A wave of thick black mud washed over the opening of the cave, splashing all of them with the thick goo. Logan, in an attempt to keep himself from being washed out of the cave by the mess, pushed hard against the front of the cave, squashing the girls to the back.
"Wolvie!" Jubilee said in a strangled gasp. "I can't breathe."
"Sorry darlin'," he yelled over the roar of the mudslide. "Scoot back as far as ya can."
"Hey!" Tessa yelled. "There's a hole back here."
"Can ya get through it?" he asked, spitting mud out of his mouth.
"I think so." He heard a scraping sound and suddenly, Jubilee slid back away from him.
"I'm in," Tessa yelled from behind him. From the echo, the chamber was fairly large.
"In ya go darlin," he told Jubilee.
She scampered through the small opening "You're too big to get through, Wolvie." she called through the opening.
"Move back," he called to them. He twisted around and positioned himself so he could get at the opening. He legs were sticking out of the cave and being pulled by the mud. He flicked the claws on one hand and began to chip at the rock. Rock shards flew everywhere. He heard Tessa's hiss of pain as a rock chip hit her.
"Stand ta the side." he told them. When he could smell them to the left of the opening, he drew back his fist and slammed the claws hard into the rock. The wall crumbled and the opening was finally large enough for him to squeeze through. He retracted his claws and reached around him for the packs and threw them into the chamber. The pull on his legs from the mud was making it difficult to maneuver himself into the opening. Just as he got enough leverage to pull himself through, the mud gave a mighty yank on his legs. Scrambling to hold on and pull, he gasped as he felt something tear in his arm.
"Jubilee!" he yelled. "Help pull me in. I'm loosin' my grip."
Tessa and Jubilee both grabbed a shoulder and began to pull. Inch by inch, they pulled him into the chamber. When his feet finally cleared the mud, he was able to get a toehold and crawl through the hole. He rolled to his side, groaning in pain.
"Oh God, Wolvie!" Jubilee gasped. "Your arm!"
He looked down to see the triceps bunched up near his shoulder. "Damn." he swore. "Jubes, yer gonna hafta help me with this one."
"What do I need ta do?" she asked as she knelt next to him.
"Yer gonna hafta massage the muscle down so the ends can pull together." he gasped. "Use both hands and push from the top."
"Roll over," she ordered. He rolled to his stomach and extended his arm as best he could. Grabbing the top of is arm with both hands, she pushed down towards his hand as hard as she could. She got halfway when the powerful muscle resisted and snapped back. He howled in pain as the muscle jumped back to top of his arm.
"I don't have the strength," she cried. "I can't get it all the way down."
"I do," Tessa said from the darkness, her voice shaky from fear. "I'm not sure what I'm doing, but I'll help if I can. Just tell me when to stop."
She wrapped her hands around his arm and did exactly as Jubilee had done. The muscle stretched to his elbow.
"Hold it there," he said through gritted teeth.
Thirty seconds later, he told her to let go. The muscle held. He rolled to his back and sat up, flexing and extending his arm.
"This happen often?" Tessa asked.
"Sometimes," he admitted. "If I get my arm in a funny position, the muscles'll tear."
Jubilee was peering out of the opening to the mouth of the cave. "Looks like the mud's stopped flowing," she told them. "When can we get out of here?"
"Coupla days," Logan told her. "The goop is too runny ta walk on right now. We'd end up sinking."
"Can we have a fire?" she asked. "I can poke my head out and see if I can find some wood."
"Probably nothin' ta burn," he told her. "What's out there is gonna be too wet."
"Oh ye of little faith," she chastised him. "My paffs can dry out anything."
"Yer welcome ta try but don't step onto the mud." he warned her.
She returned with several large pieces of wood and an ominous report.
"There's mud as far as I could see." she told them. "Gonna be a while before we get outta here."
In the end, it was almost a week. The chamber they were in had plenty of water but no food. Logan had done his best but the mudslide had killed or scared off all the game. When they left the cave, they were very hungry.
We hafta find food," he told them as he lead them down the hill. "Jubilee knows how ta set a snare and I can hunt like I always do. What about you Tessa?"
"We need to get to and area that has living plants." she told him. "No animal is going to stay here until everything grows back. When we do, I can hunt with the knife. Snares take too long. We haven't eaten in two days and I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."
They found a clearing a mile past the edge of the mudslide and stopped.
