Traceur

•18•

Nobody's POV.
I watch from my cell as people pass occasionally. All that fills my ears is that HYDRA is falling. That's the newest gossip, and it's obvious why; I'm in a HYDRA cell myself, so of course there would be people running around like headless chickens.

Headless chickens...where did that come from?

I shift, hands wrapped around the bars, and stick my head out of the small gap. Now, the halls are empty, and even with my HYDRA-enhanced hearing, I can't hear anyone in the building.

Did they all leave?

I eyeball the bars of my cell. On one hand, I'm supposed to stay here. They said so. On the other hand, I don't know if they're even here, and I know confidently that I can yank the bars out of the walls. But...I'm supposed to stay here...

I wait. And wait. Hours go by, and there's still no movement in the building. I finally make a decision. My first decision, other than the one to wait on them, which was pretty much expected of me.

I'm going to make a run for it.

I grip the bars with determination, then step a foot back, and yank the iron-rod-wall towards me. It's torn right out of the wall, and I use the wall to bat away all the debris falling around me. With a raspy cough, I squint my eyes open.

Dust clouds the air, and parts of the wall outside my cell litter the ground. But, my plan worked. There's a huge hole, way bigger than I needed, and I drop the iron front of my cell, pausing in my escape to brush my hair out of my face, eyes scouring the hallways as I walk into the open.

...

I was right. The HYDRA base has been completely abandoned.

I move silently through the halls and stairways, observing the empty rooms, the glass broken in haste to get out. Doors are wide open, and I found a man trampled on the ground, eyes wide with anxiety.

He was only inches away from the fortified but open entryway.

I step into a computer room, scavenging for the information that I know I desperately need. How did HYDRA fall? Where is everyone? What am I supposed to do? And most importantly...who am I?

I reboot a computer left open, but as I look into the blank screen, I'm surprised to see a face staring back at me.

I react in seconds. My fist is embedded in the darkened screen, and blood runs out of my glass-splintered hand. I retrieve my hand from the computer with no difficulty, then look it over. The wounds are healing considerably fast. Too fast.

I abandon the shattered console and move on to the next. But, appealing to my shock and fury, there's the same face, glaring back at me. I pull my fist back, but hesitate. The image stops itself from punching me, too. We stare at each other.

And then it clicks. I'm the one in the screen.

I rest my arm by my side, and my mirror image does the same. I study her.

I am of female gender, I can tell that from the reflection. I can't see much color, but my hair is vibrantly red, I can tell that. My eyes are...pale? A lighter color. Like...light green. Or ice blue. Judging from the light, it must be ice blue.

I'm pale. There are open wounds on my body. The pain registers, but I don't react. I don't know how to react.

HYDRA must've done this to me.

I narrow my eyes slightly. I should leave, if that's the case. If- no, when- they come back, I want to be long gone. I base it on my...instincts. The more desirable situation here is to be elsewhere.