by E S Richards
Suddenly she was overcome with sorrow over what had just happened. She had never been a violent person. Sure, she’d engaged in play fights with the other children in her camp and she’d learnt basic self-defence as well. But she had been taught never to intentionally harm anyone, and that was exactly what she had just done.
They didn’t need to come into this scout hut, they could’ve just continued walking further into the forest and left the two mutants behind. Now, in the space of only a few hours she had killed three fully grown men. No. She had murdered them.
This mutant had only been a Gen 3. What if he had a family somewhere and she had just removed the father from that equation. Having been abandoned by her own father she knew the pain that caused and now she could have inflicted that pain onto someone else. The worst part of it all was that during the fight she had actually felt like she was enjoying herself. She had taunted him, baited him, all with the end goal of death.
All her life Zahyra thought she knew who she was. She was loyal to a fault but she was also kind and loving. Of course she was determined and would do almost anything to save the people she loved. But she had always thought just that –she would do almost anything. Now looking at the scene before her she felt she had gone to far, she knew there were always other ways to solve things but in the moment just then she had not felt like herself. She did not recognise the person she had become and ultimately, she did not like that person.
Sobs shook her body and she began to cry out loud, then suddenly shuffled backwards across the forest floor as she saw for a second time the puddle of blood she was lying in. She wiped her hands along the ground as she moved in an attempt to remove the blood then looked up back into the forest.
Asher was running towards her, a look of panic on his face and she immediately snapped back to reality, her heart filling with concern for her brother having to witness the scene before them. She only hoped Cain had not let him observe what she had done. She could learn to live with herself, but she couldn’t stand for Asher to see her as the person she just was.
“Zahyra,” he called as he got closer to her, his eyes widening as he took in the mutant’s body and the blood all over her clothes and skin.
“Ash,” she muttered under her breath as she opened her arms and felt her brother fall into them. In this moment of utter tyranny Asher was her only constant. Her only saving grace in a world she would otherwise not survive in. Her brother held her for a moment then pulled away, the panic on his face turning into a serious gaze.
“You have to help,” he said urgently, “Cain’s gone all… weird.”
Zahyra leapt to her feet at her brother’s words and let him drag her by the hand back to where she had left the two of them. Cain was sat on the ground holding his head between his knees. His breathing was heavy and his body was shaking slightly as he muttered something to himself under his breath.
The leaves around where they had been crouched were disturbed and uneven as if he had been kicking out with his legs. Mud encased his boots, forming a layer of dirt over the blood that was already there. Zahyra crouched down beside him and tentatively let go of Asher’s hand so she could place it on Cain’s arm, her other hand still resting against her injured ribcage.
“Cain?” She asked quietly, “Are you okay?”
Cain’s body flinched at her touch and he pulled away from her, his shaking growing exuberantly worse. He slowly moved his arms away from his head and straightened his body out so he was leaning back against the tree trunk. But it still didn’t look right. He almost looked as if he was leaning too far back and his spine wasn’t in the right place. Zahyra noticed then that his pupils had dilated to fill most of his eyes and there were beads of sweat on his brow running down his face. His teeth began to chatter as he opened his mouth to speak, his whole body emitting waves of stress and panic.
“Run,” he managed to say to Zahyra, “hide.”
Zahyra looked at him with confusion and started to speak again when he stopped her.
“I can’t control it,” he said, his voice breaking under the strain, “get away.”
Zahyra pulled her arm away from him in that instant, suddenly realising what was happening. Cain was about to lose control of his mutation again and she was alone in the forest with just him, and her little brother.
Chapter 22
This was probably the worst thing that Zahyra could imagine happening. She was barely holding herself together after her fight, her entire body – and mind – ached from the ordeal and right now she needed someone to take care of her, not the other way around.
Despite this she acted quickly, grabbing hold of Asher’s hand and pulling him with her towards the scout hut. It was their only option in the forest with nowhere to run to and nowhere to hide. She knew by the state Cain was in he wouldn’t be able to hold off his mutation for much longer and after he fully gave in to it they would not be safe around him.
Zahyra avoided looking at the two dead mutants as she moved as fast as possible with her little brother to the door of the hut. Pushing him inside she slammed the door behind them and her face fell when she realised there was no lock. Asher looked confused and frightened but Zahyra’s mind told her she needed to deal with keeping Cain outside before she could address her brother’s worries.
“Ash, help me move this table!” She spoke urgently to him as she grabbed the table from one side and began to shove it towards the door. Asher remained still for a moment then, picking up on the desperation in his sister’s voice, took hold of the table with her and helped to move it against the door. It was much heavier than it looked and it took all of their combined effort to move it across the small hut, but Zahyra wasn’t finished there.
She pushed a small cabinet containing pots, pans and other miscellaneous items against the window then with her brother’s help pushed one of the benches up against that. The other bench went against the table by the door and then the chair – the only other piece of furniture in the hut – she picked up and balanced on top of the table.
Looking at her fortifications of the hut Zahyra willed them to be enough to keep Cain out, but she had seen the extreme strength he harboured during one of his breakdowns and seeds of doubt planted themselves firmly in her mind.
