CHAPTER ONE
I looked out the window and realized I didn't know where we were or which state or town we were even in…but all I did know was that we're heading back to New York. I can only be thankful that we're in our charter bus/RV and not the Blackbird--no matter how comfortable Jean and Scott say it is, flying isn't one of my favorite things to do. That and Scott isn't the best pilot.
I leaned back in my seat, staring out the window but was stopped, seeing that Marie had suddenly gotten up from what the kids call the 'game room' in front of the TV. "You alright, kid?"
"No," she started and shook her head. "I feel like crap. I'm gonna go lay down, my sinuses are killin' me," she called out sickly as she rubbed her red nose. I watched as she slowly disappeared into the back of the bus (her feet dragging against the carpeted floor while she walked) to where the bunks were. Even though the windows were up in the bus, I could tell winter was near.
Yay. Can't you see my excitement? Didn't think so.
I do admit, the charter bus is much more peaceful than the usual ride we take on the Blackbird. Sure it's fast, but not the most comfortable thing to ride in. And I can only thank Chuck for letting us take the Charter Bus.
"I never thought this trip would be so boring," Bobby muttered. I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "There's nothing but damn trees out here, and maybe the occasional deer," Bobby exclaimed as he stared out the window in complete boredom.
"Yeah. Like, where are we anyway?" Jubilee asked as she unraveled a piece of candy and popped it into her mouth. I looked around me and realized I wasn't the only one losing track of where we were. So therefore, no one really answered. Scott, on the other hand, mumbled something about the trees Bobby was complaining about and how beautiful they are. He obviously hadn't had much on his mind.
"Bobby, stop doing that. You're giving me a headache!" Jubilee cried out dramatically as she grabbed both sides of her head and winced in pain.
"Then don't look at the TV," Bobby grunted. "There is absolutely nothing on. What the hell are we supposed to do now?" he sighed sadly as he continued switching the channels back and forth. I, on the other hand, only watched in fun—due to the fact there wasn't much else to do.
"I can only think of one thing," I muttered and lay back on the bench seat—putting my beige cowboy hat over my eyes and heard the grunts and groans of Jubilee trying to fight her way of stealing the remote from Drake.
Unfortunately for me, my attempt on taking a nap failed, so I decided to check on Chris, our driver. There wasn't much to do, like Bobby complained about, and realized I needed to ask him how much longer it was going to take before getting back to the Big Apple and just to make sure he wasn't dozing off.
"Hey Chris. What's up?" I yawned. Yeah, that's not the best way to greet a driver who's been driving for the past few days on end.
"Nothin' much, Log." He yawns. Yeah see? Never good.
"Seems kinda lonely out here," I grumbled when I noticed that we were the only vehicle on the road. "I sure hope you know where the hell we're goin'."
"Don't worry, Logan. Everything's fine. I know this road even with my eyes shut," he told me with a chuckle. I chuckled nervously and shook my head in return.
"Yeah, let's try that next week," I grunted back at him with a slight chuckle. I walked away and heard him chuckle back, which put a slight smirk on my face.
As I returned to the game room area, I watched as Bobby and Jubilee argued on which video game they were to play and which system to use. "No, I want to play this one!" Bobby yelled and waved the Super Mario Bros. game in his hand firmly, while Jubilee picked up a Play Station 3 disc and shook her head.
"No!" she yelled and waved around Resident Evil. I furrowed my eyebrows and sighed heavily and watched a little more. "You like this game just as much as I do, why don't we just take turns?"
"C'mon Jubes, I don't want to take turns!" Bobby whined. "I want to race you in Mario Kart."
"We haven't played that game in like, forever," Jubilee said as she shook her head almost violently. "Just play this---Whoa!" she called out and nearly fell off her chair when the bus screeched to a halt. Thanks to good equilibrium, she didn't. Bobby wasn't as lucky, he fell butt first. Scott, who was standing, knocked his head on the edge of a cabinet.
"Dammit!" Scott cursed out as his hand went straight to the bump on his head. "Oh, jeez," he whispered and winced in pain and removed his hand. Bobby stood up and rubbed his cheeks while Jubilee burst into laughter.
