by E S Richards
Seeing his brother hang limply from Cain’s grip sent the other twin into a frenzy however and Cain barely had time to lower the unconscious boy to the ground before the second had jumped on his back. A flurry of fists started pummelling down on his head and neck, the sheer speed of them making Cain feel dizzy. He knew he had to repeat the motion though and waited until his moment was right, grabbing the second twin in a similar fashion and knocking him unconscious like his brother.
With the silencing of the second twin the vehicle bay fell much quieter, save for a loud ringing in Cain’s ears from his fight. He loaded the twins into the same SUV as Asher, strapping each of them into the back seats and closing the doors. The commander needed to hurry up blowing that control room; Cain’s vehicle of Gen 6 boys was quickly becoming full.
Cain therefore naturally found the sight before him unsurprising as he turned away from the SUV for a second time. Two more boys were blocking his path and as he looked around the vehicle bay he realised they looked to be the last two people standing. Instantly Cain knew that meant one of the boys was missing and he could only hope the sixth boy was just unconscious, nothing worse.
The two who stood before Cain now were easily the biggest of the group and Cain knew they must have witnessed what he had done to Asher and the twins. Pursing his lips Cain doubted whether he would have the strength to fend them both off without unleashing his mutation. But as they stepped slowly towards him he knew he would soon be forced to find out.
Chapter 27 – Asher
Asher slowly started to come to with a throbbing pain in his head. He opened his jaw slightly and found it was swollen, the right hand side feeling stiff and uncomfortable. Opening his eyes wider he realised he was sat in the passenger seat of an SUV, located in the safe haven’s vehicle bay. Behind him he noticed two of his brothers: Jonny and Dylan, both still lying unconscious.
Then his senses tuned in to what was going on outside of the vehicle where he sat. Two more of his brothers: Sam and Hayden, were fighting with one remaining advanced mutant. Asher watched the battle for a moment as the three of them moved around the room. Sam and Hayden were the strongest of his brothers, but he was confused why neither of them were borrowing any mutations. He regarded the mutant they were fighting and felt an aching feeling in the back of his head, confusing him as he looked at the older man.
Asher figured the mutant didn’t have a mutation that would be useful for Sam and Hayden to borrow, but smiled at how well they were holding their own against him despite that. Although they looked to be about ten years younger than their enemy, both of them had built a large stock of muscles from their time in the training camp. Both had been there much longer than Asher himself had, although he realised he couldn’t remember exactly when he had arrived or where from. The dull ache in the back of his head returning when he tried to recall his past.
It didn’t go away either as he continued to watch the fight, focusing not on his brothers but the mutant they battled with. His moves looked familiar, reminding Asher of some training he’d had in the past, although he didn’t think that training was within the safe haven. He remembered a girl being present and there had never been any girls sent to train with them in the facility.
Climbing out of the SUV Asher took a moment to hold his head, longing for the ache to go away. It only intensified the more he thought of it though and instead he turned his focus back to his brothers. Only then did Asher realise he couldn’t find Adryan. Panic shot through him as he looked around the vehicle bay, searching for his younger brother. Asher had been his partner; he had been responsible for him. He couldn’t have let anything happen to him.
The number of bodies that littered the floor astounded Asher slightly. Had he and his brothers really taken out that many advanced mutants? The sight before his eyes answered his question clearly, but through the bodies he still couldn’t find one belonging to Adryan. He still couldn’t find his brother.
Sam and Hayden had noticed him now, as had the mutant they were fighting. Asher didn’t look their way though, not even when the older mutant called out his name making the ache in the back of his head stand out again. Adryan was his priority. He had to find Adryan first.
A small foot poking out from underneath two advanced mutants eventually caught his eye and he rushed over to the scene. His breath caught in his throat as Asher looked upon his brother. Adryan’s neck was snapped at an unnatural angle as he lay beside the mutants who must have been his attackers. Both of the other mutants were dead beside him, but that didn’t take away that fate from Adryan as well. That couldn’t take away his death.
Asher fell to his knees and cradled his brother’s limp head, looking down into his lifeless eyes. Although Adryan had been the newest to join Asher and his brothers, Asher had always felt close to him, like he had known him from somewhere before. Looking down at his dead eyes a new image danced in Asher’s mind, lighting up his dull headache once more.
The image of a classroom floated into his vision, a classroom where they were all seated outside on a grassy verge. Asher blinked as the vision in his mind blurred in and out of focus, trying to ascertain its relevancy. Then he saw Adryan. His brother’s face was clear in his vision of the outside classroom, sat not far away from where Asher perceived himself to be. The vision was so familiar. He could smell the outside air and hear voices coming from other children, along with an authoritarian voice of someone in charge, a teacher.
Asher looked down at Adryan once more as tears started to fill his eyes for his fallen brother and more images began to creep into his mind. He saw a large camp, a sort of settlement filled with all different types of mutants. Some of them looked deformed in some way as the words warped settlement hovered over his mental vision, providing him with more clarity.
