by E S Richards
Zahyra fidgeted from one foot to the other, “but… we don’t know what rank he got. What if he’s…”
She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Cain knew what she was about to say anyway and took a step forward, his arm outreached to comfort her. He stopped abruptly before reaching her though and awkwardly lowered his arm. The tension between them was unnerving and Zahyra blushed at both her want for attention and the resounding lack of it.
“If he’s a Zero,” Cain began as Zahyra’s eyes snapped up to look at his, pleading with him to give her some sort of good news, “they won’t kill him until tonight. Really we should get back in the trees to see if he comes out of the building or not, that will give us our answer. But the sun…”
Without waiting to hear what Cain was about to finish saying or even responding to him, Zahyra turned around and began climbing back up the tree she’d previously inhabited. Her ribs stung as she climbed, pushing herself to move faster than she’d ever done and willing for Asher to be let out of the building and integrated back into the group of boys.
Cain shouted at her to wait from below but she was already too high up to turn back down, instead she gritted her teeth and kept on climbing. Once she’d reached the spot she’d been sat in earlier she positioned herself carefully between the branches and strained her neck to see beyond the camp walls. The air was much hotter up here and she winced realising it would be daylight again soon, meaning her position in the treetops wouldn’t be as hidden as she’d have liked.
Gazing down into the camp Zahyra looked at each boy carefully, now all back doing their daily chores or training. She assessed each one, making her way clockwise around the camp until she had confirmed that Asher was not among them. However neither was the boy who had his Turning Age Ceremony before him, so that gave her hope they were both still inside the building.
Suddenly Zahyra heard a rustling of leaves beneath her and looked down to see Cain in the same tree, just a few meters lower.
“Zahyra, we’ve got to get out of these trees before the sun comes out,” he hissed while nervously looking around for guards patrolling the wall.
“How will we know if he comes out of the building?” Zahyra shot back instantly, not wanting to leave her post no matter how exposed it made her.
“We can go around the other side, where the view is more obstructed. Just please, come down before someone sees you. You’re no use to your brother dead.”
Zahyra glanced down at Cain’s pleading face and then back to the camp. Asher was still inside the building as far as she knew and ultimately Cain was right – if someone spotted her in the trees it would make matters a thousand times worse.
“Alright,” she replied begrudgingly, “out of the way then.”
Cain started to climb back down the tree beneath her and with one last look over the camp walls Zahyra followed him as fast as she dared. Once they were both on the ground they took off running through the trees, Cain taking the lead to somewhere around the other side of the camp.
As she ran Zahyra prayed that Asher would still be safe by the time she got another look into the camp. She just wanted to see him, whether that meant he was out working the fields in the slave labour regime or beating up smaller kids in the training area. No matter what he was doing she just needed him to be safe, she needed to see him to put all the worry and fear to the back of her mind again.
After about fifteen minutes of running in a curve around to the right Cain pulled up and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Zahyra stopped beside him and looked around, the area looking exactly the same to her and she wondered again whether Cain had been here more than once before.
“Can we climb here?” She asked between breaths while assessing the trees surrounding them. They were a bit harder to climb with none of them having branches that she could reach from the bottom.
“Yeah,” Cain panted, “the main entrance is near here, so they won’t be looking in this direction for anything – I hope. This should be the safest area to watch from.”
Zahyra didn’t need to hear anymore and rubbed her hands together as she tried to choose a tree to climb. Too many minutes had already passed without her knowing what was happening to Asher and it was likely going to take her several more to get to the top of one of the trees. Cain tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to one on his left, indicting it should be the easiest for her to climb. There was still no easy way up however so he laced his fingers together to form a net. Zahyra cautiously put her foot into it and Cain thrust her as high up into the tree as he could manage. Grabbing hold of a sturdy branch Zahyra swung for a moment before pulling herself up and onto the branch. She looked down at Cain and smiled at him in thanks, then immediately began to climb as fast as she could, a picture of her baby brother’s face engraved in her mind.
The heat was blinding at the summit of the tree, the sun burning down on her from directly above. With difficulty Zahyra removed her jacket and hung it over her head to try and create some shade, but even that made her sweat profusely.
She desperately looked around the camp again, longing to see her little brother standing with one of the other boys. After several thorough checks however she had to conclude that he was still inside the building. She then noticed in horror that the boy who had been scanned before Asher was now standing outside it, proudly displaying his branding to three other boys. They high-fived one another and ran off to the training area, the boy taking a few swings at a hanging punch bag on his way over.
Zahyra trained her eyes on the door to the building she’d seen him and Asher be taken into. How long ago had that boy been released? Surely Asher should be out soon as well if he was just being given a branding inside. The longer she watched and waited the more nervous Zahyra became: it shouldn’t take this long for a simple branding to be given.
Tears started to bubble up inside of her as she allowed herself to seriously consider the possibility that Asher was a Zero like herself. She’d known it was a possibility, of course she had, but she’d desperately tried to convince herself that he would develop a low level mutation just before his tenth birthday. Now as she watched the closed door to the building holding her brother, she knew that had not been the case.
