by E S Richards
Zahyra noticed Cain’s cheeks flush red at this statement and realised how embarrassed he was by his mutation. He didn’t choose it. In fact he did everything he could to avoid it most of the time. It was just a curse stuck on him as a result of some stupid mistakes made over a hundred years ago. All of a sudden, Zahyra felt sorry for him.
She shuffled closer to where he sat on the grass and gingerly put her hand on top of his. Cain lifted his head up at that moment and looked at her, deep into her eyes. There wasn’t any trace of a monster in there. All Zahyra saw was the caring man who had saved her life time and time again and was going to help save her little brother’s life too. She smiled at him. A real, genuine smile that said she didn’t care about his mutation and knew he was the man he said he was. The man he wanted to be.
Cain returned her smile and rolled his hand over underneath hers so it was palm up. Then he slipped his fingers through hers and gripped her hand loosely. They stayed like that for a moment, neither of them wanting to move until a rabbit hopped out from behind a bush in front of them and started grazing on the grass.
“Hungry?” Cain asked Zahyra with a smile.
“Starving.”
Cain slowly let go of Zahyra’s hand and moved it down to his boot to retrieve his knife. He held the tip of the blade between his thumb and forefinger and aimed at the rabbit that was ignorantly unaware just a few meters in front of them. With a flick of his wrist the knife left Cain’s fingers and twirled through the air, finding it’s home in the neck of the rabbit. Zahyra flinched when the rabbit flopped sideways onto the grass, blood beginning to soak up its fur. Normally this wouldn’t have bothered her, everyone needed to eat, but with the amount of blood and death she’d witnessed that day it look her a little by surprise.
Whether Cain noticed her discomfort at his actions or not he didn’t act on it and simply rose to his feet and walked over to the rabbit. He picked it up by its hind legs and withdrew the knife from its neck, wiping the blade on the grass and returning it to his boot.
“If you find some firewood, I’ll prep this,” he said indicating to the rabbit in his hand. Zahyra nodded and wandered off around the side of the house in search of some dry wood they could start a fire with. She found plenty right away, snapping several branches off a nearby bush and cradling them in her arms.
Walking back to Cain she mulled over everything that had just happened. She’d gone from being terrified of him to feeling a strange sensation of trust and happiness. It was very clear to her now that the Cain she’d ran from earlier that day was a completely different person to the one she’d got to know over the last week: the Cain who’d just held her hand. Strange new feelings began to seep through Zahyra as she thought about him and she picked up the pace as she walked, eager to have another meal beside him.
The rabbit was all prepared by the time she got back to the garden. Cain had found a few rocks to form the basis of the fire pit and Zahyra dumped the wood she had found into the little semicircle. A fire was started within minutes and the two of them ate greedily once the rabbit was cooked. Sadly there was little meat on the small animal however and Zahyra found herself longing for another serving.
“Tinned peaches would go down a treat right now,” she mumbled to herself. Those really had been incredible. Cain looked at her, raised his eyebrows at her comment and laughed.
“Found some of them once,” he said, “not a fan.”
Zahyra gasped at him, reminiscing about the succulent tin she had discovered earlier that day. In hindsight she’d not eaten too badly recently, it was a wonder how she was still hungry.
Cain yawned beside her and got to his feet.
“It’ll be getting hot again soon,” he said, “how about we head inside and get some rest while the sun is out? Then we can have a long hike in the evening before it gets too cold.”
Zahyra agreed with him, not wanting to have to get up and walk anywhere as the sun was just about to come out again. In the city surrounded by buildings the heat seemed to be magnified and even the walls were too hot to touch. Albeit, when they were out in the desert the sand had magnified the heat as well. It was only the wooded areas where it was okay to walk around in the daylight and therefore where Zahyra had lived her whole sixteen years.