The image – which Asher slowly began to realise was a memory – continued to expand. It morphed into the faces of two people and Asher shook his head at the image quickly, turning his gaze to look at the mutant Sam and Hayden were still fighting. Although he noticed it was only Sam fighting now, Hayden lying unconscious on the floor.
The mutant certainly looked familiar and Asher narrowed his eyes as he watched him carefully. The mutant must have noticed Asher looking, as he called out for him, using Asher’s name as he had heard him do so before.
Hearing his name brought another memory back to Asher’s mind, of being in an SUV with the advanced mutant. They were driving somewhere, they were driving to the safe haven and the two of them were acting like old friends. As Asher replayed the memory in his mind he felt comforted, like the mutant was someone he could trust. Someone he had spent time with in the past. He also got the sense there was someone else who should be in the memory, someone missing that he couldn’t quite remember just yet.
Bringing himself back to the present in the vehicle bay Asher glanced down once more at Adryan’s body. He leant forward and kissed his forehead, then pulled his eyelids down over the young boys’ eyes. He was reminded of the girl on the battlefield as he did it, having watched her perform the same motions on her fallen friend just a few hours before. The thought of the girl still seemed incomplete in his head somehow, like there was something missing from that memory as well.
With one final look at Adryan Asher rose to his feet, walking across the vehicle bay towards where Sam and the mutant were still fighting. Both looked tired, the struggle within both of them growing steadily larger. He moved obviously towards them, noticing both Sam and the mutant casting sideways looks in his direction, until he came to a stop just beside Sam.
His brother looked at him questioningly, confused by Asher’s presence in stopping his fight. After a moment though he stepped aside, leaving Asher staring directly into the advanced mutants eyes. Neither of them moved, neither of them wanting to fight any longer. Asher stared deeply into the eyes of the man and searched through his memories for an answer, for something that would tell him the truth. Finally a name swam up from the murky depths of his mind
, bubbling quietly out of his mouth.
“Cain.”
Asher watched as the mutants’ face softened in front of him, confirming what he believed to be true. He did know this mutant and he wasn’t a true mutant at all, not really. He whispered Cain’s name again as the man – his friend – stepped forward, dropping down onto one knee with his arms wide open. Asher looked at him cautiously for a second longer until Cain whispered his own name, then Asher was in his arms instantaneously.
“Oh Asher,” Cain whispered in his ear. “I thought we’d lost you.”
Asher pulled away slightly at Cain’s sentence, noticing the use of the word we. The girls face flashed into his mind again and he looked at Cain with a puzzled expression, waiting for another name to enter his consciousness.
“Zahyra?”
Cain’s face broke out into a smile. “She’s here Asher, she’s in the safe haven somewhere. She went to find you and... We need to find her now, she should have come back already.”
Asher listened to the concern in Cain’s voice and focused on the image of the girl in his mind. He had recognised her on the battlefield outside the vehicle bay and he had felt responsible for her. Now he remembered her name, Zahyra, and he whispered it over and over to himself as he squeezed his eyes tightly closed.
The ache in the back of his head was pounding fiercely now as he struggled to see through the midst in his head. He knew there were memories there, he knew there were answers about who he was and where he had been before he joined his brothers in the safe haven. With his heart rate increasing he mentally strode through the midst, searching for the door to his old life that he needed to open. Tearing down the wall to allow everything to come flooding back to him. Then, with a moment of pure clarity he opened his eyes and spoke again.
“Zahyra.”
He remembered everything. He remembered his sister and everything they had been through together. He remembered Cain and the relationship the three of them shared. He remembered the warped settlement, where he must have met Adryan before and where he had left with Cain in an SUV in order to return to the safe haven. He also remembered the safe haven he had known before. He remembered the room they had kept him in and the tests he had engaged in with his father. He remembered his father. He remembered shooting his father.
Suddenly everything was clear to Asher. He was fighting for the wrong side and so were his brothers. They must have all suffered the same fate as him where they were injected with the Gen 6 mutation during infancy, the safe haven waiting until the right time to gather them all back up again and use them as a weapon. Well not any more.
Asher turned away from Cain and marched over towards his brothers. Hayden was still unconscious on the floor but Jonny and Dylan had woken up. Along with Sam they stood over their unconscious brother, watching Asher carefully as he strode towards them.
Asher’s connection with his brothers was special. He could feel what they were feeling somehow and he knew they were scared. He looked upon each of them and then looked back to Cain, expressing a look through his eyes that told his brothers Cain was their friend. That the six of them had been fighting for the wrong side. Sam was the first one to react, furrowing his brow and shaking his head. No words needed to be exchanged between them; Asher could tell what his brother was thinking. He then looked to the twins, imploring them to believe the truth. They appeared less sceptical but he could tell they weren’t fully on his side.
With a sensation of desperation moving through his body Asher looked back at Cain, still kneeling where he had left him. His sister Zahyra flashed through his mind once more and he knew there was no more time to waste. She should be with Cain and her absence made Asher tremble with fear.
