X-Men Fan Fiction ❯ The Camping Trip ❯ Ch 5 ( Chapter 5 )

See disclaimers in 1st ch

Words between ~ ~ are thoughts or mental speak

Ch 5

Wolverine had been holding his own against their attackers.  Not one to normally run from a fight, he was in retreat none the less, anything to keep them away from Remy.  He wasn't sure how many were chasing him, but his nose told him it was quite a few, perhaps as many as twenty soldiers.  He had been running parallel to the river bank, steadily moving towards the higher ground known as the North Ridge, relying heavily on his keen senses to let him know where his pursuers lay.  Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks staring straight ahead into the brush.  Somehow, there were soldiers ahead of him.  Damn.  Wolverine took a moment to turn in a complete circle, trying to get a feel of who was in what direction.  A shot rang out from his immediate left and he dove for the ground.  Leaping to his feet, he sprinted in the direction of the river, his mind racing.  He didn't know how in the hell they had gotten in front of him and to the side, not to mention the ones still behind him.  But one thing Wolverine knew for sure, they were herding him, and he didn't like that one bit.

Remy was racing towards the emotional signatures he was picking up.  He was completely and thoroughly lost now, but it didn't matter.  He knew they were after Logan and he could feel their excitement not far in front of him.  It was a moment later that he heard the shot, causing him to skid to a stop.  Breathing hard and fast, his eyes darted in all directions trying to pinpoint the exact location of that noise.  With his heart pounding fiercely in his chest, he took off again at a dead run, ignoring the limbs and brush grabbing at his face and arms.  He was close.  He could feel the presence of many soldiers and had to raise his shields some to avoid being overcome by their emotions.  But, he knew he was closer to Logan.  That was the one presence that was strongest in his mind and was now the driving force guiding him in his pursuit.

Logan had reached the bank of the river.  It was actually fairly steep where he stood and the river was swirling madly below in its frenzy to rush downstream.  He paused a moment to catch his breath and his bearings, realizing that he was out of options.  With a snarl, he turned and extended both sets of claws, crouching into attack position and waiting for the soldiers to come out and play.  It didn't so much bother him that they were shooting, after all, his healing factor could pretty well compensate almost as quickly as he was struck.  He was just ready to get this over with and taste a little blood for all the running they made him do.  Logan knew they were close, yet they had not come into view for some reason.  They were maintaining a healthy distance and keeping out of sight.  It took Logan less than a minute to understand why they weren't rushing him.  His pupils dilated when he finally realized they were going to try and capture him. 

"Ain't gonna happen you sonsabitches" he snarled out loud. 

The first shot rang out loud and he only had a moment to turn that direction before it hit him.  Some kind of syringe was sticking out of his neck, pumping something into him.  Logan roared in anger and yanked it out, throwing it to the ground.  As he did, he didn't even register the second, third, and fourth shots ring out until it was too late to dodge.  Protruding from his body now were three more syringes.  He frantically pulled them out before too much of the drug could enter his body, but the trigger mechanisms were too efficient, having already drained their contents upon contact.  Logan staggered a moment.  He could feel his muscles seizing up, his body losing control.  His whole being was shutting down.  One more shot rang out and the last vial hit him square in the chest.  He couldn't even bring his hand up to pull it out.  Somewhere deep in his steadily numbing mind, Logan realized he was about to lose this battle.  But he would be damned if he was going back to be the military's guinea pig again.  With a last ditch effort, he mustered all his strength and forced his unwilling leg to step back, over the ledge of the bank, and tumbled into the roaring waters below.

"LOGAN!!!"  Remy burst through the underbrush having run up on the scene of his lover being shot and falling backwards over the edge.  In a mad dash he headed for the ledge as bullets flew by, barely missing him.  When he reached the bank, he leapt and twisted, as if performing a backwards swan dive, pulling the gun parallel to his body and sending a barrage of gunfire into the forest beyond the ledge behind him.  As he fell backwards, he charged the gun and threw it away from him with all his might towards the soldiers, and quickly brought his hands in a point above him, angling his head and arching his back to enter the water as smoothly as possibly just as the explosion rocked the ledge above. 

Logan's body immediately sank and Remy's task upon diving head first into the torrent was to locate his lover and bring them both to the surface.  Easier said than done he realized after hitting the water.  He couldn't see.  The current was strong.  He managed to get his eyes open, despite the sting of the mud and dirt, and caught a glimpse of something shiny.  He realized it must have been Logan's belt buckle as he swam towards that direction.  He couldn't keep his eyes open in the murkiness and resorted to feeling his way around.  Remy pushed himself deeper with his legs as his arms flailed about him in a vain attempt to locate anything within reach.  Finally, his hand bumped something, realizing in seconds that it was Logan's arm.  They were at the bottom.  Remy moved as quickly as possible, bringing both arms around Logan's chest and using his powerful legs to push off the floor and propel them both towards the surface. 

