CH. 7
'Run, Run, Fast as You Can'
The morning eventually came, and Sophia slept fairly soundly after he had come and stayed in her room.
Soft light had been slowly pouring in through the curtains, making it easier for him to see she was comfortable.
Logan decided now would be a good time to try and push off, the clock on the wall read five o'clock, and most diners were open at this point.
They would have to ride for a bit and hope to find a place, given this place did not appear to have anywhere to eat.
Rising from the chair, Logan stealthily unlocked the door and exited the room, moving back to his own to make sure he would not be leaving anything behind.
Satisfied with his search of the room, Logan stepped back out into the parking lot and saw Sophia was up and ready to go.
"Morning, kid," the wanderer greeted, walking over to his motorcycle and swinging a leg over.
"Good morning," he heard the girl reply as she followed suit and wrapped her arms around his torso.
Revving the engine, the duo rode off the site and onto the road again, they had to make distance, he hoped they might have passed them by, but he doubted it, the M.R.D. had gotten very good at tracking mutants down.
They rode for several miles before the silence was broken by the teenager. "I heard of the school, but I thought it was in New York?" Logan heard Sophia ask.
Memories of the big move came back to Logan. "Yeah, in Manchester, but… the school had to move when New York state outlawed mutants," the berserker clarified as he followed the highway's curves.
"So where is it?" Sophia asked, squirming in her seat, it was still horribly uncomfortable, and Logan knew he would be giving Jin a piece of his mind the next time he saw him.
"Near the capital of Washington, if we can make it to the state line, we'll be alright, mutant-allied states have a zero-tolerance policy against forces like the M.R.D.," Logan explained as he heard sirens ahead of them.
And soon he saw the source of the sirens, several cars, and vans marked with M.R.D. In yellow lettering against the vehicle's dark navy blue paint job.
"Shit!" Logan exclaimed, nearing the blockade at high speeds, he knew it couldn't be this easy, they were nearly out of the state.
"What now?!" he heard the teenager ask from behind him, they were almost out of this, and there were no exit ramps.
"Just hang on to somethin'!" Logan growled as he hit the throttle, and the duo rocketed toward the blockade.
"Stop or we'll shoot!" one of the officers screamed as Logan rapidly approached, soon after gunshots erupted.
Bullets ricocheted off the pavement, and some whizzed by the duo's forms, until a few started hitting.
Logan yelped in pain as bullets hit his torso, and shoulders, the motorcycle began to swerve, he could tank the shots, but he would rather not if he could help it.
Then a bullet hit him in the face, and the bike went sideways, they were about to fall, and just as thought crossed his mind, the motorcycle careened into the blockade.
Logan grabbed a fistful of Sophia's hoodie and away they went, flying through the air like they had, not very long ago.
Tucking Sophia in again, Logan prepared for the inevitable fall, he was met by the harsh asphalt rending his flesh from bones.
Logan screamed in pain as his bag was shredded away, the sound of flesh tearing was soon replaced by metal scraping, and then he rolled several feet further, trying to keep the girl in his arms covered up.
When the duo finally stopped, Logan released Sophia and let out the breath he had been holding in, his shirt was again ruined, and the mutant knew she could probably see parts of his skeleton.
"Are you hurt?" Logan asked, looking up at the sky as he tried to catch his breath, his body began repairing itself, with sickening cracks and pops as it always did.
"I think I'm ok!" he heard the girl say despite the noise of his body knitting itself back together.
"Then get up, quick!" Logan said, willing himself off the ground just as bullets began whizzing by the duo again.
She wouldn't make it if she got hit by one of these, Logan thought to himself, they hurt like the dickens to him, healing factor or not.
Logan's shirt fell off given the entire back and most of the front had been torn away in the wreck's aftermath.
Looking at the endless road on either side of them, Logan knew they were close to the border, close to freedom for her.
His attention veered toward the forest just off the road, M.R.D. probably had people set up in there to stop them from cutting through, but Logan figured they couldn't stop him if they tried.
A round hit him in the head making him flinch as his ears began to ring. "Follow me!" Logan shouted, taking Sophia by the forearm and rushing into the woods.
Bullets flew by them and bounced off the dirt, Logan's mind raced when he heard Sophia yelp and stumble to the ground.
"Kid, you alright?!" Logan yelled over the gunfire before he pulled them into the thick underbrush, obscuring them from the soldiers on the road.
"Yeah, I think so!" he heard the girl reply, a brief once-over, confirmed that she was still completely fine.
"We gotta haul ass, c'mon!" Logan whispered before moving them further into the vegetation.
For a moment they were safe, and the sounds of soldiers behind them were dissipating, soon nothing but the sound of brush underfoot.
The moment of silence was broken by gunfire again, but this time in front of them.
A few shots hit the berserker, after flinching, Logan turned to look over his shoulder. "Get behind me!" he shouted as he saw the first M.R.D. soldiers.
He felt her presence shift behind him, and without a word, Logan took off toward the state line, and their enemies.
