Tangled Paths | Bucky Barnes

Chapter 2: Darla Grant

She ran back to the staircase and up six more flights of stairs. When she reached the top she found herself in a barracks. Her mind became more and more confused. The only upside to anything she'd seen since she woke up was a room full of clothing equip for the weather she was about to step into. She walked along the barracks until she found a pair of boots that looked to be about her size. She slid them on and tucked the cargo pants she was wearing into them then tied the boots tightly around her lower calf. She grabbed the warmest jacket she saw. She didn't care about the size. She zipped it up over her black muscle shirt. Then grabbed some mitts and an ushanka. She put them both on then pushed the door open and stepped out into a tundra of nothing. The girl was becoming more and more confused the further she stepped from the chamber.

There were no footprints in the snow. Showing that she was in fact alone but she wondered exactly for how long she'd been alone. The temperature had to be at least 10 below causing her to shudder as she trekked through the ankle-deep snow toward the nearest road she could find. She walked for what seemed like forever before she found tire tracks in the snow in both directions. She looked both ways hoping she could find signs of civilization when she spotted a road marker about half a kilometre from her to her left. She pushed against the wind in the tire tracks toward the sign. When she reached it her heart dropped a bit when she read '31'  she took a deep breath and continued her jaunt forward praying she was going in the right direction to the nearest main road.

After several markers, a vehicle began to approach from her rear. She was overwhelmed with joy as she waved down the vehicle. The SUV rolled to a stop beside her. She looked at the vehicle confused. She'd never seen a model like this before but she wasn't going to complain. If this person was willing to help her it meant she wouldn't have to walk anymore. The woman in the driver's seat rolled down the passenger side window and the girl waved at her.

"Hi, I was wondering if you could take me to the nearest town. I don't really know where I am." She explained. The woman furrowed her brows.
"Извини, дорогая, я не очень хорошо говорю по-английски. Могу я отвести тебя куда-нибудь?" The woman asked her motioning toward the passenger seat of her car.
"Да, полицейский участок" the girl replied effortlessly as she opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat of the car. She took a second to process. Did she always know how to speak Russian? That was the least of her concerns at the moment. She pulled the door closed and put on her seatbelt.
"Что ты делал здесь в полном одиночестве?" The woman driving asked her as she pulled back onto the road.
"это длинная история, пожалуйста, просто поезжай." The girl answered, hoping that was enough to get the woman to drop the topic. She took off her mitts and hat and placed them on the dashboard.
"Хорошо, могу я хотя бы спросить твое имя?" The woman asked as she glanced at her and then turned her attention to focus back on the road. The girl thought for a moment. What was her name? She knew it started with a 'D' but the rest wouldn't roll off her tongue. She started going through names that started with the letter D in her head. 'Denise? Darlene?Delilah?' Suddenly it came to her as if it was there all along.
"Darla! Darla Grant!" She replied with a sense of accomplishment in her tone as she delivered the words to the woman. The woman gave Darla a concerned look and a nod before turning her attention back to the road.

Darla's grin faded at the woman's response, she turned her head to look out the passenger window of the car and hoped this wasn't going to be a long drive.

The pair arrived in the parking lot of the police station a little after midnight. When they stepped inside Darla took a look around. Where ever she was the technology was much more advanced than she'd ever seen, the lady that drove her to the station offered to talk to the people at the desk for her and told her to take a seat beside the man in the waiting chair. She sat down beside him and noticed he had a handheld device he was tapping away on. She tried to look inconspicuous as she glanced at the screen in his lap. She couldn't believe her eyes. The man was playing a tiny virtual game of pool. Then a notification popped up on the screen and he clicked it. Then placed the device to his ear to speak. Darla was at a loss for words, her jaw fell open. Not only could this man play games on that device but he could also speak to people on it. The man glanced in Darla's direction then double took at her. he made eye contact with her when he realized she was staring and gave her an off-put face. Darla cleared her throat and turned to look away, she looked for the woman she came in with. Both she and the policeman on the other side of the glass were staring at her while they shared hushed whispers.

Darla narrowed her eyes. The officer on the other side of the glass reached for his radio and a few moments later three officers came out of the back and attempted to grab Darla. "Woah hey, there must be a misunderstanding!" Darla attempted to reason as she tried her best to stay seated in the chair.
"There is no misunderstanding American Spy!" the first officer yelled in a thick Russian accent as he yanked her out of the chair onto the floor.
"American spy!? We're on the same side! What use would there be for a spy!?" Darla yelled as she reached for the man's tazer. Once she grabbed hold, without hesitation she pressed it to his balls and pressed the button which caused him to scream and fall to the floor beside her. She leg swept the second one who moved for his gun and hit him harshly on the head with the tazer effectively knocking him out. The third one tazed Darla in the back as she attempted to climb to her feet. Darla let out a pained groan, the tazer hadn't made a good enough connection to her to stun her though, all it managed to accomplish was to make her angry.

The woman that drove Darla to the station and the man who was on his phone ran out of the lobby to the street. Darla fought the final man off and took the knocked-out officer's gun holding him and gunpoint. Suddenly about a dozen officers heavily armed came out of the back. They all pointed guns at Darla and told her to drop her weapon. Very clearly outnumbered Darla slowly placed the gun on the floor and raised her hands above her head. One of the officers kicked the back of Darla's legs causing her to fall to her knees. He then handcuffed her and brought her back to her feet and they ushered her into the back of the building.