The Genetic Experiment

by E S Richards

  The material felt soft and clean against his body, a welcome change from the dirty clothes he had been wearing for weeks. He then started working on his hair, dragging the sharp blade as close to his skin as he dared. It was difficult without something to watch his reflection in, but he managed it as best he could, reducing his bushy beard to a fine line of stubble.

  Repo walked over when he was almost done and took the blade from Cain’s hand. He then started cutting off the hairs he had missed, tiding up his appearance. Cain felt like a small child as Repo worked on him, unsure of where to look or whether to say anything. Thankfully the man – or as Cain knew he now was, mutant – stepped back after a few minutes and nodded, satisfied with Cain’s new look.

  The four of them stood staring at one another for a minute, Cain fidgeting slightly in his new outfit.

  “Let’s move this Zero over,” Mace said eventually after the moment of silence, causing all four bodies to spring into action.

  It only took Cain to pick up the Zero and move him over to the other vehicle. He realised as he carried him that the man was unconscious, and wondered what difference that would make when they brought him into the safe haven. He supposed they expected it though, so long as the man wasn’t harmed it was probably better for him to not be witnessing the whole ordeal of being sold.

  While Cain moved the Zero, Repo and Mace carried some supplies from the safe haven’s SUV into the one he had arrived in. It looked like the trade this time had been primarily for fuel and Cain nodded to himself, that explaining why only one of the commander’s SUVs had been operational. Once everything was ready, the four of them looked at one another again.

  “Good luck in there boys,” the commander spoke quietly. “I trust you’ll be able to get the mission done. Cain, follow Repo’s orders. He’s well acquainted with the place by now and could just be the difference between life and death for you.”

  Cain swallowed as the commander spoke and looked over at Repo. There was a stern look on his face but he looked trustworthy. He was certainly different to the other mutants in the base and Cain wondered how many years in the safe haven had made him that way. It ultimately didn’t matter, but Cain knew he had to be cautious of everyone inside the facility.

  “I will sir,” Cain replied to the commander. “I’m ready for this.”

  “Very well,” the commander finished with a nod, “until next time then!”

  Cain and Repo watched as the commander and Mace climbed back into their SUV and drove off towards the treeline.

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Repo asked Cain over his shoulder as he climbed into the driver’s seat of the remaining SUV.

  “Of course,” Cain replied climbing in next to him. “What’s the plan?”

  As they drove Repo explained to Cain what their story would be when they returned to the facility. How they would tell the safe haven they had been ambushed again and two of their men killed. Cain would be assuming the identity of the third man – Rodriguez – and Repo filled in Cain on information about himself he should know. He also explained that the red armbands on their uniform identified them as soldiers and told him a little more about life inside the safe haven. Filling Cain in on everything that should be standard knowledge for someone who lived inside.

  As they neared the entrance Cain began to grow nervous. Repo reassured him that so long as Cain stuck behind him, followed his story and didn’t bring too much attention to himself it would be fine. But Cain was still aware that he didn’t look exactly like Rodriguez and if they bumped into anyone who knew him personally he would be caught. Apparently Rodriguez was a new member to the red band – as Repo called it – but his assurances did little to contain Cain’s concerns.

  Moment of truth, Cain thought to himself as a large rock began to move in front of them, revealing one of the entrances to the safe haven. Here goes nothing.

  Repo drove the SUV through the gap in the mountain and parked up alongside several others. He had told Cain before they arrived that in the safe haven he went under the name of Dixon and Cain did his best to remember this as the vehicle shut off and Repo climbed out.

  Two women and a man approached and Cain felt his chest tighten. If any of them even suspected him the whole mission was over and he could kiss his chance of ever seeing Zahyra again goodbye. Thankfully Repo stepped out towards them and started telling his tale, reporting another mutant ambush but the lucky retrieval of the Zero nonetheless.

  As soon as he mentioned the Zero in the backseat the two women sprung into action. Cain noticed one of them was wearing a black armband, the other purple. The man with them wore red like Cain and Repo, so he was conscious this would be the person most likely to notice Cain was not who he was pretending to be.

  The women quickly unloaded the Zero onto a chair with wheels that they had brought into the vehicle bay and pushed him out of the room, nodding formal goodbyes to Cain, Repo and the other man. Cain moved around the vehicle and performed some imaginary checks on the back of it until Repo joined him, signalling that the two of them were alone.

  “All fine,” Repo said quietly, “I’ve got to file my report with the General later, but for now I’ll show you to the barracks. We missed supper so you might as well get some sleep. I’ve scheduled our rounds to be together tomorrow and I’ll fill you in more on what I’ve been working on then.”

  Cain nodded in thanks to the mutant and silently followed him out of the vehicle bay. He did his best to keep track of the route they took to the barracks, but noticed irritably that hardly any of the doorways or corridors were signposted. He also had to do his best to stop his mouth dropping open at each new piece of technology he saw. Even the menial objects on his route were far more spectacular than anything Cain had seen before, especially considering they were built inside of a mountain.

