Nuclear Born

FEBRUARY 203_, UNKNOWN LOCATION

<<<Hey Readers, welcome the first chapter of Nuclear Born! This chapter (and most of the story) will star Nataliya, an 18 year old Russian girl. When there is a chapter in her POV, I will occasionally use Russian words for certain important nouns. Also, there may be occasional Russian phrases since Nataliya and a few other characters speak Russian. For all you Russian speakers out there, I do not actually know Russian, so I am using Google Translate XD !! If I get something wrong, please let me know! I want this to be as authentic as possible. :) Enjoy!>>>

Nataliya stared at the automatic sliding glass doors as they brought in the new captives.The glass was not see-through on her end, so she didn't get a chance to observe them until now. The Ryadovoy, in their olive green uniforms, black glasses, and domed helmets, pushed the group inside.They were a scrawny bunch, with torn and dirty clothes. Their ages ranged from 5 to 18 years. The youngest toddlers and babes in arms were taken away by white-clad Medsestry back behind the opaque glass doors. Nataliya felt a face lean into her right ear as she watched the newcomers shuffle around nervously through the corners of her eyes.

"Sad looking squad, aren't they? Don't think they'll be helping us get out anytime soon."Chad's lighthearted American accent played on Nataliya's ears. She turned her face toward him so their noses were inches apart and smiled.

"You are too dismissive.Zome of them might have good attributes." She looked back at the forlorn pack, now abandoned by the Ryadovoy and beginning to disperse, shyly, through the room. They looked hopeless. Nataliya sighed. "But you are right. Zese children are useless. And I don't feel like makink new friends." She disliked speaking in English,even though she was fluent. Her harsh Russian tongue broke through the fragile words despite her attempts to mask it.

"Eh, who cares. We'll be sent to quarantine soon enough," Chad said, pushing himself off the hard plastic folding table with his muscular arms. "You are almost 19, right?"

Nataliya watched him, herself still sitting on the tabletop with her feet resting on the gray bench. He was in the middle of raising his arms over his head to stretch his triceps, and a lock of his platinum blonde hair fell down over his gorgeous blue eyes.

"Da,"she said, annoyed, feeling the flush burn her cheeks.

Chadwick grinned his set of perfect teeth and finished the stretch. "Well then, there's nothing to worry about. You won't have to make friends!" He leaned in towards her again, his breath sweet on her face. "Just you, and me. That's all we need to get out of this hell-hole." He kissed her.

The contact sent an electric current up from Nataliya's core to her chest, leaving her breathless, with a fluttering feeling in her stomach, and hot and cold and the same time. The hair stood up all along her neck and behind her ears. She knew her face was bright pink. She couldn't help a gasp as she said her next words. "But I don't even know my attribute yet," she replied. Or yours,but Chad was too quick.

"Doesn't matter. You're not scared or looney like some of these kids. And you're smart." He smiled his charmingly crooked lips. "I like that."

Nataliya felt the blush again and smiled, averting her eyes from Chadwick's good looks. It was true she knew a lot more about this complex than the other child prisoners did. Though she didn't know exactly where they were, she did know that her own government had set up several remote detainment camps for children once World War III started. The North Korean CHO-bomb, and the subsequent new versions and retaliation bombs, produced side effects in young children exposed to the radiation and fallout. As they grew, and as more hybrid bombs littered the civilian wastelands, the children began to show extraordinary powers. The President of Russia ordered that all children from the ages of 2 to 20, whether they be of his own nation or that of his allies and foes, be rounded up and housed in observation labs where their powers would be assessed. Nataliya had been sent to this specific unit when she was eight. Chadwick had been captured from California five years later, and they had become good friends. More than good friends, Nataliya reflected, thinking on the heat filled nights she and Chad would find an unoccupied corner of the room to let out their tension. He was everything she wanted: love, support, a sense of belonging, and the same desire for freedom.