It was quiet outside now, the only sounds being the birds chirping as the sun finally rose and the heavy breathing belonging to Zahyra and her brother. She sank down to the ground, resting her back against the bench by the window and allowed herself to fully feel the pain of her injuries.
Even breathing created a twinge of pain in her ribs and the rest of her upper body hurt too from both attacking the mutant and trying to defend herself against his blows. She also realised she was hearing a slight ringing in her ears, evidence of having her head bashed against trees and the ground several times.
Asher hesitated for a moment in the middle of the bare hut then slowly walked to where Zahyra had sat and joined her on the floor. He gently put one arm around her and buried his head into her chest. Zahyra knew he must have observed her fight as he was being particularly careful with her and she internally cursed Cain for letting him watch. Although, she reminded herself, he probably didn’t have much control over himself for the most part of it.
For a while the two of them sat in silence on the hard floor of the scout hut. Zahyra was relieved to not hear Cain outside and let herself hope he had managed to still his mutation outburst for a while longer. She relished the feel of her little brother in her arms, taking in everything about him: how he smelt, how his muscles looked more defined than when she’d last seen him and most importantly how she was seeing him alive.
“How’re you doing?” She eventually asked him, the question muffled against the top of Asher’s head.
He pulled away from her at the question and gazed up into her eyes. Zahyra could see he looked much older than before, like he had experienced so much in such a short period of time. With a grimace she realised he had. They both had.
> “I missed you,” Asher whispered as he leaned back into Zahyra’s body to continue their hug, “I… I thought you were dead.”
Zahyra shook her head at the idea and slowly pushed Asher away again so she was looking at him.
“When did you–”
“When the bus crashed,” Asher cut her off. Zahyra’s eyes widened as she recalled what had happened. It seemed like so long ago and she had been so preoccupied with getting Asher out of the camp that she had almost forgotten the events that led to him ending up there to begin with.
“You landed so far away, and you were so still…” Asher’s voice began to crack as he spoke, unable to look his sister directly in the eye. “I tried to be strong,” he continued, “’member like you’d told me? But it was too hard. I’m sorry, it was too hard and they took me anyway.”
A warm sensation began to fill Zahyra’s body as she felt how much her brother loved her and how much she loved him in return. Taking one of his hands she spoke softly to him.
“I’m sorry, Ash. You don’t have to be. I should’ve been there to protect you… but you did amazing all by yourself in the end, didn’t you? Look how strong you’ve got,” she said pinching him on the bicep with a giggle, “you’re getting so big. And we’re back together now and I promise,” she paused, “I promise we’re not going to be apart again for a long time.”
Asher hugged her tighter as she spoke and Zahyra struggled to blink away tears that were forming in her eyes.
“Is there anything you want to tell me, about… about when you were in the camp?”
Asher shook his head again against her chest and mumbled something inaudible to her. Zahyra felt his little hands gripping the back of her sweater and balling the fabric up into fists.
“Okay,” she continued, “whenever you’re ready though, bud. Whenever you want to speak to me you know I’ll be here, okay?”
Her brother sniffed in response and Zahyra wrapped her arms more tightly around him, ignoring the pain it caused her. Her physical injuries would heal quickly enough she knew, it was the memories of things that had happened that would remain the longest.
A part of her was glad Asher didn’t want to talk about the camp just yet, she wasn’t sure if she could handle worrying about what had happened to him in there on top of everything else she was dealing with. The faces of the two mutants she had just killed still danced in her mind, along with images of the little girls scattered around the bus and the mutants Cain had slaughtered in the city.
The other part of her wished she knew the truth already though. As while she worried about her own past she feared the unknown and believed the things she imagined had happened to her brother had to be worse than anything any man could have truly done to a little boy.
Her imagination peaked with possibilities, each more terrible than the last and for some reason her thoughts always circled back to the ‘what if’ questions she had about her brother’s branding. In everything that had happened since she’d rescued him they hadn’t had a chance to discuss it. From how she held him she could see where the fabric of her stolen jacket was sticking to the fresh wound, the skin undoubtedly raw and painful beneath.
Zahyra felt guilty holding her brother who was now branded a Zero, whilst she had cheated her way out of that fate. She had wanted to tell Asher so many times over the years that she wasn’t really a Gen 1, but her mother had forbade her.
She had said that even though Asher could be trusted, there was always a chance of him forgetting it was a secret and letting the truth slip out. When her brother had asked her about her mutation she had stuck to the lie of being able to see more colours than everyone else. She had told him tales about how certain blades of grass twinkled a different colour to the rest, or teased him and said he was wrong when he called grass green, making up a random word for a random colour that didn’t exist instead.
Although built on a false foundation, Zahyra smiled when she recalled these memories, thinking back to a simpler time when neither her nor her brother had a problem bigger than the colour of grass. They had once argued about–
Zahyra’s thought was cut short when there was a loud bang against the door of the scout hut, causing the whole room to shake and the chair to wobble on the table. Zahyra flinched and loosened her grip slightly on her brother to turn and ensure the door was still held shut. Then she heard Cain roar from outside and he slammed into the door twice more. Zahyra was on her feet by the second bang, moving Asher behind her so she stood between him and the barricade, the chair now having almost slipped completely onto the floor.
