The gates were being forced open, a couple of trucks were there, no more than ten men in all. Richards drove straight at them all, smashing into them all. Braced for the impact he came off better than the men who were now scattered around the gates. Pulling out the tools of his work from the footwell, he moved swiftly through the men. Making short work of those that were upright, the ones that were prone he dispatched quickly. Pulling the bodies off the road into the ditch, they'd be found quickly if people were looking but he had to get to the person in charge. Carter had told him what to do and he as still doing it, still following his mission. Even after seeing what his own masters were unleashing on the world, squeezing through the gap he stowed his tools in his pockets. Racing up the gravel driveway he hoped there was someone inside the building who had their heads screwed on straight. Because what he was about to tell them no one would believe in their right minds.
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Hank was trying his best, moving people who were scared out of their minds. The phonecalls had been the worst, the number being rung continously by one hate filled human after another. The things they spouted were filled with such hate and evil he'd shut the phone lines down. The children had them informed him about the website being hacked, the images he'd seen before shutting the computers down disturbed even him. Everyone was gathered at the garage when the trucks had appeared, Hank couldn't leave them to go and fight. Instead he'd opted for the less attractive option, he'd sent Peter with those who could walk a fair distance through the tunnel system. They had maps, food, water, everything they'd need to get out and into the woods for the duration. Peter and the rest of the elder class had been trained for such an eventuality. Now it was coming to pass, it was his job to destroy any records that might implicate or lead to the prosecution of mutants for so called 'terrorist' activity.
Hank wished that Scott could be here, but he was already burdened with half the school, taking the younger children and families south of the border into Mexico. Ororo was with Charles in Washington still, they had to look after themselves there as it was. No there really wasn't much he could do right now apart from hope, he'd already trashed a quarter of the mainframe when he saw the man running toward the front door. The way he kept looking behind him, the way his eyes constantly scanned the grounds told Hank plenty. Gripping a paperweight he swung out into the corridor, he'd welcome their visitor and if he was an enemy then it would be the first purposeful death at his hands.
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Richards hammered on the door, his hand tried the handle and found it open, twisting it and pushing it wide he stepped into the foyer of the school. Looking at the two glassed doors he knew the age of them, at least a hundred years old. After this he hoped there'd be someone to appreciate them, entering the school proper he scanned around. "Hello anyone here? I'm not here to hurt you, I need to find someone, I'm looking for a mutant girl. She was pregnant, her name's Marie."
Hank watched from his vantage point, humans rarely looked up and he'd used that to his advantage many times. Swinging above the dishevelled man he listened and watched as he entered it was only when he spoke that his ears pricked up. Dropping down quickly Hank kept himself in his crouch behind the man, knowing that if he moved quickly he'd spook him. Looking at him this man knew how to react to threats quickly, so Hank cleared his throat before speaking. "Ahem, I think the person your looking for *used* to be here but she never mentioned *you*."
Richards moved round quickly as the air moved, someone had been above him and now they were behind him. Crouching hands resting on his pockets he heard the cultured voice reach his ears, it was at total odds to what he was seeing. The man was covered in blue black fur, his face was more animalistic than human, even his eyes were amber. Speechless for a few moments as he took in the form that was unfolding from the floor. Slowly he pulled his hands away from his pockets keeping his hands clear and visable. "I'm looking for a girl, she was heavily pregnant, I'm not sure if she'll had the baby yet but I'm thinking she might have come through here." Hank watched the man, he was very slow in his movements, assessing the threat that he posed to him.
"Who are you sir and why are you looking for her?"
Richards gave it some thought before seeing the calculating stare looking through him, for all he knew the man in front of him could read his mind. So he opted for truth, "I took her to the detention centre, my boss wanted me to make sure she got out of the facility. I've been trying to find her ever since the raid on it." Hank looked at him, the way he stood, the way he moved, everything about him told him that it was the truth. But could he trust him?
"You took her there? Why the change of heart?"
Richards stood still, he was tired, so very tired and he snapped at the man who obviously knew something about her.
