The Mutation Breakdown

by E S Richards

  She didn’t mind it for the most part, enjoying the responsibility of having a younger brother to care for and look after instead. But as she sat outside Cain’s hut now watching the sunrise once more she longed to be a little girl snuggled up between her parents on a crisp summer morning again. Her moments of being childish were long behind her and she was about to embark on the toughest journey of her life to find her brother. She didn’t know where she’d be for the sunrise tomorrow morning, or for any of the mornings after but she was reassured by the fact that wherever she was the sun would continue to rise, and there would be more sunrises for her to see in the future.

  She would finally watch a sunrise with Asher, and maybe tell him about his father. She believed he was old enough now to know about him, after all, there was only a week until his Turning Age Ceremony – a fact she had deliberately delayed telling Cain for a reason even she could not explain to herself. Perhaps because it put a timeline on them finding him, or perhaps because she simply didn’t like talking about the Turning Age Ceremonies, as her own had been a sham. She knew however she would have to reveal the truth to Cain eventually, especially if he was going to be accompanying her on this journey.

  As if he knew he was being thought about Cain chose that moment to walk outside of the hut and slide down the wall next to Zahyra. She jumped a little at his presence, lost in her own thoughts about both him and her brother. They didn’t say anything to each other for a while, just sat and watched as the sun rose to its point in the sky. Then as the desert air began to heat up Cain nudged her with his elbow.

  “Hungry?” He asked, “Big day.”

  Zahyra nodded and followed him inside. They ate a quick breakfast of the remaining rabbit meat from the one Zahyra had killed herself the night before. It was probably all in her head but she thought this rabbit tasted better than any other rabbit she’d eaten in the past, almost as good as the wild dog from a few days ago. It was undoubtedly just because she’d killed it herself, but Zahyra was certain this was one of the tastiest rabbits out there and took it as an omen that their day would be a good one.

  After they’d eaten Zahyra went over the mental checklist of everything they would need for their journey. Cain had helped her the day before but the list was still remarkably small considering the lack of possessions the pair of them seemed to have between them. Cain had his gun and a knife, the other knife he’d given to Zahyra seen as she’d lost Grayson’s in the fight she’d had with the Gen 3 mutant some days before. They both also had two bottles of water each, a few torn rags of clothing to use as bandages and some meat, which they had been drying out over the days beforehand. Aside from that it was just the clothes on their back that they carried with them.

  Neither of them really knew how long the endeavour would last. Zahyra assumed Cain knew where they needed to go, although it wasn’t something they’d actually talked about very much. She had of course explained everything that had happened to her, and all she had overheard whilst hiding above the mutants in the mountain.

  Cain was very shocked to discover how she had spent that night and how close she had gotten to the Gen 5 mutant who could create fire. After hearing this story Cain warned Zahyra that she would have to follow his lead entirely if they ran into any higher ranked mutants and for the most part she should just keep her mouth shut and stay out of sight. Zahyra was originally surprised by this remark, but understanding that Cain probably had more experience dealing with developed mutants than she did stopped her from putting up much of a fight to his suggestion.

  As they walked out of Cain’s hut that morning, still in the early minutes of sunlight Zahyra took another look around the minimalistic room. It really wasn’t much but she had felt safe here for the first time since leaving her camp and a part of her hoped she would see it again one day.

  When she turned back around Cain had already mounted his motorcycle and was holding his helmet under the crook of his arm. He had told her they would ride over to the shelter of the forest whilst the sun was hot, but then he would hide his motorcycle there and they would have to complete the rest of the journey on foot. Zahyra didn’t really understand why they couldn’t ride the whole way to wherever they were going, Cain had said it would take them two days on foot and she believed this was wasted time they could easily make up if they rode there.

  But Cain had been fairly emphatic about walking so she didn’t put up much of a fight, again not wanting to argue as she knew very little about what to do or where they were going. She also needed to constantly remind herself that Cain had no forced allegiance to her or her brother, nor did he have to help her so to argue with him wasn’t the wisest of decisions.

