by E S Richards
“Me too,” she spoke quietly. “How is everything going?”
“According to plan,” Cain returned her smile. “We’re going to move out after supper this evening. I’ve managed to convince the commander to head out slightly earlier, so we can hold more of the element of surprise by attacking just before dawn. It took some persuading, but he’s finally admitted the darkness will work to our advantage.”
“That’s great news,” Zahyra couldn’t hide her approval. “Moving in through darkness will be much easier. Do you know which point we’re going to try and get in through? What’s the plan for when we’re inside? I haven’t been told anything!”
Cain let out a small chuckle and proceeded to tell Zahyra everything he knew, speaking in hushed tones as other mutants walked around the camp. They got a few strange looks from a couple of them but for the most part were thankfully left alone.
Zahyra listened carefully as Cain explained the plan he had hashed out with the commander and a few other members of the base. It appeared that Zac had actually been heavily involved, offering up several new entrances to the safe haven they were not before aware of. Although they had ultimately decided to attack and enter through the vehicle bay, Zahyra and Cain both agreed that the other entrances would be useful as a means of escape afterwards.
Zac had also in secret told Cain where he believed the safe haven could be keeping Asher and the other boys and therefore they had informed the commander that the location of the Tocsix’ were on the other side of the facility. Once inside the three of them planned to break away from the group and execute the true purpose of their rescue mission.
Of course, Zahyra was aware that Zac could only be offering his best guess as to the boys’ location. She mused that they would be near the experimentation labs in some regard but she herself had seen so little of the facility during her time there that she struggled to come up with any better suggestions. Finding Asher and the other boys would not be easy she knew that, she just hoped that it would be the only aspect involving her brother that would present a challenge.
As the day drew on Cain had to leave her side to help organise the rest of the mutants. He warned her to simply stay out of trouble until the time came for them to depart and that he would make sure she travelled to the safe haven in the same vehicle as him.
His warning, as it turned out was not quite as easy to adhere to as she would have liked, Cain’s seat beside her quickly being filled by a mutant she didn’t recognise. The man’s body towered over Zahyra, forcing her to crane her neck backwards to get a proper view of his face.
“Um, hi?” She said cautiously, suspicious as to why the mutant had chosen to come and sit beside her. “How are you?”
The mutant didn’t speak for a second, regarding Zahyra’s comparatively small frame in front of him. As the silence span out Zahyra began to feel awkward, uncertain of whether she should speak again in the mutant’s presence. Eventually the silence won out and she shuffled backwards slightly, allowing her to look up at the mutant without hurting her neck so much.
“Can I help you?” Zahyra asked timidly as she moved, wanting to look around for the reassurance of Cain but unwilling to break eye contact with her new companion, something inside of her telling her not to.
“Did you know him well?” The voice that escaped the mutant was nothing like what Zahyra had been expecting. He sounded meek and mild, like he himself was scared of what was going to happen.
“Um I’m sorry,” Zahyra shifted about awkwardly. “Who are you talking about?”
“Repo,” the mutant breathed sadly and Zahyra quickly realised he was a friend of the mutant Cain had killed. A very close friend based on how he was acting and instantly Zahyra felt a pang of guilt in her chest. Part of her alibi for being within the camp was that she had grown close to Repo in the safe haven, his views helping to shape her own.
The reality was that she had never even met him and apart from the brief description Cain had offered her about him on their walk to the commander’s base she didn’t know anything about him. In the face of his closest friends her façade would surely falter.
“I did,” Zahyra spoke, choosing her words carefully. “He was a friend of mine in there.”
“And mine out here,” the mutant sniffed, clearly tried to keep a lid on his emotions. “He was my brother.”
Zahyra’s couldn’t stop her eyes from widening as the guilt inside her threatened to overpower her other emotions. “I’m so sorry,” she spoke truthfully, dropping her gaze from the mutant’s since the first time he sat down.
