T H E W I N T E R W A R R I O R ' S P O V
Four hours had passed since I had sat at Pierce's kitchen table, so I had six left to complete my mission. Three deaths. Easy.
I clenched and unclenched my fist as I sat in the back of a black car. "Intercept point in ten seconds," the driver, a middle-aged man, told me. I didn't know his name. I knew exactly two people's names at this point. Alexander Pierce and Brock Rumlow. No more. No less.
I opened the window to my left and swiftly crawled through, pushing myself up on the roof. The driver behind us honked, but with one look over my shoulder, he stopped.
Three.
Two.
One.
I leapt onto the roof of the car in front of us and slammed my fist through the window, grabbing the collar of the man who sat there and yanked him through the shredded glass. I tossed him to the other side of the road where a yellow truck was right on time to finish what I had no time to do.
I pulled my gun from its holster and fired a couple of shots through the roof of the car, hoping to hit at least someone.
Suddenly, the car slammed its brakes, and I flew off the roof. I twisted my body and dug my metal fingers into the asphalt as soon as I was close enough. I slowly came to a stop and rose to my feet. Incoming traffic swerved around me as the passengers of the car in front of me all stared at me in horror.
The red-haired woman raised her gun but before she could fire, the car I had originally come from crashed into their car from behind, knocking the weapon from her hand. They sped toward me and I flung myself back onto the roof, grabbing on tightly.
The car under me started to swerve, but I quickly rammed my hand through the roof and yanked out the steering wheel, ripping away the driver's control over the car. "Shit!" I heard him shout.
Bullets were fired, but I was already back on the car that was still pushing the targets' car over the highway. I held onto the roof as I leaned on the windshield.
Our car slammed into the other one final time before it hit the side of the road and flipped over. It crashed and came to a stop a couple of feet away from us.
The car I was on stopped, and I jumped down, taking the grenade launcher one of the men handed me. I aimed it at the car's previous passengers, and the blond man was just in time to raise his shield to protect himself. He was flung off the bridge and left my sight. My team opened fire on the other three passengers.
The redhead ran over the asphalt, hiding behind stopped cars. I aimed at the silver car she was approaching and pulled the trigger. The car was blown away, and the woman disappeared.
I dropped the grenade launcher and took the large gun from someone else's hands. I pointed the barrel over the edge of the bridge, looking for my targets.
I spotted movement in the corner of my eye, and turned my head, only to have a bullet hit me in the face. Not really, though. The protective goggles that covered my eyes were cracked, and I couldn't see properly, but I wasn't shot.
I crouched down and took them off, leaving on the lower part of my mask. I had gotten strict orders to hide my identity. I didn't know why, and I didn't care either. Over the years, I had learned to obey rather than to ask questions. It saved me a lot of torturing and electrocuting.
I got back up and launched a rain of bullets on the area below the bridge. I had to duck a few times to dodge bullets that the redhead shot at me.
I kept my eye on her as I stopped shooting. "I have her. Find the other three," I spoke to my team in Russian.
I jumped over the edge, smoothly landing on top of a car, denting the roof in the process. A police car came speeding toward me, and I didn't hesitate to load another grenade, blowing the car and its driver to pieces.
I loaded the gun as I slowly walked through the street. Most civilians had fled, which gave me a clearer view of who I was supposed to kill and who I had to leave alone.
My ear picked up a quiet sound to my right and I stopped. I crouched to the ground beside the silver car and listened. I plucked a sound-enhancing device from my belt and rolled it over the ground, giving me a clear recording of what was being said on the other side of the car. "Take fire above and below expressway. Civilians threatened. I repeat, civilians threatened." It was a woman's voice, and that could only mean one thing. "I make an LZ 2300 block of Virginia Avenue. Rendez-vous, two minutes."
I pulled the trigger and the car was blown up. And when I turned around, a figure flung itself at me, wrapping her thighs around my neck and pulling out a wire, pulling it close around my throat. I slammed myself forward and flung the woman off my neck and she collided with a car on the other side of the road.
I aimed my gun but she was quicker, tossing a small, round object at me that connected with my left arm. It was electrified and I couldn't use it. Shocks were sent through my body but it was nothing compared to what HYDRA had used on me over the years. With my human hand, I ripped the device off and it took me a few seconds before I regained control over my arm.
The woman was running away from me, but I didn't bother to run. I had a gun. She didn't.
I raised it and pulled the trigger as soon as she entered my sight. The bullet hit her shoulder and under my mask, I grinned.
I jumped on top of a car, startling her, but before I could fire another shot to finish her, the blond man with the shield flung himself at me. I thrust my fist toward him, but it collided with his shield. A loud clang erupted, but my fist didn't even leave a dent. How...
I didn't have time to think it through as I pulled the shield aside and kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying backwards.
I opened fire, but he was fully hidden behind his shield and he was immune to anything coming at him. My gun ran out of bullets, so I tossed it aside and grabbed the smaller one from my back. The man sprinted around the car between us and kicked the gun from my hand, but I already had another one in my right hand that I used to fire more bullets at him.
That damned shield got in between again, and my attacks meant nothing. I had to get rid of it.
As soon as he prepared a blow at my head, I raised my hand, grabbing the edge. After landing a punch in his face, I yanked the shield away from him. But he didn't let go, and with a flip, he was back on his feet. In that short moment that he reestablished his balance, I pulled the shield from his grip and wove my arm through the leather straps. It was lighter than I expected.
The man sprinted toward me, and I flung the shield through the air toward him, but I missed, and it embedded itself in the grey van behind him. I pulled a long, thin dagger from the holster on my leg and twisted it in my hand.
He reached me, and my dagger was my only hope as punch after punch was landed, on both him and me. I saw he was struggling. He grabbed my forearm and was able to land a punch on my jaw, knocking me backwards. I slammed into a car and groaned at the sharp pain in my back, but I had no time to give that any attention as a knee came at me.
The man's knee hit me in the chest and before he could land another punch, I came back at him. He flung me over his shoulder and as I jumped back up, I wrapped my metal hand around his throat. He groaned with obvious struggle before I launched him backwards, sending him flying over the hood of a car.
I jumped after him and propelled my fist toward his head, but he rolled away and my hand left a large dent in the asphalt.
I glared at him as he got back up. He sent another couple of punches my way and I answered most of them with attacks of my own, but he got ahold of me again and flung me over his shoulder. I rolled over the street and as I got back up, he had taken his shield again.
He landed the shield just behind my shoulder, pressing it into the metal. I had to bite my tongue to stop the screams from escaping as the metal pulled at my skin.
From behind, his hand wrapped around my neck, grabbing ahold of my face. He flung me over himself and I landed on the street, realising my mask was gone.
I turned around, facing him with a cold stare. He panted heavily as his eyes widened significantly.
"Anna?" he breathed.
"Who the hell is Anna?"