The New Wave

by E S Richards

  Chapter 18 – Zahyra

  Lying on her bed in the commander’s mutant base Zahyra toyed with Asher’s letter. She had not yet opened it, uncertain about what it could possibly say inside. She wondered whether he had known more about the safe haven, or his Gen 6 mutation than he had let on. She wondered whether he had willingly walked back into the safe haven with the intention of staying there and becoming one of them. She wondered whether the letter would be an apology; an admittance that the mutation had already changed Asher too much and she would never be able to see him again.

  Knowing what they were about to, Zahyra knew she had to read it. Cain was outside cooking up the firmer details of their plan to attack the safe haven, his place in the advanced mutant party re-solidified almost instantly. Zahyra didn’t know a great deal about the plan, but she knew they were keeping the commander in the dark about the boys. They had agreed it was best for him not to know about them and see the attack on the safe haven simply as a revenge mission for the men they had lost and a way of eliminating the advantage the safe haven had.

  But whatever Cain and the commander worked out the details of their attack to be, Zahyra knew they were ultimately going back for Asher and she had to prepare herself for how they would find him. The hardest part was that she had no idea what state Asher would be in. That was why she was trying to work up the courage to read his letter, so she could at least ascertain whether Asher was truly committed to her, or to the safe haven. Pinching herself Zahyra folded back the flaps of paper and set her eyes onto her younger brother’s small handwriting.

  I’m sorry Zar... I know you don’t understand why I need to go back there and I know I can’t really explain it either. I just want you to know that if I felt like I had any other choice I would take it. I don’t want to leave you, not after everything you’ve done to be reunited with me but I don’t feel like I have a choice.

  I can feel my body changing and it scares me. I’m scared of what I’ll wake up like tomorrow, whether I’ll look different or act different. But most of all I’m scared of hurting you. I’m the most dangerous person in the world right now and I need to learn how to control myself. I know we can’t predict what the safe haven will do to me but a part of me just knows I’ll be safe this time. With our father gone I feel like they might be on a straighter path, like they might be willing to actually help me and teach me things about myself I didn’t even know were there to learn.

  I don’t know when I’ll see you again, but I know there’ll always be a part of you that’s with me, no matter what happens. I’m sorry it had to come to this but I need you to accept that it’s for the best. Please don’t come looking for me Zahyra. I need to do this on my own.

  Stay safe. All my love, Asher.

  Warm tears slowly rolled down Zahyra’s cheeks as she read her little brother’s words. Could she really bring herself to go against his wishes and break him out of the safe haven? What if he was truly happy there? She read over his words again and again, each time the same part jumping out at her.

  Please don’t come looking for me Zahyra. I need to do this on my own.

  But she had no idea what his living environment was like there, she had no idea whether he was being treated well and allowed to learn about his new mutation or whether he was in the same position she had been with her T128 trial.

  There was no way she could contact him and work out whether he was okay; there was no way she could do anything unless she was right there with him. Readjusting the pillow behind her head Zahyra sat up slightly as she thought about everything they knew, everything they were basing their attack on.

  Reason 1: Asher had obviously been forced to reveal the location of the warped settlement, whether through being drugged or through some form of torture.

  Reason 2: There were at least three other innocent boys (and probably more) that the safe haven had turned into Gen 6 mutants, once again stealing them away from their friends and family.

  Reason 3: Hundreds of deaths were on the safe haven’s hands; hundreds of good and innocent people gunned down all in the search for one little boy.

  Reason 4: They had developed a weapon that could effectively wipe out the mutant population, and although Zahyra was a Zero herself she knew not all mutants were bad and it wasn’t fair to strip someone of something that made them who they were.

  Reason 5: The safe haven could be making an army of Gen 6 mutants like Asher and with no other mutants to put up a fight against them they would be unstoppable.

  Reason 6: She missed her little brother.

  Running over her explanations in her head Zahyra tried to mentally reason with herself, deciding whether they had enough evidence to conclude that Asher wasn’t safe in the safe haven. The words he had written tormented her but she couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right, that she needed to get him out of there.

  As she calculated the options once more she realised that by coming to the mutant camp they had ultimately already made their decision. Now that the commander knew about the Tocsix weapon the safe haven had developed there was no chance he would halt their attack.

  Like it or not the safe haven was going to be at war very soon, Zahyra just prayed they were making the right decision. She prayed their actions weren’t just going to put her brother in even more danger.

  With her mind on edge Zahyra swung her legs off the bed and stood up. Through being the only woman in the camp she had managed to acquire her own sleeping quarters, but the small shack that a bed had been thrown into didn’t amount to much. It was damp, had an unpleasant lingering odour and worst of all Cain wasn’t there with her. Before she arrived Zahyra was pretty sure it had been used as a storage room. Even if Cain was with her, it was unlikely the two of them could fit side by side. With a sudden desire to see him again Zahyra flung open the door of her shack and strode purposefully into the commander’s mutant base, drawing more than her fair share of looks as she made her way towards the fire burning in the centre.