  The soldier’s barracks was less impressive. They slept in rooms of six with matching beds and lockers discerning each individual area. Repo pointed out Rodriguez’s bed to Cain and then left to presumably file his report with the General. Cain looked at the meagre possessions belonging to the man whose identity he’d assumed and lay down, trying to make himself comfortable in the second bed of a dead man he’d inhabited that week.

  He couldn’t quite believe he had made it inside so easily, now he just had to find Zahyra and Asher. Knowing he was finally in the same facility as them made his heart beat faster. Zahyra was within touching distance and very soon he would hold her in his arms again.

  Chapter 21

  Zahyra paced the confines of her room. It had been two days since she was released from the medical area but she hadn’t been allowed to leave her room since then. The medic had demanded bed rest from her for at least three days but she was already unable to cope with it. Her body felt fine. Although one of the last things she wanted was to continue with T128 she was willing to do almost anything to get out of her room. The walls felt claustrophobic around her and every slight noise made her jump, expecting Heather, Professor Welbeck or even her father to appear at the door.

  It surprised her that she still hadn’t seen any of them; most of all her father. She desperately wanted to know what kind of experiments he was performing on Asher, if anything happened to him she didn’t know what she would do. It was the not knowing that made everything so much worse. She could have survived the isolation if she received news of what was happening on the other side of her bedroom door but the only person she ever saw was the woman who brought in her meals three times a day. Try as she might, Zahyra could not get any information from her.

  As she continued to pace Zahyra tried to stop her mind from speculating. She knew she was imagining the worst possible scenarios that could be taking place, but she couldn’t stop herself. At least expecting the worst made her prepared. She refused to let anything faze her anymore and would stop at nothing to get herself and Asher out of the facility.

  The door of her room creaked and Zahyra stopped, turning to face whoever was
entering. Her face fell when she saw the same woman carrying a familiar plate of bread and stew. Zahyra moved to one side, letting the woman pass her and replace her empty breakfast plate with a new one.

  She had given up trying to reason with the woman. She had tried crying, shouting, begging. Nothing worked. The woman either didn’t know how to speak or just had a very firm resolve that she wouldn’t – or she had been threatened. Zahyra didn’t think anything was beyond the safe haven’s capabilities.

  She gnawed on the bread absentmindedly. From doing very little over the past few days she found her appetite diminishing, but knew she had to maintain her strength. She did exercises in her room sometimes but the lack of space limited her, confiding her to just press-ups and sit-ups. It wasn’t much but it did serve the purpose of distracting her thoughts from the goings on of the safe haven. Her over-active imagination running wild with possibilities.

  After she had eaten what she could Zahyra lay down again on her bed. The books she had acquired from the study area were piled on the floor next to it and she picked one up and started to read. Most of the material bored her, reminding her of the amount of propaganda the facility was trying to feed to her, but with so little else to do she was making her way through the books nonetheless.

  She was part way through reading about how the facility had been built into the mountain when a rattling of her door made her stop. She put the book down and stared at the still closed door. The woman only ever collected her old plate when she brought a new one, so Zahyra knew it was unlikely to be her again. Maybe Heather, Professor Welbeck or her father had finally plucked up the courage to come and speak to her. Maybe she was finally going to be able to leave her room again. Holding her breath Zahyra watched as the door clicked signalling it was unlocked and the metal structure began to open into her room.

  Her jaw hit the floor when she saw the soldier standing in front of her. The door swung closed behind him, enclosing them both in the small room. He wore a grey uniform and red armband, with his hair shaved closely against his head and his beard entirely removed. He also looked exhausted and damaged, like he’d experienced things Zahyra didn’t want to ask about. But it was undoubtedly him.

  In an instant her arms were around his neck, holding him close and breathing in his familiar scent. Tears welled in her eyes as she held him, unbelieving of how he was standing in her room. How he was wandering around the safe haven unharmed. How he’d even managed to get in.

  “Cain,” she breathed softly against his neck, finally pulling away to look him in his soft blue eyes. “How?”

  Cain stared at Zahyra for a second, his eyes running over her body as if absorbing everything about her. Then he pulled her back in for another hug and held her tightly, letting his comforting warmth envelope her. The two stayed like that for an eternity, holding one another in silence, letting the gravity of the situation wash over them. Zahyra resisted as Cain eventually tried to release their hug but he held her hand and tugged her towards the bed, sitting down beside her.

  Zahyra gazed into his eyes once more and felt lost in the ocean of blue swimming inside of them. She had known somehow she would see Cain again but had never imagined it would be so soon. A million questions jostled for position in her head as she struggled to find the words to speak to him. To find the words that truly portrayed how she was feeling at that moment.

  “How?” Was all she managed to breathe again, her reasoning and common sense lost for a moment.

  “Are you alright?” Cain asked with a concerned look on his face, “Have they hurt you?”

  Zahyra shook her head in a daze and finally snapped back to reality. Accepting that Cain was in fact sat next to her and it wasn’t all a dream.

  “I’m okay,” she said in a voice little more than a whisper. “T128 has been hard, but I’m okay.”

  “T128?” Cain looked at her questioning and Zahyra shrunk a little inside. She suddenly remembered that she had never told Cain she was actually a Zero and she dreaded how he was going to react to the truth.