Moving inside the house Zahyra spotted an overturned table of some sort, although it appeared to be covered in old blankets. Moving closer she tested it out and discovered it was soft and squishy to the touch. She instantly sank down on top of it claiming her spot and making herself comfortable. Cain simply lay down on the floor, propping up his head with his arm and rolling away from Zahyra so he was facing the door. Zahyra did the same, although more to be looking at Cain than at the door she admitted. She watched his breathing become heavier until it was clear he was asleep, then closed her own eyes and willed herself to get some rest.
Chapter 14
After about ten minutes of tossing and turning Zahyra concluded her body was still running on too much adrenaline and sleep was not going to come. She slowly slid off the pile of blankets on which she lay, crept around Cain’s sleeping body and exited the house they’d inhabited. The sun instantly burned her eyes as she walked outside and she squinted into it. Scanning the area outside Zahyra was disappointed to not see any suitable shaded places she could sit down in and so was forced to return back inside.
She sat back on her pile of blankets as quietly as she could and watched Cain sleeping in front of her. It seemed unbelievable that so much had happened in just the last eight or so hours. Her feelings towards Cain were so conflicting now that she didn’t completely know how to act around him. It was clear to her there were two different versions of the man, and they couldn’t possibly be more different. Looking at him now he seemed so peaceful. The quiet little snores that escaped him told Zahyra that he was in a deep sleep, probably recovering from his tyrant earlier that day.
Knowing what he was and that there was a Gen 4 mutant trying to break out inside of him scared Zahyra. But she knew she couldn’t let it dampen her opinion of him too much. Everyone has secrets – of this she was well aware – and she couldn’t punish the good Cain she knew for the darkness he kept hidden inside of him.
She also desperately needed him to help her find Asher. She had no idea how long the events of that day would set them back in time before they reached the camp. Just like she had no idea how long it would take them to get in and get Asher out once they found him. When he woke up Zahyra vowed to ask Cain more questions about their journey. Up until now she had just been blindly following him, but the events of that morning had made her think differently and now she needed to be aware of the path they were going to take. She needed to be aware of any other problems that would befall them.
She mulled all this over in her head for another hour whilst Cain slept, prioritising what she needed to know so they didn’t have to waste more time. She woke him up about twenty minutes before the sun was about to set, ensuring that they would be ready to leave as soon as it was cool enough for them to do so.
“Did you not sleep?” Cain asked Zahyra in a concerned voice once he was properly awake. He’d slept like a rock, not once stirring the whole time Zahyra had been watching him.
“Wasn’t really tired,” Zahyra said shaking her head, “besides I knew we needed to get going as soon as possible, so didn’t want to sleep through any hours of darkness.”
This wasn’t completely true but Zahyra didn’t think it was necessary to tell Cain the whole truth. And it was part of the reason she had stayed up so she left it at that. Cain didn’t say anything more on the matter and they were out of the door a few minutes later, the sun hardly providing any heat as it sank down slowly over the horizon.
“How much longer ‘til we get there now?” Zahyra asked Cain after only a few minutes of walking, not wanting to spend any more of their journey in the dark.
Cain didn’t answer her for a second but Zahyra could see his lips moving silently to himself as he w
orked out the answer in his head.
“Should be there by midday dusk tomorrow I reckon,” he replied, “depending on how long we have to stop for along the way.”
Tomorrow. That was a suitable answer for Zahyra. That should give them enough time.
“And when we get there,” she continued, “how long ‘til we can get Asher out?”
“That depends,” Cain deliberated, “we’ll have to watch the camp for a while, figure out what the routines are, you know? So I guess we’ll spend a day and a night doing that, then we can try to work out a way in.”
“Hmm,” Zahyra said to herself under her breath. She wasn’t completely satisfied with that answer, but it didn’t sound like anything she could change so didn’t argue the point with Cain. Besides, she had a couple more questions she wanted answers to and while Cain was in the mood for talking she knew she had to take advantage of it.
