by E S Richards
Now as he looked around the room Cain figured that each of the boys must have the same mutation, many of the mutations he saw seeing fired around the room similar to those possessed by members of the commander’s party.
Racking his brain Cain tried to figure out what to do. From his position he was fairly well covered, with none of the boys having noticed him yet. Revelling in his moment of safety Cain scanned his eyes around the vehicle bay, searching out Asher and watching what the young boy could now do. He saw him flying around, clearly borrowing Mace’s mutation and shooting out beams of light from his eyes like the other boy had done just a minute or two earlier.
The other four boys were all borrowing equally as dangerous mutations and each of the mutants from the commander’s party were all fighting back. The vehicle bay was alive with balls of fire, twisted rays of light and powerful bodies slamming into the walls, each other and the many SUVs filling the room. Cain was so busy watching that he didn’t realise the door of the SUV he was crouching behind be pushed closed and noticed all too late a young boy standing in front of him.
Cain instantly held his hands up in front of him, trying to show the boy that he didn’t mean him any harm, but there was a fire blazing in the boy’s eyes and in an instant that fire started to blaze in the palm of his right hand too. Cain recognised the mutation from a mutant within the camp and slowly started backing away from the boy, unwilling to reach for his weapon still hanging from his shoulder.
The boy however showed no such caution and flung a fireball directly at Cain’s head as he backed away. Reacting in the last available second Cain managed to roll out of the way, the fireball smashing into the wall behind him and scorching the white paint. Cain felt the heat of it as it zoomed past him and quickly his mind went into overdrive, trying to figure out a way to stop the boys without harming them.
As another fireball started to grow in the boys’ hand Cain waited until the last second again, leaping forward onto the boy as he threw the fireball. The searing heat of the flame licked at Cain’s clothing as it passed him but thankfully Cain managed to avoid a direct hit once again.
He was then on top of the boy, pinning his arms behind his back with his knees and putting all his weight down on his back. Still the boy struggled beneath him, having much more strength than anyone of his age should do. Cain looked around the vehicle bay once more in desperation, seeing many of the advanced mutants falling at the hands of the young boys. He was going to have to knock the kid out; he didn’t see any other option.
Reaching around for his rifle Cain held it backwards, planning to bring the butt of the gun down on the boy’s head. Just as he was about to make the move Asher appeared in front of his eyes again and he stopped, locking eyes with Zahyra’s younger brother.
“Asher,” Cain breathed and lost control of the boy underneath him momentarily, allowing him to break free.
Being pushed back up to his feet by the boy standing up from beneath him Cain kept a firm grip on the rifle in his hand as he stared at Asher, now standing side by side with the boy Cain had just been grappling with. The second boy was slightly larger than Asher and looked to have more anger inside him, but with a shake of Asher’s head he was restrained from jumping back on top of Cain, although his hand itched to come alive again with fire.
“Asher, I am your friend,” Cain spoke with desperation in his voice. He no longer doubted that Asher had somehow been made to forget who he was, but there had to be some shred of recognition within him or Asher himself would have finished Cain off by now. “I’m here with Zahyra,” he continued. “You remember her don’t you? Your sister. Zahyra.”
He repeated Zahyra’s name a few more times, hoping for the word to sink into Asher’s mind. The vacant stare on his young face remained in place, although Cain could see Asher was thinking about something, something he had said was slowly starting to get through to the boy.
The other boy next to him remained confused and after a moment took a step towards Cain; still angry for the way he had been pinned down. Cain’s grip held firm on his rifle, willing to knock the boy out if that was what it came to. He was just about to as well when a firm voice came from Asher, staring directly ahead at Cain.
“No.”
Instantly the other boy stopped, turning back to look at Asher. Cain did the same, opening his mouth to speak when Asher repeated the word again, shaking his head along with it this time. With a slight nod of his head the other boy stepped away, running back into the scene in the middle of the vehicle bay, where the battle between the young boys and the advanced mutants was still raging on.
“Asher?” Cain questioned as he stared at Zahyra’s brother, the young boy unmoving like his companion had done before him.
There was a silence that stretched out between them before Asher’s small voice was heard again. “No..” Asher repeated for a third time and then spun on his heel, running away from Cain and joining the boy before him in the rest of the fight.
Cain watched him go, a confused expression planted firmly on his face. It was clear that Asher recognised him in some way but he couldn’t remember everything they had been through together.
Looking out into the vehicle bay Cain realised quickly he was going to have to find a way to get everyone to stop fighting or most of the mutants and the boys would inevitably lose their lives in the battle. Asher was clearly the way to stop the boys from attacking; he just had to figure out a way to get through to him. He had to somehow make him remember what they were fighting for and who the real enemy was.
Chapter 24 – Zahyra
Zahyra edged slowly forward to the chair the two women were indicating to. She couldn’t be sure whether Cain had made it to her father’s lab before they had moved in to corner her, but a dreadful thought flashed through her mind that he had and they had intercepted him. With the threat of the safe haven now holding both Asher and Cain from her Zahyra begrudgingly obliged, sitting down in front of her two former adversaries.
