Chapter 14
Under Attack
I leaned against the wall, waiting for Logan to come back. Bobby was putting the ice cream back in the freezer, when I noticed a shadow behind him, a shadow with a rifle.
"BOBBY, GET DOWN!" I screamed, diving for him.
We fell behind the counter and the figure closed in on us. Everything from training left my brain and I stared at the soldier. It was a U.S. Military Soldier.
I summoned up my energy and shocked him, harder than I had ever shocked anyone before. I watched in horror as the man shuddered and fell to the floor.
I was suddenly very aware of the sounds of our breathing that filled the room.
It was deafening.
I stared at my hands and flinched as a body flew over the countertop and crashed into the wall behind us.
I heard the familiar SNIKT sound and saw Logan standing in the doorway.
"Let's go." he instructed tersely.
We moved into the hall after him, but Logan pushed us back.
"Wait. Stay here." he said, running after some soldiers.
Bobby and I exchanged glances and ran across the hall to an elevator.
We got in and the doors closed.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked frantically. I was shaking violently, my teeth chattering.
"I have no idea."
The elevator opened and we stepped out. I could hear helicopters outside. Bobby and I ran to the left, fighting against a wave of terrified students.
"JOHN!" I heard Bobby shout.
I turned and saw John behind us.
"WHERE'S ROGUE?" Bobby asked frantically, grabbing his roommate by the shoulders.
John looked around. "I dunno, man." he said apologetically.
"I gotta find her." Bobby said desperately, running down the hall towards her room. John and I ran after him as fast as we could.
We rounded the corner and saw Rogue ushering some smaller kids into a secret passage.
"ROGUE!" Bobby shouted. We ran to meet her.
"This way!" she instructed, pointing to the wall panel the younger kids had disappeared through.
A helicopter spotlight filled the bay window at the end of the hall, briefly silhouetting two soldiers swinging in front of it, attaching small grenades to the edges.
"No…" I whispered, staring at the window, knowing what would happen in a few seconds.
John grabbed my arm and yanked me to the floor next to him just as the window exploded. Shards of glass hit my back and legs. I picked my head up to see the soldiers swing through the debris and land where the window used to be.
We turned and ran down a nearby flight of stairs. Rogue stared in horror and I recognized one of the soldiers, the one I had killed. I stopped and stared at the man, wondering if he had a family… a wife… maybe even children…
John jolted me out of my reverie by grabbing my wrist forcefully and pulling me down the hall after him.
Four more soldiers burst through the front door, guns raised.
We were trapped.
Suddenly, a primal scream echoed from above. We looked up just as Logan leapt off the balcony; his adamantium claws bared and muscular arms spread wide. He stabbed his claws mercilessly through two soldiers, pinning them to the floor. Before the other two could even fire, Logan quickly jammed his claws into their legs and flipped them onto their backs.
"Let's go." Logan said.
A helicopter spotlight shone through the front door. We could hear the sound of more troops approaching. We turned and ran down a main hallway. We rounded a corner and John opened up a secret passage and we headed inside. I could feel blood running down my legs. I looked like some kind of victim of the Marquis de Sade, with the robe, blood, wet hair and moonlight. No, not the Marquis de Sade, I realized, I probably looked like the chick that doesn't get killed in a bad slasher movie because she's a vir gin.
Great, I thought sarcastically. That's just friggin' peachy.
Logan told us to go ahead.
We looked at him like he was crazy.
"I'll be fine." he assured us.
The passage door shut, leaving the four of us in the dark.
John flicked out his lighter and I could see a little bit better. I examined my legs, which didn't look as bad as they felt. There were still some pieces of glass lodged in my calves. I bent over and yanked them out as quickly as I could, stifling the scream. My wounds were bleeding much more freely now, John observed tactlessly, and I wanted to punch him in the balls.
Bobby went to grab Rogue, but stopped short, realizing he couldn't. I pulled off my robe and tossed it to Rogue. She thanked me with her eyes and started to follow Bobby, but stopped after a few steps.
"Wait. We've got to do something. They're going to kill him. Bobby, please!" she said worriedly.
"You two stay here." Bobby instructed, sounding terrified.
John and I stood stock-still and waited.
"Logan, come on." I heard Rogue beg.
"Go, I'll be fine." Logan said. I could hear something in the back of voice, but couldn't identify the emotion that it was attached to.
"But we won't. Please." Rogue pleaded.
After a moment, Logan appeared and we took off down the dimly lit passage. We came to an intersection. We ran down the passageway on the right and it led us to the garage entrance.
The lights turned on to reveal about a dozen expensive looking cars and a few motorcycles.
We piled into a sports car. Rogue took shotgun. John, me, and Bobby filed into the backseat.
"Logan, this is Scott's car." John said with a smirk.
"Wanna bet?"
SNIKT!
Logan hotwired the car and the garage opened. We sped out, leaving the mansion behind us.