“Just tell me one thing,” he spoke again after a moment, enticing Zahyra’s eyes back up to his own. “Was he happy there? Before it all happened I mean, was he happy?”
Zahyra paused for a moment. She had no idea what the truthful answer was but she knew what she had to say. “He was,” she tried to speak with as much sincerity in her voice as she could muster. “He was happy. He –”
“I don’t need to know anymore.” The mutant cut her off, shaking his head. “If he was happy then I know they took that away from him, I know I have to avenge him somehow. Thank you, for speaking with me,” the mutant continued as he stood up from the log. “I look forward to fighting alongside you tonight.”
Zahyra felt lost for words as she watched the mutant walk away from her and disappear behind one of the buildings. She hadn’t even learnt his name and yet he was now willing to devoutly be a part of their battle. The guilt inside her twisted her stomach into knots as Zahyra herself stood up and started moving to the small shack where her bed was found. She decided it was best if she kept to herself until they were ready to leave the base that evening, the thought of running into more of Repo’s close friends or family too much for her to handle.
Thankfully the remainder of her day passed without a hitch and very shortly she was sat around the fire once more for supper, with Cain and Zac seated on either side of her. The whole base had gathered at the same time for their evening meal, the plan being to depart base immediately after. Almost as if on cue the commander rose to his feet leaving his empty bowl on the floor and waited for silence to fall over his men.
“I know this decision has been fast,” the commander started what would likely be his final speech within his base, “but it is not a decision which has been taken lightly.”
Murmured agreements and head nods made their way around the fire, each mutant having set down any remainder of their meal to give the commander their full attention.
“For many years we have co-existed with the safe haven. We have provided them with what they need and in return they have given us fuel, ammunition and weapons. But recently, our trade deals have worsened. They no longer seem to rely on us the way they once did, instead choosing to go out and get things for themselves.
“They need to learn that they are not the alpha. We are the alpha. We are the ones who have been engineered to possess incredible skills and talents. We are the advanced race and now they want to take that away from us, take away our genetic right.
“Well I will not stand for it and tonight, we are going to take back what is rightfully ours: our position at the top. Tonight we fight for our pride and our position, but we also fight for those we have lost. We fight for Repo; we fight for Sully and Magnus taken before him. We fight so that those who come after us don’t have to, so that those who come after us don’t have to die. So let’s get ready boys, for tonight we show the safe haven just how powerful we are!”
The roar of agreement that came from the mutants shook Zahyra, the base erupting from silence into a frenzy of cheers and shouts. Everyone was on their feet, Cain and Zac included and Zahyra quickly jumped up to join them and avoid attracting any unwanted attention to herself.
From that moment the base moved quickly: mutants filing out to collect their weapons and heading to their assigned vehicles. Amongst the madness Zahyra felt Cain grab her arm and lead her steadily to a specific vehicle, letting go of her just a
s they reached it. She was thankful that it was the smaller of the two, meaning she wouldn’t be packed in with as many advanced mutants. It would still be cramped though, the whole base being split between two SUVs and three motorcycles that had also appeared earlier that day.
The close quarters Zahyra was forced to share with the advanced mutants on their journey to the safe haven did not occupy her thoughts though. Instead she pictured her brother’s face and prayed that she would find him in the same shape. She couldn’t tell how long they had been driving for but she had imagined almost every possible scenario by the time the SUV pulled to a halt. And even then she had no idea what to expect.
Thankfully the journey had been quiet and therefore left her with her thoughts. Both Cain and Zac had been in the back with her, once again with Zahyra squished in between their bodies. Seven other mutants had also piled into the vehicle: the commander and his second in the front and then five more in the back, seated in two rows of four facing each other.
Zahyra recognised three of them, Repo’s brother sat on the other side of Zac, thankfully meaning he was out of her immediate eyeshot. The two others Zahyra recognised but couldn’t name, they were the older man and son that she had seen Cain speaking to on more than one occasion, the younger of the two having occasionally caught Zahyra’s eye around camp.