"Nice fall there, Drake!"
"Shut up," Bobby grumbled and stuck his tongue out but Jubilee only laughed harder. I gave a chuckle too.
"Hey Chris!" Scott yelled out and slowly stood up—placing his hand gently onto his forehead once more. I turned my attention from the kids to the others and furrowed my brows tightly. "What the hell was all that about?" Scott asked us and rubbed his head gently. I raised my eyebrows and looked over at Ororo and when her eyes met mind, she only shrugged her shoulders in reply. "Chris!" Scott called out once more but didn't receive an answer the second time.
"I'll go check it out," I called out and slowly walked to the front of the bus, finding four men standing beside Chris. I furrowed my eyebrows, looked at each man carefully and slightly waved. "Uh…hi?" I grunted and shook my head in confusion.
"Will someone please talk to me?!" I heard Scott yell out in annoyance and started to make his way to the front of the bus but was immediately interrupted when Chris and I both reappeared in the living room where everyone sat—a shot gun each pointed at our heads. "What the hell is this?!"
"Shut up!" a dark haired stranger called out.
-----
Marie was having one of her bad days. At first it all started with her sinuses being irritated but Jean insisted it was something else. And for some reason, Marie was persistent in believing it wasn't anything but a sinus infection. Nevertheless, her little 'infection' didn't go away just as Jean had expected and a headache was making its presence known to her. Drowsy, Marie decided to sleep all the way home.
Marie felt the bus' sudden halt but ignored it. Flat tires, she assumed and shifted deeper into the bunk and dozed off. It's a wonder how she could do it easily while listening to heavy metal music, but she did.
-----
"What the hell is this?" Scott stared in complete confusion—his eyes widened. He looked at me after a moment and raised an eyebrow but I only shook my head at him—not having an answer to his questions which I'm sure he had.
"Sorry to crash in like this but uh," a redheaded man, who was standing behind Chris, called out with a sadistic smile; his gun tightly in hand. "We need a ride."
"Please," Chris pleaded—tears flowing down his cheeks. "Please, we don't want any trouble."
"Shuddup," The redhead growled and jammed his handgun right below Chris's jaw roughly—causing him to wince a great deal. After a few moments, the two walked back to the front of the bus.
"Please, don't let us stop you from sitting down," the black haired man who was standing behind me called out to the others. He was as tall as me, and had goldish hazel colored eyes. "Please, get comfortable," he said and gestured the gun towards Jubilee and Bobby—who was standing behind Scott. Slowly, the three sat down on the couch and sighed heavily.
"Hey, c'mon guy," I called out and turned to the black haired man but was only hit square in the nose by the back of the gun. I grunted the moment the gun met my face, and immediately turned back to him—my small wound healing immediately after. I heard Jubilee gasp and call out to me in a mere whisper.
"Turn around," the black haired man called out to me and pointed the gun to my face—right in between the eyes, "and put your hands behind your head," he told me, holding out a pair of handcuffs. I only scoffed in return.
"Who died and made you Darth Vader?" I asked, scrunching up my face in disgust. I took the handcuffs, held them out, and dropped them at my feet a short moment later. "Go fuck yourself," I finished—my eyes never leaving his.
"Excuse me?" The black haired man growled and crossed his arms…as if he didn't hear me clearly the first time…and narrowed his eyes.
I chuckled in a scoffing sort of way and crossed my arms, "You heard me, Bub. Want me to spell it out for ya?" I asked, raised an eyebrow, and began to act out my first demand of fucking said self.
It wasn't a short moment later until the goldish-hazel eyed man shoved me hard in the chest, causing me to vaguely lose my balance, but I reacted quickly and punched him in the face. Unfortunately, he reacted sooner than I anticipated and jabbed his fist into my kidney, causing my knees to give out to some extent. I winced in pain and just before I was able to get up, he grabbed a chunk of my hair from the back and slammed my forehead into the marble counter. The counter cracked and my forehead bled a little. "Get off o'me!" I growled furiously but was sadly punched in the kidney once more. If he kept this up—I'd be pissing blood for weeks. I tried to push the guy off…unfortunately, my attempt was moderately unsuccessful. Outcome: my wrists were sadly bound together by said handcuffs.
