by E S Richards
Letting the tingle take a natural hold over his body Asher determined that two of the soldiers had mutations he could use. Unfortunately his location in the vehicle bay left him restricted to just one of them and so he concentrated on the soldier, letting his newly developed instincts take over and his eyes drift shut.
When he opened them again Asher could feel the new power radiating inside of him. Steadying his breathing he held out his hands in front of him, waiting for the mutation to reveal itself. When it finally clicked in his mind a slight frown crossed Asher’s face. The mutation was good, but he would have to engage in hand-to-hand combat to use it, something his training had taught him not to do.
Instead he looked over at his brothers and felt a twinge of jealousy. Adyran, like him was having to borrow the same mutation – now holding the ability to administer a fairly serious electric shock through his fingertips. His other four brothers were near enough to the other red band soldier to borrow from him; each of them having slowed their heart rates down considerably to allow them to move at a much faster speed than humanly possible. Sighing Asher realised that even with them borrowing that better mutation, they were all going to have to move forward to fight – the abilities of the safe haven residents not powerful enough for them to be satisfied by.
The promise of a real fight – although against the General’s recommendations – did bring excitement to Asher’s eyes. He nodded towards Adryan through the SUV and together they moved forward in silence, the advanced mutant party still unaware of the presence of the six boys.
Creeping through the vehicle bay in secret Asher and Adyran moved side by side, their movements remained fluid and precise, stepping only where they needed to. In moments they had reached cover closer to the edge of the bay and Asher set his sights on three mutants who were huddled behind a large sheet of rock reloading their weapons. With another nod to Adryan the pair of them had chosen their targets and were tearing out into the open space before them, not a single thought given for the danger they were hurtling into.
The altercation was over in seconds, Asher and Adryan administering electric shocks to the three puzzled mutants. They were careful not to kill them however and just knock them unconscious, needing them alive to be able to borrow their mutations.
Flashing each other a grin the two boys stood over the defeated mutants and waited to get a sense of what their mutations were. Unfortunately while their mutations could still be borrowed when unconscious it did take a little longer.
Asher began feeling the effects first, his feet lifting slightly off the ground as he started to feel weightless. He let the feeling envelope him as he processed it, learning that one of the mutants before him carried the genetic mutation of flight. Adryan demonstrated another in front of him, staring at the rock beside Asher and shooting a beam of light from his eyes. The beam cut into the rock causing Asher to fly slightly out of the way as the once solid structure crumbled and fell.
Floating back down to the ground beneath the now smaller sheet of rock Asher concentrated on the same mutant as Adryan, wanting to pick up that mutation alongside his ability to fly. After a minute of practise Asher floated a few inches above the ground again and copied Adryan’s movement against the rock, his own beam of light now swiftly cutting a corner from it. With a grin on his face from where he floated Asher pointed to the mutant who could fly and waited for Adyran to borrow the second mutation as well. As he waited Asher looked around the surrounding area, keeping his eyes peeled for their next targets.
It was something different that caught his eye however. A familiar looking girl was crouched behind a nearby boulder, her body bent over a lifeless figure. Asher analysed the scene as the girl pressed against a wound in what looked like a boy’s chest. Across the distance he could see her lips moving frantically, talking to the boy as his body slowly gave up hope. Frozen Asher watched carefully as the girl leaned forward and kissed the boy on his forehead and then softly closed his eyes for him.
There was something about the scene that made Asher pay attention. There was something about the girl that was calling out to him, deep in the back of his mind where the darkness was. He floated back down to the ground as he watched her, his mind invested fully in what she did next. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as he felt a different feeling flooding through his body, much like the feeling he had for his brothers. He felt the need to protect her, like there was a connection between the two of them that even him and his brothers couldn’t have. It was only Adryan’s figure floating above him that finally drew Asher’s attention away from the girl, who was now wiping the blood from her hands and the tears from her eyes.
Asher saw Adryan focus in on the girl like himself, although he could tell his brother had a different feeling within him. Flying upwards to join Adyran in the sky he gave his brother a look that instructed him to stay away from that girl, that they should find a new target. Adryan looked at Asher with a confused expression for a second as the pair of them flew up slightly higher into the sky, avoiding the gunfire that still littered the air below them.
Staring into Adryan’s eyes once more Asher thought of the girl and he knew he needed to protect her in some way, only when Adryan agreed did the two of them turn their attention back to the battle.
Flying above the rest of the danger Asher struggled with a new sensation in his head. He knew he had a mission to complete but the girl had distracted him. He couldn’t help but think that he knew her from somewhere and she had a different mission for him to complete as well.
But with Adryan by his side he couldn’t think on it for long. Instead he kept the girl in the back of his mind and vowed to protect her from his brothers while Adyran found their next targets.
