Frostbite

Eight

We came to a halt in front of a tall chain linked fence that encompassed the entire area. There were several old looking buildings littered on the other side. It seemed the place had been abandoned years ago.

Steve and I both climbed out of the truck and approached the gate. There was a sign that read: Camp Lehigh. Restricted Area.

"This is it?"

"The file came from these coordinates," I assured Steve as we assessed the area.

"So did I," he said, seeming distracted. I peeked at him in surprise but kept silent. There was a lock and chain preventing us from opening the gate.

I pointed towards it and said, "Think you could uh-" He chuckled and smashed his shield into it, easily breaking it and letting the chain slither to the ground at our feet.

We began walking around the buildings, trying to pinpoint where the signal had come from. I held the damn device up for what seemed like an eternity. Still nothing.

"This camp is where I was trained," Steve told me finally. I kept walking but glanced over at him.

"I figured. Has it changed much?"

"A little," he admitted, looking off into the distance, lost in his thoughts again. I let him be and waved the device around in the air angrily. We're getting nowhere.

"This is a dead end. Zero heat signature, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off," I huffed in defeat, putting the stupid thing back in my pocket. I noticed Steve staring hard at one of the buildings. "What is it?"

"Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place," he informed me as we marched towards it. Once again, he broke open the lock on the door and we cautiously entered the building.

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D," I realized when the lights flipped on automatically at our presence, illuminating the room. There were desks lined throughout the floor and the all too familiar eagle symbol was smack dab in the middle of the back wall.

"Maybe where it started."

We casually made our way through a door that opened into another small room. It had several bookcases in the middle, but all were bare. On the farthest wall there were three framed photographs. I couldn't help but smile.

"There's my father. And Peggy... I don't know the last one," I trailed off, staring at the picture of my dad again. Sitting tall and proud in his younger days. Steve didn't answer me. He was inspecting one of the bookcases hugging the wall a few feet from us.

"If you're already working in a secret office," he started pushing the shelf aside, "Why do you need to hide the elevator?" I pushed the down arrow, and we both entered the small elevator, unsure of what we'd find below.

It opened into a cavernous room filled with old data storage units and a small u-shaped console with several monitors lining it. My eyes widened in surprise, and I noticed Steve doing the same. We both wandered around the room in awe.

"This can't be the data-point; this technology is ancient," I scoffed. There was a USB port next to the keyboard, so I took the flash drive from Steve and plugged it in curiously. All the machines in the room came to life instantly.

"Initiate system?" a robotic voice asked from the computer as the monitor turned on. Shrugging, I quickly typed a reply.

"Y-E-S, spells yes. Shall we play a game?" I glanced at Steve to explain as the system booted itself up, "It's from a movie that-"