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Northern Territories	By : jjblazer Category: X-Men: (All Movies) > Het - Male/Female > Logan/Marie Views: 4553 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-Men movies, or any of the characters from them. I make no money from from the writing of this story.

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Title: Northern Territories

Author: jjblazer

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, not a blessed thing

Archive Rights: Tell me where, I'll say yes

Feedback: Pretty please??

Rating: NC-17

Summary: A/U

NOTES: This story takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting that is not in
the least original. Others have done similar works, notably Terri and
Heather, and no doubt many more that I've not happened to run across. An
uneven blending of Stephen King's The Stand, the movie The Road
Warrior, bits and pieces of the X-Men movieverse and heaven only knows what
else, and this is the result. It's also insanely long. Feel free to
skip it.

Northern Territories � 01

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A plague was unleashed, and the world fell.

No one really knows how it happened, or who was ultimately responsible. It hardly mattered any more, who was at fault. Everyone suffered. Most everyone died.

It was rumored that the plague was cooked up in some government lab as a �final solution� to the mutant problem; it was rumored that the plague was cooked up in some experimental mutant facility as a �final solution� to the human problem. The few remaining souls on the planet stopped pointing fingers when basic survival became the foremost issue.

What was left of the good ol� USofA, whose population was reduced to a few hundred thousand from its once teeming millions, was to be found in small settlements, hastily built fie fiercely protected once the cities fell and were abandoned. Technical know-how, farmland and livestock were the new currency.

As were females.

Six years had passed since the government collapsed, and those left behind to pick up the pieces made their own government, their own laws. There was no one to stop them, after all. Strength and brutality were the order of the day. And for women, respect and equality had become a thing of the past; they had quickly come to be regarded as property. Again. It was like old times.

Logan, one of the few mutants to survive, wandered in self-imposed isolation over the decaying corpse of the world and scavenged. He moved south from Canada into the Pacific Northwest, what used to be Idaho � or maybe it was Oregon, he really didn�t know. And though the winters here would be just as harsh as those he left behind him, they didn�t last quite as long.

As fall inexorably gave way to one of those winters, he hiked the forests, the solitude something that pleased him. Or so he told himself. That he was missing, wanting, the company of humans was something he didn�t want to admit to himself. Humans, after all, had done unspeakable things to him at one point in his life. That he happened to stumble across one of them at first left him nonplussed about just what to do.

Picking his way down the ridgeline, the early dawn slamming the forest shadows into impossibly long black knives against the granite of the facing cliff, he stopped, alert. Shifting his pack on his shoulder, he lifted his head and sniffed. Human. Blood. Lots of it.

Eyes darting along the landscape, his ears picked up a soft snuffling. A horse, far off down the r str streambed, nosing at something on the ground. He took a few silent cat-like steps closer and spied what looked like a bit of clothing. He hunkered down and watched the still, unmoving figure crumpled into the moldy leaves and pine needles. The horse, laden with a good saddle and packs, nudged at the pile of cloth and it stirred into life. Logan stood and cautiously approached.

The horse rolled a white eye at him. Quieting the animal, Logan lightly touched its shoulder and made a grab for the dangling reins.

�Hey. Hey, buddy. Help me.� The man lying on his back looked with fever bright eyes at the stranger standing over him. His voice cracked and hoarse, he pleaded for his life. �I got contacts. Make you a deal.�

Logan, expressionless, looked him over. Both of his legs were broken, blood and bone shards showing thru the rough denim of his worn out jeans. The man�s hand rose weakly, begging.

�Anything. Anything you want, the Outpost has it all. I�ll show you the way. Just get me back there.� It was a little hard to understand him; his face was a mess, the flesh torn away in places and his mouth full of broken teeth.

Logan looked up into the forest marching away along the steep ravine. The broken trail of tree limbs and disturbed undergrowth clearly announced this guy�s earlier passage � a losing fight with gravity, apparently. He�d fallen what looked like a couple hundred dow down the hillside. Must�ve been walking it at the time, Logan thought. That the horse had made its way down here, alone, seeking out its human companion, brought a sense of affinity for the creature � he figured most animals had a better character than their human masters.

Still not speaking, Logan crouched down at the man�s side and checked him out. He wouldn�t be living out the day, not left out here. His breathing was labored and shallow, his eyes swimming with the effort to focus and he struggled to talk.