“How do you know the way?” She blurted out as Cain stepped left to move down a small alleyway. They were still weaving through streets in the city but it looked to Zahyra like they were coming to the other side. The buildings were all a lot smaller here and less cramped together. It would appear they had successfully crossed the city. It was a shame really; she’d been enjoying admiring the architecture before all the chaos had ensued. She still hoped that she’d return with Asher one day though, and take him to that playground she had found.
Cain hadn’t answered her most recent question as he was sticking his head out of the other end of the alleyway, scanning the area for other mutants. Once they were clear and walking down another side street Zahyra asked it again, looking up at Cain as she did so he knew she was serious about getting an answer. He shrugged, swallowed and avoided eye contact with her.
“Been there before,” he muttered under his breath. He didn’t say anything else however and Zahyra stared him down hoping he would continue. When he didn’t she began to berate him with more questions.
“You’ve been there before? When? Why? How many times? Why didn’t you tell me this before? What’s it like? Is Asher okay in there? What are they doing to him? When were you–”
“Stop!” Cain suddenly shouted. Zahyra’s mouth snapped shut in surprise and she stared up at Cain. What was going on with him? Out of nowhere so many secrets were coming to light about his past and she didn’t have a clue about any of them. She really thought she knew Cain, despite only spending a short period of time with him. But with all this new information he was becoming more of a stranger to her than ever.
“You’ve been there before?” Zahyra repeated, more quietly and calmly this time.
“Yes,” Cain responded. “We’re not far from the end of the city now, then it’s about half a day’s walk through a forest and the camp is in a clearing somewhere in the middle of that.”
Zahyra nodded. So he’d revealed the way to the camp, which was something. But now knowing Cain had been to the camp before the directions there were no longer her top priority. She walked silently beside him, hoping he would continue to speak and tell her why he’d been to the camp. She wondered how many times he’d been there and whether his trips had been voluntary or not.
He must know what went on inside if he’d been there before so why didn’t he tell her what could be happening to Asher. Then Zahyra shuddered, realising he might not be telling her because the camp is so terrible she’s better off not worrying about it until they finally get there. Information is always better than ignorance though Zahyra thought, and continued to walk silently beside Cain hoping he would eventually speak again.
Sure enough as they walked the buildings around them began to give way to more trees and open spaces. Zahyra was glad to be leaving the city behind and the promise of a forest up ahead reminded her of home. She could see the thick mass of trees in the distance already and smell the pine in the wind. The ground beneath her feet began to feel softer and she relished this as it was much more comfortable to walk on in her worn out boots.
One thing she was apprehensive about however was walking through the forest at night.
Back in her camp there had been strict rules about entering the surrounding woods after darkness fell. They were home to packs of wild dogs and other more vicious animals like bears and apparently even large, aggressive cats. She’d never seen a bear or a big cat, but had heard horror stories around the campfire at night about people who had been ripped limb from limb and then just left to die.
She knew she at least had Cain to protect her and hoped he would do so. But there was also the niggling thought at the back of her mind telling her that Cain was potentially more dangerous than any other animals they would meet in the forest.
Once they reached the outer-lying trees they stopped and rested for a moment. Zahyra was glad to sit down, fatigue slowly working its way around her body. She wished she had slept when she had the chance earlier but vowed not to mention her tiredness to Cain as she wanted to make as much ground as possible before it was too dark to go on.
“What now?” She asked Cain as they sat catching their breath. Inside she was torn between wanting to keep going and wanting to rest – she also realised if they kept going they would have to spend the night in the middle of the forest, something she wasn’t very keen to experience.
“There’s a scout hut about an hours walk in,” Cain replied, “we should make it there before dark and then settle down for the night.”
“Scout hut as in, there’ll be mutants waiting there?” Zahyra asked nervously.
Cain nodded, his mouth set in a grim line across his face. Zahyra knew instantly this meant they would have to kill however many mutants were in the hut before they spotted them and alerted the main camp to their presence. More killings that she did not agree with, but inside she reminded herself it was necessary to save her brother.
