She ran blindly, pushing herself swiftly on weak legs as she raced through the thickening trees. Misty breath exhaled from her panting lungs, of which burned in agony. Rogue hadn’t looked back once she’d fled from the lake, and had departed to the bestial roars as Wolverine emerged to deliver carnage. It had run a chill through her already cold body, his savage awakening calling attention to her own state of mind. The forest was dense and heavily covered in snow, of which impeded her struggling sprint. Her soaking form was shivering, no warmth offered as she ducked and dived through the trees, desperate to reach civilisation in a bid to find somewhere safe.
Continuing to run, she wasn’t aware of how far she had travelled. Her calf muscles burned as her feet pummelled down repetitively into the snow, begging for her to stop. Whilst in her current frame of mind, Rogue was too scared to discontinue her fleeing, she was forced to halt as her foot scuffed a hidden tree root, and she flew forward. She landed with a pained grunt in the snow, panting heavily as she lay there. Pulling her face upward, she weakly rolled onto her back, chest heaving as she gulped in the cold evening air. Darkness had begun to settle around her, the lowering sunlight nothing but a glow of red through the network of tree trunks.
It was horribly ironic to think that little under fourteen hours ago she had been comfortably laid in Logan’s embrace, warm under their bedcovers. And now, they had been wrenched apart by unforeseeable events, and here she lay stranded, shivering in the snow with no idea if Logan was safe. Stryker wanted his experiment back and seemed to be willing to go to any lengths for it. After failing twice, what could he do that he hadn’t done before? Would he be able to fully transform the man Rogue loved into Wolverine and ensure that there would be no reversal?
She sat up with a flutter of fear in her gut. She could only hope that Logan had fought free and would soon enough come running through the trees as he sought her out. Alkali Lake was a horrible, horrible place, and Rogue didn’t want Logan to ever go back. But Stryker was pursuing him, throwing up all kinds of danger in the process. Rogue stood to her feet shakily, using a nearby tree up help herself upright. With a tired sigh she trudged onward, eyes squinting through the darkness in a bid to try and see ahead.
Travelling further, she came out at a lonely roadside, the tarmac meandering under a sheet of ice to curve off into the distance and be hidden by trees. Lowering, she sat down on a nearby lump of earth, exhaling a soft breath. Too tired to continue onward, her plan was to sit and hope for traffic. She’d get a ride to the nearest town, and then be able to stay somewhere safe until Logan could seek her out. Her head leant back on the tree behind her, exhaustion taking over her small frame and soon enough sending her to the depths of subconsciousness.
Everything seemed a murky shade of green. Turning her head, she could only observe the blurred conditions about her from her forced angle. Unable to move her body, she glanced about slowly, feeling weak and disorientated. Submerged in water, she was incapable of breathing, and yet despite the pain in her chest, her body wasn’t giving out. Staring up through the surface, she watched the strip lighting twinkle down at her sinisterly through the grim liquid. A face hovered above her, partly silhouetted by the light, which cast the majority of his face into shadow. Whilst she had never personally met this individual, she knew instantly who he was. Stryker. She strained to lift her arms, to try and grab the edge of the glass tank to heave herself free and break the binds that locked her down.
But no limbs would move, and she could only lie there, becoming increasingly concerned. Eyes wandered more, but were unable to see far out of the dirty glass sides of the tank. Roaming gaze quickly noted she was naked, of which summoned further struggles, but the metal binds remained unrelenting.
Sensation. She felt something skim the smooth skin of her forearm. Awareness turned to discomfort as something probed the flesh testingly. Pain overtook her senses as the tool drove inside her arm, causing her to mutely scream against the murky water that surrounded her. Thrashes did nothing to stop the increasing agony in her arm, as the initial insertion of the contraption into her flesh became a mere irritation compared to the sudden assault of mindless, terrorising agony. Scalding hot liquid coursed into the depth of her arm, the metal probe driving further to cause more torture. It hit bone, the sensation causing her entire body to burn in pain she thought would never end.
Rogue’s eyes flew open as she let out a gasp; staring about the roadside with panted breaths. The sun had since set, darkness around her only barely lit by the illuminated snow. She lifted a shaky hand to rub her face, trying to ease herself out of the nightmare that didn’t belong to her. So often, these days, did she find herself wandering into the Wolverine’s consciousness, and the memories that came with it. Attention was caught as a set of headlights shone into her face, and she quickly looked up to see a car rounding the corner ahead. Standing, she hurried to the road, waving her arms in desperation to be noticed.
The car rolled to a halt besides her, the driver’s window being rolled down to reveal a youthful face peering up at her. “Hey, is everything alright?”
“Is there any chance I could hitch a ride to the next town?” Rogue asked quickly, pleadingly. “I got real lost out here, and you’re the first car to go past in hours.”
She saw the male contemplate, eyeing her for a moment as though uncertain of what to do. Rogue understood his hesitation; picking up hitchhikers in the middle of nowhere wasn’t a daily occurrence to most. She only hoped he’d be able to read her desperation, as she stood, dishevelled, cold and wet.
“Yeah, sure,” he eventually replied.