"Can ya all find yer way back here?" he asked. Both girls nodded. "Ya see somethin' we can eat, kill it. Nothin' big, just rabbits or possum or other small game. Jubes, yer gonna hafta use the knife. Tessa's right. A snare'll take too long ta catch anythin'. Watch out fer the predators that have been shoved off the mountain. They'll be hungry too and ya both would be a good lunch fer one. Stay close. If anythin' happens Jubes, shoot off a paff and I'll come runnin'."
They promised to be careful and headed off into the trees. Logan watched them go, his expression worried. He hated to let them go off on their own but food had become critical. If they didn't eat soon, they would be too weak to travel.
Two hours later, he returned to the clearing with two rabbits and, of all things, a raccoon. Tessa showed up next with three rabbits. Jubilee wasn't far behind but was not carrying anything. When she got within five hundred yards of the clearing, he could tell why. She had been skunked.
"Wolvie?" she called.
"Stay there, darlin'," he yelled.
"How do I get this smell offa me?" she cried.
"Where'd ya get hit?"
"Legs." she called back. "I tried ta wash it off but it just got worse."
"It's an oil," he told her. "I think I saw somethin' ya can use. Head back ta the stream." He turned to Tessa. "Ya think ya can get these ready to cook? I need ta clean Jubilee up."
"Sure," she shrugged. "I used to hunt all the time."
"Great," he said as he grabbed a change of clothes and a bar of soap for the stinking girl. "We're gonna be a while but I can hear ya if ya need me."
He met Jubilee at the stream, making sure he was upwind of her. She looked miserable. The stink had made her eyes water so bad she was having trouble seeing where she was going.
"Strip," he told her. "Make sure ya throw yer clothes as far away as ya can.
"All of 'em?" she squeaked.
"Everythin'," he told her. "The smell's in everythin' ya got on. Yer gonna hafta get rid of it all."
"It ain't like I'm attached ta the clothes ya found fer me," she told him, "but I don't think I should be naked in front of ya."
"C'mon Jubes," he said, surprised at her modesty. "It ain't like I've never seen ya naked before."
"I've grown a bit since the last time." she said softly.
"Jubilee," he growled. "Get those smelly clothes off or I'll take 'em off fer ya."
"No ya won't," she challenged. "Fer one thing, the smell hasta be worse fer you than it is fer me. The other thing is I ain't thirteen. I'm seventeen."
He sighed in frustration. "Jubilation Lee, get out of those clothes." he ordered.
"Turn around," she told him defiantly.
"Oh fer," he ground out. "All right." He turned his back to her.
He heard the rustle of fabric and the zip of a zipper as she took off the ruined clothes. She grunted as the threw the stinking clothes as far as she could and the skunk scent decreased to almost tolerable. Her pants must have stopped most of it.
"My shoes are stinking, too." she told him. "Did ya pick up another pair fer me?"
"Tessa picked up extra shoes fer both of ya." he said. "Here's some soap." He tossed a white bar over his shoulder. It landed near her bare feet. "Wash from the top down, including yer hair."
He settled himself on a rock near the stream and waited as she bathed. The water was cold so she didn't dally. He could hear her teeth chattering as she washed.
"Gggoooddd, Wwwooolvvvvieee," she gasped. "Ssssooo ccoolld."
"Just finish quick," he told her. "I'll get ya warm when I can get near ya."
He heard her splash as she left the stream ten minutes later, her teeth chattering loudly.
He threw a bundle of leaves over his shoulder to her. "Mash the leaves in yer hand and rub them on yer legs. They'll take the stink away."
He heard the rustle of fabric as she put a shirt on, desperate to get warm.
"Ya need help?" he asked.
"Yeah," she sighed. "My hands are so cold that I can't hold the leaves. I keep droppin' 'em."
"Ya decent?" he asked.
"Got a shirt and panties on but no pants."
"That'll do." He turned to see her struggling with the handful of leaves he had thrown her. Several clumps fell out of her nerveless fingers landing on the ground and blowing away.
"I'll take over, darlin'," he told her. "Yer shiverin' too bad ta do it." He took the wad of abused greenery from her hands and crushed it in his own. When they were beginning to give up their juices, he bent and began to apply the sap to her legs. The odor of skunk was still too strong to his nose so most of the time, he was holding his breath.
He smoothed the sap over tight muscles and smooth skin. The only thing he could think of was 'Damn! Jubilee has some fine legs." He had to remind himself that she was seventeen, not twenty-one and still too young.
'She's yer best friend,' he scolded himself, trying to ignore the pert little butt peeking out from under the shirt. He continued to spread the juice on her skin. Soon, he could smell that she wasn't unaffected by his touch.
"Ya better stop," she told him in a shaky voice.