  Smiling at him Zahyra climbed onto the back of the bike behind Cain and wrapped her arms around his torso. He silently slid his helmet on and revved the engine into life causing the seat to vibrate beneath where the two of them sat. Zahyra held onto Cain tightly and snapped her eyes shut. This was only her second time on a motorcycle and the first she had been drifting in and out of consciousness so hadn’t really grasped what was going on. In all honestly she was a little bit scared.

  “Ready?” Cain shouted over the roar of the engine. Zahyra said nothing but nodded against his back, certain he wouldn’t be able to hear her timid little voice over all the sound the bike was making. Then all of a sudden it lurched forward taking her by surprise and they were careering away from Cain’s hut and towards the small forest in the distance.

  At first Zahyra kept her eyes closed and remained perfectly still, afraid that if she moved at all she would fall off the back and be left behind. Eventually however, her curiosity won over her like it always did and she gradually opened her eyes.

  Watching the environment zoom past her mesmerised Zahyra. The wind bashed into her body at this speed and the flecks of sand picked up and irritated her eyes causing her to squint. Despite there being a distinct lack of scenery for Zahyra to inspect at this pace she still gazed on in amazement as even the slightest of landmarks flashed by her. Sadly her ride was over before she had even properly begun to enjoy it and the engine of the motorcycle began to quieten down from an angry roar to a quiet purr, before stuttering and switching off altogether.

  They had stopped just on the outskirts of the forest, the ground within it probably not safe to drive over Zahyra mused. She climbed off the bike first this time and then turned around to look at Cain with a wide grin on her face. He took one look at her and burst out laughing, causing Zahyra to look around in confusion.

  “Sorry,” Cain exhaled between reams of laughter, “no helmet.”

  Zahyra remained confused for a moment before Cain gestured to her hair and she realised it was sticking up and all over the place from the force of the wind whilst they’d been on the bike. Embarrassed she did her best to flatten it down and regain a bit of dignity, slightly annoyed that Cain had laughed at her after she’d had such a fun time on their ride over.

  Whilst she sulked momentarily and rectified her appearance, Cain pushed the motorcycle into the forest and positioned it carefully between two trees. Once it was standing safely on its own he dragged some larger branches and leaves over to it and laid them over the bike, hiding it slightly from prying eyes. It was by no means hidden and would easily be found were someone looking for it directly. But if anyone just did a quick sweep of the area they would likely miss it meaning it would hopefully be there for when he returned.

  Following this Cain turned to Zahyra and started making a path through the forest, indicating for her to follow. She did so, although still feeling slighted by his laughter. Her mood passed quickly however and she returned to her usual pattern of chattering incessantly around Cain, hoping something would encourage him to share more information about himself and his life. Eventually even she was running out of topics to talk about so she decided there was no time as good as that to bring up the truth about her brother.

  “Um, how long do you think it will take us to reach Asher?” she sta
rted, wanting to ease into the conversation subtly.

  “Two days.” Cain replied simply. He had not spoken much at all since they started walking, in fact even less than he normally did. Over the last few days since Zahyra had managed to convince Cain to help her find her little brother he had slowly been opening up around her. He’d not told her anything specific about his life, but she’d noticed he did speak in longer sentences and he was becoming more open with his feelings. This had dissipated since they had left his bike behind and Zahyra really hoped this mission would not be a step backwards in her getting to know Cain.

  “Okay,” she continued, “so like two days ‘til we get to where he is or two days until we can get him out? What’s the place like anyway? This camp?”

  “In two days we arrive.” Cain said bluntly, ignoring Zahyra’s last questions about the camp where Asher was being kept. Zahyra sensed he knew a lot more about the camp than he was letting on and for once she was determined to keep pressing him about this matter so she had as much information about the camp as she possibly could do before they arrived.

