Buzzkill [Winter Soldier]

Chapter 3

Ruth woke up in an unfamiliar place. Where she was laying was soft; a bed in a blank room with bleak walls. She sat up, the only furniture besides the bed that she saw in the room was a night stand, empty with a glass of water sitting on top. Just from sitting up, Ruth already felt pain strike her head and a dryness in her throat. She was too young to know that all of this was from crying too much.

Besides the door at the end of the room (which she thought would lead to the outside), there was another door to the right and across the room from her. Ruth walked over and opened the door, and inside there was a bathroom. It was plain, gray, and simple, with a door on the other side leading to another bedroom. Ruth closed the bathroom door and made her way back through her room to the door that led out. She had socks on, but the concrete floor was still cold beneath her feet. Once the heavy wooden door was opened, Ruth walked out onto a balcony that looked out into the heart of the building. On the far ends to her right and left there were staircases that led down to the lower floor that she could see when she leaned over the rod iron railing. The worn red brick surrounded the place, the whole wall opposite her was covered in large windows. Talking took up the silence in the building, but it wasn't loud. There wasn't excessive chatter, even from the younger children just older than her that she could see walking around. 

Ruth made her way along the balcony to the staircase to the right, holding on to the railing tight as she went. Looking to the right as she walked, Ruth could see numerous bedrooms, some with open doors where she could even see in. All the people she saw were older than her, either sitting by themselves in still silence, or with someone else quietly talking. If the older kids caught a glimpse of Ruth looking in at them, they would stop and stare until she passed. Ruth felt anxious, her stomach coiled in knots, and her eyes felt warm as if she was going to cry again.

 At the bottom of the stairs she just stood, still holding on to the cool railing with one hand, not knowing where to go or who to ask for help. Everyone on the floor seemed to be doing something. The main light came from the massive floor to ceiling windows that made up the whole east side of the building. Looking around the room, she saw people walking, people talking, and even people fighting, but no one was angry or getting hurt. No one stopped to help her or see what was wrong, no one seemed to care.

    The woman she had just met made her way down the room, dressed a little more casual than when she first saw Ruth, but still just as important. Ruth recognized her when she got close.

    "Good Morning, Ruth." The woman's voice was pleasant.

    "I want to go home."

    "You are home, Ruth. This is your new home!" The woman's voice was cheerful. She motioned to the kids around her, "And these are your brothers and sisters, but don't expect them to treat you like your own sister would."

    Ruth was silent, about to cry at any moment. 

    "Here, let's go take a look around," the woman said, laying her hand on Ruth's back and leading her around the building.

Over the next couple of days, Ruth acted as the woman's shadow, following her wherever she went in the facility. The only time they were separated was when the woman would go into an isolated room, and Ruth was told to wait outside. While Ruth waited, she could sometimes hear faint noises through the thick walls. Some noises resembled screaming, some yelling, and others were the sudden bang of a gun shot.

A week after Ruth arrived, the woman invited her into one of the rooms. In the room stood less than a dozen boys and girls about sixteen years old. What seemed to go on in the couple of hours that Ruth sat in the room, looked like a ceremony. There were a series of tests and examinations that every one of the sixteen year olds were supposed to pass. Just before it ended, new people came in the room, and stood in front of the kids being examined. Gun shots echoed, and that was the first time Ruth saw someone killed.