She looked at them both nervously, unsure what was going to happen or what information they knew. Neither of them looked willing to start a conversation and so Zahyra swallowed, unable to keep the question from her lips any longer.
“Where is my brother?”
The two women looked at one another, a small smile tugging at the corners of Professor Welbeck’s mouth.
“I’ll let you handle this one,” the professor smirked. “I need to go and get my tests ready.”
Zahyra watched as Professor Welbeck walked away from where she sat, meandering over to a dark screen on the other side of her lab. She wondered what tests the professor had been referring to and it didn’t take her long to deduce that the tests would be for her.
Zahyra stared at Heather questioningly. They hadn’t made any attempts to restrain her since she had walked into the experimentation lab. Nor could she see any weapons that either of the two women carried, while she herself still had a rifle now nestled between her legs and a pistol in the back of her waistband.
Surely neither of the two women would be foolish enough to try something when Zahyra quite clearly had the upper hand. The only reason she was even there was to find her brother and so she repeated the question again to Heather, now toying with the rifle she held to draw Heather’s attention to it.
“Your brother has been enjoying his time here,” Heather spoke in her typical monotone voice, something Zahyra had not missed hearing one bit. “It’s a shame really, that you thought you could just burst in here and disrupt the routine he’s been in, disrupt the progress he’s been making with his training. Both Professor Welbeck and I can agree that he’s a far more enthusiastic participant than you ever were.”
Zahyra’s eyes narrowed, Heather’s answer deliberately avoiding the specifics of her question. That only made Zahyra more suspicious of what was going on and her fingers itched to take a firmer grip of her rifle.
“I’m surprised you didn’t see him actually,” Heather continued, making Za
hyra’s eyes pick up from her rifle again. “I suppose you might have made it inside before they revealed themselves. They are quite the stealthy taskforce you know.”
Zahyra grew confused. If Heather was still talking about Asher then she was correct, Zahyra hadn’t seen him. Despite her uncertainty about what the woman was speaking about Zahyra was cautious not to ask too many questions, unwilling to give anything away to Heather. She had learnt how dangerous that could be in the past. Heather appeared to pick up on Zahyra’s confused state anyway and continued talking, now enjoying the monologue she was performing.
“Yes myself and the General have trained the boys well. I take it you knew that at least? That we have created more Gen 6 mutants than just Asher?” Heather goaded Zahyra with information, making her grit her teeth in order to remain quiet. There had to be some bigger reason for Heather and Professor Welbeck accosting her in the lab and Zahyra knew that if she snapped she would be much less likely to discover it.
“Your brother is one of the best though,” Heather continued. “He’s strong and clever. Just like your father was. It’s a real shame that we had to lose Emerson; he was doing brilliant work here, as your brother is evidence of. But Zahyra, I suspect you didn’t travel here just for a progress report on our work. You’ve made quite an entrance – you and that band of advanced mutants, most of whom are now likely dead by your brother’s hand however – but tell me, what is the true purpose of your visit?”
Zahyra stared up at Heather, suspicious of the woman’s question. Surely she would be aware that she came back to rescue her brother? The advanced mutants and their desire to destroy the Tocsix were just a means to an end, a way of ensuring they could break back into the safe haven thanks to the added manpower.
But as Zahyra analysed Heather, she knew the secondary goal of destroying the Tocsix could no longer just be a secondary goal. She had sworn just moments ago to make the safe haven pay for what they had done and removing their advantage against the advanced mutants was just the beginning of that. Although she knew it would be better to keep Heather in the dark for now.
“I’m just here for my brother.” Zahyra spoke bluntly, her eyes boring into the military woman in front of her.
“Your brother arrived here on his own accord,” Heather quickly shot back at Zahyra. “He wanted to return, he wanted to learn more about himself and with our help he is succeeding in that goal. Do you really want to take that opportunity away from him? Do you want to stop him from reaching his full potential?”
“You sound just like my father did!” Zahyra spat the words at Heather angrily, pushing the chair backwards and standing on her feet. Her rifle was poised against her shoulder, still pointing to the ground but held in a way that Zahyra could lift it to fire in an instant if she wanted to.
“Always so quick to anger,” Heather shook her head at Zahyra, seemingly unalarmed by the rifle in her hands. “But I’m flattered you said that Zahyra, your father was a great man and I am honoured you think I reflect some of his characteristics. We did, after all, share the same goal. A goal that I think you’ll find your brother is quite close to now as well. Why don’t you sit back down and I’ll tell you more about it?”
Zahyra was ready for Heather’s taunt and moved to reposition her rifle, raising the aim from the ground and pointing it at Heather. However no sooner had she taken aim with her gun did two sets of hands grab her from either side as two red band soldiers magically appeared out of thin air.
Zahyra struggled against them, her rifle being ripped from her hands and her spare pistol yanked out from her waistband. The two men held her fast, forcing her back into the seat she had just vacated and quickly fastening zip ties around her wrists and ankles. Then they disappeared into thin air again, leaving Zahyra seething as Heather walked forward and picked up her weapons from the ground.