Now they were all piling out though, stepping one by one into the frosty desert air, the headlights of the vehicles dimmed to draw less attention to themselves. Zahyra figured they had parked some way back from the actual entrance to the safe haven, meaning they would have to continue the rest of the journey on foot. Picking up a rifle and handgun from the back of the SUV Zahyra nodded to Cain and prepared herself for their rescue attempt, Asher’s face still fresh in her mind.
Minutes later she was stepping forward slowly towards the mountain face, leading the way with Zac by her side. He assured her underneath his breath he knew where the switch was to open the vehicle bay doors and that they would get inside with ease.
They were so close now; Zahyra couldn’t let anything more get in the way of her seeing her brother. As they reached the final boulder they could hide behind before opening themselves up to the wall of the safe haven, Cain gathered the mutant party in closely to usher his final words of warning.
“They should only have a couple of guards out at this time,” he whispered towards the mutants, the commander happy for Cain to take the lead. “We need to take them out as quietly as possible and then get inside, from there it’ll be a mission of stealth to destroy the Tocsix’ – although a few fallen safe haven soldiers is never a bad thing.”
A number of the mutants snickered at Cain’s slight joke while Zahyra bounced from one foot to the other, anxious to get everything over with and get inside. A feeling she never thought she would have again for the safe haven.
“Okay, on my mark,” Cain continued. “One, two, three... Go!”
Chapter 20 – Zahyra
Spinning around the boulder two advanced mutants picked off the safe haven guard with ease. It was almost too easy. Zahyra scanned her gaze around expecting someone else to jump out from behind a rock, or emerge from deeper within the vehicle bay. But no one appeared.
Upon Cain’s instruction the mutant party pressed closer forward, walking past the two fallen bodies belonging to the red band. Zahyra wondered how many of the red band had died as a result of what she had done. Never technically directly from her hand, but had she never entered the safe haven many more of them would still be alive.
Pushing onwards they closed the last stretch of desert and pressed up against the mountain face. Many of the advanced mutants looked confused, the safe haven’s disguise as good as anything they had ever seen. Were it not for Zac and his knowledge of where to open the vehicle bay they would have undoubtedly been stuck on the outside of the wall for some time.
Thankfully though, that was not the case. Zac moved with confidence towards a certain panel of the wall and ran his fingertips along it, as if searching for some secret button. Zahyra watched him closely, noticing he had found a groove within the rock and was tracing his fingers towards the end of it. Then sure enough the groove appeared to widen into a square panel. Zac set his palm flat against the panel and pushed inwards, activating the mechanism for the vehicle bay doors.
“Get in position!”
Zac shouted as he stepped away from the panel, moving to shield his body slightly behind a jutting out piece of rock. Zahyra moved with him, unsure of Cain’s whereabouts at that moment. She imagined he was probably nearer the front of the group, where the doors would actually open. She just hoped he wasn’t putting himself in too much danger simply to maintain their story in front of the commander.
As the whirring sound of the mechanisms began to grow louder Zahyra crouched down so more of her body was hidden. She had no idea what to expect; the two soldiers on guard had been dealt with so easily, so quickly. Surely they would not have had time to raise an alarm.
Even so Zahyra placed her body between Zac’s and the opening door, grateful that they were closer to the rear of the group. If only Cain were further back as well. The seconds seemed to drag by slowly as a small gap appeared along the bottom of the mountain face. It spanned over a stretch of rock about five or six meters in length – wide enough for two SUVs to pull out at the same time.
Zahyra craned her neck to try and see through the slight crack but the interior of the vehicle bay was too dark to make anything out. Instead she held her breath as the crack slowly grew, eventually creating a gap wide enough for two advanced mutants to crouch underneath and scout forward into the vehicle bay.
