Control: An X-Men Adventure and Wolverine Romance

Running

I was woken by a low growling which instantly set my hair on end. Shaking off the shackles of sleep, I blinked into the low light of the early morning. Something had mother bear on edge. She was on her feet with the cub behind her. I could almost feel the uneasiness coming off of her in waves. I hurriedly got to my own feet and approached the entrance to see if I could work out what had her so anxious. I strained my ears to try and pick out anything unsual but there was nothing - only the distant screech of an owl and the breeze in the trees. Then something made my stomach sink, was it my imagination or had I seen a tiny glinting of metal? I peered into the thicker treeline and waited.

I was about to give up and resign it to a trick of the light when I saw it again. Someone was out there. I glanced behind me to the bears - I needed to get out of the shelter as soon as possible. I shuffled across to the other side and as quietly as possible shifted a portion of the wall on the extreme left side. If I slipped out that way there might be a chance to get enough distance to make it into the trees.

I didn't like it one bit, but there was no choice. I had stayed put too long. I tipped my water pot over the last of the fire and scrambled out into the snow, throwing on my backpack as I went. No sooner had I run three strides before I heard a shout.

"I see her!"
And another voice:
"Over here!"

"Fuck!" I cursed under my breath, as I put every bit of energy I had into my bid to make the tree cover. I hated running - I was never a cardio girlie. The snow would be shallower in the thicker part of the forest, where the trees had broken its fall, but in the clearing it was knee-deep.

At this stage, there was no plan. They were so close behind that I was running on pure animal instinct and panic. I burst into the tree line and launched myself over a rocky outcrop, the snow and scree sliding away beneath my feet. Somehow, I managed to keep upright and make it to the flatter ground below. I weaved in and out of the tree trunks erratically, vaulting over one which had fallen across my path.

Then, I became aware of a buzzing sound to my right and realised it was a drone - flying ahead of the men chasing me on foot. There was no hiding if they could see me in real time. I skidded to a stop and grabbed two tennis ball sized rocks, keeping one hidden. I hurled the first at the drone, deliberately to the left. As i'd hoped, it swerved right and almost before it had even begun to move I'd put all the power I could into that second rock. By some miracle, it connected with a smash - bits of plastic and metal scattered to the forest floor with a satisfying crunch.

I had bought precious seconds of time. Turning on my heels, I sprang back into motion, this time changing course slightly in an effort to confuse them. I decided to steer left, almost looping around closer in the direction we had come from, but without retracing my steps - to make sure they were still behind me.

It was getting steadily a little lighter. The blue morning light was almost eerie. My legs were burning with lactic acid and my breath visible in big clouds of vapour.

I began to think I might just make it when one soldier, who was faster than the others in his group, managed to cut across ground to catch me up further. He burst from the treeline and tackled me from the right. I was completely unprepared and knocked off my feet onto the thin layer of snow and frozen dirt. He immediately reached for my throat. In response, I grabbed onto him and sank my claws into his forearm. He cried out in shock and punched me directly on the nose with his free hand. My head snapped backwards - the pain was instant and dazed me.

"Fucking freak " the guy spat, closing in again.

I saw him reaching for his handgun this time, and in a panic kicked upwards, knocking it from his grip. We both scrambled to be the first to grab it until he changed tactic. He stomped my outstretched hand so hard I felt a sickening crunch. I screamed in pain, tears immediately welling into my eyes. He then pinned me down and was reaching for something else, it looked like a tranquiliser dart of some kind.

Before I even had a chance to react any further, a rumbling, angry roar, came from somewhere behind me. Something barreled into my attacker with at least twice the force he'd used against me. As I winced in pain and scrambled to get to my feet, clutching at my broken hand. I saw the familiar outline of my bear friend.

The man was the one now screaming in pain and panic as she had clamped down on his shoulder and was dragging him through the snow. I winced as I hurriedly reset my ring finger and it began to heal. Looking back to the fight, I saw the man was fumbling with his unaffected left arm for the handle of a knife.

"No!" I screamed and launched myself at him arms, and claws, outstretched, with a force I didn't know I had in me.

He blindly thrust the knife over his head and it connected with her eye. In a roar of pain she released him from her jaws and staggered backwards. Unluckily for him this was the point at which I crashed into him, claws first. I thought he'd killed her and was overcome with rage. In blind fury I stabbed and slashed at his combat vest, completely shredding it. I tore his bodycam from its straps and stomped it to pieces - someone was watching everything unfold. Satisfied he wasn't getting up any time soon, quite possibly ever again, I looked round for the bear.

Her eye was definitely in bad shape, but she seemed to be otherwise unscathed. I heard shouts from the other mercenaries coming from mutliple directions. They were closing in fast.

I took a risk and changed course yet again, hoping to lead them away from the injured bear. If she died her cub would not survive on its own and I didn't want that.Thankfully the bear took off in the opposite direction, back toward the den.

I vaulted another couple of fallen trunks. Suddenly something whizzed past me to the left and the bark of a the nearest tree splintered into shards. They were shooting at me now! More and more shots cracked overhead. I didn't know how long I could make it.

Suddenly, I felt as if i'd been gut punched and my stride faltered. I staggered and struggled for breath. Something was wrong. My throat felt wet when I tried to swallow. I realised i'd been hit. Then again, and again.

I fell to my knees in pain. My body was already working the bullets out from where they had embedded into my flesh and bone but the pain was excruciating. It was then that I noticed three green tipped darts were protruding from my thigh. I staggered and swayed. When I fell I started to crawl, desperate to keep going - but it was too late. They had finally caught me. My vision was getting darker and darker. I gasped for breath.

The running was over.