Zahyra was forced to close her eyes to stop the tears spilling out. She had promised herself she would remain strong on this journey and too many tears had already been spent. Cain had said they dealt with the Zero’s at nightfall – she couldn’t bring herself to say that they killed them – so they at least had a few more hours to try and break him out. No, she thought shaking her head, they would get him out; there was no try about it.
Wiping her eyes and looking around her Zahyra realised that Cain was in a tree right beside her and he was watching her cry. She instantly blushed and sniffed away the last few tears before making eye contact with him. The treetops were so close together they could probably touch if they each stretched out their arms and Zahyra was tempted for a moment, desperately wanting someone to hold her and say everything would be okay. The awkwardness between her and Cain following the two times they’d kissed stopped her though and she forced herself to look serious instead. He eventually noticed that she was trying to grab his attention and shuffled up a few more branches so it was easier for them to talk without having to shout.
“Head down,” he cried out just loud enough for Zahyra to hear. She paused for a moment wanting to watch the building for a while longer, just in case Asher appeared. “He’s not coming out,” Cain called over again, a trace of sorrow noticeable in his voice.
Hearing that Zahyra had to swallow to stop another sob from breaking free of her body and wiped her eyes once again. She pulled her jacket down from over her head and loosely tied it around her body, the sleeves blowing freely in the wind before she fastened them down.
With one last look over the camp walls she scaled back down the tree, the motion coming very naturally to her after all the time she had spent climbing recently. When
she got to the bottom branch, still well above the ground she wrapped her arms around it and lowered her body down. After swinging for a moment she eventually let go and landed softly on her feet before falling forwards into a roll.
Cain landed on the ground at the exact same time as she did and walked over to Zahyra as she remained curled up on the forest floor. He gently picked her up and guided her deeper into the trees to a more secluded area where they could talk.
“We’ll get him out,” Cain said firmly as soon as he believed they were safely hidden away from the camp guards. “I promise you Zahyra, we’ll get him out.”
Zahyra looked up at Cain from where she sat on a tree stump, her eyes already red from crying.
“They’re going to kill him,” she stuttered, almost unable to allow the words to come out of her mouth.
“I’m not going to let that happen,” Cain replied sternly. “No more innocent boys should die in that camp,” as he spoke there was a wistful look in his eyes as he remembered his brothers. Choking back a sob he forced himself to continue. “Asher will be taken out of camp tonight and brought into the forest, we’ll get to him before anything happens and you two will be together to watch the sunrise tomorrow morning.”
Zahyra’s eyes widened when Cain mentioned her watching the sunrise with her brother. How did he know that was something she regretted never having done? Putting the thought to one side she nodded at what he said, saving Asher from a few guards in the forest actually sounded a lot easier than breaking into the camp, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing he was being branded a Zero. Although she wished he could avoid the actual branding. That would haunt him for the rest of his life.
The two of them discussed their plan for rescuing Asher through the next hour of sunlight, the air too hot for them to hunt or do anything else. Zahyra forced Cain to go over every detail again and again until it was committed to both of their memories and she was certain it would be successful. In reality it did seem a lot easier than having to break into the camp but they were also relying on a lot of things that they had no control over and could or could not happen.
The number of guards presumably would be small as it was just one powerless little boy they had to deal with. However Cain was unaware of what the protocol was regarding how they got rid of Zero’s, only knowing that they were escorted out of the camp at night.
He warned Zahyra that there would likely be a couple of mutants with him that had abilities that could help them in the darkness, due to situations in the past where boys had tried to run away or their friends from within the camp had tried to save them. He did his best to reassure Zahyra that they would be able to avoid these mutants and still save Asher, but her confidence steadily declined as the evening rolled in.
Once the sun had set Cain caught, killed and cooked another small bird for the two of them to eat. Zahyra’s appetite was lacking however and she only managed to nibble on the meat Cain provided for her. Her stomach was in knots over what was about to happen and she failed to focus on anything but the task ahead.
As soon as darkness had completely fallen they crept back through the trees towards the camp entrance. Cain wanted them to wait further back but Zahyra refused, unable to take any more chances with the rescue of her little brother.
They hid in the treeline about fifteen meters from the entrance gates, watching and waiting for them to open and her brother to be led out. The gates were made of wooden poles, each sharpened to a point at the top and Zahyra shuddered thinking about what they were trying to keep out. Or, perhaps worse, what they were trying to keep in.
As time passed she grew more and more nervous, hopping as quietly as she could from one foot to the other to keep herself alert. Cain told her the mutants would lead Asher out on foot, not wanting to waste fuel on what they deemed a trivial excursion. Her mouth grew dry as she waited and her knuckles were sheet white from the firm grip she held on her knife. Whatever fears she’d previously had about these mutants were forgotten as she waited poised behind the trees, ready for an attack.
