The road was almost impossible to see unless you knew what to look for.Beaten down but never paved,the weeds and underbrush had reclaimed it,and the layer of brittle frost over everything had made it even harder to make out the distant echoes of ruts,tire tracks wore into the surface of hard earth.But Logan knew where it was-or at least should have been-and took it,the branches of trees slapping violently against the top of his trailer,gnarled roots and high mounds of scrub threatening to rip his muffler off.Sure they were out of sight,he stopped and put it in park,then climbed in the back to see how Elena was doing-and if there was anything he could (should) do for her.

Alex was sitting against the side wall,her 'mother's' head in her lap.Her expression was blank,and he saw a weariness in the child's eyes that made her seem like an adult.She had seen a lot of  violence and death.Yet,it wasn't only that:in that instant, Logan knew-somehow-that she knew her mother was ill,probably dying,and had for some time.She let Elena think she was keeping it from her,but only because it made Elena feel better.

The lies people told each other and themselves.No wonder humans were so fucked up as a species.

Somewhere along the way,Elena had lost her cop hat.Her long,light brown hair was being idly stroked by Alex,as if their positions had somehow reversed,and Alex was now the mother and Elena the child."How's she doin'?"He asked,pulling out a rucksack and looking through it.It wasn't like he had a cabinet in the trailer to keep stuff,so he just threw assorted stuff he planned to keep in the bag.

"I don't think I'll play the piano again,"Elena's voice replied weakly.

He was surprised she was conscious,but he continued to sort through the random crap in the bag.Maybe it was because very little of what he owned meant anything to him (well,except the truck itself)but he could never quite remember what he had in here.The lack of anything disinfecting was no shock-since when had he ever had a use for disinfectant?That was for people at risk of infections.He didn't even have any aspirin,but,again,what use aspirin when your body neutralized it instantly?"Let me guess-you couldn't play the piano before,though."He said,finally finding the small travel sewing kit he picked up at a hotel or something...he thought.He wasn't always clear on all the detritus he picked up along the way.Both human and material flotsam and jetsam.He had a sense,indefinable but unshakable,that he was a constant accident waiting to happen,and that his life-whatever it had been-had been balancing on the edge of one disaster after another.

(And one day,he fell...)

"Got it ,"she replied,her voice sounding shaky.She was conscious,but may have still been in shock,or at least really goddamn cold.He had to shut off the truck so that anyone who may have been looking for them would not see the clouds of exhaust, but it was warmer in here than it was outside.Still,he had a  small propane heater in the trailer he could probably start up if he had to.

"Head's up,"he said to Alex,and tossed her the little plastic pack of the sewing kit.She caught it very easily,and he wondered how her reflexes might compare to his.This was going to be brutal,unless she passed out again,or he knocked her out.He had no pain killers,nothing to sterilize the wound (for all the good that would do her,since she was already infected with something)...

Wait a  minute-yes he did.He had both.

He shoved the bag aside and crawled back up into the front cab,over the back of the seat,as he heard Elena say,"What,Logan? Are you gonna tell me you're a field medic now?"

"No.But I know a lot about injuries."

"How?"

That question,simple as it was,stopped him cold for a moment."I don't know."

"What do you know?"

'That my name is Logan,and my name is Wolverine,and I am very good at hurting people,'he thought,and as always it left a  sour taste in his mouth.But it shook him out of his reverie,and he reached under the driver's seat,until his fingers found the silver metal flask.

Under a rather bizarre set of circumstances,he won the flask after it was used as a  stake in a poker game.Supposedly it was worth some money (antique?) and had some sort of fleur-de-lis pattern etched into it,and was full of aged Scotch whiskey. Well,half full now;he'd had some,but decided to save it for only desperate situations,as frankly he didn't like the taste of this whiskey all that much.Too smokey.But it had enough alcohol in it to knock down a mule.Not only would it help kill the pain and disinfect the wound,but there was also a very good chance it would kick the shit out of the virus already in her system.  This was not for the meek,or the faint of liver.

He crawled back over the seat and into the camper,finally answering her question."Enough to stay away from people."