Isn't this just...fucking dandy?
"Hey, Brad!" The redhead called out and leaned against the wall—crossing his arms. The black haired man who handcuffed me turned to him. "Want me to tell that fat goat to start driving?"
"Yeah," Brad nodded. "Oh and Ted…If he refuses," he started and held up the gun. "I'll blow his fuckin' brains out." Jubilee gasped and looked over at me—tears forming in her eyes. I only winked at her—due to the fact I couldn't do much more to console her. Ted nodded and walked away. After a few moments of some I-want-to-sound-like-a-real-badass-when-I-grow-up abusive shouting, the bus started up again.
"Well," the dark brown haired man beside Scott called out as he looked around. He walked to the fridge, opened it and I watched as he took out the last slice of pepperoni pizza and took a bite out of it—my slice, I might add. "You people famous or something?" he asked and grabbed a corona.
"Do we look like we're famous?" Scott asked and raised an eyebrow. "We're just a small family on a vacation."
The man shrugged and took another bite of the pizza. "Even better," he grunted and chuckled. "More stuff to take."
"C'mon Carlos," the blonde called out firmly. "Stop fuckin' around would ya?"
"Shuddup, Marky-mark," the brunette, who I took for as Carlos, called out and chuckled at the nickname he gave the blonde and took another bite of the pizza before taking a swig of beer. Almost instantly the Mark and Carlos started bickering. I would have tried to stop it myself, but I was kinda…stuck.
Brad, however, grunted in annoyance (almost as if his evil plan wasn't going according to plan) and approached the two. "What the hell are you doin'?!" he yelled out and snatched the pizza slice and threw it into the trash can leaning against the wall. At least he was generous enough to throw it away; I thought to myself and scoffed.
I turned to Scott and sighed. "Nice move, Cyk," I growled in a whisper and rolled my eyes.
"What the hell did you want me to say?" Scott asked in a whisper—his arms flying. "Saying yes or no isn't gonna do any justice. They're just gonna steal our shit anyways," he told me. I opened my mouth to comment more but was interrupted.
"Whatever!" the blonde, or Mark, yelled out in defeat. "I'm gonna go check out the back of this dump," he grunted but was stopped when Ororo yelled out for him.
"Hey wait!" she called out to the blonde haired man—remembering Marie. "There's nothing back there," she told him. "There are just unmade beds and dirty clothes."
Mark walked over with a small smirk slowly spreading across his rather ugly face and roughly grabbed the back of Ororo's hair—a full handful. Ororo winced in pain and grabbed his wrists just before Mark pulled her up and slammed her against the wall---mainly with his lower torso area. She turned her head away from him; her breathing became heavy and tears formed in her eyes. "Mmm," Mark groaned with pleasure and smelled the sweet scent of Ororo's hair before kissing her neck gently. "Aren't you a tasty chunk o'meat?"
"Please," Ororo sobbed softly. Mark then decided it was a good idea to 'caress' her breasts. Of course being the bastard that he is—he hadn't wanted to cause pleasure to the woman---only fear and pain. "Get off o'me!" she roared—more tears quickly escaping.
Next thing I remember, I was out of my little chair and handcuffs and straddled Mark. I punched him once in the nose. "If you ever touch her again," I called out and punched him again, and as I pulled away, I slowly unsheathed my claws. "I'll rip your fuckin' dick off!"
That's when I heard the sound of a shotgun being cocked. I froze in place---not knowing who the gun was being aimed at—whether it was me or one of the others. But my question was simply answered when I felt the nose of the gun against my head. I sighed. "Get up," Brad ordered. I stood up slowly and held my hands up and looked him in the eyes. "Put 'em away," he told me. I hesitated for a moment and slowly slid them back. "You pull that shit again, Furball, and I'll shoot your dick off."
