by E S Richards
“You can have the chair if you want,” Zahyra said to Cain half-heartedly, “I’ll camp out down there with Ash.”
“No it’s okay,” Cain declined her offer, “probably better for my foot on the floor.”
Zahyra shrugged in response and walked over to where she’d left the chair by the window. The cushion was now falling apart from where she’d ripped it for bandages but it would still make a better bed than the floor. She dragged it across the room to the corner where Asher was already asleep and rested it against the wall beside him. Climbing into it she felt her body give way and sink down against the fabric, her eyes drifting shut and her breathing becoming quiet.
Cain watched Zahyra and her brother sleep for a while and then as quietly as he could crept back out of the hut for the last few minutes of midday dusk before the sun made the air too hot again. He dropped back down onto a tree stump, being careful to not bang his foot against anything, the bandages still hanging onto his injuries. He knew his foot was going to be a real problem once they started walking but there was also no chance he was going to complain about it, he’d caused enough trouble for Zahyra recently.
As he sat Cain thought back to how different his life would be if he hadn’t stopped to save Zahyra a week and a half ago. It seemed crazy that it had only been that amount of time and so much had happened to them. If he’d driven past his life would’ve continued on the same boring path it had been on the past however many years. He didn’t speak to anyone, didn’t socialise with anyone. His whole life had been hiding from people in order to avoid hurting anyone ever again with his mutation. After his brothers and several others in the months that followed that, Cain had vowed never to let that happen again.
But then Zahyra had come into his life. Cain struggled to explain his feelings for her to himself; everything was so new and uncertain. From the moment she had first entered his cabin there had been something different about her, something that made him want to stick around and get to know her. He’d redeveloped his grasp on speech because of her and put an end to the mind numbing silence that normally resonated around him.
Gradually, Cain had started to feel more like himself around Zahyra, but he knew this was not a good thing. The more he opened himself up to his feelings the less control he had over his mutation, and he had already had a breakdown twice in front of her because of it. He balled his hands into fists at the memory of his first outburst in front of her. The vision of himself chasing her through the streets etched firmly into his mind. Something he’d hate himself forever for doing.
Cain desperately wished he could work out a way to control his mutation full time. But even controlling it to the standard he did now took an immense level of focus and concentration, which was intensely draining on his body and mind.
He heard movement from inside the scout hut and twisted his body around to look through the crack he’d left open in the door. It was just Asher shifting in his sleep and Cain smiled, his thoughts returning to his two companions.
Through Zahyra’s words he had already come to deeply care for Asher. The poor boy being marked a Zero was a terrible curse he’d have to carry with him his entire life. Cain himself knew what it was like to try and hide a mutation and it was never an easy task, no matter what company you were keeping. That was one of the reasons why Cain preferred to keep to himself, as in his own mind he only had to deal with his own self-judgement.
He felt sorry for Zahyra in that moment. It was clear how deeply she cared for her brother and how much his branding had hurt her. Asher seemed like a quiet kid who was dealing with everything internally – and Cain knew what kind of things he would have had to endure in the camp – but Zahyra was suffering in a more obvious way.
She had become distant and recluse ever since discovering Asher’s generation number. And then seeing her fight the mutant in the very clearing Cain was staring into at that moment… it was like something had snapped inside of her and she lost all control, a feeling Cain knew all too well. Thankfully during his mutant rage Cain had flung the bodies of the other two mutants into the woods so they weren’t polluting the view any longer, but the reek of death hung thickly in the air and he knew Zahyra wouldn’t be able to forget what had happened for a long time.
He wished he could be the one to comfort her, to wrap his arms around her and tell her everything was going to be okay, but it was just too dangerous. It had been hard enough stopping himself from kissing her and then pulling away when she had kissed him the next time. Almost every muscle in his body had willed him to grab hold of her, lift her body into his and let the two of them become one in the moment. Sadly Cain knew though that if he gave into those desires he wouldn’t be able to keep the animalistic side of him hidden and that would result in terrible consequences.
As the sun began to peak out from behind the midday dusk Cain sighed and stared off into the distance. How cruel was fate that because of his mutation the only way to keep someone he cared about safe was to not be with them?
Chapter 24
Zahyra awoke to Cain nudging her on the shoulder. She took a moment to remember where she was and everything that had happened and then her mind was flooded with complicated memories from the past twenty-four hours alone. She stretched and noticed that Cain looked like he had hardly slept, her little brother Asher was still sleeping soundly next to her however and she took in his face once more with a smile.
Once Cain accepted she was awake he moved back outside of the scout hut and Zahyra wriggled out of the chair, pulled her boots on and padded outside to see him, leaving her brother sleeping for a little while longer.
“How’d you sleep?” Cain asked as she exited the hut. It was still hot outside but the sun looked like it would be setting very soon, meaning the three of them would have to get on their way.
“Good thanks, did you get much rest?”
“A little, managed to get this bird just now though, if you guys are still hungry before we leave?”
Cain presented an already cooked bird to Zahyra, which she graciously accepted and tore off a wing to nibble on, noticing the other wing had already been removed.
