By the time that the sun was sitting high in the sky, August was positive that she had never been this absolutely exhausted in her entire life. She had figured that being asleep for 25 years may be all the rest she needed for a long while, but apparently, humans did not really work like that.
She knew that she was somewhere in Virginia based off of the road signs, and figured that now was as good a time as any to find a place to catch some shut-eye before she reached the more populous areas of the country. Pulling off of the highway, she cruised about the town for a bit before finally finding a run-down motel with a glowing, slightly broken sign reading:
VACAN Y
August parked. She wandered inside, rubbing her eyes. She pulled her cap lower over her head.
"Good afternoon," The girl at the counter didn't even look up from her phone. She snapped her gum. "Do you have a res?"
"No. I just need a room for one."
The girl looked up at her, and for a split second, there was a flash of recognition on her eyes. Her face went red.
"Oh, um, yes, of course, here," She pulled open a drawer and fished around before sliding a golden key onto the counter. "Room 598, far end of the lot."
As exhausted as she was, that should have been August's first red flag. But she was so tired. Her eyelids drooped, and she stifled a yawn.
"Don't I need to, um," August's brow furrowed. "Don't you need me to pay?"
The girls mouth opened and closed like a fish.
"Company policy, um, you don't pay until, uh, the end of your stay."
August scooped the key off the counter.
"Right," She said, turning away from the girl. "Thanks."
If August had been fully awake, she would have been out of there the second that they had made eye contact. But the night had taken its toll on her. She needed to rest.
Making her way to her room, she nearly fell flat on her face on three separate occasions, and without the wind there to scoop her up, she definitely would have. She finally made it to the red door and tried the handle.
It was already unlocked.
If August had ignored the red flags before, she could not look away from this one. She stood up straight, quickly rubbing her face, and flexed her wrist.
The wind slammed the door opened, shooting into the small room and flicking on the light. It pulled open every drawer, tore the sheets off of the bed, and ripped the shower curtain off of its pole, checking for bombs and bugs, before finally dying down.
August took a tentative step into the room, closing and locking the door behind her. On the dresser was a neatly folded pile of clothes sitting next to a black backpack. She took her hat off, getting closer to the bag.
Her breath caught when she saw what was inside.
A passport. Drivers license. Plane tickets. A cell phone similar to the one she had broken back in Arkansas. A folded piece of paper. And a sleek black device that she would later learn was called a laptop.
August unfolded the piece of paper.
"August,
They're coming for you. Don't listen to them, don't trust them. They're working for the people who stole the last 25 years of your life. You can't trust the US government anymore. They will kill you if you give them the chance.
YOU ARE READING
SURVIVE ➤ BUCKY BARNES
Fanfiction"i think of you-" "think of me?" August had never identified as a hero. She had never chosen to do what she did. Spending her entire life as a pawn in somebody else's wretched game. She was whatever they made her - a hero, a...
