Logan was driving and fiddling with the devices mounted on the dashboard, adding the ones from his jacket there as well, hooking them together with wires. Marie was sitting, mulling the situation over and over again in her head. Logan was still Logan. There were bad guys after them. What happened if Logan became that other? The Wolverine?
“It’s still me. Just very, very fucked up version of me. They managed to root out everything that made me human. For a Destroyer everything is black and white. It’s either hostile, or not. If target is hostile, it’s a threat and must be dealt with equally. If target’s not a threat, no reaction is needed if not asked otherwise.” Logan had explained and repeated his earlier command to walk away from Wolverine.
“And if you can’t walk… Try to stay unnoticed.”
Loud beeping woke her from her thoughts and she jumped, turning to look at what Logan was doing. He smiled sheepishly, pressing some buttons below green screen next to the steering wheel, and beeping stopped.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. It’s a radar.”
“Radar?” She had heard the word before, but couldn’t remember what it meant.
“See this screen?” Logan said, tapping the small, green rectangular. She nodded.
“Extra pair of eyes. From here we can see anything alive within five kilometers radius around this vehicle.”
“Oh…”
“How do you know so much about this stuff?” Marie asked. What she had seen fit very poorly together with the common image of a Destroyer, filthy, animal-like mindless beast.
“At the beginning of the War they were dabbling with us. Experimenting. Trying to create a perfect soldier. Taught us all kinds of neat tricks. Then they realized that it was kind of pointless to squander money to training, when average unit’s expected lifespan on the field was less than ten seconds.” Suddenly she wasn’t so interested about the topic anymore.
“Where are we going?” she asked. Logan shrugged his shoulders.
“Figured I would keep on driving until we can be sure they’re not following us anymore.”
“What about gas? Doesn’t this car need fuel?”
“Nope. We have solar panels on the roof, and hydrogen cells under the hood.”
“Christ! This must have cost you a fortune!” She gasped.
“Merchant was a mutant. Gave this to me for free.”
“Why? And where did he get this?” Marie asked. Again Logan shrugged.
“Beats me. Didn’t stop to ask.”
“What if there’s some sort of tracking device hidden in here? What if this really belongs to the Army?” Marie asked, eyes widening.
“Don’t worry,” Logan said, patting his breast pocket.
“This little guy would have made a noise if there was something extra in here,” he said, pulling out a small metal box.
She walked around the car, stretching her legs, groaning from relief. They had driven for hours, until Logan had stopped. He was sitting on the hood of the car, cigar clamped between his teeth.
“There’s food in the back of this beast,” he said, patting the hood with his palm. Marie climbed next to him and leaned against his side.
“I’m not hungry. But I could use little cuddling up.”
“Yeah. Me too,” Logan grunted, draping his arm over her shoulders and pulling her closer.
“It’s so beautiful out here,” Marie whispered. Sun had set an hour ago. Full moon colored the scenery with silver and blue.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead,” Logan said.
“Why did you escape from the Army?”
“Huh?” Logan was staring at her like she suddenly grew a second head to her shoulders.
“What you told me… You made it sound like you were a machine. Machines don’t have feelings. What made you want to run?”
“Same guys had been guarding me too long. I had had the same Mechanic too long. They treated me as a person. A dangerous one, but still a person. It made me start to think. I wasn’t really planning to escape, but then that fire broke out, and I just did.” Logan paused and puffed his cigar for a moment.
“That side of me… Wolverine. It’s built to survive. Nothing else matters.”
Logan threw away the stub of his cigar and slid down from the hood of the car. Cracked his neck and stretched his back.
“We should get going.” Marie nodded and slid towards him, legs ending to both sides of his.
“Let me down?” She asked. Logan shook his head.
“Not yet.” His hands cupped her face and he leaned closer, to kiss her. Soft, tender kiss to her forehead. Then another to her lips. Her hands delved under his jacket when he deepened the kiss, trailing down his chest, curling around his sides and ending to rest palms flat against his lower back.
“You matter to me,” Logan whispered when their lips parted.
“And you matter to me…” He leaned his forehead against hers; clearly struggling with something, eyes pinched shut and throat working furiously. His hands gripped her waist, rustling the cloth of her jacket.
First time in his life he mattered to somebody.
“Okay… Time to get moving,” he said, clearing his throat and lifting her to the ground when radar in the car suddenly reacted and started to send out signal.
“Five of them. Approaching fast. But that can’t be right…” Logan muttered, tapping the screen lightly.
“What’s wrong?” Marie asked, strapping on the seatbelt.
“Direction. Settlement is north from us. They’re coming from south. And way too fast… Shit. Stay in. Lock the doors.” Logan stepped out when beams of light swept over the car.
They were small hovercrafts, not much bigger than an average motorcycle. Drivers were dressed to black leather from head to toe, and wore matching black helmets. They surrounded the car. Logan shrugged guns from their strappings to his hands, training them to a driver that had jumped off from the saddle. Driver lifted his hands. Logan caught a glimpse; a reflection from his visor just as car door jerked open behind him and Marie shouted a warning. He ducked, but not fast enough. He heard a soft swoosh, and something stung the side of his neck. He grasped it and stared it dumbly. Small, green arrow.
“Logan!” He could hear Marie screaming, calling him. His field of vision narrowed and his knees started to buckle. He turned to the direction of her voice, took a step towards her and fell flat on his face. His last thought turned off the lights before it left the building.
Logan was down, unconscious. Maybe dead. She was screaming and struggling, but it was futile. Man that held her hauled her back in the car effortlessly before sitting on the driver’s seat and turning on the engine. She tried to jump out, but man dug a syringe from his pocket and emptied it to her bare neck with precision that would have put many nurses in shame. She fell limply against her seat, drug making her feel dizzy, draining all her strength.
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