Elena was sitting up now,beside Alex,but was slumped against the wall,shivering,her slightly glazed eyes having a bit of trouble remaining focused on him.What if she was in shock?What was he supposed to do?

But she couldn't be in shock.She was only shot in the shoulder...except there were arteries in the shoulder,weren't there? Shit!What color was the blood?Was it bright red?Then it probably was arterial.If it was a vein,it would have been darker.

(How did he know this?)

But it wasn't spurting blood out like a  severed artery would,and she still hadn't lost that much blood.It was probably just the wound (and gunshot wounds were nothing to sneeze at,unless he got them) on top of her struggling against the weight of her illness was just too much for her already overtaxed system.There were times when his body took so much damage that he'd just have to check out for a while;his body would have to shut almost everything else down so it could adequately repair itself.Of course,if he understood it right,most human bodies didn't work that way.'Shutting down' was a usually permanent and fatal affair.

There were times he'd wonder how anybody could live with such a frail body.He knew for damn sure he never could.

(But they wouldn't have targeted him if he had been frail...)

He crouched down beside her,and opened the flask."Take a drink of this."

Her blue eyes,now looking like glass,gazed at him impassively."Why?"

"It'll help."He held it up to her lips and she reluctantly tilted the flask with her good hand,taking a  swallow,and then immediately shoved the flask away,not so much coughing as choking."My god,"she rasped,her eyes now watering.""What the fuck is that?Kerosene?"

"Scotch whiskey.One hundred and twenty proof is my guess."

"I think it just burnt away my throat lining,"she gasped,but he noticed she was more alert now.Hard not to be when your throat was on fire.She then grabbed the flask from his hand and took another swig,pausing to cough again as the alcohol burned its way down her throat.Maybe it was one pain exchanging itself for another,but almost any pain might have been better than the one in her shoulder right now.

It then occurred to him the alcohol might burn like hell on the wound,no matter how intoxicated she was.Well,there was an easy remedy for that."Alex,"he said,glad to distract the girl for now if nothing else."Right behind you,next to that flannel shirt, there's a thermos."She looked,found it quickly."Go fill it with the cleanest snow you can find out there."

"Why-"she began,but looked rather knowingly between him and Elena,then she simply nodded.It was for her mom,and that was all she needed to know.She headed out the back door of the camper,green plastic thermos in hand.

As soon as Alex shut the door,Elena looked at him,her gaze much more focused than before."You are something like them, aren't you?You're a  super soldier.A prototype?"

"No,"he snapped,perhaps a  little too quickly."I...I don't know."He started to slip her police parka off,so he could have access to the wound.She helped as much as she could,but never let go of the flask."Where'd you get the police gear?"Not only was he changing the subject,but he was curious.

"New York,before crossing the border,"she said,pain giving a slight edge to her voice.But the alcohol was starting to kick in; he could hear her words starting to sound loose,especially anything with an ess sound."There was a place that outfitted cops. I broke in and stole some gear.I figured I'd need the flak jacket,but once inside I thought the outfit might help explain the guns."

He nodded,as he picked up the little sewing kit off the floor,where Alex had left it before she went outside.He broke it open, and started searching for the thinnest needle,and the slenderest thread."Good idea.But what about the reason for a State cop in uniform runnin' around Canada?"

She shrugged her right shoulder only."I had some bullshit story.Can't remember it now."

Oh yeah,the booze was kicking in big time now.That stuff hit like a fucking cannonball.A good thing too.Although the piece of shirt he had tied around the bullet hole had slowed the bleeding,it hadn't staunched it;new blood oozed down the older blood caking her left arm,from shoulder to wrist.It looked like she had a  sleeve of blood.

He undid the makeshift bandage,which was sodden with her diseased smelling blood,and looked around for something to clean the area before he attempted to close the wound (or,what he wouldn't have gave for a  stapler right now).He ended up grabbing the shirt on the floor (well,it was torn anyways),and ripped it in two,taking only the smaller piece.