"Mother-fucker, I would love to see you try," I growled—feeling very bullet proof.
BANG.
-----
I don't know what hit me but it was definitely one hell of a ride---and not in a good way—stars circling my head, or so it felt. I hadn't wanted to open my eyes, but the voice that lingered; urging me to wake up, made me do so. Usually, I'd wake up to a more delightful person or feeling—usually Scott or Ororo were our morning wake up calls. Problem now—it wasn't morning anymore, and I wish I hadn't woken up.
I slowly opened my eyes and tried to adjust them to the lighting surrounding me. "What happened?" I asked in a raspy groggily voice. I cleared my throat and sat up, immediately realizing my hands were bound together by another pair of handcuffs—my hands in front of me rather than behind. I sniffed the air and realized that the handcuffs that kept my hands together, was a rather familiar metal—adamantium. "What the…" I started but was stopped when everything came back to me. The four men. The hijacked bus.
"Logan." I hear. I looked around and found Scott and Jean sitting in a small corner together. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Brad shot you in the stomach and the head. So, that's probably why you're so out of it," he told me simply.
"Thanks for the sympathy, Cyk," I growled and sat up. "…makes me feel a shit load better." After a few moments trying to get out of the handcuffs, I thought of Marie. "Did they get to her?"
"No," Jean whispered. "They had no idea she was even back there."
"Yeah," Bobby whispered. I turned to him and watched as he slowly turned to the redhead, Ted, before returning his gaze towards me. "Ororo convinced him that there wasn't anything back there," he explained firmly. "Besides, if she's still sleeping with her Discman on, there's no way she'd be able to hear all this commotion," Bobby commented and sighed heavily.
"But with the bus jolting and everything, don't you think she would've gotten a little curious?" Ororo questioned.
"No. She knows how Chris drives. It practically puts her to sleep," I grunted—still fidgeting with the cuffs. "Think about it, the kid falls asleep when I drive."
"Hey, Furball!" Mark called out to me. I raised my trademark eyebrow and looked at his gun before looking at him. Ted also turned his gaze to Mark. "Quit'ch y'yappin'," Mark told me firmly and went back to detailing his gun. I grunted in response and looked back at Ted. Ted looked at me for a moment longer before returning his gaze to the Solitaire game he had laid out on the floor of the RV.
I rolled my eyes, shook my head slightly in annoyance and tried to get out of the handcuffs (for the umpteenth time) but when the bus swerved violently, it caused me to lose balance and fall to my side. I grunted in annoyance and flopped around until I was able to sit up (and due to the bus's swerving, my flopping and looking like a fish outta water, only lasted longer than anticipated) on my knees.
"What's goin' on up there?!" Ted yelled, but never took his eyes off the game. The bus only swerved harder and he hadn't received an answer in return.
Carlos came to the back of the bus, trying to hold onto something secure to keep himself steady, "We hit something back there!" he called out and lost his grip and struggled to get another good grip on something else. "The driver can't control the bus. He says the brakes are out."
"What?!" Mark called out in annoyance and walked passed Jubilee—stepping over her legs. "What the hell are you playin' at, Carlos?"
"Nothin'!" I heard Carlos yell out as the two started to make their way to the front of the bus but my attention was suddenly poured onto Ted when he called out.
"Oh man," he whined and stood up. He walked over and looked at Carlos and Mark for a moment before sighing heavily and crossing his arms. "It wasn't supposed to be like this." To be honest, he sounded like one of those 'I-wanna-be-a-bad-guy-when-I-grow-up' guys…but when something bad actually happens—he wimps out. "Fuck!"
"Hey Ted," Ororo called out. Ted turned to her—his brows furrowed tightly. "Just calm down, okay?"
"Bitch, shut up!" He yelled out, back-slapping her across the left side of her face. She gasped and slowly touched her cheek and winced.
"Whoa, hey!" I roared angrily, stood up and got in Ted's face. "What the hell's your problem hittin' on a woman?" I called out and furrowed my brows tightly and pushed him in the chest. "Don't like it, do ya?" I asked sarcastically. Not a split second later, Ted slapped me in the face (which stunned me), roughly grabbed the scruff of my shirt and slammed me into the wall—causing me to grunt loudly. "Get off o'me, you fuckin' bastard," I growled.
