Logan was a great deal heavier than Marie had imagined he would be. Half conscious as he was, Logan was leaning heavily on her as they painstakingly made their way through the forest. They needed to get as far away as possible and Logan’s present situation made that task increasingly difficult. Of course, there was no possible way the blame could be placed on Logan. After all, it hadn’t been his decision to have over a hundred pounds of metal grafted to his skeleton. Logan had been given no say in the situation, but was still left to deal with the consequences.
“One foot then the other, sugah. That’s right. Keep it up,” Marie murmured as she led Logan down what she hoped was a trail of some sort. With any luck it would lead to a road and they could get someone to pick them up.
Marie was well aware of how difficult walking was for Logan. At that point doing just about anything was difficult. So often he would stumble, nearly falling to the ground and it was up to Marie to hold onto him and keep him on his feet. Marie also had to be careful not to touch any of Logan’s exposed skin. He wouldn’t be able to withstand another energy drain like the one he had experienced when he had kissed her.
All but pulling Logan along, Marie was constantly glancing over her shoulder to check for anyone following them. They could not get caught. It wasn’t an option. So Marie was constantly on the look out for people hunting them.
Marie was going to keep them safe.
The faint sounds of cars and other vehicles coming from in front of them filled Marie with a great sense of relief. Cars meant a quicker way of escape. If she could somehow convince a driver to give them a ride they could get far away from the men that had kidnapped them.
Her relief was so great that Marie failed to notice the change in the landscape. The ground dropped off suddenly sending Marie and Logan tumbling down the side of an embankment to a lower area of the forest. Marie did her best not to cry out on the way down so that she wouldn’t bring attention to them.
At one point she felt her jeans rip and other rock tore through the sleeve of her shirt, catching her skin as well. The fall wasn’t that long, but it was long enough for her to notice and become thoroughly bruised and battered along the way.
Once she felt her body finally stop, Marie laid there for a few minutes to catch her breath. When she found the energy, Marie lifted her head to search for Logan and where he’d landed. It was his quiet moan that alerted Marie to his presence. Twisting her head to look behind her, Marie caught sight of Logan who was struggling to push himself up on his elbows.
“Ya all right, Logan?” Marie called as she crawled towards him.
Marie could see the pain reflected in his eyes and wished there was something she could do to help him. If she knew how to reverse her powers, Marie would have gladly given Logan back some of his healing ability that she had absorbed the night before. A few bruises wasn’t going to kill her, but Marie knew that Logan was a lot worse off than she was.
“Marie....” Logan whimpered when his arms gave out, refusing to hold him up any longer.
“Ah’m here, sugah,” Marie assured him as she crouched next to him, running her fingers through his thick hair. “We’re almost at the road, Logan. We’ll find a ride then ya can just relax an’ get some sleep. How does that sound? Ya think ya can make it t’ the road?”
Logan nodded his head slightly, attempting to push himself up once again. After pulling the long sleeves of her shirt over her hands, Marie was able to help Logan into a sitting position. It took a little more effort to get him standing. Logan was very wobbly. Much worse than he had been before. Marie knew that Logan wouldn’t last much longer in the condition that he was in. He needed rest and some medical attention. Someone needed to take care of his hands. Even now they were still bleeding and Marie knew that wasn’t a good thing.
Following the sounds of the cars, Marie led Logan through the forest. This time she kept a careful look out for anything odd in the landscape. She didn’t much fancy another tumble down a hill. All that Marie wanted was for her and Logan to get somewhere that was safe. A place where she and Logan could simply exist and not have to worry about any outside forces trying to destroy him. No sadistic doctors. No awful kidnappers. Just her and Logan and endless peace.
“Ah can see the cars now,” Marie all but squealed. “We’ve only got ‘bout another fifty yards t’ go. Then ya can sit down on the side o’ the road while Ah get us a ride.”
His head resting on her shoulder, Logan nodded minutely. “‘Kay.... Just wanna sleep.”
“Ah know ya do, sugah,” Marie whispered, turning her head and pressing a kiss to the crown of his head. “An’ real soon ya’ll be able t’. Soon as we’re somewhere safe ya can sleep as much as ya want.”
That seemed to satisfy Logan who grumbled his assent.