Attacking from the sky was much easier. Hovering above their targets Asher and Adryan sent their light beams down from their eyes and watched the mutants fall to their knees below them. They had incapacitated another three mutants when something else caught Asher’s eye on the ground below him and he hung in the air for a second. While his brothers were constantly switching mutations Asher and Adryan remained happy with the two they were currently borrowing, but it wasn’t the other mutations that Asher had noticed.
His eyes were once again drawn back to the girl he had seen earlier, now crouching in the entrance of the vehicle bay. Looking that way Asher realised there was only one member of the red band left, which meant he and his brothers would have to reveal themselves soon. But again, that wasn’t what he was bothered by.
His eyes remained fixed on the girl as a larger man wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she cried. Tentatively Asher flew in closer, leaving Adryan behind as he continued to battle against the mutants below. As Asher flew nearer – although still remaining out of their sight – the recognition he had felt for the girl earlier came flooding back to him. He looked at the man holding her as well and felt a familiarity there too, although he couldn’t place where from.
Focusing his vision Asher tried to search the darkness in his mind once more, yearning for some memory of the two of them to reveal itself. He could tell that something was there, that something was hidden under a blanket in the corner of his mind. Concentrating on the pair of faces in front of him he mentally tugged at the edge of the blanket, longing to be able to put the two sides of his puzzle together. His feeling of recognition only grew the longer he watched the couple; the man shielding the girl from any danger and holding her in a protective and loving manner. Something inside Asher told him he had once been held that way and that this couple in front of him had something to do with it.
Then instead of recognition something else clicked inside of Asher’s mind. The last soldier from the safe haven’s red band fell to his side, a bullet lodged in his head. The other mutants that Asher and his brother’s had knocked unconscious were now starting to come to. An instruction tore through Asher’s mind telling him to return to his brother’s, telling him that his fight was only just beginning.
&nb
sp; As he cast a final look towards the girl down below he saw the man pushing her through a small door in the vehicle bay and out of sight. Flying over to join his brothers Asher somehow found it easier to go into battle again now knowing she was safe.
As the six of them regrouped he vowed that he would search for her later, but for now his battle wasn’t finished. With a grin to his brothers they appeared in front of the remaining advanced mutants, six pairs of little hands itching to let their newfound powers be truly tested.
Chapter 22 – Zahyra
“It’ll be okay baby, it’ll be okay.”
Cain’s soothing words did little to stem the flow of tears that were escaping from Zahyra’s eyes again. She had only just managed to straighten herself up after Zac’s death when she had run into the arms of Cain, his loving face causing her to break down into tears once more.
Now as he held her they had managed to make their way into the vehicle bay, the first part of their battle almost over. Sadly Zahyra knew it was only that: the first part. With Zac’s final words ringing out in her head she was more determined than ever to find Asher and the other boys, however many there may be, and bring them all to freedom. She was at least glad that she hadn’t seen her brother yet, that he hadn’t been turned into a soldier on the safe haven’s front line.
“You need to get inside and look for them,” Cain continued to speak as he both consoled Zahyra and looked around the vehicle bay. “Get inside now and I’ll meet you in your father’s lab. We can find Asher together from there okay?”
“Why don’t you come with me now?” Zahyra asked desperately, stepping back slightly out of Cain’s arms and straightening herself up somewhat. Cain didn’t reply for a moment, stretching his arms, sighting his gun and shooting down the last remaining safe haven soldier. They had all fallen now; the commander’s mutant party had taken the vehicle bay successfully and with fairly minimal casualties from what Zahyra could see. Apart from Zac, of course.
“I’ll come with you soon Zar,” Cain spoke quickly, knowing the rest of the advanced mutants would be emerging from their cover and joining them soon. “But you need to get out of here now so you don’t get caught up in the commander’s plan. Please, go find your brother.”
Zahyra looked longingly into Cain’s eyes as he pushed her towards a small door in the vehicle bay. “Okay,” she spoke softly, “don’t be too long.”
With her final words Zahyra was out of sight and making her way down a small corridor that led away from the vehicle bay. She rubbed her eyes as she went, adjusting to the lower level of light in the small corridor and drying the final tears from her eyes at the same time. Her moment of sadness had to be over for now, she couldn’t let Zac die in vain and for that she needed to find her brother. She needed to rescue the boys.
The corridor she moved down eventually came to a fork. She could keep moving forward, turn to the right or turn to the left. Remembering that she had agreed to meet Cain in what had been her father’s lab Zahyra took the right turning, her small knowledge of the safe haven’s layout telling her that the experimentation labs were in that direction. She wasn’t sure why Cain had asked to meet up with her there, but realised quickly that neither of them knew of many other specific points in the facility and the labs were as good a place as any to start looking for information. She just hoped she had taken the correct turning. Unlike Cain her sense of direction often failed her.
Another three minutes or so of walking and Zahyra reached a door. It was right at the end of the corridor so she didn’t have any other option but to go through it, but she waited cautiously outside anyway, uncertain of what she would find on the other side. Her brother’s face remained at the forefront of her mind as she pushed it open, holding her breath as she tried to prepare herself for whatever was on the other side.
