Breeder had tried to struggle, so he had knocked her unconscious and tied her with his belt. Confused he noted the state of his clothing. He was dressed as a civilian. Gone were the uniform and combat boots. Instead of them he wore soft, black trousers and a shirt, with brown, worn looking biker boots. He let it slip out of his mind. He was sure everything would clear up as soon as he got back to the camp. Most likely he had been caught by the enemy, and this time he had managed to escape. Clothes were probably stolen from somewhere. He hefted Breeder to his shoulders and gazed around. He could catch a faint whiff of his own scent, coming from somewhere deeper in the forest. He had been there. Logically thinking he should head to the opposite direction.
She woke up disoriented and groggy, her head lolling against his shoulder, body draped over his neck like a stola. Logan? Or Wolverine? She tried to move to a more comfortable position. World tilted and he dropped her to the ground. Yellow eyes swept over her. Wolverine. She took in their surroundings. Scorching hot desert. Kilometer after kilometer sand and small pebbles. In the distance she could see something green. Small patch of forest. Trail of footsteps leading to that direction.
“Oh, God…” Had she survived this long only to die to dehydration with Wolverine? Small bottle landed next to her on the sand.
“Drink up.” She took it and drank.
He had already taken few steps over the sand when he had realized they wouldn’t survive the desert without water. He had returned, and found a cabin. It had been quite disturbing to realize that he had obviously spent quite some time in there with his prisoner, but he had shrugged that off after finding a big pile of small plastic bottles, and a well from behind the cabin. He had filled the bottles with water and left. Now, hours later he was feeling the first pangs of thirst. From the looks of it she was parched. He couldn’t let her die. Not before he got some answers.
She flinched surprised when Wolverine crouched next to her and took the bottle from her. She nearly fell on her back, but Wolverine grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back to a seated position.
“I’m taking you to the camp. They could probably use a good Breeder there,” he said.
“I’m tired of carrying you around. Either I drag you or I free your hands and you walk nicely. Which is it going to be?”
“I walk,” she squeaked fast. Wolverine opened the belt that bound her hands behind her back and looped it back to his pants. She stood up, stretching her legs, feeling his gaze follow every movement she made.
She wasn’t injured and looked strong enough. It would take few days to catch the team he was trailing. Three Hunters and four Guards. They could probably guide him back to his own team. He rose and slid the bottle back to the backpack, sliding it to his shoulders. He had been carrying it on the front side for better balance when Breeder had been dangling on his shoulders.
“Why do you want to go back?” They had been walking for some time, when her question made him stop.
“What do you mean?” He asked.
“You’re free now. Why do you want to go back there? Back to the Army?” She asked.
“That’s none of your business. Keep walking,” he grunted. She was thinking too much. Too many questions and thoughts running through that head of hers. Few years on duty would put her in her place that was sure. She would learn not to question.
Her seemingly unimportant and stupid question got stuck in his head. His mind kept replaying it over and over again, until he huffed and stopped, slumping to the hot sand on his ass.
“Why do you want to know?” He asked. She had walked forward, but after noticing he had stopped she returned to him and sat down.
“I’m curious.”
“You were on AWOL?” He asked. Breeder nodded hesitantly. Not quite true, but she wasn’t exactly lying either. He let it slip.
“Why? What made you want to run?” He asked. For a moment she just looked around, eyes watering. She didn’t cry, instead wiped her eyes to the sleeve of her shirt and turned to look at him.
“Things didn’t turn out the way I wanted. I had no choice but to leave.”
“They treated you wrong there?” That was surprising. Usually they took good care of breeders.
“Not exactly. But it was… It’s hard to explain. I felt like there was something wrong.” Not exactly an answer he had been expecting. Not an answer he had been hoping.
“Why do you care?” She asked. Wolverine sounded strangely interested.
“I don’t care. But your question made me think. It doesn’t feel good. Stop talking. I don’t want you to talk to me anymore,” Wolverine snapped and stood up.