"You didn't attack those soldiers so Alex and I could get away,"she said,her voice sounding drowsy with alcohol.He tried to ignore her and simply work,taking the flask away from her so he could douse this new piece of cloth with whiskey."You attacked them 'cause you hated them.Somethin's goin' on with you,Logan.I'm not so stupid I can't tell that."

"Just be quiet,"he growled."I'm helpin' ya-be grateful and back off."

But she was already too inebriated-or simply too pigheaded-to listen."The dog tags-were you one of them?"

"No,I was not,and I told you to drop it,"he snapped,wiping the blood from the edges of the wound with the alcohol soaked rag.He could still smell the cordite in her skin.

She hissed in pain as the whiskey stung her torn flesh,but had yet to be discouraged."You're something,Logan.I know you are."

"I am a fucking mutie freak,okay?"He snarled angrily,not daring to look her in the face."That's all I am."

"No it's not."

Luckily,Alex came back in at that point,and Elena  seemed willing to drop it now and get back to it later.If she survived and he let her.

"It's starting to snow again,"Alex said,closing and locking the camper door behind her."I didn't really hear anything on the road,but they're going to be coming soon,aren't they?"Her almond shaped eyes glanced to her mother first,but then back to him,and he knew she was actually asking him the question.

He nodded,anger subsiding for the moment.There was always time to get angry later,and always a good reason."This won't take long.Then we'll get back on the road,put distance between us and them."

"And go where?"She asked,setting the thermos full of snow down beside him.

That was a  very good question.He had to think about it a  long time before he answered.

Canada-Now

Of course,it didn't officially exist,and the photos were illegal,taken by a Russian satellite that also ironically didn't officially exist.But this wasn't the Cold War "We-will-bury-you" Russia,but the hard up for cash Russia,that had now taken to occasional blackmail to try and scrape up some revenue.They would even use photos of secret installation,show them to the target and let them know the photos would never get released if they forked over a certain amount of money.It wasn't the government up to this dubious scheme (probably too honest),but 'private operators',several of whom had ties to the once glorious and now bankrupt Russian space program.Alex had no idea what happened to the purveyors of these photos,if they were paid off and cheated,or killed off,or whatever,but she found them at a government conspiracy website that routinely 'published' verified unretouched satellite photos.They had claimed it was the home of some secret U.N. program,but Alex knew from her own detective work it was Eden.She'd got the photos just in time too-twelve hours after she downloaded the photos,the site got viciously 'cracked' (Alex informed him 'hacked' was not the right term,because true hackers did little damage.'Crackers' were hackers who hacked into sites or databases with the express purpose of vandalism and malicious damage...blah blah blah...he could feel his eyelids getting heavy.Why did he need to know this?) and crashed completely.By the time it got back up,it had been shut down for illegally distributing copyrighted material.Other conspiracy sites suggested it had been the result of the site owner getting "too close to the truth",but no one guessed it was related to these simple color enhanced photos of a dark,blocky building against an endless sea of unbroken white.   

Why Eden had moved operations to Canada she wasn't sure,except it was probably related to them getting involved in an attempt at cloning fetal tissue a couple years back,which didn't sit well with some politicians who controlled some of their funding.Considering how much money and power the people who owned Eden had,that didn't make much sense to him, unless..."They're close to something,and they don't wanna share?"He guessed,putting the photos back in Alex's glove compartment.

She shrugged,eyes still fixed on the road."Could be something like that.God knows I don't trust 'em."

"What if they have new subjects?"He wondered.

Although he glanced at the white on white landscape speeding past them,out of the corner of his eyes he noticed her tense, hands gripping the steering wheel so tight her knuckles paled. Hadn't she considered that possibility?After a moment,she said,"Well,I guess we save them."

"Unless they try and kill us."He pointed out.

"They can try all they want,"she replied,with newfound confidence."Eden's too fucking greedy to make something that can beat us."

He certainly hoped that was true.In about an hour,they would find out.

***

Canada-1990

Delicate flakes had transformed into a virtual sheet of white,salting down from the sky like it was the beginning of a new ice age.The good part of it was it seemed to be keeping most other people off the road.