�Women. We�ve got women. I�ll see that you get one.� It was the ultimate enticement; women were a scarce commodity.

Logan�s interest in the situation perked up. He hadn�t had a woman in months, let alone seen one. He began to go thru the saddle packs and found a ground cloth. Making a rough travois from some pine poles, he nudged the man onto the ground cloth and got him settled.

For the first time, he spoke. �We got a deal, you an� me. Right? I take you to your settlement, you give me a woman � to keep. We understand each other?�

Nodding thru the blinding pain, the injured man agreed. �Name�s Bryman. You get me home, you can have anything we got.�

Logan wasn�t quite sure he believed him. Women were just about the most priceless item going. But, hell, if they even gave him one for the night, it made this worth it.

�Don�t fall asleep, Bryman. You gotta stay awake if you wanna stay alive. You got it?�

The man only grunted.

Logan sighed and swung into the saddle. The horse rolled an eye back at him. Patting its neck, he leaned out to look the creature in the eye. The gelding shivered � and blinked. A wry grin pulled at Logan�s mouth as he felt the animal settle itself, deciding to accept its new master. He nudged a boot into its side, and spoke over his shoulder, checking out the flimsy conveyance lashed to the packs with leather thongs.

�Which way.�

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

�Hold it right there!� The sentry at the top of the gates leveled his crossbow at the rider below, dragging something behind him.

Logan pulled the reins over the horse�s head as he dismounted, his hands grudgingly held aloft. Empty.

�What do you want?� The sentry�s aim never wavered.

�It ain�t what I wantt�s t�s somethin� you want.�

The sentry frowned at him in the gathering twilight and tried to make out what the guy had on the ground. His eyes widened.

�Bryman? Bryman, that you?� He turned and hollered behind him, and Logan heard pounding feet approaching the heavy logs of the massive gates. A smaller concealed panel popped open and two men stepped out, also armed. One of them kept Logan�s skull firmly in the sights of his rifle as the other knelt over their comrade.

�Holy shit! Open it up! Tanner, get the doc!� The gates began to move with lumbering slowness, cranked open just enough to get the crude stretcher and the horse through. Nudged along with the injured man, a rifle in his back, Logan entered the Outpost.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

�Whatever arrangement you had was with him.� The Judge lifted his bald head in the direction of Bryman, surrounded by grief stricken acquaintances on a pallet on the ground. �And it died with him.� Faint sobs and muffled crying were borne away on the softly drafting breeze. The torch light in the open compound, the center of this settlement, flickered and snapped. The Judge sat in his customary place of power at the end of a long table under an open-sided tarp.

Logan took half a step forward. �We had a deal.�

Tanner leaned in towards Logan with a snarl and raised his crossbow threateningly. �You�re nothin� but scum, dealing in human flesh. I say we give him nothing.�

The Judge raised a hand, silencing Tanner. He had fought hard and worked harder to establish a somewhat safe haven for these people living here. Running this place was a heavy responsibility, one he didn�t take lightly. And though the world was one hard bastard of a place, he tried his damnedest to deal out fairness and equity. It didn�t always work. His people came first. Period.

He didn�t like the looks of this character that had brought Bryman in. There was something a little off about him. For one thing, he didn�t look scared. And he damn well oughta be. Strangers were never taken to with equanimity, by anyone � not in this world. But this guy seemed to expect it. Strong-willed men were something to be feared, or controlled. A wild card like this just showing up outta the blue unsettled him.

�What kind of deal did you and Bryman discuss?�

Logan held his steady gaze without flinching, something most men couldn�t do. The Judge was an imposing figure, huge, solid, and with a quiet authority that was impossible to miss. He intimidated most men. But not this guy.

�Women. He said you had women here.�

The Judge waved off this idea with a small laugh. �Sure. We�ve got women. And all of them are spoken for. Even the young ones just coming of age are already under the protection of a man.� He dropped the front legs of his chair back to the ground and leaned forward on the table. �You think you got what it takes to challenge one of �em?� He looked the stranger over in what he hoped the man would take for dismissal. �I kinda don�t think so.�

Logan didn�t back down. �I can take on anybody you got.� His head tilted a fraction of a degree. �Anybody.�

The Judge stared at him, unblinking.nighnight�s entertainment might just be what his men needed. They�d managed to stock this place to the hilt over the last few months, just one step ahead of the lone marauders that lurked these forests, the ruthless loners that preyed on the villagers at every unguarded opportunity. And what was this man to any of them? Nothing. Less than nothing. He could very well be counted among the ranks of the scavengers that all of heopleople hated to the utmost.

