A/N: Hi ya'll. Thanks for all the reviews, it's nice to see people enjoying my story. Ramblingsofacrazywoman (aka Bry) is right, I am borrowing details from the novel, which goes into more details on the kids escape than the movie does. From reading the book we know that Peter, Jones, Tracy, and Rhane escape for sure. The rest of the kids renamed unnamed, so I'm using some of the underclass from X-Men evo and some of the kids from the old Generation X comics, however, please note the ages listed, I've changed a lot of the kids to fit the story better (for example, Tabitha is not the same sophomore smart-mouth from the cartoon, she's younger and quieter here. Jamie however, is older and more competent here). Anyways, here's the next chapter. Please review, review, review and have fun.
A/N2: Please note, after realizing an error (Artie was captured that night, my bad. Thanx Bry ;) I made a few adjustments. Josh Foley, from New Mutants Vol.II will be taking his place. Sorry for the mistake.
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Trekking through the forest barefoot and barely dressed is hard enough. It's even harder when you don't know where you're going. South was the only destination Peter had in mind; south and as far away from the school as they could get. There was no way to know if they were still being hunted, but better to play it safe than sorry he figured.
He shifted Tracy and Jones in his glinting, metal arms. It was easier to carry them when fully armored. It was also easier to walk through the thick underbrush with his feet encased in steel. Rhane padded along next to him, the two of them leading the group. She was in her semi-human form, appearing like a werewolf from some bad 80's B movie. But like Peter's armor, her meta-human state offered her feet some protection from the tough flooring while still allowing her to carry little Josh Foley pick-a-back style.
Peter glanced back over his shoulder often to check on the other children's progress and to be sure that hadn't lost anyone. Josh, at 9, was the smallest and had had the most trouble keeping up, resulting in his free ride from Rhane. Blonde Tabitha Smith, 12 and usually the most boisterous and bouncy of the younger class, had hardly spoken a word since last evening. They had done the best they could to bandage the tazer burn on her left arm, and Josh had healed her best as he could, but she was clearly still in pain. Peter was worried that it might get infected, but there was little they could do now but keep an eye on it. Next to her was Jamie Madrox…or rather four Jamie's in succession. The constant jarring against tree branches and fellow travelers was making it difficult to keep from acting out his codename: Multiple. Every bump and bang forced another duplicate out of him, but he was trying to keep a positive attitude about it, directing his copies onto the fringe of the group.
"They can act as lookouts while we move," he explained after several odd glances from his companions. Peter had to admit, it was a good use of man-power. One of the clones seemed particularly interested in little Dani Moonstar. Shy and reserved, Dani was in no mood to deal with a horny copy of a classmate. She kept twirling her black hair nervously and moving towards the center of the group, sticking close to the larger and older Angelo 'Skin' Espinosa, whom the copy seemed afraid of. And understandably so. With over a foot and a half of extra skin hanging off his body, the eleven-year-old's strange appearance took a little getting used to, but he made up for his looks with a personality that could charm anyone.
Bringing up the rear was ten year old Roberto de Costa. Peter had been the most worried about him this morning. Between the struggle of last night and the lack of sunlight in the dense forest, it had taken a long time to rouse the boy this morning. But as he flitted from patch of sunlight to patch of sunlight as he walked, the boy's strength seemed to be returning. His condition was being closely monitored by his friend Amara Aquilla. At twelve, the former princess of a secluded island paradise was not used to walking miles at dawn in her undergarments. But to her credit she hadn't complained…well, much.
Reassured that everyone was present and accounted for, Pete faced forward again, the sun warming his face through the trees. If he closed his eyes he could almost pretend that it was a typical Saturday and he and the guys were just heading out for a pick-up game of football…almost.
"Peter," Rhane growled in a rough voice, bursting his daydream like a bubble. "We need to stop for a while. The kids are going on little sleep and no food, they won't make it much farther." And he had to admit she was right. With his own hunger staring to gnaw at his stomach, he could only imagine how the younger ones were doing.
"Yeah I know Rhane, but I'm afraid that if we stop we won't be able to start up again."
"Maybe we won't have to," she said hopefully. "Maybe we've gone far enough." But deep down neither of them believed that. Finally surrendering to common sense and the aching in his feet, Pete raised his hands and called the group to a halt. They collapsed to the ground huffing and puffing, muttering under their breath about blisters and splinters.
Gently putting his charges onto the softest piece of ground he could find, Peter let the armor recede from his body, shrinking and softening back into his normal self. The gentle breeze that hung in the air felt good against his bare chest. He collapsed onto the ground next to Jones, gesturing for Rhane to have a seat beside him, but she shook her head.
"Look, there's something I want to check out while you guys take a load off," she told him, starting to walk back the way they had come.
"Rhane…don't go running off, we need to stick together…" he warned, but the girl was having no part of it.