Elena was asleep in the back,on top of his sleeping bag,with the couple of loose blankets he had piled on top of her in a vain attempt to keep her warm.He thought she'd be okay-he did manage to close the wound-but frankly he didn't know.He knew more about hurting people than helping them.

Alex was sitting in the front passenger seat,but thankfully she had been quiet.He thought maybe she had fallen asleep for a bit,but then she folded her thin,jean clad legs under her,shifting in her seat,and he knew she was awake,just staring at the bleak,snow blasted landscape.Maybe she was depressed about her mom,or just didn't know what to say.

The first thing she said in twenty minutes was:"Can I turn on the radio?"

He shrugged."Keep it low."Not that she'd have much choice;the speakers were busted.

Not that she could get much,as you were unlikely to get good reception out here in the middle of nowhere.The only thing that seemed to be coming in on his tinny radio were a broadcast from a hockey game;some guy on a news show going on about Quebec separatism;twangy country music;something unbearably pop-y that he was sure she was going to stick with (thankfully she didn't);and an oldies station that she seemed to settle on for the moment,even though it was slowly losing the battle with interference.The ironic thing was the song now playing was the old Elvis Costello song "Oliver's Army".Ironic enough on its own,but the chorus-"I'd rather be anywhere else but here today"-never seemed more relevant.

"How long have you known you were...you know,"Alex asked,somewhat awkwardly.

He didn't look at her,but gripped the steering wheel harder.He didn't like talking about the past,and the fact that he didn't really remember it was only part of the reason."I don't know."

She was quiet for a moment,and he thought she might drop it.No such luck."I think I've kinda always known I was different from others,you know?I mean,other kids fell off their bikes and scraped their knees.I could drop a butcher knife on my foot, and not only would it not cut me,but the blade would snap off.And it was neat,but I always tried to pretend I was just like everyone else."

"Easier that way."

She shrugged,and looked back out the window."I guess.You're the first other mutant I've ever met."

He didn't know what he was supposed to say to that,so he didn't say anything.

Costello faded out to The Clash and static,and she finally asked,"Have you met other mutants?"

He nodded reluctantly."A few."

"Do all normals hate us?"

He wondered if he should be truthful,or sugar coat it.Oh,fuck it-he didn't even want to have this conversation at all."I'm sure there's a few that don't."

She gave him a strange sidelong glance."Somehow,that doesn't sound promising."

"Life sucks,"he replied,with an unconcerned shrug.

She shook her head and smiled,looking away."You're Mr. Mary fucking Sunshine,aren't you?"

He just grunted in a  sort of acknowledgment,again not sure what he was supposed to say.Kids made him uncomfortable as it was;mutant kids who wanted to 'bond' or whatever the hell made it a thousand times worse.

She turned off the radio,as it was now just broadcasting static,and he finally turned on the windshield wipers,as the wind had shifted direction,and the snow was blowing against and sticking to the windshield.After a few minutes,where the metronomic slapping of the wiper blades was the only noise above the growling of the truck's engine,she sank deeper into her oversized brown parka,and then said,very quietly,"She's going to die,isn't she?"

"No.The wound's-"

"I'm not talking about from the gunshot.I know she's sick.She pretends she's not,but I know."

He was annoyed,but mostly because he felt bad for her,and that just pissed him off."We all gotta die sometime,kid."

"Even us?"

That made him pause and reflect on how there were times part of him wished he would die,that something would just take him out once and for all,and yet it never happened.He always woke up again,always got up again-barely able to speak,stand,or even crawl sometimes,in so much pain he felt like he was stretched out on a rack full of broken glass and razor wire,but hey, he was still alive,right?And once the painful healing process was over (there was no way to describe the feeling of your own muscles knitting back together),he was perfectly fine.Wasn't he?"Yeah,even us,"he said,although he knew he was lying. She might have a chance to die.But he was pretty sure now he never would.

He was still undecided if that was good or bad.

**

He continued to stare into the tunnels the headlights made in the darkness,reflected back by the snow that caked the sides of the road.The sandwich he'd wolfed down an hour ago was sitting in his stomach like a big ball of lead,and he was so tired he felt disconnected from himself,hollow behind his own eyes.But he would not rest,would not sleep,until his body absolutely made him.