"Look I understand why you don't trust me, beleive me if I was in your position I'd be asking the same questions. Just that we don't have the time to argue about it, I tried to get her out but the guys in black leather beat me to it. I'm a wanted man, everyone else from there is in custody or dead. I'm a liability and I'm just trying to make sure that *one* thing in my fucked up excuse of a life ends well." He gestured outside to the gates, "I've just killed ten men who were armed with rifles out there, they weren't coming to help you. You're enemy number one to the rest of humanity and at the moment the only person who gives a *damn* about you is me. So are you going to answer me or am I wasting what time we have left?"
Hank stood up, dropping the paperweight he reached out to the man, "Doctor Hank McCoy." Richards took the clawed hand in his and shook it feeling the strength it hid within.
"Richards, Jeff Richards. Most people know me as Richards." The mans face seemed to relax as the grip increased on his hand.
"Someone else I know goes by one name also, maybe you know him. He was held at the facility too, Logan."
All the colour drained from Richrads face, his hand became slack.
"Is he here?!" Hank tried to understand the reaction as the man suddenly looked afraid.
"Logan? No he left a while ago, he went north." Richards seemed to recover somewhat, "Why? What is he to you?"
Richards seemed to be fighting his own morals but finally spoke.
"Logan is something called 'Project Wolverine', he was a 'final solution' to the mutant problem. He was sent to the facility for breeding purposes." The doctor winced at the news, "Look I never said I agreed with it, I just had to take care of the girl. I made a promise." He whooshed out his breath as he said it, "As lame as it sounds doc, it's one I *need* to keep."
"So why do you need Marie?" Hank was thinking about the baby, what use it could be if he brought the child and it's parents into custody for the military.
"Because I'm in a dark place Hank, the only way out for me is the grave; I know that. There's no nice place for me when I go either, all I need from her is to know that she's okay, the baby's okay and she's not with Logan. He's a killer, a machine for destroying mutants or anything else that gets in his way. So if you know where she went, what direction, just tell me and I'll get out of your hair."
The thoughts that had been niggling him for weeks now came roaring forward. Logan! He'd left him alone with a newborn baby and a fragile woman, looking at the man stood a few feet away from him. Trust was something that had to be earned but at the moment they were all they had.
"Jeff, I know exactly where they are, but if you mean them any harm whatsoever I'll kill you where you stand. Do we understand each other?" Richards nodded, they were making progress, there was a God and for once it was smiling on him.
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Marie looked over the valley, the snow was deep, deeper than she'd ever seen back home. The wind cut through everything here and she wondered how Logan coped with the cold and the wind. He never complained, never seemed to be upset about what he had to do for them to live here. After that afternoon in the kitchen he'd seemed more settled, but as the week had worn on there was something on his mind. He was checking the area more and more, leaving her and the baby alone for hours at a time. She was about to feed him again after coming inside when the small computer/communicator beeped and flashed at her.
She'd looked the thing over and read the small booklet about using it, it had been written for children to use so it was easily understood. Flicking on the main screen she waited for the screen to tell her what to do, when the message 'video conference' came up she pushed the buttons in the correct sequence. The small screen flickered for a while and the little red light on top of the unit flicked on. The tiny camera in the screen was on, focussing on the screen Marie saw the familiar shape of Hank there. Smiling she waved at the screen, "Hank! How are you? It's been a while, Merry Christmas." Hank for his part looked a little ruffled, the room he was in was the office, not the medical bay and this for some reason unnerved her. "Is everything alright Hank?"
Her eyes went to her son who was sleeping soundly, when they came back to the screen her heart leapt into her throat. "Hank! Do you know who that is?!"
Hank took his time answering her, he saw her change and her distress at the sight of the man stood next to him. He needed to find out how she felt about him before he told Jeff Richards anything else about Logan and Marie.
"Marie, do you remember this man?"
The small figure nodded on the screen, "Yes Ah remember him, he was at the lab. He talked to me, every day if he could." She halted for a moment before carrying on, "Ah ran away from him when he came for me, he had a gun and Ah thought he was going to kill me."
Hank watched the news go through the man stood near him, the despair as it coloured the room, the way his shoulders sagged downward.
"Marie, do you really believe that? If I'd wanted to hurt you why did I shoot those soldiers? They were coming to kill you and your baby, I stopped them and got you out of the room. I would have taken you to wherever you'd have wanted to go, but when I went back for you, you'd gone. I've been looking for you ever since." Richards pulled out a silver chain and crucifix from his pocket, "Been keeping them for you, I'd like to give them back to you if I could."