  “How long do you think it’ll take us to get him out?” She pressed anxiously.

  “Depends.”

  “On…?”

  “The situation.”

  Zahyra rolled her eyes at Cain’s response, she was clearly getting nowhere with him. Frustrated she went silent again for about half a mile, trudging through the woodland slowly and doing her best to avoid the larger tree roots and stumps she could easily trip over. It was midday dusk now and the dense foliage above her didn’t allow for much light to break through to the woodland floor, meaning she couldn’t see that far ahead of her and had already tripped several times, much to her embarrassment.

  As she walked she mulled over all the possibilities about what could be happening to Asher, and how his situation would change in seven days time. Finally she swallowed her pride and knew she had to tell Cain the truth about how close to his Turning Age Ceremony her brother was. She jogged for a few steps to catch up with Cain, who had been walking a few paces in front of her. When he noticed her presence alongside him he slowed down so they could walk side by side, which they did in silence for about a minute before Zahyra broke it.

  “He’s ten in a week,” she whispered, unable to lift her eyes from the ground to make eye contact with Cain. She felt him stop walking beside her though which meant she had to turn around and face him.

  “What?” He asked quietly, looking her dead in the eyes.

  Zahyra began to panic, “I didn’t know how to tell you,” she started, “I didn’t know whether it was important or not!”

  Cain was visibly becoming more alarmed in front of her eyes and Zahyra continued to ramble on in an apology.

  “I thought we’d get to him beforehand really, I didn’t know I’d have to wait this long for my ribs to heal and…”

  Cain cut her off mid sentence, “A week?” he asked flatly.

  “Yeah, exactly a week today,” Zahyra replied sheepishly. She knew she should have told him earlier but had avoided it for this exact reason. She knew he wouldn’t react positively.

  Cain stood in silence for a second then shook his head and continued walking without saying a word.

  “You should have told me before,” he muttered after a few minutes, still shaking his head as he went.

  Zahyra didn’t know how to reply to him anymore, so simply apologised again and kept her head down, avoiding his eyes. They walked on in silence for another couple of miles until they reached the end of the forest and emerged once again into a desert wasteland. The desert in this area seemed less intense however and there were still several tress dotted around as they walked. In the distance Zahyra thought she could see the tops of some buildings, but couldn’t make them out in the midday dusk.

  Surely enough however they reached the buildings after another few miles and Cain suggested they rest there for a couple of hours whilst the sun was at its hottest in the afternoon. Zahyra quickly agreed with this suggestion, her body tired from all the walking and her clothes already dripping with her sweat.

  Cain led her inside one of the buildings which had been completely hollowed out years ago and now remained as just an empty shell. Still it provided shelter from the sun which was all they needed. Sitting down Cain handed Zahyra a few pieces of dried meat. She devoured them hungrily and then rested her back against the wall and closed her eyes, hoping to get a few hours of sleep before they undoubtedly continued their walk into the night. To her surprise her rest was interrupted after just a couple of minutes by Cain clearing his throat and preparing to talk.

  “Do you think your brother will be a Gen 1 like you? Or better?” He then paused for a moment. “Or worse?”

  Zahyra was thrown off her guard by these questions, and took a minute to think about her response. Firstly she was pleased to hear Cain talking in proper sentences again and also pleased to hear that the anger he had felt when she told him the truth earlier seemed to have faded from his voice. But she was also shocked to discover that he knew she was a Gen 1, or at least branded as one, as she had tried her hardest to keep her branding hidden since they had met.

  This annoyed her, as she still didn’t know what ranking Cain carried and therefore felt the relationship between the two of them was now rather one-sided. Finally she felt a little worried by the question as she was beginning to think Asher would be a Zero like she really was, but was certainly not prepared to reveal that truth to Cain.

