleast, not while she was looking at him. She noticed him giving her a pained look everytime she turned away.

They tuned into the radio, listening to the news report. Matt pulled away from the wall he was leaning against, crossing the room to tap Harper on the shoulder. "Wanna take a walk with me?"

She looked surprise, but she got up, following him out of the room. She fell into step beside him, "Okay, we're walking. What's up?"

He shook his head, "not yet. I want to show you the roof."

"The roof?"

He nodded, shoving his hands into his pocket, not even glancing at her. "Yeah, Taniss and I went up there for a little bit earlier. It's pretty cool." They were silent as they climbed up two flights of stairs. Matt held open the door for her, and she stepped out into the chilly air, wrapping her arms around herself. He slid off his jacket, opening it up for her so she could slide her arms inside. He turned her towards him, zipping it up for her. She kept his eyes trained on his face as he did so, but he only turned and wandered towards the edge of the roof when he finished. He leaned against the stone wall that wound around the top of the building, his palms splayed across the concrete. "Harper," he began, as soon as she leaned against the wall beside him. "about in the RV."

"What is there to say about it?" She interjected, sounding suddenly irritated.

He sighed, "Come on, Harper. We can't keep ignoring each other like this."

She didn't answer until he turned around, folding his arms across his chest, leaning back against the stone wall. "Okay, we don't have to ignore each other."

He stayed silent for a moment. It was obvious she wasn't going to be easy to draw information out of, but he wanted her to be the one to tell him, as if he didn't already know. A part of him hoped that she would laugh and tell him it was a false alarm, but he knew it was nearly impossible. "Good. I don't want to ignore you."

She traced the stone outline with her finger tip, "I don't get why."

"What do you mean?"

She opened her mouth and closed it a few times before answering in a quiet voice. "We don't really know each other all that well, do we? Amaryllis and I, we're just your ride. We're getting you guys to safety. We might as well be some random people who picked you guys up off the side of the road, offering you a ride for payment."

His eyebrows furrowed together in confusement, "what was my payment?"

"Sex."

"Harper," he rubbed his hand across his face, "I wasn't using you. And if all of that were true, Taniss and I would've taken the car and ditched you guys."

Harper looked as if she was mulling this new theory over. It seemed that she hadn't given it much thought before she replied, "okay."

It was her way of saying she wanted the conversation to be over, but he wasn't giving up. Trying a new tactic, he turned towards her, leaning forward until she seemed surprised by their proximity. "I've been worried, though."

"Why?"

"Seeing that pregnant woman at the store earlier reminded me of something."

She was very tense beside him as his fingers carefully brushed her arm, "we didn't use any sort of protection."

"Oh?" She asked weakly, as if surprised. "We didn't?"

He leaned away, sighing, running his fingers through his hair, as if it wasn't messy enough. "I know, you know."

She wrinkled her nose in confusement, "I know you know what?"

He tugged at his sleeve nervously before choking out the words. "I know about the baby."