Rogue felt like she could kiss him. Instead, she settled for a stupidly broad grin, hurrying to the opposite side of the car and getting in. The warmth that enveloped her as she entered caused her to sigh contently. “Thank you,” she said earnestly, looking towards him.
The man was closing his window once more to lock out the cold Canadian air. As the car began moving again, he glanced towards her with a small smile. “You’re welcome. You look like you’ve been stuck out here for a while. There’s a blanket on the back seat, help yourself, you look frozen.” Looking round, Rogue reached back for the tartan blanket, pulling it around her damp form with a gentle sound of relief to feel the soft material caressing her. “I’m Thomas,” the man offered, smiling a little as he watched her get comfortable.
Peering towards him, Rogue responded, with a careful choice of using her human name. Last thing she needed was to be kicked out because of being a mutant. “Marie.”
“So, I’m guessing you weren’t doing a spot of hiking,” said Thomas, eyeing her for a moment as he continued to drive.
“No,” relented Rogue softly. “Actually, I crashed my car.” It was a mixture of truth and lies that Rogue felt comfortable with. Mentioning Logan might bring up awkward questions she couldn’t answer. How could she tell a stranger she had left behind a man who was currently making mincemeat of a bunch of illegal armed soldiers.
Thomas did look shocked, however. “You crashed your car?” he turned to stare at her. “Are you badly injured? We need to get you to a hospital.”
“No,” Rogue replied quickly. “I’m not all that hurt. Honestly, all I need is a warm bed for the night. If you could drop me off at the closest town, I would be grateful.”
Bemused, Thomas chose not to push the topic, just nodding his head slowly. “If you’re sure. I suppose you’re gonna sort out your details in the morning?”
“Yeah,” she answered, finding it easier to go along with him. “Car will be a write-off, so no doubt the police will get involved. Where are you heading?” she then added, preferring to take the subject off of her and her collection of white lies.
“To work,” Thomas responded, his eyes remaining fixed ahead on the road. “I live a good number of miles away from here.”
“Oh, you’re on the graveyard shift, huh?” asked Rogue, eyes checking the illuminated clock on the dashboard. It was almost half past eleven.
A wry smile crossed Thomas’s face. “Yep. Yay for me, huh?” He glanced towards her for a moment, eyes taking the opportunity to inspect her face, also noting the curious white streaks she adopted.
Rogue smiled to herself, looking out of the windscreen to watch flakes of snow as they danced before the headlight beams. “It’s better pay, if that makes up for it.”
Thomas laughed quietly at this, but didn’t reply vocally as he continued to drive along. A comfortable silence settled, during which Rogue snuggled deeper into her seat. Her head throbbed a little at the injury above her forehead, the repetitiveness of it almost sending her to sleep again. Just as she felt her heavy eyelids sinking, the car slowed, and she looked up curiously in inspection. They were still in a remote location and not near the civilisation she desired. Glancing towards him, she watched as he pulled on the handbrake. “I just realised I’ve forgot make a phone call earlier,” he said quietly, hands rummaging through his coat pockets to find his mobile phone. He cursed under his breath, pulling out his wallet and other various items until he eventually found the phone. “Won’t be a second,” he informed Rogue, opening the car door and exiting.
Rogue watched him leave, unperturbed by his actions. That was until her eyes lowered to the wallet that had fallen open on the driver’s seat, revealing the top of an I.D card. The partly hidden writing made her gut writhe uncomfortably. Glancing up out of the windscreen, she noticed that Thomas had his back to her. She discreetly leant over to the wallet, sliding the plastic card out of its slot. Her fears were confirmed as her eyes read the bold heading. ‘ALKALI LAKE MILITARY COMPOUND’
She shoved the card back into the leather wallet, suddenly feeling sick. Peering outside once more, she saw Thomas had moved around a little, and could see him talking into his phone. Her eyes traced his lips, fixating hard enough to catch snippets of the conversation. It told her enough. This guy knew she was with Logan, of whom had been finally apprehended. He cast a furtive glance her way, to which Rogue tried to smile innocently to, but it sank into a disgusted grimace. She had to run for it. There was no other option.
But he would chase her, and his car would so easily catch up with her. Even on foot, he was a lot fitter than her and it wouldn’t take much for the young man to reach her exhausted self. At that moment, a recollection crossed her mind as her eyes frantically scanned the car’s dashboard. ‘Always check glove compartments, Rogue.’
Logan’s advice had helped them then, could it help her now? Glancing upward, Thomas had gone back to looking at the woodland ahead of him. Taking her opportunity she leant forward and opened the glove compartment. It lowered down, the small light turning on. Amongst other typical items a glove compartment may contain, such as a tissues, empty CD cases and cap-less pens, lay a pistol, glinting serenely in the light. No doubt Thomas was forced to travel armed in his dangerous line of work. Cautiously, she took it in her hand, gripping it. Could she do what she dared to consider? This was her only chance.
Swallowing nervously, Rogue pushed the blanket off of her, turning to open her car door and get out slowly. She could feel Wolverine’s goading inside her head. Thomas turned towards her, pausing his telephone conversation to look at her questioningly. “You’re gonna freeze out here – “
Rogue lifted the gun, staring at him as she aimed. Her finger shakily clenched on the trigger, the ricocheting gunshot echoing about the trees.
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