“I’ve had a bit,” Cain continued as Zahyra inspected the bird, “but you guys can finish the rest.”
“Thanks,” Zahyra replied, “how’s your foot?”
She noticed Cain had but his boots back on ready for their departure and could see a strip of the fabric bandage poking out at the top. He’d also wrapped a bit of fabric around the outside of the boot over the puncture marks, presumably to stop any dirt getting close to the wound.
“Could be worse,” Cain said with a wink, “I’ll keep an eye out for some geranthiams as we go… it’s a plant supposed to help with healing in some respect,” he finished, noticing Zahyra’s raised eyebrow when he mentioned the plant by name.
Zahyra nodded, thankful that Cain had more knowledge around the subject than she did and moved to take the rest of the bird inside to her brother, holding it in her hand was making her mouth water too much. She smiled as she drew close to him and wafted the cooked meat around above his face. His nose twitched at the smell and Asher slowly opened one eye.
“Wha–” he started, then noticed the food Zahyra was holding. “Is that for me?”
Asher immediately perked up at the notion of food and reached forward to take it from Zahyra. She waited quietly by his side as he finished the bird and sucked the meat clean off the bones once again.
“You gunna be ready to head out soon?” Zahyra asked him once he’d finished eating, “It should be getting dark in a bit.”
Asher nodded, “Where are we going?”
Hearing her brother’s question Zahyra paused, realising she actually didn’t have a clue where they were going, or what their plan was. She hadn’t really thought about what she would do once reunited with her brother.
They had been hoping to get to the safe haven and meet their mother, but she’d travelled for many days since that journey began and d
idn’t know whether it was in the right direction or not. Her only hope was Cain knowing the way, perhaps they should travel back to his cabin and then she and Asher could set out to the safe haven from there.
“We’re going to find the safe haven,” Zahyra said after a while, “I don’t really know where it is, but we’ll find it. After all we found you didn’t we?”
Asher smiled in response and shook off the blanket that was still wrapped around him from his sleep.
“Alright, let’s go then.”
Her brother bounced out of the scout hut and into the last few remaining minutes of daylight. Zahyra scooped up the jacket she had leant him which now lay abandoned on the floor and looked around the rest of the hut to see if there was anything else they could use before following him out, she knew Asher would want the jacket for warmth very shortly.
Her brother was talking to Cain by the dwindling fire, asking him questions about where they were going and how long it would take to get there. Cain was humouring him and saying they were going on a big adventure, which Asher can’t have truly believed but he went along with anyway.
Zahyra stomped out the remaining embers on the fire and picked up her water bottles. Cain had refilled them from somewhere while she’d slept but she didn’t know where, having not noticed a single stream in their time in the forest. She put them both in her pockets to save Asher from having to carry one and walked over to the two of them, holding the jacket out for her brother.
“Ready?” She asked, although it was more of a suggestion for them to get moving. She wanted to be as far away from the scout hut as possible when the next two mutant guards arrived, the reality of what she had done to the previous two all too recent for her to like thinking about.
Asher and Cain nodded and both turned to start walking, her brother still nattering in Cain’s ear as he hobbled away from the hut. Zahyra took one last look at the place and then followed. Too much had happened in this area for her to process and she just wanted to get away from it before it was too late.
The pace Cain set was slower than she would have liked, but with him unable to walk any faster due to his injury she kept her mouth quiet. In some respect she was glad of the pace as after sleeping her whole body ached even more from her fight that morning. The bruising on her ribs was darkening and the bruises on her arms had become more pronounced as well. Thankfully she had no cuts or injuries that would leave a scar, the memories being enough of a reminder to last her a lifetime.
Cain briefly described what geranthiams looked like so they could all keep an eye out for the plant. Zahyra didn’t have a clue what it would do but if Cain said it would help it was yet another point she wasn’t going to argue. Apparently they had long stems with purpley-blue flowers at the top and grew in moist ground or near water.
In the entire time Zahyra had been in the forest she’d noticed very few flowers, the darkness of the forest stopping most things from growing apart from the tall, robust trees and a few berry bushes here and there. She tried to remember how long they had walked through the forest before reaching the scout hut and realised that it would be the middle of the night by the time they got out with Cain’s injury. She strained her eyes to try and find this mysterious flower in order to get them to safety sooner.
Zahyra then flinched at the thought of having to go back through the city to make it to Cain’s cabin. But she liked the idea of that being their destination before she and Asher left for the safe haven. Something about Cain’s small home made her feel safe and taken care of. She remembered the first night she had spent there with him and how he had helped her recover from her injures. It had reminded her partly of her own home; a place with not much on the inside but a lot of heart and feeling to it.
Zahyra realised then that what she was truly missing the most was somewhere she could call home. With her camp ruined there would be no returning there, Cain’s cabin was just a stopover and then in reality she didn’t know what the safe haven would be like. The name naturally alluded to a place where she could keep Asher out of harms way, but if it didn’t feel like home to her she could never feel like she truly belonged.