"Just what the fuck are you gonna do?" I hear Brad ask. Ted turned to him—his grip still tight on my shirt. Brad walked over and gestured for Ted to walk off. Ted looked back at me for a mere second before doing as told. He stood in a corner, crossed his arms, and watched in amusement. I looked back at Brad and raised an eyebrow. He then only scoffed and slapped me across the face before shoving my body further against the wall. "What the hell're you gonna do, tough-guy?" he repeated. "You're the one in the handcuffs." I then glared and decided it was a good idea to hock a loogey in his face—due to the fact I didn't have much else to work with. Brad chuckled slightly to himself and pulled out a small blue-gray rag from his back pants pocket and wiped off what I spat and looked up at me. Sadly, my current thoughts were interrupted when I felt the burly blow to my lower stomach.
My knees gave out due to the blow, but didn't cause me to fall completely to the floor. Brad grabbed me by the scruff of my shirt, placed be against the wall once more, waited until I was able to focus on him before throwing another punch in my lower stomach. The second blow wasn't as hard, but was still rather painful. After the following thwacks, and I was able to control myself, I reared back and punched Brad in the nose, causing him to lose some balance. After a few moments of what seemed to be a cat-fight between two extremely pissed off men, Brad roughly grabbed my lower jaw and squeezed it tightly and me closer so we'd be practically nose-to-nose. "Do you know what this is?" he asked and pulled out a syringe. I knew exactly what it was. "Either you calm down, or you and your precious little family's gonna get it."
I looked at Brad and wanted to personally kick his ass, but instead I sighed heavily and closed my eyes. "Just get your Goddamn hands off me," I growled and opened my eyes. Brad smirked and once I felt his grip loosen, I pulled away. Again, I wanted to swipe that ugly ass smirk off his face, but too knew that he'd gladly poke and prod me and the others with the syringe (and the substance it held) that us Mutants feared. Too unfortunately, I failed. I also noticed that Mark held a syringe while standing near Ororo. Ted held one as well—standing near Jeannie and Scott.
Oh. Goody.
I groaned and turned my attention to Brad. "Fuck it," he muttered and slammed his fist into my lower torso area. I too heard Scott, Jean and Ororo call out in pain simultaneously to mine. Only thing was---I realized it wasn't his fist—but the syringe. I looked up at him and slowly fell to my knees before slowly pulling said syringe from my body and looked down at it. 'Worthington Labs' it read. My body slowly became weak, everything around me was blurry, and I got cold really quickly. Sure there were times where I wanted to give up on life---but not like this, and sure as shit not now. "Like I said…" he started. I looked up at him. "…what are you gonna do?" he finished.
"When I get outta this," I started firmly, still holding onto my stomach. "I'm gonna cut your Goddamn head off…see if that works," I growled. He only, in return, snarled before hitting me upside the head (the same spot, mind you), with the back of the gun. I grunted the moment the gun came into contact, and it caused darkness to slowly take over. From the corner of my eye, Mark was 'man-handling' Ororo for the second time. I watched as he walked to Ororo and grabbed the back of her hair and pulling her up to her feet.
Tears formed in Ororo's eyes as Mark ran his hands up and down her slender body—grabbing at her breasts. From what I saw, the way he was touching her body---it wasn't as rough as he was previously, due to the fact Ororo wasn't wincing in pain as he did so. It wasn't a second later when Mark grabbed Ororo and spun her around before slamming her face first into the table—her back to him. He smirked viciously as he pulled her shirt up—revealing her caramel colored back. He then pulled her up to a standing position, tore her bra off with one violent yank, and then forcefully laid her down once more. Still smirking, he rested his hand on the small of her back—holding her against the table and undid his belt quickly with his free hand. I would have stopped him but…my body was too feeble to do so.