“Okay…”
“Shut up. I don’t want you to talk.” She forced down word that tried to escape from her lips and simply nodded instead.
Not a good idea to talk. Talking wasn’t for him. It made him think. It made him start to question. More questions were forming in his mind every second. It was so fucking confusing, and made his head hurt. Bad. Bad. It would get better if he kept moving and she kept her mouth shut. Should get better. Had to. He was fucking falling apart. Something was trying to come through the walls he had built inside of him. Didn’t the fucker understand it was for his own good? He wouldn’t be even alive without him.
“Shut the fuck up!”
He wouldn’t shut up. One word kept repeating, a name. Marie. Over and over again, until he was sure his brain would start leaking out from his ears. Man was struggling in earnest. Never before had he done this. Never before had he tried to break free. He had known his place. He had known it wasn’t here and now.
“Logan?” She wasn’t helping by calling him. Something would break soon if she didn’t stay quiet, and it would be the end of this. End of everything. Man wasn’t strong enough to endure the stress in combat and constant beatings.
“Logan?”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” She was calling him, and he had only one choice left. He had done it before, in the beginning when man hadn’t understood his place and part in this macabre show called life. He had done it once, and it had worked. Scared the man back to hiding.
She could only watch in horror when Wolverine took his hands, balled to fists and pressed them against his thighs. Muscles on his forearms shifted. Sound of metal scraping against metal when claws tore their way out, parting skin and muscle, slicing in to him. Yellow in Wolverine’s eyes flickered and dimmed briefly.
“Get the hell away from me, kid…” Logan. For a second he was in charge.
“Take the backpack. Go. I’ll make sure I can’t follow…”
He had kept his word. She had taken the backpack and started to direction they had been heading, guessing Wolverine was on his way to the nearest settlement. It had taken her two full days to cross the scorching desert, fearing he would catch her, but she had made it.
It was a small village, much like her home had been. Few ramshackle huts surrounding quiet but tidy marketplace. One tavern, stable and few farmers selling their products. She had gotten a job as a waitress in the tavern. Place wasn’t exactly buzzing with customers so owner of the tavern couldn’t pay her salary, but in return of the hours she put in she got one room and three meals a day.
She was sweeping the floor when Carl walked in.
“I think we’ll close early today,” he said, locking the front door.
“And you better stay in your room the rest of the day. If you need anything, I’ll get it for you.”
“Why? What’s going on?” Marie asked, leaning to the broom.
“Army. That’s what’s going on. Caravan’s going through here. Don’t want those filthy animals in here. Don’t want them to get their paws on you either. So stay inside until they have passed.”
Carl wasn’t exactly fond of mutants, but Marie had approached him honestly, revealing the true reason why she kept herself fully clothed. Carl had huffed and muttered, watched her closely couple of days before deciding she was suitable person to work under his roof.
“My daughter was one. Army found her. Don’t know what happened to her after they carted her off. Don’t really want to think about it. But you could probably use this. We made it for Cathy. Only for her it was too late, but maybe this will help you,” he had said and given Marie a ring. She had taken it, studying it carefully. It was a simple smooth band made out of steel.
“It was supposed to hide her mutation. Army caught her before it was finished. Take it. I don’t want any troubles if they come searching for mutants.”
She finished sweeping, brushing the collected dust to the bin in the corner. Carl was behind the counter, arranging bottles.
“Hungry?” He asked. Marie shook her head. Just moments ago she had been, but now all she wanted to do was to go to her room. Familiar tightening inside of her made her run the stairs and lock the door behind her. She wasn’t going to cry.
She had last seen Logan a week ago, in the middle of the desert. Claws buried to his thighs. He hadn’t followed her, and she didn’t dare to think about what he had done. How he had stopped the Destroyer from following her. His fight with Camo had proven her he could be quite creative when it came to the business of hurting and disabling.
When she heard the ruckus outside, caused by the caravan and people watching it, she didn’t get up to see. She lay on her bed, willing the tears away.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Edited a bit. Realized there's more in this than this one story, so this ends here. Next part of the series will follow soon.