II: The Girl Who Ran: Little Monsters

IV: In Which Tatiana Lugs Plums Around

Tatiana was not fast enough. She saw Snowy pick up the cement block and tried to scurry to the corner, but not before the door flew off its hinges. It pushed Tatiana against the sink. She groaned, "I think I broke something."

She pushed the door off of her and looked down at the semi-conscious man at her feet. She heard fighting behind her, where the staircase was. Tatiana looked around for a weapon, found it, and pressed it against the man's skull.

"What was the objective?" She was taken aback at how sharp the words came out, but didn't repeat herself.

The man grunted, "What objective?"

"What is your mission?"

The man's eyes looked up to the gun, then back at her, "Locate Barnes and shoot on sight."

Tatiana frowned and sighed. Great. That gave her no new information. "Congratulations. You will live to see your family another day."

She stepped over the man, sticking the gun in her waistband. She grabbed her back pack and dumped out half the clothes, her feet crunching on the broken glass. The room was pretty much deserted, so she dug around until she found Snowy's clothes. She stuffed a couple of his garments into her bag. She looked around and grabbed Snowy's journal off the counter, and his bag of plums. She grabbed a discarded rifle and walked to the door, going out onto the balcony.

On the opposite building Snowy and another guy were fighting. The person was dressed in black. She saw Steven jump to them and lifted the rifle, aiming for the man-in-black's chest. She started shooting, and soon her bullets were joined by a helicopters. Another man flew in and took it out. Falcon, if she remembered correctly. As if she could remember anything incorrectly.

She huffed and pushed the hair out of her face. The fight was moving to ground level. She looked at the ground and grabbed the hook out of her bag, strapping the rifle to her chest. She hooked it on the railing and jumped.
She was almost free falling for a second, before the line became taught and she started sliding down slowly. By the time she'd reached the ground, she'd lost five minutes.

An empty, running car was right in front of her, the door open. She sent a quick thank you to God and jumped in, leaving her rope waving in the wind. She tossed her bag and the bag of plums into the passenger seat and took off, flooring the gas pedal.

An underground highway was ahead, and she could hear tires screaming and horns honking. She steered straight and closed her eyes. Her head hit the steering wheel when the tires met the pavement. She opened her eyes and swerved around other cars, honking. She could see vague figures swinging around ahead. She sped, leaning forward and hoping no one would get in her way.

She reached an opening to the sky just as Snowy swung a motorcycle from under another person, hopping on and continuing on. Tatiana allowed herself a small smile of gratification. The tunnels were all but empty now, and her little car was driving beside huge military-looking minivans. She looked out the passenger window and saw that Steven was driving the minivan closest to her.

She frowned and swung her head forward again to see Snowy's outstretched arm and a small, blinking red light. Part of the cement exploded. It was only a moment before she could see through the dust. Two bodies laid on the pavement, and Tatiana slammed the brake pedal down. The plums flew onto the dashboard. She tore off the rifle and threw it into the seat. She got out and watched as vehicles with blue, flashing lights all stopped under the skylight.

Steven, Snowy, and the man in black all stood still. Snowy's eyes flashed to her and she gave him a thumbs up. He scowled and looked away when a soldier came and forced him to his chest in the dust.

Tatiana frowned and got back in the car. She pulled out her phone and called a number, "The Winter Soldier is on his way to Berlin. Would you come pick me up? I need to play the hero." She picked up a plum from the floor board and bit into it.