It was already dark when he finished his last round. Camels were mooing less than pleasantly. Their constant bickering grated his nerves, but he tried not to treat them too harshly. They were probably reflecting his own lousy mood anyway.
He left the trolley outside and guided the animals in to the barn. He could smell Sam’s scent all over the place. He could see him up on the rafters, leaning his back against the wall and reading something.
He hitched the camels to their places and started taking off their reigns. He heard a soft thud when Sam jumped down.
“So. You can read?” He tried to act civilized. It wouldn’t do to get them both aggravated. Boy had inherited his temper and stubbornness. Marie would find two corpses from here in the morning if they let themselves loose.
“Everybody reads nowadays, dad. And mom taught me when I was a kid.”
Dad. Right. He picked up a curry and threw it to Sam who caught it before it hit his chest.
“You get Ug. Try to get off as much sand as you can.” Sam started grooming the camel he had pointed.
“I talked with mom. She said it was okay for me to stay here. That’s of course if it’s okay with you,” boy ventured while running the rubber brush through Ug’s coarse hair.
“Do you realize what kind of danger you’re putting us all? Have you forgotten everything I told you about the Army and how it operates?” Logan asked, trying his best to school his tone to conversational level.
“I guess I forgot. With you clocking me and everything… Hell, dad! Things have changed since you were in the Army. We had even mutant commanders. Some of the highest ranking officers are mutants, and…”
“We had mutant commanders back then. I had usually group of ten men in my command. And then there were commanders for mutant commanders. Men who told us where to go and what to do. But I’m not talking about the regular Army, and you know that, Sam,” Logan spoke quietly, grooming Glug who enjoyed his rough handling enough to close its eyes and drool a puddle at its feet.
“I don’t know what you are talking about. There is just one Army,” Sam grunted.
“One Army with different branches. Back then I was a Destroyer. Nothing but a mindless machine. When I got obsolete they turned me in to Genetical engineers. In to Breeding Center.”
“I know that. You told me about it. I don’t want to hear about it…”
“You have to hear about it, because it looks like you listened jack shit last time I told this to you!” Logan’s hackles rose and he threw the curry he had been using on Glug to the furthest corner of the stable.
“Genetical Engineering was something they did. Something from which they got out good results. More powerful and versatile mutants. More efficient and durable killers to throw against the enemy. The program was working. You can’t actually believe that they stopped just because some nice people asked them to stop it. If you believe that, you’re more stupid than I realized. Now, I’m going to ask something important. And it’s very, very fucking important that you answer truthfully. If you lie to me and something goes wrong because of that, I’ll hunt you down and gut you. Is that clear?” Logan had been stalking closer to Sam all the while he spoke, his eyes locked to his son’s eyes. They stood staring each other over Ug’s back.
“Is that clear?” He asked, unsheathing claws from his left hand and sliding them over Ug’s back, shaving off the thin surface layer of camel’s fur.
“It’s clear,” Sam whispered.
“Do they know that you’re a mutant?” Logan asked. Sam nodded.
“Did they at any point take your blood or marrow?” Was Logan’s next question. Sam shook his head. Logan relaxed and let his claws slide back in.
“I meant that I’m not sure. They could have during surgery. They didn’t tell us very much what they did, just fixed us and it was enough for me.”
“And that brings one more question to my mind. The chip. Did you take it out before you came here?”
“And how the fuck was I supposed to do that? Just in case you have forgotten, I didn’t inherit healing factor!” Sam barked. That’s when Logan lost it. He ducked and barged against Sam from between camel’s legs, throwing them both several meters backwards until sturdy stone wall of the stable stopped them.
“I’ll fucking show you how, you retarded freak!” One hand clutching tightly Sam’s throat, other hovering just above his ribcage, squeezed to a tight fist. Claws were already stretching the tender skin between his knuckles. He could see them sliding out, then sliding in, parting flesh and bone. He took a deep, calming breath. Sam wasn’t worth it. Killing him wasn’t worth to loose Marie over. He switched the position of his hands and sat on Sam’s chest with his full weight, unsheathing claws from his left hand, letting Sam to see them properly.
“This is going to hurt like bitch. I don’t know if this’ll work or not, but for your sake I do hope they haven’t tried to locate your chip yet.” With that said he cut off the sleeve of Sam’s shirt and threw it aside. Poked and prodded his arm until he was sure the hard lump under his fingers was what he was looking for. Sam grimaced when one claw dug in to his bicep, but kept still. Wound opened. Logan retracted his claws and dug in to slit he had made with his fingers none too gently, and poked and prodded until he found what he was looking for. Tiny metal cylinder. He showed it to Sam.
“I have taken out more of these from my body than I care to remember. Damned hard to break, but put them too close anything electrical and they go boom. Now, be a good boy and take this to the hood of my truck,” he whispered, dropping the chip to Sam’s palm and standing up.
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