Elena had woken up in the afternoon,weak but okay considering,and had gradually gotten better all day.She even complimented him on the stitches ("Really nice.You could do this for a living.Or maybe quilt."),although it was a backhanded compliment as much as anything else.

He stopped a few times,mainly out of necessity (food,gas),but it looked like he might have to stop soon whether he liked it or not.It had snowed all day,the flakes piling up,and several of the roads and mountain passes he had wanted to use to cut through the Yukon were virtually impassable.He'd heard on the radio,before it fuzzed out completely,that one of his favorite shortcuts had been closed due to avalanche.So he was trying to figure out the best detours around to where he wanted to go, but he didn't know the roads of the Yukon all that well.So he was trying his best,and the weather seemed out to foil him.On the plus side,their pursuers were probably even worse off than they were.

Alex had gone in the back to sleep,and a slightly energized Elena had taken her place up front.She was not one hundred percent by any means,but she was no longer bedsheet white.The coffee,orange juice,and sandwich she had had seemed to help her a lot.But now he was hoping she'd pack it in for the night.

"Do you know anything about these roads?"He asked peevishly.

"Well,no,but-"

"Then let me drive in peace."This was all such a mistake.He should just dump them at the next truck stop he came to;they were closer to Alaska anyways.

Out of the corner of his eye,he saw him studying the side of his face with an uncomfortable scrutiny,and it just ticked him off more."What?"He snapped.

"You can't be afraid of them.Are you afraid of anything?"

'Them' had to be those Eden soldiers.He snorted derisively."Oh,right.I'm afraid of a group of pricks who couldn't find their own assholes with a flashlight and a map."

"That's what I thought.So what are you afraid of?"

He gave her an odd look.What the hell kind of question was that?"I ain't afraid of nothin'."

"So why not sleep?You've been up way over twenty four hours now-"

"Who the fuck are you-my mother?I'm fine.I don't need sleep like a normal person,okay?"

"No,it's not okay.I don't buy that.You're exhausted,Logan.You look like shit."

"You don't look so hot yourself,doll."

But she didn't take the bait."You're afraid to sleep?"

He forced a scoff,trying hard not to show that she had hit the mark."That's just stupid.Who'd be afraid to sleep?"

"Somebody plagued by nightmares?"She guessed.

He stared resolutely at the snowy road ahead of him,and said,through gritted teeth,"Ain't me,babe."

But she looked dubious."You know-"she began,but he decided to cut her off.

"So tell me about this virus of yours,"he interrupted."Are you contagious?"

That had the desired effect.She grimaced,slightly uncomfortable with the topic."I'm not sure,"she admit,staring straight ahead at the endless white road before them."If so,it would be blood to blood contact,like HIV."

Well,she proved she was some kind of doctor:she didn't call it AIDS,because that was an illness.HIV was the cause,the virus itself.And that's what listening to too much news radio on the road did to you."So,it's like that?"

She shook her head reluctantly."No.In all honesty,it seemed to have a structure closer to malaria."

"That's fatal?"

"It can be.But in this case,this virus,whatever it is,is like a super-malaria.It also seems to have Dengue fever traits as well."

He wasn't sure he'd heard of that one,but why would he?It wasn't like he ever had to worry about catching any of them. "So,you're gonna die of a high fever?"

She glanced at him,with a weak smile that seemed to say "silly non-medical person"."No.It's most probable I'll die of encephalitis."

"Which is?"

"Swelling of the brain."

He grimaced this time."Sounds fun."What a way to die-of a big brain.

"Yeah,"she agreed,sounding resigned to it.No self pity,no regret;it was just the way it was.He had to admit,as much as she was starting to get on his nerves,he liked that.Most people whined and bitched and moaned about things they were helpless in the face of;she simply accepted it,and moved on,determined to go forward as long as she could.You had to respect that kind of pragmatism."I wish I had time to study the structure of the virus more.It seemed to have some kind of organic metallic compound in it.Which is how I knew it was constructed;that doesn't occur naturally.Yet."

