Soldier 259

Chapter 1

Soldier 259

  I scream as they drain away my memories, the second time this weak. I grab the arms of the chair, digging my nails into them, and scream like I'm murdered, which in a way a part of me is dying, my memories. I try to remember anything but my memories get blurry and soon disappear all together. They never erase my fighting memories or my studies of the other languages.

  Finally the pain goes away in my head and the headpiece is removed. I can somewhat think straight. A man opens up a grey book and starts speaking the seven words that I dread in German, but my mind translate them to English for some strange reason.

"Red,
Barn,
Angel,
Four,
Skull,
Horse,
Twelve."

  Pain shoots through my head and then everything becomes so clear. Take orders. Follow Orders. That's all that goes through my head. The man sets down the book and looks me in the eye, "Good morning, Soldier 259."

"Ready to comply," is all I say.

 The door opens and men in lab coats come walking towards me, they all have needles with a strange orange liquid inside the needles in their hands. They inject the liquid into my arms and I flinch from the slight pain. The sharp pain in my head starts to go away as the liquid courses through my veins. I feel something wet and rough lick my hand. I look down to see black lab dog looking up at me with chocolate eyes. I pat it on its head and the moment my hand touches its fur I start to remember stuff.

  I remember the dog's name is Night and that he's my dog. I remember that the man that had the book is called Curt and that he is the one that gives me orders and I follow them. I remember my crew, 60, 284, and 117. Oh, how I miss them already.

"There's a couple of men that we want you to keep a close eye on, 259. Do not intervene or get spotted. You may take your crew if you wish," Curt laughs, "that is if you remember them!"

  I show no emotion even though I want so bad to slap him in the face for that comment.

"Details about them will be given to you later. You are dismissed."

  I get out of the chair and walk towards the door that the men in lab coats came out of and leave the room, Night following closely behind me. I walk down the hallway and pass another Soldier that is going to get their brains thrown into a blender, I feel sorry for him because he doesn't have a dog that can help you remember stuff.

  I hear footsteps behind me and know that there are guards following Night and I but I don't care. I walk into my cell and close the door behind Night and look at myself in the old shattered mirror. My long brown hair is a tangled mess and my blue eyes look lifeless from all the years of being cooped up in here. There's something shinny hanging around my neck. I grab it and look down to see that it's a dog tag. There's a name imprinted on it, Barnes, James B.

  A blurred face dances across my vision but is gone before I can place it. I open the drawer on my rusty dresser and pull out a pair of black pants and a leather shirt. I put them on and place my black bulletproof vest on over. Next comes my black leather gloves, I put my hair in a ponytail and tuck the dog tag under my shirt so no one will see it. I turn towards Night.

"How do I look?"

  Night whines and wags his tail. I smile. That's my boy. A yellow file slides under my door, I walk over and retrieve it and sit down on my pallet with Night. I open it and a handsome man with golden hair and ocean blue eyes looks back at me. I look at the name, Rogers ,Steven, and begin reading on him. There's more people in the file, names and faces like Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximof, Clint Barton, Scott Lang, King T'achalla, and finally The Winter Soldier.

  My hands clench the file as the picture of The Winter Soldier appears frozen in a freezer. My competition. It seems they want us to finally fight. I begin reading and get puzzled when it says that he has run away and is now in hiding from Hydra in some place called Wakanda. I read about the mission and how my crew and I are supposed to watch and observe these people after some other Soldiers fish them out of hiding. This should be easy.

  I stand up, waking Night, and place the file on the dresser and grab my mask that conceals half of my face, nose on down. I put it on and walk out of the room with Night following. Two guards straighten and follow me as I walk towards the training room. New Soldiers are fighting the older ones in a ring, Soldiers cheer on the person they want to win and guards secretly watch from afar. The room goes quite as I walk past them and the older Soldier takes the advantage and knocks out the younger one, seizing the victory.

  I walk towards the weights with eyes on me and stop in front of a tall, strong, and muscular man with jet black hair and green eyes. I have to look up and he has to look down so we can see each other clearly, he growls threateningly and continues lifting his weights. Night leans against my leg and a memory comes up of me and the man. We're carrying a little girl with blood red hair in our arms and running towards a chopper, away from the burning building.

  I blink and the memory fade away. I look back at the man and sigh, "60, did you get the file about our mission?"

  Other Soldiers watch as 60 drops his weights and looks me in the eye, "Yes, I'm surprised you remember me after your brainwashing. It always takes a punch in the face from you and then I remember you're my crew leader."

  I smile, "Guess I'm just special."

"I guess so. Come on, let's go get the others."

  60 walks off and heads towards the mess hall. Soldiers rush to get out of his way and guards tremble when he gets close to them. There's a reason I chose 60 to be on my crew and second in command. I roll my eyes and follow him with my two annoying guards and Night following behind me. Four more guards join my guards, they must be 60's guards.

  We walk into the mess hall and see both 117 and 284 sitting at our table eating soup. They look up at our approach and then look back down at their soup. 60 and I take a seat at the table, Night sits down at my feet and the guards go over and join 117 and 284's.

"We got the file and we already packed all of you two's gear in the jeep," 284 says.

  His strawberry blonde hair is starting to hang over the tips of his ear and his green eyes look down at his soup.

"Can we at least finish our soup, 259?" 117 asks. Her blood red hair is in a bun and I realize that she is the little girl that 60 and I were carrying towards the chopper.

"No, we have to leave so we can arrive when they do," I say and walk towards the exit.

  I hear claws scrapping on metal and footsteps to know that Night and them are following me. We head to the garage and pass other Soldiers returning from missions and others going on them. I walk over to our blue jeep and open the driver's door and toss the keys to 60. He catches them and sits down in the driver seat and starts the car. 284 piles in behind him while 117 and I walk over the other side with me in shotgun and her in the back with 284.

  Night jumps up on my lap and sticks his head out of the window and wags his tail. 60 floors it and we drive out of the garage and head off to Wakanda. As we drive I think about the mission and The Winter Soldier and wonder, can we really just turn our backs away from Hydra and leave? How do we fight their programming and not do what they tell us to do when they trigger the programming with those words? I shake my head. That's dangerous thinking 259, stop it.

  I lean back in the seat and try to get some sleep. I hear 284 and 117 mess around in the back with the equipment and try to block them out. Finally I fall asleep and see nothing but darkness.