A disappointed sigh escaped her when she saw what she had been preparing for. She had simply moved into another corridor, although the second was wider and better lit. She noticed as well that there were a number of doors leading off from the corridor she had stepped into, although she couldn’t predict what lay behind any of them as the structures all looked exactly the same, with no windows available for a teasing glance.
Thinking back to the brief time Zahyra had spent in the safe haven she tried desperately to remember its layout. When she had travelled from the experimentation labs to the vehicle bay it had always been in a fairly straight line. That led her to believe she had simply exited the vehicle bay on the wrong side and needed to curve around to get back to more familiar ground. So slowly and as quietly as she could Zahyra continued to creep down the corridor, pausing slightly at each door and listening for sounds on the other side.
The first two doors she passed were silent and so Zahyra felt confident no one was on the other side of them. Knowing she had to do everything she could to try and find her brother she took in a deep breath and checked behind both of the doors, thankfully both of them simply revealing empty offices.
Moving further down the corridor she approached the third door and pressed her ear against it cautiously. Inside she could hear the whirring of machinery but no human voices. She listened a little longer, making doubly sure she wasn’t going to walk in on anyone and then carefully opened the door. Pulling it open just a crack she angled herself to look in again feeling relief wash over her when she found the room empty.
Looking inside she found it lined with screens, each one running sequences of letters and numbers over and over again. Zahyra watched the screens for a second, reminded of some of the tasks she had been forced to do for her T128 trial and then slowly exited the room. Her feeling of relief when finding the room empty was quickly being pushed aside for one of desperation. Each new door that didn’t reveal her younger brother causing her to slowly lose hope inside.
She continued to move down the corridor in a similar fashion. Finding another office, two more rooms of screens, what looked like a classroom and a door that opened to yet another corridor. With her optimism running thin Zahyra dropped to her crouch beside one of the latter doors she had access to, praying to find something of more importance behind it. Listening for noise she was again met with nothing, her only silver lining so far being that she hadn’t encountered anyone from within the safe haven.
Pushing open the door she stepped inside and took a minute to blink in her surroundings. The room she had stepped into was several times bigger than any of the ones before it and had two other rooms leading off from it. The one she had walked directly into appeared to be a dormitory, housing six individual beds. The two additional rooms she found upon further inspection were bathrooms, clearly split between the residents of the dormitory.
Looking for any indication of who could sleep there Zahyra checked the lockers beside the beds for clothes or personal items. The items she found appeared to be fairly generic and looked to belong to boys in their early teens. She hoped for a moment that the dormitory was where Asher might sleep, but after checking each locker she concluded that the clothes in all of them would be too big for him – his small ten-year-old frame lacking any muscles or definition.
Moving out of the room feeling slightly deflated Zahyra continued checking the remaining doors. There were four left that she hadn’t yet explored and the first three turned out to be more dormitories, exactly the same set up as the first one she had entered. Finally she moved through the fifth door, finding yet another corridor that she didn’t recognise. Letting out a frustrated sigh Zahyra knew she had no choice but to continue through it, although her hopes of finding anything were fading fast, quickly being replaced with a fear of being lost inside the safe haven forever. Trapped within the mountain.
Thankfully she noticed the corridor had a slight curve to it and she wondered whether it could finally be leading her to the experimentation labs. She was certainly on the right level of the facility for them and her optimism told her they would turn up eventually.
Therefore she continued to check doors,
although this time having to avoid a couple due to voices being heard on the other side. As she was just about to exit one of them however a sheet of writing caught her eye. Moving over to a binder on the office desk Zahyra bent down to read and her eyes widened.
There on the page in front of her was her little brother’s name, accompanied by five more. They had to be the other boys the safe haven had turned into Gen 6 mutants. Sure enough Adryan’s name was present, the brother of Clarke from the warped settlement. The twins Zac had spoken of: Jonny and Dylan were written down too and Zahyra swore she would save them, in honour of Zac’s memory. Finally the names Sam and Hayden completed the list.
Six boys, Zahyra thought to herself. Six boys that she needed to save. With a newfound determination she looked back around the office and began rifling through the other binders, searching for more information about her brother and his five companions.
As Zahyra worked she worried about Cain and whether he would already be waiting for her in what had been Emerson’s – her father’s – lab. Having them both in separate parts of the facility only put them both at more risk but Zahyra knew she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to find out more about what was happening to Asher and the other boys. As she looked down on their names in front of her she knew she owed it to Zac, to Clarke and to whatever family Sam and Hayden had out in the world.
So she worked quickly as she tore through the pages, her heart rate steadily rising as she learnt more and more about what was happening to the boys. Unfortunately a great deal of information was missing, most likely stored on the screens Zahyra was all too familiar with. However what she found written on paper was still enough to make her heart flutter.