"Storm!" Jubilee called out and started to get up but the sound of a gun cocking caused Bobby to pull her back down next to him. Her eyes widened with fear, hate, and shame—due to the fact she was unable to help her fellow X-member.
"Stop!" I called out and started to reach for Mark but was interrupted when Ted wrapped his arms under my mine and put his hand behind my head—putting me in a headlock of some sort. I grunted as he slammed my body into the wall with my attention in the direction of Ororo and Mark—forcing me to watch as Ororo was…well…I think you get the point. "Oh my God…'Ro…" I cried.
Mark turned to me, smiled and winked just before he roughly shoved his manhood inside Ororo's small body. She cried softly and gripped the edges of the table…and there was nothing I could do. Moaning with pleasure, Mark lay over Ororo, gripping her hair tightly as he pounded harder and harder. I looked at Bobby and Jubilee and they to me. They cried and I tried to control my tears, but again—my attempts bungled.
It was minutes later when Brad walked into the room and looked directly at Mark. He sighed heavily and shook his head. "Mark!" he yelled out and crossed his arms. Mark never missed a beat. "Quit fuckin' around and get your shit. We're gettin' off this bus." Mark pulled away from Ororo after a moment and roughly grabbed her arms, pulled her up, spun her around---slamming her back into the wall. She cried out in pain and winced. "Be a good girl and gimme a kiss," he demanded and grabbed her cheeks—squeezing them together to make her lips pucker up. Ororo closed her eyes tightly as he pulled her forward, kissing her already bruised lips.
Mark pulled away from Ororo and smirked at her. He gave her cheek two small smacks and walked away from her, gesturing for Ted to follow. He did as told. I fell to my knees, due to the fact I was rather weak and stunned at what I just witnessed. I know I've witnessed a lot in my time—but seeing what I saw, takes a whole different turn on how fucked up people really are. I kept my eyes on Ororo and sadly watched as she cried heavier, slowly leaned up against the wall and slid down onto her knees—burying her face in her hands, crying.
I furrowed my brows tightly and looked at the other men and watched as they all, but Brad, jumped. Brad turned to us and looked down at me with a smirk. "Well, there's good news and bad news," Brad started. Everyone turned to him. "Bad news…the bus is going to crash. Good news, you all will be dead in less than five minutes," Brad practically sang, saluted us and jumped off.
The moment after Brad jumped; I quickly made my way to Ororo and grabbed her gently—knowing she was in a lot of pain. "'Ro, talk to me."
"Logan…" she cried and crawled into my arms like a child would after having a nightmare. I held her tightly and tried to consol her---but my attempts failed when I too began to cry with her.
"We gotta get off this bus!" Bobby shouted a short moment later.
"Y'think?" I asked him and turned my attention back to Ororo. "C'mon," I whispered to her and gently kissed her forehead before propping her back against the wall. She nodded and I tried to get out of the handcuffs yet again. I thought about Chris and wanted to help him---but knew he had already lost control of everything—maybe even himself.
"Grab something to break your fall!" Scott yelled out. I looked up from him and after a split second, his eyes met mine. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion at that time. "Logan--" For once in my life—I felt what it was like to have a family. To have people who wanted you around, no matter how often you may royally piss them off. I hated to admit it—but I was truly terrified. My heart pounded wildly in my chest while I still fidgeted with the cuffs. By this point, my hands had begun to bleed just from the digging in the metal—but I didn't stop. Tears formed and escaped slowly down my cheeks. I looked around and found Jubilee and Bobby holding each other tightly. Ororo and Jean bawled in each other's arms. Marie. She was still in the back.
My attempt at getting out of the handcuffs finally pulled off when I found a small key lying on the floor. I unhooked the cuffs, and freed my wrists before quickly holding onto a leg of the table, which was fastened to the bus. I was a little surprised in myself in how fast I moved to the table after getting the cure from Brad. I mean think about it, a three hundred and fifty year old man still movin' this fast? Damn skippy.
