Everly || Steve Rogers

35. Final Goodbyes

Everly sank into bed that night unable to wipe the stupid smile from her face. Her eyes fluttered shut and she took a deep breath, pulling the blanket up a bit farther. It was only a few seconds before the previous night's events flooded her mind once more. She scolded herself for thinking about it, but couldn't seem to focus on anything else. So when the sound of a metal door closing echoed through the room, she squeezed her eyes harder shut and brought the blanket up to cover her ears. 

"Testing, phase one: obedience."

"It's not real." She whispered to herself, sure that she was losing her mind. As if by reflex, her eyes snapped open when the familiar medley drifted through the air. Her heart pounded in her chest, though she couldn't entirely understand why. Next thing she knew, she was on her feet and staring into the empty space that surrounded her. Light funneled into the darkness from the open door before her. 

Everly slowly stepped forward, peeking around the door frame. The second her foot crossed the threshold, a red light flashed through the hall and an alarm blared in her ears. Fear settled deep in her chest as she gradually moved down the corridor, having no idea where exactly she was going. The music hung in the air like a cloud that lingered just overhead, never fading and never growing. She found herself in an armory of sorts, the concrete walls lined with guns. In the center of the room was a large wooden table, a single knife sticking from its face.

As she reached out for a gun beside her, Everly froze. Her eyes flicked back to the knife and she cocked her head to the side questioningly. Despite the voice screaming in the back of her mind, she grabbed the knife turned it over in her hands. She hesitated before sliding the blade across the tip of her finger. A grin fell over her lips as blood trickled down her finger. She spun on her heel and started from the room into the hall once more. Everly padded quietly along, only now noticing that the alarm had been silenced. The music on the other hand, rattled through her brain like a deafening dog whistle. 

A door further down the hall swung open and an armed man rushed out. Her immediate reaction was to run the other direction, but her feet stayed planted firmly in place even as he began firing at her. Everly dove into a forward roll and pushed off of one wall with her left foot, leaping to the other across the hall, and landed on the guard's shoulders. She plunged the blade between his shoulder blade and his neck and he collapsed to the ground.

"In a moment, you'll be met with three men. The one whose chest is marked with a red X is to be left unharmed." She flinched as a voice echoed in her ears. Despite the fear that pumped through her veins, her expression remained stoic as her feet carried her further down the hallway.

Eventually the hallway funneled into a large room, three men standing at its center. Her heart skipped at the sight of the red X painted across the chest of one of the men. She didn't care what she was told, she wanted out and was willing to do whatever it took to get out, that meant removing anyone that stood in her way. Each of them rose their guns into the air and began firing in unison. Bullets sprayed throughout the room, bouncing around the metal walls. Without even a second to think, Everly sprang forward onto her hands and swung her legs over, kicking one guard across the room. Before standing to her feet she ducked beneath the gun of a second guard, smashing an elbow into his face.

When he fell to his back, she moved onto the third. She rushed toward him and swung a fist at his face, only to pause just before making contact. He slammed his gun into her face and she stumbled backwards, hissing as a bullet grazed her leg. Everly spun around to find that the other two had stood back up again. She kicked the gun from the hands of the closest and plucked the knife from her belt loop. Tossing it into the air once and catching it, she lunged forward and stuck it in the side of his neck.