Hank could see she was confused by him being there at the school and he decided to step in. "Marie, have you been watching tv?" She shook her head, "Listened to the radio?" Again she shook her head, walking off screen she returned quickly with a small bundle that wriggled in her grip. The smile she wore was enough to remind Richards why he'd promised those things to her in the first place.
"Jeff, meet Hank," she unwrapped the little bundle and the sight that met his eyes was perfect. A beautiful baby boy, dark eyed and dark haired, his bone structure already following his father's. Hank broke into his reverie, "Marie where's Logan?" Richards almost broke his knuckles when he heard that Logan was there with her.
"He's out checking traps and getting wood. We're doing okay with the supplies there's still plenty down here." Hank nodded and a surprise thought came to him, "Marie things have changed a little out in the world, something has happened that puts all mutants in danger. It's nothing for you to worry about up there just that we'll be coming to see you soon." His mind made the calculations quickly, "It'll be about three weeks if the weather holds, if not we'll be later but we're on our way to you." She looked puzzled at that and Hank stopped her questions dead. "Marie you have to trust me on this, if there is anyone you don't know, a human you don't know get Logan to see them first. Do not go out yourself do you hear me?" She nodded, "It's very important Marie do you understand?"
"Sure Hank, what's happening?" He didn't want to spook her but she had to know a little about what was going on in the world.
"When we finish here turn on the tv to the news, then go look up on the internet. Now don't worry about where you are, it's the major cities that are dangerous. Just keep doing what your doing and warn Logan we're coming."
"How many?"
"What?"
"How many people?" Hank quickly did the calculation, including children.
"About twenty families, so around 70." Her face paled as the true extent of the crisis his her, she nodded and the screen went blank as she switched it off. News was something important she needed to know for her baby and she'd have to ready Logan for the invasion of people in the middle of winter.
Hank turned to Jeff, his face a picture as he looked the man up and down. "Could you move seventy people through the Continental US without getting us caught or killed?" Richards looked at the man who'd just told him that he was now their only escape route.
"I can't guarantee everyone will make it but I can try. There's a few things the government left laying around we could use if we're careful." Hank nodded to himself as he remembered the first cabin they were going to send Logan and Marie to.
"I think I know just the place..." the smile that filled the large mutants face was deviod of humour as the grin widened showing off his carnassal teeth. Richards just hoped he hadn't signed a deal with the devil.
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The hospital wing had been closed, everyone was dead inside, everyone except the man who'd brought the plague. He was sat in between the corpses, looking as healthy as ever, men in plastic suits were approaching, guns drawn. "Hands up and get on the floor!" The smiling mutant just raised his three arms, each hand flipping the armed men the bird. It was then his features changed, his smiling face suddenly became pained, the mottled skin went taut and tore. Muscle ripped apart and flowed like water down the anguished face, the scream that was half out of his mouth never finished as he bent double throwing up his stomach along with the contents. Dead before he hit the floor, the men in plastic nudged the corpse just to be sure but whatever he'd brought into the place had just killed him as well. They looked past each other to the man stood apart in his own silver suit, Director Chamber's smiled. The binary agent was doing it's job, the carriers of the first virus would have infected everyone around them with the mutant killer. Magneto would soon be without an army and the rest would soon be hunted down and killed as plague carriers. The original virus being so virulent burned out in hours not days, the destruction they wrought was only minimal. No the true test was how fast the second virus could bind to the errant rna in mutants. It would lie in wait, then strike when the body was weakened by prolonged hunger or fatigue. Moving over to the now rotting corpse of the mutant he just waved at the bodies, "Burn them, all of them. The building too." The soldiers looked at him for a second before acting, noticing the reluctance in their gaze. He really needed to get his own men down here, the normal grunts didn't have the stomach for the work. They soon would though, New York was going to be having a very bad day anytime soon. Smiling to himself Chambers left the hospital, the sound of fire crackling behind him. A demon coming from hell or an angel just returning to heaven after cleansing Gomorrah. He had his reasons, what they were, were between him and God.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
What's happened at the mansion?