It took them about five minutes to navigate the fifty yards to the side of the highway. As soon as she could clearly see the highway, Marie could feel tears filling her eyes. They were so close to being safe. All they needed to do was get a ride and they’d be safe. Marie refused to believe otherwise.
“Ya just lie here, Logan, an’ Ah’ll get us a ride,” Marie said as she gently eased Logan down on the grassy bankment at the edge of the shoulder of the road.
As soon as she had Logan in a relatively comfortable position, Marie rushed to the side of the road, jumping up and down in an attempt to catch the attention of passing vehicles. Most of them were truckers who were probably going too fast to see her in the dim light, but Marie didn’t back down.
“Please stop!” Marie called to the passing vehicles. She knew that they wouldn’t be able to hear her, but that didn’t stop her. Marie was going to do everything possible, shy of showing some leg, to get someone to pick them up.
The tears that she had been holding back for so long finally escaped when one of the trucks began edging towards the side of the road. Marie stepped back out of the way as it came to a stop, rushing towards the passenger side door.
“Ah need yer help!” Marie sobbed as she pulled the door open. “Mah boyfriend an’ Ah were campin’ when some guys attacked us! He’s hurt real bad! Ah almost couldn’t even get him t’ the side o’ the road! Please, Ah can’t get him over here by mahself!”
Marie was crying so hard that she could barely stand up.
“Shit!” the trucker cursed, opening his door and jumping out of the cab.
Thankfully, the headlights gave the trucker enough light to see Logan. It was taking everything Marie had to not collapse in a sobbing heap so she would be of no use helping him bring Logan over to the truck.
“You weren’t lying when you said he was in real bad shape,” the trucker said.
Marie jumped slightly, not having realized that he was so close. She looked over at Logan who was being supported by the other man and moaned. “Logan....”
“Look, Miss, there’s a sleeper at the back of the cab,” the trucker explained, shifting Logan in his arms. “You get in and I’ll pass your boyfriend up to you. You get him settled back there then we’ll get going, all right?”
Marie could only nod mutely. She scrambled into the truck, discreetly pulling her sleeves back over her hands so that she would accidentally hurt Logan. That was the last thing she wanted to do.
“It’s all right, sugah, Ah got ya,” Marie murmured as she hoisted Logan into the truck. “Ya’ll be able to rest real soon. Ah promise.”
All that Logan did was moan and cry out softly as Marie fumbled around, trying to get him into the cot at the back of the cab. With only a little bit of a struggle, Marie was able to get Logan onto the small bed. Marie got Logan comfortable then covered him with the thick red blanket that was folded at one end.
“Ya just rest now, Logan. Everythin’ is all right,” Marie whispered, pressing a feather light kiss to his cheek. She stroke her fingers through his hair for a few moments before joining the trucker at the front of the cab.
Smiling gratefully at the older man, Marie situated herself so that she could see Logan and get to him real quick if he needed her.
“Thank ya so much fer pickin’ us up. Ah wasn’t sure what would happen,” Marie said softly, her eyes once again falling on Logan’s slumbering form. “Ah’ve just been real scared that he was gonna die before Ah could get him somewhere safe.”
“Wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I hadn’t,” the trucker acknowledged. “You looked to be real bad off and I’ve always had a soft spot for people in need of help. My name’s Jack, by the way.”
“Mah name’s Anna an’ that’s Hugh,” Marie said, using the first names that popped into her mind. She didn’t feel safe giving Jack their real names even though he was helping them.
“It’s nice to meet you, Anna,” Jack said, smiling fondly at her.
Despite herself, Marie couldn’t help but return Jack’s smile. He had a kindly face, well worn and lined with many years of smiling. His sandy hair was baldly slightly on the top and what was there was sticking out in every direction. Like many others of his trade, Jack’s stomach protruded just enough to make shirts stretch taut. In other words, he reminded Marie of her Uncle Mark.
“Is there a hospital or somethin’ nearby?” Marie asked, nervously worrying her bottom lip. “Or somewhere else Ah can take Hugh so he’ll be taken care o’?”
Jack bobbed his head from side to side. “You could say that. There’s one about a hundred kilometers from here. Things up here are pretty sparse. You think Hugh can make it that far?”
Marie smiled fondly and nodded her head. “Yeah. He’ll be able t’ make it. Hugh’s a real strong guy.”