I saw Bobby across from me and he gave me a weak smile. I turned to Jean and Ororo and looked at them, and they to me. Scott ran towards me (which caught my attention) and grabbed the leg across from me and looked at me. He slowly held his hand out and I quickly latched on and squeezed. "Scott--" The bus swerved violently, causing everyone to scream in horror (including myself). I noticed that Carlos never made it out of the bus and I watched as he frantically tried grabbing for something to hold onto. I also noticed a huge duffel bag he carried. 'Probably full o'money," I thought and shook my head. I wasn't sure if the bastard managed to accomplish his attempt and to be honest, I could care less. To be honest…I wanted the fucker dead.
A loud crash, a bang, and Chris screaming and all the way down was like a freight train full
o'butt-kick rolling through with no brakes. Literally. Marie. I never got to say goodbye to her. Poor girl, she won't know what hit her—unless she wakes up in the midst of it all. I can't even begin to imagine the state we'll be in when they finally find us—Dead.
I turned my head and watched (almost in slow motion) as plates fell from their cabinets and crashed onto the hard floor, video games, DVD's and even the TV sliding all around, plastic cups bouncing from one place to another, clothes flying...everything was havoc. Everyone screamed, cried, and held onto each other for dear life as the bus nose dove all the way down, crashed head first, and then landed on its side. I hit my head again, didn't even scream. "Scott—are--are you--" Blackness engulfed me. Dying sucks.
----
Marie hadn't cared on waking up the first moment the the bus swayed. It had all happened before to her. But when Marie felt the sudden nose diving, she found herself only being drug down. She grabbed the handle on the side of the bunk but lost her grip when the bus shook dangerously. Marie crashed roughly on her stomach and ignored the burning pain which was searing her body apart. She had to get to them.
"Bobby!" Marie screamed, trying to pull herself up but all she heard was screaming in return. Even Logan's. She heard Scott and Logan shouting something but couldn't tell what was said. What the hell is going on? "Scott! What's happened?" she screamed, only to be muffled by the sound of another crash. Marie hit her head on the edge of the bunk and blackness slowly took hold. I'm dead. This can't happen. Not now.
------
When I woke up, the pain in my head woke up as well. And I thought you felt nothing when you're dead. Well, I guess that only meant one thing---I'm in hell—because let's face it, I felt everything. Smoke permeated the entire area, and everything smelled horrible. The smoke forced its way into my lungs, causing me to cough—and every time I had, my head throbbed a great deal. Placing my hand to my head, I touched the wound caused by the crash, winced in pain and pulled my hand away almost immediately after.
I looked at my hand and saw the large amount of blood, but couldn't tell if it was just from my head, or other wounds from previous events. Nonetheless, I was still bleeding. I looked around me and found everything completely destroyed. The ceiling fan hung practically by a thread and I watched as it swung from side to side above my head. After each small swing, the fan made a creaking noise, which caused me to think it was ready to let go at any moment in time.
Slowly, I rolled over to my side, trying to reposition myself, and while so—glass broke beneath me, piercing my hands and knees. Once I was fully on all fours, I noticed someone lying beside me. At first, my heart skipped a beat (which should have killed me right then), not knowing who lay there. I felt my eyes water up, but I held them back as I rolled the figure over and once I realized who it was…I cried happily. The fourth fella. Carlos.
Sighing heavily, I slowly stood up—almost as if I were a baby trying to stand up for the first time—stumbled a few times but once I had my balance, I looked all around me. I found Jean and Ororo sprawled out next to each other in the hallway, Bobby in the kitchen, and Scott was crumbled to the side not far from me with his back facing me. Where the hell is Jubes? I wondered. I approached Scott slowly and knelt down (which hurt like hell) and leaned over him. "Scott, get up. C'mon," I demanded in a low growl and slapped his face lightly. Thank God it didn't take long before he finally woke up, coughing. He was usually the easiest to wake.
Blinking a few times, Scott furrowed his brows tightly and rubbed his eyes. Once he was comfortable enough to fully keep his eyes open, he looked up at me and groaned. "Not the prettiest image I hoped to see," he grunted, brushing off what shards of glass lay on his shirt and pants. Ironically, a few scratches and pieces of glass pierced his body. Bastard. He looked up at me and furrowed his brows together. "Logan, what is it?"