  A pot of soup of some sort was bubbling above the fire and much like she had seen other mutants do, Zahyra picked up a bowl from the floor beside it and helped herself to some food. Cain was, as she had expected, sitting on one of the logs that surrounded the fire. He appeared to be in deep conversation with two mutants, neither of whom Zahyra recognised and so she sat a little way from them, tucking into her food.

  Between mouthfuls she couldn’t stop her eyes from creeping above the rim of the bowl and looking at Cain. More than once he stole a few glances of his own and they locked eye contact, Zahyra’s heart fluttering which each prolonged stare. She knew he must be working out the finer details of their attack, something she would not be allowed to take part in discussing due to both her status as a woman and as someone without a genetic mutation.

  Instead she cast her gaze around the camp, taking in the other mutants and what they appeared to be doing. Much like when they had arrived the previous morning there were far less mutants scattered around the camp than there had been at night. It was only in the evening when everyone appeared to come together, gathering around the fire like she was now and eating their evening meal.

  Last night the commander had given a speech, declaring the upcoming attack on the safe haven. All of the mutants had cheered, celebrating their chance for revenge against the facility, many of them being close to Repo, someone Cain had killed in their escape. Although of course, they had lied about the circumstances of his death, pinning that on the safe haven in such a way that his companions couldn’t help but want to avenge his memory. Ultimately that had been a big turning point in getting the commander’s base on their side.

  “Hey.”

  Zahyra jumped slightly as she felt someone sit down next to her, not expecting any residents of the mutant camp to try and strike up a conversation with her. Turning to her left she relaxed slightly as she saw Zac’s familiar visage, her cheeks growing slightly pink as she realised she had almost forgotten about him.

 
; “Hey,” she smiled at him, “how are you?”

  “I’m alright,” Zac shrugged, “just trying to get used to things here. I feel sort of out of my depth.”

  Zahyra laughed. “Imagine how I feel, you’re pretty much the first person who’s spoken to me since we arrived.”

  “It’s not that different for me,” Zac admitted. “Cain seems to have settled right in, but everyone still sees me as an outsider. It’s to be expected I guess, but I’ll be happy to see the back of this place.”

  “Do you know what the plan is? When are we going to get out of here?” Zahyra asked quickly, jumping at the opportunity to learn more about their attack. She hoped it would happen soon, sharing Zac’s feelings of discomfort within the camp.

  “Tomorrow I think,” Zac offered. “I haven’t been involved in any of the planning directly, just asked information about the safe haven’s guard and schedule. I think they want to travel tomorrow night to attack at dawn.”

  “Dawn?” Zahyra questioned suspiciously. “Surely that’s when everyone will be getting up? That’ll be the busiest time for the guards.”

  “That’s what I told them,” Zac sighed, “but I think they’re scared of attacking at night. I can smell fear on pretty much everyone here, pretty much everyone except you actually Zahyra.”

  “I think maybe your mutation’s broken then,” Zahyra cringed slightly. “I’m terrified.”

  “I don’t think so,” Zac smiled back. “I think you’re ready for this, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so brave. After what happened to you in the safe haven, I think it’s amazing you’re willing to go back there so quickly.”

  Zahyra stared at Zac; she didn’t know what to say to him. She felt his hand reach out and come to rest on her knee, his eyes boring into her head though she refused to maintain eye contact with him. Instead her gaze moved slowly across the fire and came to rest on Cain who was staring angrily back at her. Although his look of anger wasn’t reserved for her she was sure of that, instead Cain was looking at Zac and in particular Zac’s hand, which remained firmly on her knee.

  Suddenly feeling flustered Zahyra rose from where she sat, causing Zac’s hand to fall from her leg. The young boy looked up at her with a confused expression on his face but she didn’t stop to reason with him. Across the flames she could see the anger in Cain’s face slowly turning into a look of sadness. She wanted more than anything to run over to him, throw her arms around him and kiss him until a smile reformed on his face but she couldn’t do it. In their present company she had to remain aloof, as if nothing was transpiring between them.

  If she were still thinking up reasons to attack the safe haven she’d just come up with another one. Reason 7: the sooner they were out of the commander’s base the sooner she could be back in Cain’s arms again.

  Crawling onto her bed Zahyra resigned herself to staying in her shack until later that evening. Her brain ticked over everything she knew and even more so over everything she didn’t know. Quite frankly the way Zac had acted towards her was the least of her worries. Maybe Cain had been right and he did like her but while Asher was still in the hands of the safe haven she didn’t have time to think about anything else.

  Zac had at least been useful in telling her more about the commander’s plan of attack. She agreed that it was foolish for them to want to attack at dawn, knowing that the cover of darkness would offer them the best disguise and aid in the element of surprise.

  Despite this she knew Cain would have argued for the same reasons and if he couldn’t convince the commander to attack at night she had little chance of making any difference. At least they were moving soon and she didn’t have to spend too much more time in the commander’s base.

