Buzzkill [Winter Soldier]

Chapter 16

Ruth woke up by just opening her eyes the next day. For a moment, she didn't know if everything that had just happened had been a dream. Then the pain came back.
Everywhere on her body she felt achy and weak, her right arm at the incision site feeling like there was a needle still stuck. Her head burned with a migraine as her mind became loud with emotions and voices of fear and desperation to escape. If she tried, she could remember the directions she could take to get to the exit, but what then? They flew a plane to get here. Were they underground? Were they on a helicarrier? Underwater? Even these thoughts made her jump to conclusions. How was she going to get out of this room? Or past this hallway? Ruth's anxiety grew the more she felt trapped, like an animal trying to escape their cage. But she couldn't fight.

She eventually looked up to the the table next to her, where food now sat waiting. For going through what she did at the first dose of injections, Ruth expected more. Sitting on the tray were two cooked potatoes, a small pile of cheese, and a packet of butter. Ruth looked at the food with disgust, still feeling nauseous from yesterday. Then the thoughts came,

Why am I disgusted? After all I've done, I should have been killed. I should have been tortured and killed. Who am I to try and escape? I belong here.

Through her nausea, Ruth ate the food. She knew that she needed to eat food to live, and that was it. Once she finished, Dr. Mage came to her cell, talking to her through the wide window that took up most of the cell door.

"So...How do you feel?" His words mocked her.

"What are you expecting me to say?"

"I want to hear it from you, I have to write something down."

"Fine and dandy," Ruth mumbled her words before sitting back on her bed.

"Good, good. You'll have another dose tomorrow, then another the day after that."

"Oh, is that all?" Ruth's tone sarcastic.

"For the first round, we will be doing one dose every other day for six days. We'll check how you progress after a week, then continue."

"First round? Out of how many?"

"However many it takes to succeed." Dr. Mage began to walk away.

"And I'm going to be trapped in this room the whole time?" Ruth interrupted his movement.

Dr. Mage slowly turned to face her. "If it all goes well after the first week, we'll have you doing missions for Hydra in no time." His smile showed again before walking away.

Ruth couldn't imagine willingly working for them. What was this serum going to do to her?