  “Cain there’s something I need to tell you,” she started nervously, but Cain cut her off by placing a finger over her lips.

  “You’re a Zero aren’t you?”

  Zahyra nodded silently, trying to force an apology into the look she gave Cain.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I… I don’t know,” Zahyra’s gaze dropped as she explained herself to Cain. “At first it was because I didn’t really know you, didn’t trust you. Then I didn’t tell you because of what you said happened to Zero’s at the camp where Asher was, I didn’t want you to stop me going in case they found out. And Asher himself didn’t even know until right before they scanned me downstairs. I’m sorry Cain, I didn’t want to lie to you, I just…”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Cain cut her off again. “I don’t care.”

  Zahyra met his gaze again and saw genuine affection his eyes.

  “I don’t care if you’re Gen 1, a Zero or even a Gen 5. Your mutation doesn’t change you, not to me.”

  Zahyra couldn’t stop herself as she sprung forward and wrapped her arms around Cain once more, whispering apologies into his ear.

  “Besides,” Cain said pulling her away from him, “it’s better for your brother that you are isn’t it? At least he doesn’t have to go through being a Zero alone? Where is he anyway? I couldn’t find him as easily as I found you.”

  Zahyra suddenly froze. Cain still didn’t know the truth about Asher either. There were so many things he was yet to discover. But then he must know something by somehow being in the safe haven, by finding her. Zahyra took a moment to organise her thoughts and then looked at Cain, her eyes relaying to him how serious the situation was.

  “Asher isn’t a Zero Cain,” she started, stopping Cain as he opened his mouth to interrupt. “He’s a Gen 6.”

  She watched as the words rolled over Cain, his eyes growing wider as he tried to process what he had just heard.

  “But, there aren’t any Gen 6 mutants,” he rebuffed, “all the mutations stop at Gen 5. They have done for years.”

  Zahyra shook her head sadly and began to tell Cain about how her father had turned her brother into a mutant. How he had been living here in the safe haven all along and how it was ultimately all his fault that herself and Asher were being held there.

  She told Cain about the T128 trial she had been put into because she was a Zero, what experiments she had to endure and how she had ended up in hospital. She told him about the meeting with her father, the information she’d found out about the experiments her brother had to be enduring too and about her suspicions over what her father and Professor Welbeck were trying to do.

  The words flooded out of her mouth as she remembered everything she had discovered in her short time there: the conversations about the safe haven weaponizing something in the lab, developing new mutations and apparently formulating a cure for the mutants – or so they had at least told her.

  Cain listened to everything Zahyra had to say carefully, not once interrupting as he absorbed the information. It took over an hour for Zahyra to complete her tale, filling Cain in on the technology of the safe haven as well, what each of the coloured bands meant, the areas within it and the little she’d learned about its history.

  “We have to get you out of here,” Cain said after she’d finished speaking. There was a fire in his eyes and his breathing had increased as Zahyra spoke.

  “I know Cain, but what about Asher? I have no idea where he is, do you? I mean, how did you even find me?”

  It was now Cain’s turn to talk as he told Zahyra everything that had happened to him since being removed after his scanning procedure. He explained how immediately he had known something wasn’t right from the conversation with soldiers he’d overheard, and how he’d then decided he was going to get back inside somehow.

  Zahyra winced as she listened to Cain explain what he had done in the refugee camp, memories of her old camp being ra
ided flooding back to her. She saw Cain was upset by what he had done; it was clear from the way he spoke he regretted it and would probably be punishing himself for it for some time.

  She was amazed he had done it all to get to her, to help her escape and to be with her again. Feelings fluttered around her body as Cain spoke, a familiar sensation awakening inside her that she’d felt when the two of them kissed. Trying to quell it she focused on Cain’s story, knowing it was important they both learned as much as they could from one another.

  “…So I did a day of rounds yesterday, working with their inside guy, Repo. Really he just showed me around the facility, made sure I knew where I was going and wouldn’t trip myself up. He told me a little about what the mutant commander wanted too. Apparently there’s something in the labs downstairs, some device or something that they’re working on that can stop the mutations. Even Repo didn’t know much about it, but that’s what he’s in here to get apparently.

  “Then last night I broke into an office outside of the barracks. Managed to find some papers that alluded to where they’d placed their new Zero. I thought it was about Asher to be honest, couldn’t find anything about you… well, not you now but you know what I mean. Couldn’t find anything else. Yours was the third door I’ve opened today and Zahyra,” Cain finally paused in his story, “I cannot tell you how happy I am to see your face.”

  “Me too,” Zahyra breathed, taking Cain’s hands in her own and smiling up at him. “I’ve missed you.”

  At that moment Cain could control himself no longer and leaned forward, putting one of his firm hands on the back of Zahyra’s head and pulling her into him. His lips found hers and Zahyra exploded with desire.

  Cain kissed her like it was the last thing he would ever get to do. Like his life depended on it and he was going to lose Zahyra at any second. For all he knew it could be true and he wanted to make her aware of how much he cared for her, how much he wished he’d done this every day he’d known her in the outside world.