“There should only be one or two,” Cain continued, noting the look on her face as she considered the awaiting mutants. “And they’re likely only Gen 3.”
“Won’t they have abilities that make it easier for them to find us?” Zahyra asked, “What if they already know that we’re here?”
“I doubt they already know,” Cain considered, “but they will have mutations to help them find us that’s for sure. Don’t you worry though, we’ll be careful.”
Zahyra accepted Cain’s assessment of the situation and screwed the cap back on the water bottle she’d been drinking from whilst rising to her feet. She nodded at Cain indicating that she was ready to get going again and he climbed to his feet in response.
“Stay behind me,” he said, “and stay quiet.”
With that they began moving through the forest. Zahyra was very careful where she stepped; not wanting to snap any loud branches or trip herself up. She was getting better at sneaking around and was pleased with herself as she hardly made a sound whilst following Cain. A few days ago she would have undoubtedly alerted the mutants to their presence with her clumsiness and loud footsteps.
Zahyra struggled to keep track of time in the darkness as there was no sun to guide her or notable landmarks she could track her speed with. After about what she estimated had only been about forty minutes though a dim light appeared in the distance. Cain stopped in front of her and crouched to the ground behind a tree. Zahyra copied him, settling down behind her own tree just beside him. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen next so when Cain turned around and told her to stay there she was filled with relief. Whatever he was going to do it was probably best she didn’t witness it, especially considering everything that had happened recently.
She waited behind the tree for no more than fifteen minutes until Cain returned to her.
“All clear,” he remarked with a grin on his face. Zahyra didn’t ask what had happened in the hut. She hadn’t heard anything or seen anyone come out. In fact the scene had remained perfectly still to her, just the dim light of the fire flickering with the breeze.
When they reached the hut Zahyra didn’t see any signs of other muta
nts either. There was no blood or sign of a struggle and if she didn’t know any better she would have assumed it was just an abandoned hut. Walking inside she was greeted by the faint smell of a broth that looked like it had only just been removed from the fire, so at least that confirmed to her there had been someone here.
“Hungry?” Cain asked her pointing to the pot; “I just took this off the fire outside.”
Zahyra smiled and walked towards where she could see two bowls sitting on the wooden table inside the hut. There were also two mugs of water, one half full, the other almost empty. She didn’t ask Cain what he’d done to the mutants who had just been here; she didn’t really want to know either. She trusted that the coast was clear and they wouldn’t be coming back so simply seated herself at the table and poured some broth into the two bowls. Handing one to Cain as he sat down she relaxed a little bit and dug into the warm liquid. It tasted like a nettle broth; something she had often eaten back in her camp and the flavour was such a welcome reminder of home to her that she nourished every mouthful.
After they had eaten the two sat in silence for a while. Finally Zahyra plucked up the courage to ask Cain once more about the camp they were going to the next day and why he had been there before.
“Cain,” she started. He looked up from the floor and over in her direction, raising his eyebrows in response. “Please can you tell me about the camp? How come you’ve been there before?”
Cain sighed and pushed his bowl to one side so he could rest his arms on the table. Taking a deep breath he began to speak.
“When I was younger, I lived at the camp. I was taken from my family when I was eleven years old and put into one of their training programmes. As a Gen 4, they wanted to train me to become a killer for them. An assassin. My two younger brothers were taken to the camp with me, but they were both only nine at the time. We were kept in separate parts of the camp and I never got to see them. On the day of their Turning Age Ceremony – they were twins, by the way – I was invited to go and watch it. Abel was marked a Gen 4, so he would come into the same training programme as me. But Adam, for some reason, was only a Gen 2. They’d never been separated before and when they heard the news they started crying and fighting against the other mutants. Things got out of control so quickly and I… I just snapped. I went insane and…”