  Reading over Asher’s letter again Zahyra hoped with all her might that they were doing the right thing. She worried what the commander would do when he eventually found out about the Gen 6 boys, something she believed to be an inescapable hurdle in their plan. They could claim innocence to begin with but if the commander decided to try and hurt the boys at all then that would be where their alliance would end.

  She was also torn about the state she wanted to find Asher in. Naturally she wanted him to be okay, but her conscience was battling with whether bringing Asher out of the safe haven was ultimately the right thing to do. If he really wanted to stay there could she live with taking him away from the facility? If he were truly happy there, would she be able to just walk away?

  It was a question Zahyra couldn’t answer and hoped that she wouldn’t have to. As horrible as it made her feel she hoped there was at least something the safe haven was doing wrong so it was justified for her and Cain to break the boys out. Only a small part of her doubted it because of Asher’s letter, although her memories of the facility failed to let her see it in a positive light.

  The constant battle within her subconscious was exhausting. Turning to face the wall against which her small bed was pushed Zahyra hugged her pillow, wishing that it could be Cain instead. She only had one more day to get through before they could begin their journey to the safe haven and then she could see her brother again.

  She wondered how they were going to travel there, not having seen any vehicles surrounding the camp. She also hoped the mutants who lived in the commander’s base wouldn’t die for her fight, she already felt too guilty about every member of the warped settlement that had died at the safe haven’s hands.

  Even the four remaining members, Vincent, Clarke and the two women Zahyra realised were probably dead too by now – the allure of death too strong for the wild dogs living nearby. Tears continued to fall down her cheeks as she realised Clarke’s brother had not only found himself with a new mutation that day but he had also lost his entire family. She refused to let the safe haven tear apart anyone else. Whether it was selfish or not she was getting Asher back.

  That place didn’t know the meaning of good and she wouldn’t let her younger brother grow up to think that same way. He may be dangerous, but so was she and the safe haven had taken away one of her only reason’s for living. And taking away a life always resulted in death.

  Chapter 19 – Zahyra

  Zahyra was side lined to observe while the rest of the mutant base busied itself getting ready for the attack, once again sitting in front of the fire while she watched everyone else getting ready. No one really appeared to look prepared or as if they knew what they were getting themselves into. She slowly began to believe Zac that they were all afraid, the way many of the mutants carried themselves indicating this was perhaps the hardest battle they had ever set out for.

  Zahyra wondered how they had all come to live in the base. In total there were between twenty and thirty advanced mutants, all of them either Gen 4 or Gen 5. She hadn’t learnt what any of their mutations were save one, when the mutant who had been in her interrogation meeting flew down from the skies later that same day. Zahyra figured he must be the second in command at the base although she couldn’t recall his name.

  Cain had spent quite a lot of time with the flying mutant she had noticed, as well as two others who he often sat with around the fire. They were a strange pairing Zahyra thought; a quite elderly man with a boy around her own age, perhaps a few years younger. Zahyra figured they must be father and son, having watched the way they interacted with one another. It was both interesting and eye opening to spend time surrounded by so many advanced mutants and to see how Cain acted around them as well.

  For the most part it was unlike what Zahyra had imagined. She had seen gatherings of advanced mutants before and they had always been unorganised, loud and violent with one another. The commander’s base was run on a much stricter schedule, where each resident knew his place and knew what his specific tasks were. That meant there was less time for fights to break out or arguments to ensue, although they still happened at a more frequent rate than they would amongst less developed mutants. It was clear that the commander ran a very controlled operation within his four walls and equally
so that every single one of his men respected him to the highest degree, despite his rarely seen presence.

  Now however, he was out amongst the rest of the mutants, shouting orders and directing them on what to bring. Two large SUVs had been driven into the camp earlier that day, removed from a hiding place amongst the trees that Zahyra had failed to notice.

  Unsurprisingly they were being loaded up with weapons, the mutants wanting to bring as many arms with them as possible. Rumours of what the Tocsix could do had floated around the camp and been blown well out of proportion, some saying that it not only took your mutation from you but also killed you instantly.

  Zahyra shook her head at these rumours, marvelling at the stupidity of some of the mutants. Her whole cover story for being in the commander’s base was that she had been stripped of an advanced mutation; therefore being walking evidence that the Tocsix wouldn’t kill instantly. She was glad none of the mutants had asked her about it though, her poorly formed lies about having an advanced mutation being something she preferred not to have to say out loud.

  Shuffling around on the log where she sat she moved her eyes over to the commander’s office and saw Cain closing the door behind him. She couldn’t stop the smile that crept onto her face as she saw him walking purposefully towards her, waving off a question that came from someone he passed. Zahyra suddenly wondered whether it was wise for the two of them to be together in the middle of the base, but she quickly realised a conversation shouldn’t raise any alarms and her smile only grew as Cain sat down beside her.

  “I’ve missed you.”

  It took all of Zahyra’s strength not to throw her arms around Cain as the words tumbled from his mouth. She knew that both the commander and the other mutants in the base would be watching her closely, simply because she was unlike any of the other residents. So instead she controlled herself, inhaled slowly and offered Cain her truest smile.