The Black Winter

Chapter 37

Rose's pov
  We've been driving or two days now. I can't help but think that something is wrong with Joan. I've been trying to keep Anastasia occupied, plus myself if I'm being honest.

  We end up stopping at hotel, finally. As we walk through the big wooden hotel doors, the place smells amazing. I watch as Joan makes her way to the clerk. There was something about the way she was walking, it wasn't like she normally walked. I pick up Anastasia and we quickly hustle to catch back up with her.

  The place was gorgeous. Marble flooring, pillars, nice furniture, it reminded me of back home. Back at the avengers tower how everything was nice and clean. I missed that.

  After getting our room key and making our way to the room, the moment Joan opens the door, me and Anastasia sprint towards the beds and sling shot ourself onto the bed.

  I pretend to act asleep and she just giggles. I open up my eyes and sprint towards her. I pick her up and hang her upside down and tickle her. I think Anastasia has really helped to lighten up the mood. I look behind us and see that Joan was searching the room. Undoing the lights, looking in the back of the small closet. It was just a basic hotel room, so what was she looking for?

  Eventually, Joan goes to sit on the small couch and she lets out a slight whimper. Immediately, she glitches onto her side. Something wasn't right. Is she hurt?

  "Are you ok Joan?" I ask worried.

  "Yeah, how about you two shower and I'll get room service," she responds with a fake smile.

  "I call going first!" Ana yells, rushing into the bathroom, slamming the door.

  I turn my head to only hear the water to already running. I smile to myself and look back over to Joan. She was digging through the duffle bag, then, she throws one of the hand guns at me. I catch it and look at Joan with confusion.

  "Where are you going?" I ask. "What's this for?" I add.

  "I need to go out and grab some cloths," she says, placing something in her pocket.

  "Wait, are you ok?" I ask.

  "I'll be back with food. Don't leave to go anywhere and don't open the door for anyone. And DON'T speak," she demands before leaving.

  I don't understand the whole not speaking thing. To be honest, I wouldn't have made it on my own. I would probably be dead, so I owe her my life, but I wanna know what her reasoning is behind all of this.

  Once Anastasia gets out of the shower, I quickly hop in and hop out. After I'm done my shower, we turn on the tv and watch some weird German show. It's clear that she could understand, but the only languages that I know is English, Spanish, and a little bit of Russian. I never really got to that part of the Hydra training.

  Although I guess that I wasn't ever a real target for Hydra. I was nothing more than a pawn in their game.

  By the time Joan comes back, it's 6:38 pm. She comes in carrying two bags. In one is a brown paper bag with cloths and in the other is a white plastic bag with food. She walks over and places the bag in front of us. In the were five cup noodles, water bottles, and four sandwiches, along with a few soft pretzels.

  I look over to Joan and watch her grab the duffle bag and disappear into the bathroom. Something definitely wasn't right. I look to Anastasia who is just staring at the door with worry and dread all over her face.

  "She's not ok," she says.

  "What do you mean?" I ask with a look of confusion painted on my face.

  "She's hurt and confused. She's sad."

  "Hey, how about we get you some food yeah? I think the waters finally done," I say, getting up to grab the water for our noodles. I needed to get Ana's mind off of the situation at hand.

  "She's scared, but, Joan doesn't get scared."

  "Hey, let's not worry about that right now ok?" I ask in a sweet voice. I hand her her ramen with a plastic fork.

  I watch as she completely shifts and goes back to watching tv and laughing. I look towards the bathroom door and stare at it. What was really going on behind those closed doors.

  I know I shouldn't go into her head, but I wanted to know what was going on. No, now's not a good time to mess with her. I let out a long sigh. And eventually night rolls around and sleep consumes me.

Joan's pov
  As I make my way out of the convenient store and back to the hotel, I get a throbbing pain in my head. I go behind one of the alleyways and drop the bags. I press my back up against the wall and slide down, clutching the side of my head.

  "Kill! Kill them! Kill the her!" I voice screams.

  My eyes dart open with fear. No, no I need to fight this. I can't break down, not now. I can't let them find us.

  "You are not a person, you work for me," another voice whispers.

  "Shut up," I say under my breath.

  "Kill the Avengers!" Another voice shouts.

  That's it, the Avengers. They can help me.

  "You think they'll help you? You hate them," the first voice adds

  I did, but I cared too much about Rose and Anastasia. I force myself up and make my way back to the hotel, trying to push everything aside. I needed to find a phone. Finally, I spot a vender. I rush over to him and his flower cart.

  "Hello, please, I need to borrow your phone. It's an emergency," I add. I put on a fake American accent, pretending like I can only speak crappy German.

  "Uhh, sure, sure," He responds in English.

  He hands me his flip phone and I take it and start to dial Tony's number. I wait as it rings for a sec and then they pick up.

    "I don't have much time. We need to get home. I am in Flossenbürg Germany by the Russian border. We only have about two days, please," I say frantically, then, I realize that the phone is just about to die. "Oh fuck," I sigh in frustration.

  I walk back over to the flower vender and hand the old man his pone back.

  "Everysing, oh kay?" He asks, trying his best to talk to me.

  "Your phone died sir. Thank you," I say, before walking away.

  Once I'm back to the room, I place the bags down and go right into the bathroom. I close the door and turn on the water. I take off my shirt, sending a stinging pain all throughout my side. I look through the mirror and see that the wound is now infected.

  "Shit," I sigh. This isn't good.

  I hop into the shower and try to clean it the best I can. Once I'm done, I grab the med kit and pour on the disinfectant powder over the wound. I grab an alcohol wipe to try and clean up the puss and other fluids that surround the wound. At least the stitches are still in tact. I let out a sigh and rap myself up and make my way out to the main room.

  I see Anastasia and Rose sitting together on one of the beds watching tv and eating food. I can't help but crack a smile. I walk over to the couch and sit down. I guess now we have to stay here. It should only take the Avengers about a day to get here, hopefully less.

  Eventually, the girls fall asleep in the same bed, arms wrapped around each other. I walk over to the couch and have it facing the door, ready for anything. As I sit there through the night, guns in hand, I start to feel something wet on my shirt. I look down and see that I am bleeding through the bandages. I let out a sigh of annoyance and throw my head back. It didn't matter, I need to be ready, it doesn't matter what happens to me. It just matters what happens to the girls.