She immediately moved it back, attempting to prop the arm up against the handle on the door that was still shaking from Cain throwing his weight against it. There was a second of silence before he let out another roar but then his footsteps began to retreat from the entrance.
Asher had started to shake in front of her, not understanding what had happened to Cain and why he had suddenly turned against them. Zahyra stared at the door for a moment longer then turned to face her brother.
“Ash,” she started, trying to work out a way to tell him what was happening without frightening him even more. “Cain has a mutation that he can’t always control. He’s a good guy, I swear, and he helped me rescue you – which I wouldn’t have been able to do without him. But sometimes… when he gets stressed he can’t control his mutation anymore and,” how should she phrase it, “he gets mad. Like, really mad. He’ll calm down soon but for now we just need to keep him out of here, okay?”
Asher stared at his sister, processing what she’d just told him. His eyes had widened as she spoke and his mouth hung open slightly. Zahyra knew that Asher finding out Cain was a developed mutant would make him think back to the mutants that had taken him, but she hoped that knowing Cain had helped save him would at least calm her brother a little bit.
“What rank is he?” Asher said eventually, his eyes beginning to dart between the door and the window, checking they were still safely trapped inside.
Zahyra took in a deep breath and revealed the truth to her brother. She told him Cain was a Gen 4, but that when he was in control he was basically a Zero. She told him he wasn’t a bad guy, nor did he want to be and that he did everything in his power to keep his mutation hidden.
Asher didn’t say a word as Zahyra explained everything to him, unbelieving of the fact that the man who had seemed so calm and together when he’d rescued Asher could be going insane just a few meters from them. Another roar cut through the air, punctuating Zahyra’s words and instilling a new fear in Asher as he accepted what his sister was telling him as the truth. He tried to be strong, like he had been without Zahyra by his side and forced his mouth to close and settle into a firm line.
“We’ll be safe in here,” Zahyra finished and took a step towards her brother, wrapping her arms around him as she drew close enough. Asher’s hands clasped each other around her back as he returned the hug then pulled away from her and nodded, a look of determination on his face.
Accepting that her brother was dealing with the situation – for now – Zahyra moved over to the window and crouched beside it. Through a gap between the cabinet and the table bench she could see Cain pacing between two trees outside. He favoured his uninjured leg as he moved and she could see a grimace of pain on his face whenever he put weight on the now gaping hole in his foot. He yelled out as he paced, occasionally slamming his fists into the trees beside him, causing bark and dirt to fly off in every direction from the force.
Zahyra thought back to everything that had happened the last time Cain had a breakdown. Not only had he killed several highly developed mutants, but he had also chased after her and left a path of destruction in his wake. He had only eventually calmed down after falling asleep and letting the anger seep out of his body. The whole ordeal had lasted a couple of hours, but with no one else in the forest for Cain to get his anger out on Zahyra wondered whether that would speed up or slow down his outburst.
Th
e sun was now high in the sky and the temperature of the scout hut had risen several degrees. Zahyra could see sweat on the front of Cain’s t-shirt as he paced in the hot sun, the thick cover of trees in that area causing the humidity to rise substantially.
She watched as he swung his fist at a tree to his left, creating a long crack running down to the base of the trunk. He swung at it again with his right fist, and again, alternating between hands with each blow. When he pulled away the bark had all fallen to the floor and the smoother wood beneath was stained red with blood from Cain’s knuckles. Zahyra could see his body heaving up and down as he inhaled long, deep breaths. She couldn’t tell whether he had simply just tired himself out a bit from punching the tree, or whether he was trying to regain control of his mutation. She whispered a silent prayer in favour of the latter.
Zahyra watched Cain for a few more minutes as he continued to pace amongst the trees, lashing out against them at random intervals. He didn’t look towards the scout hut again and after a while she moved away from the window and towards her brother, who was now curled up in the furthest corner of the hut on the floor.
She grabbed a dusty blanket as she walked over to him which she had discarded from the chair and folded it neatly in half twice.
“Here,” she muttered lifting Asher’s head from the ground and placing the blanket beneath it – the hut being too warm to need to use it for cover.
“What’s going on?” Asher asked her as he readjusted himself to try and get comfortable again with the addition of the blanket. Dark bags were forming under his eyes and Zahyra realised that none of them had slept that night, Asher looking a lot worse for wear because of it.
“Cain’s just…” Zahyra paused and thought about what to say for a moment, “he’s just getting his anger out, he’ll be back to normal in a while. Do you wanna try and get some rest?”
Asher nodded and yawn escaped his mouth in response. Zahyra sat next to him stroking his hair as she waited for his breathing to become steady as he fell into a deep sleep. It didn’t take long, the adrenaline of the past few hours fading fast and with a twitch of his leg Zahyra knew he had succumbed to sleep. In that moment she desperately wanted to lie down next to him and get some rest herself, but with Cain just outside she knew she wouldn’t feel safe.