At this moment she realised that Asher was telling Cain stories about their camp and listening intently to what he was saying. She was surprised how quickly her brother had warmed to Cain and how comfortable he looked around him considering he’d been an insane mutant just a few hours ago. In fact Zahyra was surprised by her brother in general. He seemed to be almost back to normal despite being kidnapped, locked in a camp for a week and being branded a Zero for the rest of his life. She wished she could have his carefree attitude of looking at things but Zahyra’s life had become so complicated recently she struggled to see the good in almost any situation.
The only real moment she had seen a future in recently was when Cain had kissed her in the scout hut. However since then his feelings towards her seemed to have changed and she had no idea why. Every time she tried to talk to him about it he shut her out and steered the conversation in another direction, or even worse just halted the conversation full stop.
The torment her feelings about him caused her drove her insane thinking about them, and to make matters worse the more he was awkward around her the more she was confused which meant the more she thought about him and the more she ended up liking him.
Zahyra sighed as she tried to tear herself away from her thoughts and focus on the story Asher was telling. He was explaining to Cain about the time it had been his idea to build a wall on a particular side of their camp to keep out more wild animals at night. This was undoubtedly one of Asher’s favourite stories to tell because it made him sound so clever and he was immensely proud of the fact the camp elders had listened to what he had to say.
Zahyra remembered the day fondly and felt pride for her brother herself. He was such an intelligent kid and she knew that must have helped him to survive in the mutant camp to some extent. She was still surprised that some mutation hadn’t manifested from it and at least given him a Gen 1 ranking at his Turning Age Ceremony.
Suddenly Zahyra stopped in her tracks trying to remember what day it was. She knew Asher had been forced into his Turning Age Ceremony too early, but was it his birthday today, or the day after. She quickly picked up her feet again and caught up with the boys in front but continued to try and work out the sums in her head; the thought of missing her brother’s birthday embarrassing her substantially. Eventually she processed that she hadn’t missed it and relaxed as she walked, now keeping her eyes open for both Cain’s healing plant and any interesting objects she could give to her brother when he did turn ten in a couple of days.
Keeping track of days and time was much harder now Zahyra was on the road. In her camp her mother had marked days by scratching them onto an ancient in their hut and even then it hadn’t been the most accurate of measures. She’d read stories about The Before Time when everyone carried magical devices with them that could tell them what day it was and even the exact time of day. Zahyra was fairly skilled at knowing how close to sunrise, midday dusk or sunset it was by the position of the sun, moon and clouds but she longed to have one of those old magical devices.
She often wondered how different life would be if civilisation hadn’t collapsed and the genetic mutations hadn’t happened. From pictures and stories she had a vague idea but everything seemed so perfect back then and she struggled to imagine a world without fear and destruction.
Her world, she realised, was probably much different to everyone else’s though. She had to fear for her life with every new person she met due to her ranking. Even being a fake Gen 1 didn’t do much to protect her in the presence of more developed mutants, let alone what would happen if she revealed her true generation number. The same number her brother now shared.
Just then Asher cried out in front of her and ran off to the right. Zahyra jogged the few paces between them and caught up to him, Cain had also hobbled over to the right to join Asher.
“Incredibl
e! Well done kid!” Cain exclaimed when he reached Asher.
Zahyra leaned over and realised her brother was knelt beside the plant Cain had described to them and had begun tearing them out of the ground. Her brother was grinning from ear to ear at his find and puffed out his cheeks when Cain gave him a slap on the back in congratulations. Zahyra found a large stone and sat down to rest while Cain helped Asher pluck up as many of the flowers as they could carry and stuff them into his pockets.
“Should be another hour ‘til we’re out of the forest,” Cain said as he stood back up, satisfied with the number of geranthiams they’d managed to scavenge. “We should keep going until there. I’ll need to light a fire to boil these down and don’t wanna do that in here.”
Zahyra agreed with Cain and with only another hour left to walk until they could have a proper rest she quickly got to her feet. Cain had to be taking them a different route out of the forest if the walk was only that long. Asher was still high on the success of his find and continued to walk alongside Cain, asking him questions about what the geranthiams would do and what other plants could be used to heal things.
Zahyra regained her place behind them and walked with her hands in her pockets. She was pleased the other two were getting along so well but she also began to feel a twinge of jealously. Not only had she and Cain been so close before and now hardly talked, but she had also just been reunited with her brother and wanted to spend time with him. She’d never felt like this before and grinded her teeth as she walked, hoping to expel the feeling from her body.
The last hour of walking through the forest passed quickly and Cain brought them to a stop just shy of the tree line so they had a view both into the forest and outside of it. Although it was so dark now that they had been walking almost hand to hand for the last thirty minutes and even the light of a fire wouldn’t illuminate much else to them.
The three of them worked quickly in the cold to gather firewood and get a fire started. Zahyra took this opportunity to teach Asher more carefully how to light a fire, as unlike the various qualities of certain plants, learning how to start a fire was something she’d paid attention to learning.