"Organic metallic compound?"He repeated,feeling a curious sinking feeling in his stomach.Why did that almost sound familiar?Shit,it was like a memory remembered just enough to haunt him.

(Like so damn many of them...)

"What for?I mean,what could that do?"

She threw up her hands."Stimulate an auto-immune response?I don't know,Logan;I really have no idea.Which is why I wanted to study it."

Something...a ghost of a fragment of deja vu lingered at the edges of his mind,but he couldn't grasp it;it remained out of reach,beyond the fringes of memory,floating in that great black abyss in the center of his mind.Organic metal compound in the blood...that meant something to him,he knew it.

But he didn't know what it meant,or why it did.He almost pounded the steering wheel in frustration,but that would have given it away to Elena that he might have known something,and besides,that's how he broke his last truck.

After a long moment,she said quietly,"Please,Logan,let me take over.Alex can move up here,and you can get some sleep.You need it."

"Now look-"

She interrupted,quietly and quickly,something that seemed to be a complete non-sequitur."Promise me,if anything happens to me between here and there,you'll get Alex up to Nome.Please."

He looked at her sharply,about to point out that he didn't owe her jack shit.In fact,she owed him a hell of a lot.He'd stuck his neck out-

-(like it was ever in danger)-

-for her and her kid and risked his life-

-(okay,that was never in jeopardy)-

-and he never had to.She owed him big time.He didn't need to promise her squat.

But he looked at her,and in the pale dashboard lights her face was a death's head,the hollow pits beneath her eyes and her prominent cheekbones making her look half dead already.

She was dead.She knew it;he knew it.Even Alex knew it.But she was going to go down fighting.Isn't that the way he wanted to die,if he ever could?Fighting?

Finally,he said,"Well,she sure as hell ain't comin' with me."

She seemed to accept that for what it was-an indirect promise.With a nod,she opened his glove compartment,and rooted around in it until she found his road map.She folded it open to the Western Canada and Outer Territories section,and asked, "Where are we?"

There was no arguing with this woman,was there?Was there arguing with any woman?"We're on the Cassiar Highway,in the Cassiar Mountains,headed for Watson Lake,which is where we might have to keep an eye out for the bad guys."

"Then why are we headed that way?"

"Tried to divert,can't.The weather's fucked up the alternate routes."Not that there were many to start with.

"Why do you think the bad guys will be there?"She said,studying the map and finding his route.

" 'Cause,if they take the more heavily traveled Alaska Highway-and I'd bet my left nut they are,which is why I skipped it- Watson Lake,over the Yukon border,is where they intersect.Alaska keeps on goin',and Cassiar becomes the Klondike Highway."

"Hmm,"she said,finding it on the map."You drive this route a lot,don't you?"

He just shrugged.Wasn't that obvious?

"There's really no way to avoid it,is there?"

He shook his head."Once you get south of the sixtieth parallel,it gets pretty rough,darlin'.Pickings are slim.But if we can make it to Whitehorse there's a  small cut through straight to Skagway."

"Skagway?"She repeated uncomprehendingly.

"Skagway,Alaska.It's a  small port that sort of hangs off the bottom of the state,but Alaska has a few more roads than the Yukon.We can probably get lost there better.And if they're expecting us to make a border crossing,it'd probably be on the Alaska Highway,up by the main border proper."

"So Skagway's a back door?"

He shrugged,then nodded."Yeah,I guess you could say that."

She suddenly leaned over,scrunching the map,and kissed him on the cheek.He gave her a  startled look,and found her grinning at him."Thank you,Logan.You're a  godsend."

He snorted humorously,mostly to himself."Hardly."

She sat back,folding the map into an even smaller rectangle."So,we have no choice but to take the Cassair for now?"

"Yep."

"And at this rate,assuming no further delays,we'll be in Watson Lake in..?"

He had to think about that for a moment."About ten hours."

She rolled her eyes."Pull over.I'll drive-I can only follow the Cassair,right?-and you go get some rest.Alex can sit up front with me."

"Elena-"

"If we have any problems,I'm getting you up,don't worry."