  “Um, probably like me,” she muttered quietly after a moment, keeping her eyes closed and her head lolled back against the wall. There was quiet for a moment more until once again Cain broke the silence.

  “If he’s a Gen 1, we should be okay,” Cain finally said and then rested his head against the wall similarly to Zahyra’s and started to close his eyes. Zahyra on the other hand snapped her eyes open at this information and pressed to find out more.

  “And if he’s not? How much do you really know about happens in these camps, Cain?” She asked, frustration rising in her tone. Cain leaned forward now and looked at her, marvel twinkling in his eyes.

  “They are training camps,” Cain began, “or… labour camps.” He paused for a moment almost expecting Zahyra to interrupt him but for once she remained quiet and listened intently to him speak. “Gen 3 and above are trained to fight. Gen 1 and 2 are made to work, to maintain the camp, cook food and other things…”

  Zahyra nodded, encouraging Cain to tell her more.

  “If your brother is Gen 1 he will be put into labour, which is good,” Cain smiled at her, “easier to break someone out of,” he finished with a wink.

  “What if,” Zahyra started nervously. She didn’t want to ask the question but she knew she had to know all the possibilities.

  Cain interrupted her this time, predicting what she was going to ask.

  “Zero’s are killed.” He said matter-of-factly, “But you should not worry. You are Gen 1; your mother is Gen 2. Asher will be Gen 1 or maybe even 2, for sure.”

  He smiled at Zahyra doing his best to reassure her but this information stilled her heart in her chest. Of course Cain did not know that Zahyra was a Zero so thought it very unlikely her brother would be, but she obviously knew the truth.

  She closed her eyes again and leant back against the wall. They would have to get to her brother soon or he could be dead. She had prayed all her life that Asher wouldn’t end up like her and now she prayed for it harder than ever. Outwardly, and in front of Cain, she did her best to remain calm in light of the new information he had told her, but inwardly she was a mess.

  They remained sat in silence for a long while, waiting for the heat of the afternoon sun to pass outside. Zahyra heard Cain drift off eventually and begin to snore softly but she was unable to rest, her mind racing a mile a minute going over the new information she had learned.

  When the sun had finally set just under two hours later and Cain woke up beside her Zahyra was even more e
xhausted than she had been before. She smiled at Cain however, knowing she couldn’t let him notice her inner panic and started to rise from where she now lay on the ground.

  “Ready?” She asked Cain who gave her a nod in response. There was no time to waste and Zahyra was eager to get on the move again as quickly as possible, her brother’s life now literally hanging in the balance.

  Chapter 10

  The sun was just setting below the horizon as they exited the building, meaning the temperature was ideal for continuing their hike. Cain led the way continuing in the same direction as before. Zahyra wondered how he knew where to go as everything looked the same to her, but she remained quiet and didn’t question his judgement. The air between the two of them was still feeling slightly frosty.

  What she’d just been told about Zero’s being murdered at the camp had frightened her to her very core. Zahyra almost felt like every time something seemed to start going her way and things were looking up, a massive bombshell would drop and things started to get worse again. Her track record wasn’t that great when you examined it.

  On a bus to the safe haven: attacked by mutants. Discovers where her brother is being held: attacked by more mutants. Begins journey to rescue brother: finds out he could be killed in a matter of days. Realistically she hadn’t been the luckiest person over the previous week. The fact that she couldn’t even talk about her worries made matters worse as well, but she refused to reveal to Cain that she was a Zero and therefore that her brother could be one too.

  Not only had she been trained her whole life to keep it hidden from everyone, but she also still didn’t know what ranked mutant Cain was and resolved not to reveal anything more about herself until she knew more about him.

  She had contemplated asking Cain what rank he was when he brought up that he knew she was a Gen 1, but amidst the conversation about Asher it really didn’t seem like the right time. She knew she could just come out and ask him, but she was scared of what the answer would be. Despite how much not knowing frustrated her, it did at least allow her the relief of blissful ignorance.