Wolverine quickly closed the distance between him and the soldiers, Sophia did her best to stay in tow.
The berserker extended his claws and slashed the closest enemy, swiftly ripping through a second, then a third.
Wolverine tore through the soldiers, blood spilled, viscera flew, and enemies fell by his claws.
The soldiers were surrounding the duo, and a shotgun to the face put Wolverine on the ground, he was stunned, shaking his head trying to regain his equilibrium.
"Let me go!" Logan barely made out with his ears still reforming, and when they did, they were ringing.
"Help!" he heard more clearly as his eyes grew back, he saw Sophia being dragged back toward the road.
Two soldiers stood over Logan with shotguns, his growl clearly shook the men as they took a step back, but it was too late.
With a roar, Wolverine spun up with his claws forthright, cutting away the weapons away, cleaving them in two in a single, swift swing.
Running his right-hand-claws through the closest man, Wolverine ripped them to the side ripping out guts and splattering the forest floor with blood, before kicking the soldier to the ground roughly.
Turning his ire on the next, Wolverine sank both sets of claws into the opponent's chest, negating his armor, and ripping downward, eviscerating the man.
With what remained of the soldier falling to the ground, Wolverine turned toward the sound of Sophia's voice and sprinted after it.
Tunnel vision was beginning to set in, his heart raced, his muscles burned, and the unmistakable sensation of his senses boosting, spurred Wolverine forward at an incredible rate.
The soldiers must have heard his ever-intensifying growls as he ran with the urgency of an animal charging after its prey.
Roars erupted from the berserker with every swing of his claws, mutilating the enemies in front of him.
The first soldier didn't even get to bring his assault rifle up to aim before Wolverine's claws impaled him, falling backward, the berserker slid his claws out, all of which never slowed him from his current sprint.
Two fired their weapons at him, the shots hit him, but didn't slow Wolverine down in the slightest.
The berserker lashed out at the attackers, going low with his right claws and stabbing the man in the groin, earning a scream before Wolverine retracted the claws on his left hand and grabbed the soldier's collar, and hoisted him over his head, before driving the opponent headfirst into the ground with a sickening crunch.
The next man visibly recoiled at the sight, before Wolverine threw a left-handed uppercut, with his claws extended, penetrating the soldier's underchin, and destroying the brain.
Back into his sprint, Wolverine rushed forward continuing his rampage through the forest before he saw Sophia.
His growls intensified more so than before, as he raced toward her, the small group of soldiers.
Subtlety was already out the window in Wolverine's mind, he saw red, and they were the target of his wrath.
Diving forward, Wolverine's claws found purchase in the nearest soldier's chest, when the berserker heard a shotgun get cocked, he used the skewered man as a shield when the shot came.
Throwing the body into the shotgunner, Wolverine slashed a third soldier in the leg and then cleaved the shotgun in half.
Sticking both sets of claws through the shotgunner, heaving him up in the air for good measure before slamming him on the ground.
Turning to the third man who lay on the forest floor, holding his leg, he raised a hand to probably beg for mercy, but he never got to speak as a boot came down on his head.
A branch was swiftly broken over his back, earning nearly no response from the berserker as he spun around with lightning speed; the last soldier never saw the claws but he felt them and fell to his knees.
Wolverine then threw a headbutt, smashing the enemy's helmet visor, withdrawing his right hand, the berserker decimated the opponent's visor again with a heavy-handed punch, slamming the body to the ground.
With adrenaline pumping, Wolverine let out a roar that echoed through the forest for any left to hear, letting it draw out for a moment before cutting it short, growling lightly as he bared his teeth and listened to the surrounding woods for any other assailants.
The only breathing beside his own belonged to the teenager in his care, Sophia.
Turning slowly, Logan was panting, trying to bring himself down from his rage-induced adrenaline rush.
He saw that she had been tied up with zip ties, half-assed and sloppy, but she was still restrained, Logan thought to himself.
Kneeling his rage was still subsiding. "You alright?" Logan asked as he cut the bonds holding the teenager.
"Yes, uh, what would they have done to me?" Logan heard the girl ask as he stood up, she sounded mousier than usual.
It was at this point he realized he was covered in blood from head to toe, which might seem scary to her, but he wasn't sure.
"I'm not sure, but nothing good," Logan replied, leading them in the direction of the state line.
The duo fell into silence for a few minutes, nothing but foliage crunching under their feet could be heard, no bird songs or animal calls.
"So your claws," Sophia trailed off, Logan wondered where this conversation might go.
"Do they hurt when they go out or come in?" he heard the teenager ask, it was a question the berserker had not heard before.
"Yeah, every time," Logan answered, absentmindedly rubbing his knuckles at the thought.
The conversation again dropped, and the two walked through the woods, they had made it to safety.
It had been a long time since he had helped Charles Xavier move the school here, and probably a first time for the girl in his charge, so he decided to speak.
"Welcome to Maryland."