Chapter 19
The creaking of gates drew Zahyra’s attention back to the present. They’d been waiting for over twenty minutes and her once ready-to-pounce stance had turned into her leaning lethargically against a tree. Hearing the noise however she tightened the grip on her knife again and squinted into the darkness. The forest around her was all but pitch black, save a few waning flickers of light from inside the camp that occasionally broke through the wooden slats of the walls.
Cain touched her on the shoulder and indicated she ought to crouch down, making the pair of them better hidden amongst the trees. She was all too aware that the escorts with Asher would likely have mutations to help them spot any adversaries, so anything they could do to make them less visible was worth it.
After a moment longer she heard footsteps approaching and judged that – like Cain had guessed – there could be no more than two mutants with her little brother.
The thought of being able to hold him in her arms again filled Zahyra with joy. It had only been about a week and half but after spending every day of her life with Asher since he was born it felt like she’d been left with a hole inside her. She had almost forgotten what he smelt like: a sweet mixture of grass and burning wood with notes of honeysuckle, almost like it had absorbed into his skin from the years by the campfire and playing in the woods. It would take a while for Zahyra to see woods as a happy place again, her memories tarnished by the place they were in now.
She pictured Asher’s face and saw her mother and father within it too. Another hole burned inside her for both of them, the one for her father hardened around the edges as if that void would never be filled again. Being reminded of her mother Zahyra knew that even once she had Asher back their quest would be far from over. This was only stage one and she knew that the safe haven would have to be their next destination. Wherever that was.
Rustling in the bushes to the right of her stopped Zahyra’s mind from reminiscing any further and she sunk even lower to the ground as a pair of burly shoulders came into view amongst the foliage. Looking up she saw the mutant’s head and noticed he was completely clean-shaven with menacing, dark tattoos crawling all over his skin. A second mutant followed behind, leaving a gap of about five meters between him and the first. A gap, Zahyra assumed, that must be filled with her brother.
She looked over to where Cain was crouched next to her and tried to form a question with her expression, asking him what they were going to do. He shook his head in response and put a finger to his lips, watching the mutants as closely as she was.
They walked straight past the two of them and Zahyra felt herself inwardly sigh with relief at them not being discovered. After a moment Cain began edging forward, still in his crouched position and followed them down their path. Zahyra took a deep breath and tried to remember how she had learned from Cain to walk silently. No more than a few days had passed since then but so much seemed to have happened her mind was struggling to hold onto important pieces of information.
With the noise of the wind amongst the trees she managed to creep as quietly as she believed humanly possible behind Cain. Walking in such a low crouch quickly began to make her lower back and knees ache but she gritted her teeth and kept going, knowing she’d willingly walk like that for the rest of her life if it meant she could save Asher.
After no more than a couple of minutes they drew to a halt and Zahyra skidded over to behind a large tree trunk where Cain was concealing himself. They had reached a clearing point in the forest where the trees naturally gave way to an open triangle of grass. The moonlight found a gap in the leaves above and illuminated the area, creating an eerie glow and causing shadows to look disproportionate and scary. Zahyra knew even that would be enough to frighten Asher, let alone everything else that was going on around him.
She saw her brother then as he was viciously thrown onto the ground in front of her. It took all her self-control not to gasp and run out towards
him but something managed to help her remain still. Assessing the mutants she realised neither of them had a weapon and she grimaced at the thought of how they were planning to kill her little brother with their bare hands. Her knife was still poised in her own and Cain had his drawn out in front of him too. Between them they had agreed using the gun would create too much noise and it was better that no one knew they were there.
“Your turn or mine?” Zahyra suddenly heard one of the mutants say to the other. She was sure she could depict excitement in his tone and that made her stomach churn with anger.
“Mine I reckon,” the second mutant said with a smirk, cracking his knuckles as he spoke.
Asher’s head was down to the ground between them but his body was noticeably shaking. How dare they discuss who was going to kill him in front of him Zahyra thought, barely able to contain herself. Cain put a hand on her shoulder to steady her and she realised her breathing had hitched into deep, purposeful gulps.
“Nah you sure?” The first mutant asked again, “Could’ve sworn this one was mine.”
“We could share him?”
“This little rut? Barely enough for one of us!”
“You’ll have to let me have him then,” the second mutant said, now moving his neck from side to side to crack that as well. The first raised his hands in the air and shrugged before turning and walking back into the forest. He muttered something underneath his breath that Zahyra didn’t catch but it caused the one left in the clearing with Asher to reach down and pull him to his feet, staring the young boy in the face.
Zahyra was so close she could hear her little brother’s crying as he kept his gaze firmly on the ground and refused to meet the mutant’s eyes.
“You’re no fun,” the mutant grumbled and began to make a fist with his right hand, “this’ll be a quick one I guess lad.”
As he drew back his fist Zahyra could no longer take it and with a desperate cry she jumped to her feet and charged down the gap between herself and the mutant in seconds. She felt her body impact his with a jarring force and could smell dirt and smoke on the mutant’s skin.