"C'mon, big boy, I know these woods better than anyone around her. Don't worry so much. I'll be back," she assured Pete in a voice. Then, with a jaunty wink, she dropped onto all fours, fully wolf, and sprinted off.
"Damn it," Pete cursed under his breath, but no one heard.
Two hours later, Rhane stumbled back into the group, wagging her tail triumphantly and carrying something in her mouth. Peter had waited for close to an hour for her to return, but he had finally decided that she would have to catch up later as the group moved on. And close to two miles later, she did.
"Where the hell have you been?" Peter asked, as the group stopped their ongoing march. Rhane's fur shrank and paws disappeared, leaving her fully human and standing in the center of the lose circle of kids.
"And what are those?" Amara demanded, pointing to the two bloody bundles at Rhane's feet and cringing. The girl chose to answer her friend's question first.
"These," Rhane said, bending and picking up the 'bundles' by the ears, "are breakfast." Amara turned slightly green.
"They're rabbits."
"People eats rabbits," Rhane countered defensively. "And seeing as how there's no McDonalds near by, we're those people. Unless you'd like to go hungry, of course?"
"I'm not eating Thumper and Peter Cottontail on a spit, no matter how hungry I get," Amara pouted, crossing her arms and shooting Rhane a dirty look. The older girl looked like she frankly didn't give a damn.
"Fine by me, more for everyone else. The princess can just starve," she muttered scathingly.
"Enough!" Peter shouted, finally stepping in between the two girls. Good thing too; Amara looked pretty close to jumping Rhane, and that wouldn't have been pretty. Rhane, however, seemed unperturbed. She shoved the dead rabbits into Peter's limp fists and began pacing and kicking at the ground in front of her with a strange kind of shuffle-step. Maybe her weird walk-dance was why Pete decided to deal with Magma first. "Look," he said turning to the brooding brunette, "like it or not Rhane's right. We're stuck roughing it for a little. So while you're welcome to keep to complain and feel put out, it would be a lot easier on the rest of us if you just accepted that fact and moved on."
Pete hadn't meant to sound so imposing and upset, but he must have because 'Mara's chin began to quiver a little and she wouldn't meet his eyes. Looking terribly embarrassed, she fell back to the fringes of the group. Dani gave her a slight hug, though, and she stated to look a little better.
"And Rhane…" Peter began, but when he turned to look the girl straight in the face, she was no longer there. In fact, she was several yards away, still kicking and stamping on the ground, and ignoring him completely. "Rhane!" That got her attention.
"What?" she demanded indignantly, flouncing over as if the events moments earlier had never occurred. Peter just sighed, brandishing the limp rabbits like a sword .
"Look, you have to be more patient and understanding with everyone. We're not all as adept at wilderness survival as you. And some of us," he said, staring poignantly at Amara, "take a little more time adjusting than others."
"Time's what'll get you killed out here…" she muttered, 'till Peter shot her a warning look. "Okay, okay, I'll lay off," she conceded, still stamping around.
"And what in God's name are you doing?" She sighed and looked at the larger boy as if he were an idiot.
"I'm looking for a bedrock plate where we can start a fire without it looking like we set John lose in the forest-oh." At the mention of their currently MIA classmate, everyone fell silent for a moment, remembering…well, just remembering.
"Which brings us back to the matter at hand," Pete said after an awkward minute of silence, addressing the group as a whole now. "I'm not sure how good of an idea it is to light a fire when we're trying not to attract attention." He shrugged helplessly. This was not his area of expertise, but fortunately it was someone's.
"Dry wood," a small voice spoke up from the back.
"What was that?" Peter asked, scanning faces to look for the speaker.
"Dry wood," Dani Moonstar said a little more loudly. "My dad and I used to camp when I was younger. He taught me that dry wood burns with no smoke." It was the first time Dani had ever said more than three words to Peter, and he had to admit, he was a little stunned.
"Hey, I saw a dead Oak tree 'bout a half a mile back," Rhane chimed in, pointing over her shoulder. "That stuff should be nice and dry by now." Peter thought for a sec before coming to a decision.
"Alright, Dani, Rhane, and Jamie go get as much wood as you possibly can," he declared. "The rest of us, let's clear away some of this brush and try to set up camp."
"You know, if we whack Jamie over the head a few times, we could probably make enough clones to haul the whole tree back here, but whatever," Rhane muttered, picking up a stick and feigning an attack on Jamie. Jamie smiled softly, the first one he'd shown in a while. And that was when Peter knew. He knew in that instant that no matter what came their way, they'd be okay, all of them. See, less than a day ago Jamie's home had been destroyed, his friends captured, his girlfriend sedated into unconsciousness, and yet he could still manage see the happiness and the good in this life.
'Yes,' Peter thought to himself, 'we will get through this. And as long as there are children, the world will get through this as well."