A silence followed as the two mutants disappeared from sight. Zahyra hadn’t seen who they were but she hoped it wasn’t anyone she had spoken to – although that only saved a very small group of mutants. It hadn’t been Cain though, of that she was at least certain.
She kept expecting them to return, duck back into sight from the ever-widening gap in the mountain but no one came. Instead the silence continued to expand amongst the commander’s mutant party, reaching its summit when the whirring of the door mechanism finally stopped and the opening to the vehicle bay had widened to its limit.
Zahyra remained perfectly still. She stared into the darkness that was the vehicle bay, waiting for something to happen, for someone to make themselves known. Instead there was nothing. Eventually, after another minute of silence two more mutants stepped forward, this time armed with flashlights as well as guns. Stepping forward they clicked the lights on and illuminated the interior of the vehicle bay.
Their lights danced over the bodies of the two mutants who had entered before them, each of their necks snapped and bent out of shape. Zahyra gasped. There had been no sound of a struggle from within, no noise of the two bodies hitting the floor. But then the silence ended. As the two flashlights passed over the mutant bodies the familiar pop of gunfire sounded out from deeper within the vehicle bay and the second two mutants fell to the ground, collapsing on their deceased companions.
“It’s a trap!” A voice shouted from nearer the front of their group while a reluctant Zahyra sheltered more of her body behind the rock. “Light this place up boys!”
At the order a deafening boom sounded within the vehicle bay and Zahyra couldn’t stop herself from looking forward to assess what had happened. There appeared to have been a large explosion, setting several fires around the bay and lighting up the interior. Now in the firelight Zahyra could make out several shapes within the facility, each one armed and ready for battle. As a shiver ran down her spine the advanced mutants she had travelled with all began streaking forward, their weapons raised and their voices crying out for battle.
“Are you ready?”
Zac’s voice was right beside her but he still had to shout to make himself heard over the gunshots that were already pinging off every available surface. Thankfully there was a lot of cover outside the vehicle bay offered by the mountain, but Zahyra kne
w there was equally as much cover inside. This was not going to be a quickly fought battle.
Gritting her teeth she looked up at Zac. His expression mirrored her own; that this was just an inconvenience they had to get through in order to find and rescue the boys, and it was going to be a long one. Still they were both aware that they had no choice and therefore Zahyra nodded firmly to Zac and set her sights forward to the next piece of available cover.
“Stay behind me,” Zac directed Zahyra as he locked eyes on an available boulder slightly nearer to the entrance. “Stay low and move quick.”
Zahyra didn’t need any more instruction; as soon as Zac had taken his first step she was right behind him, making a beeline to their next area of cover. Zac fired off a few rounds into the vehicle bay as they ran but Zahyra remained focused on cover, her rifle slamming into her side with every step.
As she ran she looked around for Cain, hoping to find him hidden somewhere nearby. But in the low light and with everyone crouched or masked by something it was impossible to tell who was who, save for the distinct uniforms that singled out the safe haven’s red band. Zahyra wondered for a second whether herself, Cain and Zac should’ve donned their safe haven outfits but realised quickly that would have just made them a target for the advanced mutants when the throngs of battle reached its height.
“We need to find a way through and get to the boys!” Zahyra shouted at Zac as he hurtled into cover alongside her, both their bodies temporarily shielded again from the barrage of gunfire tearing through the air.
“There isn’t a way through!” Zac shouted back matter-of-factly, explaining something Zahyra knew all too well. “The only way in is through the vehicle bay, so we’ve got to get this fight finished first.”
Zahyra said nothing in reply. She knew Zac was right but hated having to admit to any further delays between herself and Asher. Getting into the safe haven was only the first part of their plan. She still had to find Asher, determine whether he was okay, assess the other boys that were with him and then find a way to get them all out of the facility. When she thought about it step by step a part of her began to doubt whether it was even possible. But they were at the safe haven now; the time for hesitancy was long behind them.
