It took hours before the ground finally stopped rumbling.
After stealing a motorbike in Staunton, August had made it as far as Newark before she finally let herself think, ducking into a Wal-Mart just so that she could make it look like she was not deliberately hiding away, licking her wounds. After using self-checkout to buy some first aid necessities, she made her way to the bathroom, dodging looks from strangers as she rubbed her sore jaw.
Checking to be sure that nobody was around, she ducked into the disabled stall and locked the door. She turned on the sink and sank down onto the ground next to the toilet.
August slid her pants down to her ankles, ignoring how dirty she felt sitting her bare ass on the floor of a Wal-Mart bathroom.
The water had acted as a seal over her wound, but now, as she pushed it to the side, she got a full look at the gnarly hole where the bullet had buried itself in her skin.
She pinched her fingers together and two small strands of water came floating her way from the sink. Angling her hands downwards, she pushed them into the wound, biting back her cries.
One held her skin open while the other gently wrapped around the bullet, pulling it out of her flesh and dropping it on the floor. She took a breath, letting the water evaporate back into nothing.
She fished around in the bag and pulled out a roll of bandages, ripping them out of their packaging. Slowly, carefully, she bound her thigh tightly and stuffed the remaining bandages in her backpack. She shrugged her leggings back on and slung her backpack over the shoulders. Upon passing her reflection, she hesitated.
It dawned on her that she had not really gotten a good look at herself in nearly twenty-five years, although it really only felt like a few days. August noted that at some point, someone must have had to have cut her hair, or washed her skin, or brushed her teeth. She wondered who that person was, and what that must have been like for them.
The bruise that the woman- Natasha, the man had called her- had given her was an ugly shade of purple, and in a location that was unfortunately, very hard to cover.
August checked the phone. Shit. She did not have much time to sit and linger. She was still an hour away from JFK, and if she wanted to be nestled in that airport before the sun came up, she had to move now.
She exited the Wal-Mart and headed into the parking lot, her cap pulled low over her face.
The wind lashed her leg.
August stiffened and looked up. In less than a second she had her hands at the ready, her body tensed in preparation of another attack.
The woman rose her hands, her face calm.
"Easy, tiger. I didn't come for a fight."
"Nobody ever does," August narrowed her eyes. "Somehow I still always end up in one."
The womans' bright green eyes twinkled. They were almost artificially bright, and even in the dim light of the parking-lot, August could not help but stare. The woman was so calm, so at ease, that August came to the realization that she was either extremely cocky or extremely crazy.
"My name is Riley," The woman gave her an easy smile, her hands still raised. "And I don't have any crazy abilities, so if you attack me, you're going to win, very easily. That's why I didn't come for a fight."
August listened, still tense. She felt the ground shake below them.
Sensing that August was listening, Riley continued.
"I work for an organization-"
"I don't pair well with organizations."
"You don't pair well with government organizations, August. We're a group of free-thinkers. We believe in the freedom of information, and we've known about you for a long, long time. We think it's despicable what SHIELD did to you, which is why we want to help you."
August narrowed her eyes.
"How did you find me?"
The womans hands began to lower. August tensed in response, the rumbling in the ground only growing, and Riley's hands shot back up.
"You have a heat signature the size of a small city, August. It wasn't hard to hack into the DoD's ray tracing program and find you."
"Hack," August shook her head. "What?"
Riley's eyes twinkled.
"New York City has established a security checkpoint after West Memphis and Roanoke. Behind me is a red van, and inside of it is a girl named Cia. She's a friend of mine and works with the same people I do. If you trust us, we can get you into Manhattan and get you to a safehouse. That's where you're headed, right?"
August faltered.
"Briefly," She spoke slowly after a moment of hesitation. "I need to get overseas into Europe. Hungary, or as close as you can get me to it. I can reach my destination on my own from there."
Riley's eyebrows scrunched and she nodded.
"It might take a few days, but we should be able to get you a private plane."
"No. No," August shook her head. "I need to leave in the morning. I have a flight out of JFK."
Riley frowned.
"There's no way you're going to be able to get through security at JFK with a heat signature like that, let alone onto an international flight."
"Security? I've been to JFK before, you just walk in and flash your passport and you're good to go."
"No you don't-" Riley blinked. She stared at August, wide-eyed. "Oh my god. You have no idea about 9/11, do you?"
"Nine- what? Look," August hesitantly lowered her hands, shifting her weight. "I'll come with you, because it sounds like a pain in the ass to get into New York on my own. But if you so much as even look at me wrong, and I'll split the earth in half. Understood?"
"Cool," Riley breathed. Her face twitched like she was trying not to smile. "Yeah, yeah, I understand."
She held up two fingers and the lights of the van flicked on, the driver pulling it around next to them. The door slid open, revealing a young girl with silver hair and a big, brace-faced grin. Noticeably, the girl was wearing a headband that made it look as if she had cat-ears growing from her skull.
"It's nice to meet you, Miss August." The girl greeted, scrambling backwards so that August and Riley could enter the car. Riley hopped into the drivers seat and August situated herself in the passenger seat next to her, leaving Cia sitting on the couch in the back.
"You too, kid," August frowned, looking back at her. "How old are you?"
Cia blushed. "I just turned 14."
August gave a bewildered look to Riley, who was pulling off onto the road.
"She your sister or something?"
Riley tucked a lock of pin-straight blonde hair behind her ear and gave August a quick glance, her eyes still twinkling with amusement.
"No, she's more of a colleague."
"Huh," August nodded. "And the cat ears?"
"A phase," Riley waved her off, turning right. Ahead, August could make out the signs directing them to the highway. "But the Rising Tide doesn't judge."
August cocked an eyebrow.
"The Rising Tide?"
Riley gave her a prolonged look, a bemused smile on her face, before turning her eyes back to the road.
"It's a pleasure to be working with you, August."
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...