They both surfaced and Remy gasped for air.  He tried to open his eyes and found that he couldn't see a damn thing.  Between the crap that got in his eyes when he was underwater, and the bright sun shining down from directly overhead, the pain was excruciating, causing Remy to cry out.  He was struggling to keep them both afloat and, above the roar of the river, he could hear sounds of objects landing harshly in the waters all around.  Remy just knew the soldiers were firing on them.  He couldn't see where they were, so he opened his shields and felt them.  They were above and to his left, many of them, all firing into the water and yelling curses.  Remy knew the immediate course of action with a disabled Logan was to flee.  It didn't take a genius to realize that the river was the best means of escape.  He had been fighting the current, but let go of that struggle, turning their bodies into it instead.  Using his legs to keep their heads above water as best he could, he let the current take them out of range of the soldiers. 

Remy raised a wet hand to seek out Logan's face, hovering lightly over his nose and mouth.  He could feel the older man's heart thumping wildly in his chest as he held the body tightly in his arm.  But he needed to feel for any kind of breath coming from the feral.  After a moment of sheer panic, he felt it.  Light and warm, flowing across Remy's fingers rhythmically.  "Merci Dieu!" Remy exclaimed before quickly returning his hand to help hold his lover's body.

The emotions radiating from the soldiers were less now as the river carried the X-Men away.  Remy struggled under Logan, gulping and gasping for air, head bobbing below surface and above again.  The weight of his boots was pulling him down.  The weight of his clothes and all the articles he carried was pulling him down.  But mostly, the weight of three hundred plus pounds of adamantium laced bones was pulling him down.  Remy was strong, always prided himself on the strength of his legs and body.  But, he was losing this battle, and quickly.  How ironic, he thought.  The river that saved them from the soldiers, was now going to kill them.  He could feel that Logan was scared.  And Remy was also scared.  He was blind for all practical purposes. 

From the sounds of the swirling madness around him, he suspected they were amidst rapids, and he was fighting to keep them both above water.  He cried out in pain and shock when he was suddenly slammed into a jagged rock, the sharp edges cutting into his back.  They both went down for a moment, and the under toe grabbed at them furiously.  Gambit willed all his strength to his legs as he kicked out and up, holding on steadfast to his lover and mouthing words of encouragement. 

"Stay wit' me Logan.  Remy got you."  He guessed that rock was some pass in the river where the direction turns. 

Remy forced his eyes open for a second, sobbing at the pain, and caught blurry vision of a nice size log floating along with them at a fairly close distance.  He used the last of his strength to shift them over to that log until he could feel his back against it as it rocked up and down behind him.  He gulped some air, holding it in his lungs as he went down and under the log, popping up on the other side gasping for oxygen.  His arms were stretched under the log as he held Logan precariously on the other side.  Now came the tricky part.  Remy released one arm and brought it under and over the top of the log while his legs simultaneously came up and encircled Logan's waist.  Once Remy was sure that his legs were holding up the Canadian, he brought his other arm under and on top of the log, both hands grasping under Logan's chin to keep his head above water.  Remy took a moment to gather his strength, and then hurled himself on top of the log, reaching both arms under Logan's.  With a grunt, he heaved and dragged Logan's upper torso on top of the log, keeping his legs wrapped around the feral's waist.  Remy slid off as he replaced himself with Logan's upper body.  He maintained his hold around his lover's chest and waist, keeping the log held tightly between them to use as a buoy. 

Remy knew he couldn't relax his guard, but at least he wasn't struggling as much.  He brought his hand up again to feel for breath from his lover.  It was shallow and rapid, but it was there.  With a heavy sigh of relief, Remy lowered his forehead to touch the top of his lover's shoulder and panted, coughing out water and attempting to reclaim much needed oxygen.  Eyes still closed, he muttered more encouragement to Logan and himself. 

"Remy got you, cher.  Everyt'ing gonna be fine."

He didn't know how long they drifted.  For some time, the water ran wild and furious, but eventually calmed slightly.  He took a chance and cracked open one eyelid, trying to catch a glimpse of their surroundings.  The light reflecting off the water from the position of the sun was not as blinding now, but was still painful. 

After a while, the water had calmed to the point of being nearly still, flowing rather slowly, and the river had widened somewhat.  Again, Remy cracked one eye and quickly scanned for the shore.  After spotting it, he released his leg hold around Logan's waist and started kicking for all he was worth to push them towards the shore.  Once he reached the shallow end near the bank, he released his grip on Logan and let their life raft continue its merry journey down the river.  He shifted his legs under him, and pulled his lover to the bank until they were both out of the water, at which point Remy fell back, exhausted. 

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