For the most part, the occupants of this settlement were decent people. As decent as could be reasonably expected after their world fell apart. Weeding out the unwanted and unstable over the last few years had left the group with a core of basically good-hearted folks, and they were making strides in building a life of sorts from the ruins. If they needed to blow off steam from time to time, channeling their underlying savagery into a controlled �event� � why, to the Judge�s way of thinking, that was a good thing. Especially if it meant this stranger not leaving here alive, to perhaps blab to anyone he ran across about this island of stability tucked away here in the wilderness. The place could only support so many people. Protecting it was paramount.

Again leaning his chair back, the Judge folded his arms over his chest. He decided to sweeten the supposed �deal�, soften this guy up before the kill. Never taking his eyes off Logan, he addressed Tanner.

�Leave us. Get this man a horse; and a pack animal. Load him up.� The Judge raised his brows faintly. �Best we can do, for bringing in our man. At least we got a body to bury.� He watched carefully as this offer was made. Two horses and supplies were of goodly value; but nowhere near what a woman would be worth. For a whole lot of reasons.

Logan nonchalantly pulled out a chair, without being invited, and plunked down at the table. The Judge�s eyes narrowed at the effrontery. This guy had some balls, no doubt about it.

�No dice. Keep your animals; I�m fine on foot. What I nee � want, is a woman. And I ain�t leavin� here without one.�

The Judge caught the misstep in the man�s statement. Need would surely be his undoing. It was everybody�s. Studying him for a moment, the Judge took a breath and frowned at the surface of the table. He was about to sign this man�s death warrant. �You got a name, stranger?�

The man didn�t respond immediately. He waited for the Judge to look at him. �Logan.�

The Judge settled his chair legs again on the ground and looked the stranger over carefully. The little power play Logan had pulled on him just now brought with it a grudging sense of respect. But appreciation for the man�s backbone couldn�t be allowed to get in the way of what was most important for his people.

�Ok, Logan. You got yourself a fight.�

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

�Marie! Marie, get yourself together. The Judge is calling for you.�

The girl that had come to the door of her mean hut stood on the threshold, and wouldn�t cross it. Marie knew why. The girl was afraid of her.

Marie had come to this settlement two months ago, and the men here were at first delighted that a beautiful, young, and most importantly, unattached, female had been delivered into their midst. Their excitement quickly dwindled.

She was a mutant. Her skin was lethal. Not good for breeding, or even diversion, they didn�t know just what the hell to do with her. The Judge had decided they would bide their time, see if they couldn�t trade her to some unsuspecting soul in the future and get something of worth out of her after all. An unattached virgin was worth a mint. He was hoping she�d be long gone from this place before whoever bought her found out that she wasn�t worth anything.

Marie had spent the intervening years of the world crisis at an underground facility, a school run by a very powerful mutant. She�d grown up there. Immune to the ravages of the plague that had eventually wiped out all but a few of them, those remaining few had at last lit out across the country when their defenses against a horde of desperate humans had finally failed.

They made it clear to the west coast before the only other surviving member of their journey had been killed and Marie stumbled into this settlement, starving, dirty, useless. And encased in gloves and cloaks.

Claire, the tiny blond child at her door, looked her over with bright eyes. As fearful as she was of this young woman, she was still fascinated by the fact that she was a living, breathing mutant. There were so few of them, anywhere.

�Come on, Marie. There�s an event tonight,� she said excitedly. There were few reasons for celebration in this place, and �events� were few and far between. That the Judge was organizing one was cause for lifted hearts and rapid pulses. The nature of these events was at times bloodthirsty and cruel. And every person in this place craved them. It was a poke in the eye at fate. They would live. That someone else wouldn�t only helped to cement their tenuous hold on the world.

Marie hurriedly pulled on her gloves and grabbed her cloak. The Judge wanted to talk with her? She wondered why.

(to be continued�..)
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Northern Territories