With a final look to his brothers Asher knew what he needed to do. He told his brothers to let him go, that he would be back for them soon but he needed to save more of his family first. The twins nodded to him while Sam’s expression remained stoic, causing Asher’s eyes to droop slightly. But he couldn’t wait; they had already burned through too much time. So with a final smile – although one that he told himself wouldn’t actually be final – Asher turned from his brothers and moved back across the vehicle bay towards Cain.
“Zahyra.” He spoke for only the third time. “Where is she?”
Cain grinned, already turning to exit the vehicle bay. “This way.”
Asher followed Cain in silence. Although his memories were returning to him there was still a lot that felt fuzzy in his head, like it would take a while for the full clarity of his memories to come back to him. He knew one thing for sure though: his idea to return to the safe haven had been a bad one. They had enslaved him and his brothers for their Gen 6 mutation and now they had reclaimed Zahyra as well. Asher just hoped they weren’t too late. He hoped the time he had taken to come back to his senses hadn’t cost his sister any of hers.
Cain’s pace was consistent as they moved, running through corridors at a steady jog. For the first time Asher himself recognised how much his body had changed, his muscles weighing him down but also making him stronger, the run barely raising his heart rate. He could also feel a new power within him and knew that he finally had proper control over his mutation. It brought a smile to his face knowing that the safe haven had at least given him that, especially as he was now free of their powers over him.
The smile didn’t last long however, his thoughts quickly shifting to his brothers still under the control of the safe haven. That was the one other thing the safe haven had given him that he could have never expected: five brothers.
Four.
His smile faded completely and his paced suddenly slowed. Adryan was already gone. Gritting his teeth Asher resolved that he would do more than save Zahyra today; he would save his four remaining brothers as well. The safe haven didn’t deserve to control them and he would do everything in his newfound power to stop them.
Just as he was plotting how to help his brothers regain their memories; regain control of who they were a large explosion echoed down the corridor they occupied, shaking the walls and throwing both Asher and Cain to the ground. He broke his fall quickly, shaking his head to push away the ache that continued there.
“What was that?”
“The commander...” Cain whispered after a second, leaving Asher looking confused.
“Who?”
“It doesn’t matter right now,” Cain brushed aside Asher’s question. “But I think that explosion means he’s managed to destroy the control room. Hopefully that will mean the other boys will wake up now.”
Asher processed Cain’s words for a moment, his smile slowly returning to his lips. If his brother’s returned to who they truly were then he knew they would be all right. Now with them saved he had to focus on Zahyra, his job in the safe haven wasn’t quite over yet. Cain agreeing with him, the two of them continued down the corridor, eventually coming to a stop in front of a door Asher recognised all too well.
“The experimentation labs?” He asked nervously as Cain rested his hand on the door handle.
“Yep. I told Zahyra to meet me in here, I don’t know whether she’ll still be here but it’s as good a place as any to start.”
Asher nodded. “Let’s go.”
The two of them moved carefully into the first laboratory, the familiarity of it all barraging Asher. Each lab was set up the same, which meant the first one looked exactly like his fathers, where he had both spent many days and also murdered his own flesh and blood. The thought only lingered in Asher’s head for a second though as he and Cain swiftly moved towards the next door.
His father had deserved what happened to him. He was the one who turned Asher into a Gen 6 mutant and then fled from his own family because he couldn’t deal with what he had done. It was only when Asher and Zahyra had stumbled upon the safe haven by chance that Emerson had tried to reach out to them, although he himself had still not told Asher the truth until his very final moments. After everything Asher had just been through he w
as pleased his father was dead and he was even more pleased that he had been the one to pull the trigger.
“Ready?”
Cain’s voice came from above him where the man was holding two fingers beside the panel that would open the next lab. Asher gave him a brief nod and then returned his gaze to the door, watching the metal structure slowly slide away into the wall and grant them both access to Professor Welbeck’s lab.
Instantly Asher froze in place. Looking into the professor’s lab he could see the woman herself: she was tied to a chair with her mouth gagged to try and stifle the screams coming from her. Looking past Professor Welbeck Asher’s eyes landed on who he was searching for and life finally returned to his legs.
He sprinted forward into the arms of his sister, finding her frantically bent over a screen pouring through information. As she noticed him it became Zahyra’s turn to freeze in place, her mouth dropping open as her younger brother moved across the room before her. Asher’s arms wrapped around her tightly as soon as he was close enough, squeezing her close with his newly acquired strength. Only when a small gasp of pain escaped her did he step back and realise what had happened.
Zahyra’s t-shirt was torn and blood was seeping through the fabric. Her right arm was bandaged up although blood was quickly making its way through that as well. She looked broken. Angry, confused and exhausted. As Cain moved to his side Asher noticed him acknowledging Zahyra’s appearance as well.
“What happened?” Cain said in a concerned yet dominating voice, resting his hand against Zahyra’s cheek and stroking it lightly.
“That doesn’t matter,” Zahyra murmured. “Asher, how are you? Where have you been?”
“That doesn’t matter either,” Asher smiled with a shake of his head. “I’m fine though, are you?”
“Yeah I –”
“I’m sorry,” Cain interrupted with a tone of nervousness as voices gradually became audible outside. Honing in on the lab from both directions. “But we need to get out of here.”
