The three soldiers with Sabretooth raised their rifles. They wore all black, no identifying marks were on their uniforms. It was a shadow team. Officially, they didn't exist.
"Don't move. Identify yourselves." One of the soldiers stepped forward and pointed his gun at Wolverine. Wolverine figured him to be the team leader. The other two soldiers surveyed the crash site, marveling at the alien craft and the dead extra terrestrial.
Drake, the pudgy camper, had his arms held straight up in the air. Sweat poured from his armpits and face. He looked pale. Wolverine smelled something strange about him.
"My name is Drake Sanders! Don't kill me, please! I have kids, a wife, a dog named Skipper and - "
"Shut up, meat!" Sabretooth barked. "What were you doing out here?"
The soldier who ha questioned Wolverine and Drake's identities turned to Sabretooth. He had to look up to meet the feral mutant's gaze. "I lead this operation. I ask the questions. You shut your goddamn mouth."
Wolverine's jaw almost dropped. Was this man asking to be ripped apart and disembowled? Then he remembered the collar. The commanding officer wasn't afraid of Sabretooth because he knew that if the mutant tried anything, he'd be killed within seconds.
Wolverine sensed tension between the CO and Sabretooth. Maybe that could be exploited.
Sabretooth clenched his teeth. "Whatever you say, Jenkins."
"You gonna let him talk to you like that, Creed?" Wolverine asked.
Sabretooth scowled. "For now."
"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, Creed." Jenkins said.
Drake was clutching his chest. His red face was contorted into a painful grimace. "Oh, God!" He moaned. The camper fell to his knees, then dropped onto his back. Jenkins called the other two soldiers over. Their names were Barnett and Lyle. They trained their guns on Drake.
Sabretooth picked at his teeth with one of his sharp claws, totally disinterested. "I don't remember eating chicken..." He muttered to himself.
Convulsions racked the camper. Veins bulged in his forehead. He looked ready to explode. Wolverine couldn't see the whites of his eyes. All the blood vessels had burst, flooding his eyes with red.
"My chest!" Drake managed to croak out.
Barnett knelt down at ripped open Drake's shirt, exposing his hairy chest and belly. His chest rose and fell rapidly.
Jenkins said, "What the hell is happening to him, Barnett? You're the doctor!"
"Cardiac arrest, maybe. Heart attack. I don't know. Holy God!" The three soldiers leapt back as a huge bulge stretched from just beneath Drake's sternum. Something was inside of him and it wanted out. Drake screamed and began foaming at the mouth. His eyes rolled back.
Wolverine focused his thoughts. He needed to contact the Professor. He would know what to do. Wolverine shut his eyes and fired off a thought, hoping Xavier would somehow pick it up.
Drake's bely bulged again. The flesh tore open. A small, oblong creature rocketed out of him. Two sets of arms were tucked close to its body. A sort of crest extended from its head. It reminded Wolverine of a crown for some reason. It was covered in blood and gore. Lyle gasped and opened fire on the beast. It screamed, gnashed its needle-sharp teeth and skittered into the woods. Lyle's bullets ripped into Drake. If the alien creature hadn't killed him while coming out, the bullets sure had.
"What the fuck?" Jenkins looked about ready to puke.
"Hail Mary, full of grace..." Lyle fingered an imaginary rosary.
Barnett was silent. His eyes did all the talking. They were wide open, gaping at the hole in Drake's belly. His lips moved silently, maybe trying to make sense of the impossible thing he had just witnessed.
Wolverine backed away shaking his head. He didn't know what was going on, but he did know one thing. People were going to die.
Sabretooth grunted. He was leaning against what appeared to be the only standing tree within a dozen meters. "There's somethin' you don't see everyday." He spat on the ground.