Winter Soldier (Book One)

Chapter: 7

DAY: 6
Winter Soldier

She just sat there. Not budging an inch from the wall, enduring the freezing rain. I stood there, standing above her as the rain came down and the thunder shook the ground beneath our feet.

"Get inside, you'll make yourself sick." Lark looked up at me and then stared at the ground again. I crouched down in front, hoping to get her attention again. "I'll drag you in." I threatened. But she didn't budge, didn't even so much as blink.

There was a darkness in her eyes I'd not see there before. They were empty, glazed over, a thousand yard stare that only seemed to lengthen as the seconds ticked on. I couldn't help her. I wasn't the right person and definitely not someone she'd want to hear condolences from. 

"Lark, come on." I tried a softer approach, a kinder voice. The best one I could wrangle up anyway. She didn't respond to that either. The better part of me wanted to get her mind focused again, and the latter just wanted me to leave her behind. The middle ground nearly had me hiking her over my shoulder and throwing her into the warehouse just to get her out of the rain.

I took a hold of her wrist, catching a little bit of her attention, and pulled her up with me. She stood and allowed me to guide her into the safety of the warehouse. I went as far as the doorway before moving her to sit down on top of a stack of milk crates. "Thank you." She quietly muttered as I let go of her shivering shoulders.

"You're welcome." I muttered and stepped back, my eyes lingering on the empty daze she fell right back into again. There was no dragging her out of it, not yet anyway. Time was all I could give, but the only thing I watched carefully. Too long in one place and we'd be caught.

We stayed there for a few hours, waiting until the rain stopped. In the meantime I devised our next moves, getting a rough plan of how to get ourselves under the radar. We had to avoid big cities, cameras and anywhere with a large media influence. Small towns were likely to give us better luck, so long as we kept our heads down and noses out of the papers. The less attention we drew to ourselves, the better.

We also needed new clothes. Our current garments were blood soaked, rain dampened and muddied. Not so much conspicuous as we stuck out like sore thumbs. On the ride into the town I spotted a few stores, hopefully one would have some clothes we could nab.

The rain finally let up long after the streetlights came on. Under the cover of darkness it'd be easier to sneak through town without drawing attention. Much easier.

"Lark, we need to get moving." I shook her good shoulder gently, waking her from the half sleep daze she'd drifted into. 

"Where are we going?" She stood and rubbed her eyes, wiping her cheeks.

"Down the street. Gotta get out of these clothes and get better bearings of what this place is." I gestured for her to follow, pulling on my jacket as I talked. "Stay close."

Together, we stepped out onto the silent street. My senses spiked, catching every rustle of branches or flutter of trash drifting in the breeze. The street was reminiscent of a ghost town, eerie with it's yellow street lamps and dark buildings. 

We crept along a line of stores, peeking into each window, passing on those that weren't quite what was needed. Eventually we came upon something of a knick-knack boutique, aisles lined with tight shelves and boldly printed hand made signs. I spotted racks of clothes towards the back of the store. 

"Got any lock picking skills?" I asked her, lowering my voice to a whisper.

"Some." She nudged me out of the way and I turned to stand watch. The street remained empty, eerily quiet. Only the click of the door broke the silence, and it's creaky groan as she pushed it open.