“I see you’ve learnt very little during your time away from here,” Heather provoked Zahyra. “You surely couldn’t have forgotten that although we don’t live our lives based on our mutations, there are many within our ranks that still carry them? In fact it is the majority who do and that is exactly why people like you are so important. People like you are so necessary for our survival.”
Zahyra continued to struggle against her restraints as Heather spoke, mentally kicking herself for letting her guard down so easily around Heather. Of course people within the safe haven were still mutants, almost everyone alive was! She couldn’t believe how foolish she had been to let the uniforms and the different way of life distract her from that simple fact. The two soldiers who had just subdued her clearly carried mutations that made them invisible: the perfect adaptation for catching her unaware.
“I wonder perhaps,” Heather continued, “if you ever managed to figure out the reason for your T128 trial?”
Zahyra’s attention peaked at Heather’s question, narrowing her eyes as she stared at the woman. She remained stood perfectly upright, dressed in the standard grey uniform with a purple armband located over where her generation number would be. Zahyra wondered what mutation Heather might carry, finding comfort at least in knowing she wouldn’t be higher ranked than generation three.
Since her time in the safe haven Zahyra had of course, made some assumptions about what her T128 trial had been intended for. Since the revelation of the Tocsix – the magical stick the safe haven used to rid mutants of their mutations – she believed that was what they had ultimately been using her for. What she was less certain of however was exactly how the device worked and how her tests had helped in its creation. Now with Heather holding the answers right in front of her Zahyra was unsure whether to reveal to the woman just how much she already knew.
“Enlighten me.” Zahyra refused to be mocked by Heather and she also refused to tell the woman the truth. Now tied to a chair Zahyra quickly realised that her knowledge was the only weapon she had left to use against Heather.
“Well that’s a little disappointing to be honest,” Heather sighed, shaking her head and finally pulling up a chair of her own. Heather cast a cautionary look over to Professor Welbeck as she sat down and Zahyra noticed the professor was still deeply engaged in her work, preparing whatever tests she had spoken of earlier. Seeing the professor still at work Heather relaxed slightly, letting her body rest in the chair she had pulled over.
“We could have been giving you too much credit.” Heather shook her head. “Although I happen to know for a fact that you do know more than you are letting on. You know about the Tocsix’ and that’s how you managed to persuade a group of advanced mutants to accompany you here. Well sadly none of them are ever going to get their mutated hands on it. You on the other hand, you might get to experience the more advanced version for yourself.”
There was a deep undertone of evil in Heather’s voice as she spoke and Zahyra panicked for a moment, unsure of how to react. Making a quick decision to maintain the clueless bravado Zahyra simply shrugged and looked away from Heather, quickly trying to formulate a new plan in her head. Being tied to a chair at Heather’s mercy was not how she had pictured her little brother’s rescue mission going.
What happened next however rooted that panic even deeper in Zahyra. Heather sighed and rose to her feet, moving over towards a screen that Zahyra could just about see from where she sat. She watched carefully as Heather picked up some sort of remote and started pressing buttons on it, clicking about until an image flashed up on the screen.
Zahyra’s mouth dropped open as she saw video footage of herself, Cain, Zac and the rest of the mutant party before they had attacked the vehicle bay. She listened to the audio footage of them talking about the Tocsix’ and how they needed to destroy them. Zahyra had never imagined the safe haven had a way of viewing what went on outside the mountain walls but now that she’d seen it she felt stupid for not thinking of it in the first place. The technology within the facility was incredible; watching what happened outside of it was surely a top security measure for them. With a thirty second rec
ording Zahyra realised she had instantly lost the upper hand.
“You see,” Heather smiled as she stopped the recording from playing, the image halted on Zahyra’s own face. “We know you know a lot more than you let on. I also suspect you have figured out that your T128 trial was designed to develop the Tocsix, something that you have been immensely helpful in.
“However, our device is not yet complete. Your little escape plan with your brother and mutant companion slowed down our progress somewhat, as although we had another Zero on hand it would appear your results are far stronger than anyone else’s we have tried.”
Zahyra slowly began to rotate her wrists against her restraints. She had a feeling she knew where the conversation was going now and she wasn’t looking forward to what Heather was about to say next. From the brief conversations she’d had with Zac about the Tocsix she suspected there was something wrong with the final result. Something that Heather and Professor Welbeck were probably going to call on her to fix. As she felt the zip ties become looser against her skin Zahyra decided to test out her theory.
“They don’t work properly do they?” Zahyra goaded Heather, revelling already in the extra bit of blood flow she could feel in her hands. “You lot can’t do anything right.”
Heather inhaled deeply, shooting another glance over to where Professor Welbeck sat. Zahyra could tell from the woman’s stare that she was waiting for something from the professor and that meant Zahyra only had a small window to act in. She had to get herself free before the professor had prepared her tests; she just had to keep Heather talking long enough to do so.
“I’ll still help you though,” Zahyra continued, filling the stale air between them with her words. “All you have to do is let my brother go. Let Asher go and I’ll help you again. It’s all you ever really had to do.”