The Sergeant, The Soldier, The Survivor

25: The Star-Spangled Man

 "Sorry about Redwing," Bucky said as we walked down the country road, the only thing around us being fields.

"No you're not," Sam scoffed bitterly and I had a feeling they were going to continue jabbing at each other like school children for the entirety of the walk. "What's goin' on in that big cyborg brain of yours?" Sam questioned, proving my point. I, who was leading the pair of them, turned back to Sam to glare at him. "What?"

"It's computing," Bucky said dryly and Sam chuckled.

"You know what? I can actually see it! I can see the gears turning- oop, they're malfunctioning, yep they're on fire!" Sam laughed.

"Sam!" I glared back at him. "Look, if those guys were Super Soldiers we've got to figure out where the serum is coming from."

"Yeah, and how after eighty years are there eight Super Soldiers runnin' loose," Sam spat whilst glaring at Bucky as though he was to blame.

"Something tells me that whatever serum they're using won't be as powerful as Bucky's or Steve's. I mean, two of the greatest scientists on Earth made them, I doubt whatever they have comes close," I said and Bucky glared at me. "Sorry James but Zola was one of the greatest scientists."

"Even still, any serum that makes a Super Soldier type is serum that needs to be destroyed," Sam stated the obvious. Suddenly we heard a car horn beep, and from behind the two boys I saw an open top army truck approaching with two people in the back that I did not want to see in the back.

"Oh great," I muttered. The car stopped beside us and Walker, who was sat next to his sidekick Lamar Hoskins, opened the back door in an attempt to invite us in.

"Well that didn't go as planned, huh?" He said sarcastically and I rolled my eyes. The three of us didn't respond and simply walked past the truck, not even looking at him or Hoskins. They carried on driving beside us. "Look, at least we know what we're up against, we're pretty sure it's one of the Big Three," he added and I sniggered, unable to stop myself from looking back at Bucky who rolled his eyes.

"Aliens, androids or wizards?" Sam questioned.

"There's no such things as wizards!" Bucky shouted.

"Then it's aliens or androids-,"

"Or Super Soldiers," I challenged the supposed 'Captain America'.

"For real? Okay, well it makes even more sense for us to work together," Walker said.

"That's not happening," Bucky stated the obvious. "Just 'cos you carry that shield does not make you Captain America! You ever jump on top of a grenade?"

"Yeah actually," Walker said and Bucky growled irritably. "It's a defence mechanism I use, cover it with my helmet-,"

"So you've never actually jumped on a grenade with your body?" I questioned and he looked at me as though I was speaking a foreign language.

"Duh, that would be suicide," he said and Bucky scoffed loudly. "Look it's twenty miles to the airport, you guys need a ride."

I sighed in defeat, looking back at the boys. They were right, it was too far to walk so we slowed down and decided to admit defeat, hopping into their truck with them. It was a tight squeeze but with Sam to my left and Bucky to my right, Walker and Hoskins in facing us, we got as comfortable as we could be. It was clear Bucky was beyond irritated to be within proximity of Walker, and despite me not being the one to make the decision of the latter being Captain America I was still aware of the decision was made making me feel guilty.