I pointed at his face—unable to speak due to confusion. I remember getting the cure from Brad, but never actually saw Scott get it. Apparently he had—if not, then this must be a dream. "Your glasses…" I replied in confusion. "Did you---"
"Oh, yeah," he interrupted softly and sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck as if he were nervous, and looked up at me before continuing. "Jean and I got the cure just as Ororo had. I--I didn't wanna say anything in front of the kids," he told me. His eyes were a bright blue. I always thought they'd be brown…
I hadn't replied. Only stared in return. I didn't know if Scott or the others acknowledged my getting the cure, and if they did I didn't want to talk about it. Living through the pain as we speak was enough for any man to endure. Even me. The feeling of being the old man I represented, alarmed me. I knew I grew weaker as seconds passed, but I had to keep fighting. Stepping into the kitchen where Bobby now lies, I took in the scene beyond. I sighed profoundly and watched as the room I stood in altered—illuminating a more pleasurable sight we had just hours ago. The pleasing laughter was eliminated and reality reappeared when I heard the hoarse voice from Bobby. "Where's Jubes?" he asked.
I looked over at him and furrowed my eyebrows and watched as he quickly stood up and began searching for her. He suddenly stopped and placed a hand over his mouth and closed his eyes. "What?" I asked him and walked to him and followed his gaze. I gasped at the sight of Jubilation Lee and knelt down to her quickly. "Oh my God, Jubes!" Her shirt was partly torn off, revealing the back of her right shoulder—skin practically torn off. "Scott, try and find something to apply pressure on her wounds, Bobby—try and wake up 'Ro and Jeannie." They nodded and did as told.
Thankfully Jean and Ororo woke up. If they hadn't, I would have passed out due to my head injury. When Jean approached Jubilee, I stepped back and shortly after remember Marie. I hurried (or, tried to at least) to the back of the bus, finding Marie slouched in a corner by the bunk—blood dripping from her forehead. "Marie!" I yelled out and lightly tapped her face. Nothing. "Marie!" Nothing. "C'mon baby-girl," I called out and tapped her face again, only this time it was a little harder. After a few struggling moments, Marie and I got back to the others and I took notice of Jubilee waking up.
"You guys smell that?" Bobby asked and stood up slowly.
The bus was filled with silence before Marie broke it. "Gasoline."
I sniffed the air and what I hated at this moment was all my best abilities are gone. My good sense of smell, sight, and most likely hearing is all out of whack. That---and I'm getting older by the second.
"That's just perfect," Jean called out, interrupting my thoughts, and stood up quickly. "We have to get out of here." Ororo arrived in the front of the bus with our backpacks with our personal belongings in them.
"We're in a clearing, somewhere in the woods and it's snowing. It's already six and if we don't wanna get too deep in the snow, we need to move now," she demanded. "And look what I found," she muttered and opened a black duffel and pulled out a wad of money. "This is the money they stole. We need to turn it into the police. Tell them it was stolen."
"And why exactly would we do that? Those bastards ain't gonna believe us," I told her with a shake of my head. "We're mutants."
"Not since we got the cure. Right now, you, Jean, Scott and I are just humans. Believe me Logan; I don't like sayin' it just as much as you don't like hearin' it. But we can point out the bad guys to them. We know what they look like, and what they're names are. Think about it," Ororo told me firmly.
"With how my head is right now, I'd rather not think at all," I mumbled and sighed heavily and then looked down at Jubilee. "Jubes, can you get up?" I asked.
"Yeah," she said, struggling to get on her feet. "I'm scarred for like…ever."
"Hey, have you taken a good look at my face lately?" Bobby asked. I managed a smile and rolled my eyes. Those two will never stop fighting.
"Houston, we've got a problem," Scott called out slowly as he walked up from the front of the bus.
"What?" we all asked in unison.
"The bus is lying on the exit door. So we're basically—"
"Jolly-Well-Fucked?" I asked and crossed my arms.
Scott nodded. "Pretty much."