He pulled his hands away as if they were burned. He stepped back but continued to watch her as she dressed. The skunk smell was down to manageable to his nose and he was able to stand close enough to see her flushed face.
"Yer beautiful Jubes," he told her in a low voice, "but yer too young fer me."
"That doesn't keep me from loving ya," she said without looking at him. "I've loved ya since I was thirteen."
"I know," he said. "I ain't a pedophile, Jubes. I know ya love me and I know ya want me, but ya ain't old enough yet."
"Will I ever be?" she asked, piercing him with her sapphire eyes.
"I don't know" he admitted. "Yer my best friend and my partner. I'm not sure ya can be anything more than that."
"Would ya be willin' ta try in a few years?" she asked quietly.
"I don't know that either." he said. "Lot can happen in a few years. Ya could find a guy in LA that's everythin' I'm not."
"Like that's gonna happen," she scoffed.
"Don't wait fer me, Jubes," he told her. "I ain't worth it."
Her eyes flashed in anger. "Stop it," she hissed. "I ain't gonna let ya talk about yerself like that."
"But," he said.
"No," she growled. "You listen ta me, bub. Wolvie's my best friend and I owe him more than just my life. No one's gonna talk bad about him in front of me, not even you."
He knew she was adamant about this. She was strong. Sometimes, he thought she was stronger than him. She defended him to just about everyone. Sometimes, she shouldn't. There have been times when his actions were reprehensible and he should have taken his lumps and moved on. Jubilee wouldn't let him. She always rose the the challenge and defended him like a tigress defending her cubs. He wasn't kidding when he told people that she was his soul.
He loved her. He just wasn't sure he loved her as a woman. He had always known that she loved him and he was aware that her feelings for him had changed as she got older. He had hoped that she would find someone else and solve his problem but that would have been too easy. Jubilee never took the easy way out. He would eventually have to deal with it but not until she was older. He had a few more years grace.
"Go ta college," he told her. "Have a normal life. There's too much out there that can kill ya ta wait fer love."
"And if I don't find someone?" she asked.
"Then I guess I'll hafta deal with it." he told her. "Yer growin' up, Jubes but yer still too young ta tie yerself down. Go out on dates. I'll try ta keep the threats ta a minimum but don't be surprised if I call ya kid. Everyone's a kid ta me."
"I guess I can live with that," she agreed, "but don't be surprised if I yell at ya when ya call me kid."
"Habit," he said. "Damn, I need a cigar."
"Talk about yer stink," she snorted. "Those things won't kill ya but they're killin' yer social life."
"Nah," he smiled. It was an old, familiar argument. "Doesn't kill my social life. They just drive away the hoity toity ones. Them, I could do without."
"I'm hungry," she complained. "Let's eat."
They returned to the clearing to find Tessa struggling to start a fire. She had gathered a fair sized pile of wood and mounded some of in the middle of the clearing. Spent matches were scattered all around the circle of rocks she had placed. She was looking very frustrated and angry.
"I can't get the damned thing started," she almost cried. "Everything's just too wet."
"Hang on," Jubilee told her. "I'll get it going."
Tessa stepped back and allowed Jubilee access to the fire ring. The small teen directed a concentrated stream of plasma into the wood. Steam immediately began to rise from the pile. When the clouds of steam stopped billowing up, the wood caught with a woosh and began to burn brightly.
"There ya go," Jubilee said as she called in her power.
Tessa looked at the girl with new respect. "Next time I go camping, wanna go along?"
"Only if yer gonna camp in the Mall of America." Jubilee replied, picking up a rabbit and spitting it.
"I hadn't thought of that," Tessa said, thoughtfully. "Are you allowed to camp there?"
"Probably not," she shrugged, "but I know how ta avoid security. Used to live in a mall in So Cal before I met Wolvie."
"That was a long time ago, darlin'." Logan said. "Security systems have changed. Most of the new ones have motion sensors and pressure sensitive floors."
"Yeah," she sighed. "MoA'd have all that crap wouldn't they?"
"Guess yer gonna hafta be honest and buy the stuff ya want." he teased.
Jubilee had survived for over a year as a resident of a mall in California. She was able to avoid the roving security with the help of a sympathetic guard and her own reflexes. She made money for food by entertaining the shoppers with her fireworks displays. She didn't starve but she didn't thrive either. One day, she watched several women disappear into a circle of light and followed them, appearing in, of all places, Australia. There she was able to hide from the Reavers and observe a broken man being crucified and tortured by them. Why she helped him she could never explain, but she did. And the rest, as they say, is history.