Buzzkill: The Reckoning

Chapter 55

Ruth didn't know how she was able to still stand, it was unthinkable to move. But she had to let them know.

Taking a small knife out of her pocket, Ruth reached up and ripped off the sleeve from the arm of her injured shoulder, taking the fabric and securing it tightly above the bullet in her thigh. Pain coursed down Ruth's skin in the form of the blood that poured from her wounds.

Hobbling, using all the strength of the leg not filled with bullets to propel her forward, Ruth made her way slowly to where Kal's body lay, even the smallest weight she put on her shot up leg sending needles up her spine.

Ruth fell to her knees, searching around Kal to find any kind of communication device. Ruth looked in Kal's right ear, an earpiece fit inside as blood dripped down from her hair and dried around device. Ruth took the earpiece and put it in her own ear, hoping, praying that Nat would be able to pick up her signal.

Ruth crawled, backing away from Kal to finally settle down on the helipad pavement, holding herself up, looking out into the beautiful view of the mountains. Her head swayed, lightheadedness taking over her balance.

Ruth knew she was going to die. She could feel it. Her whole body slowly began to shut down, blood pouring from her with no way to stop it. But she had to say goodbye to James. It couldn't be like Ryker.

"Nat? You there? Anyone? This is Ruth," Every word was a struggle to push air out of her lungs.

Nothing.

"Does anyone copy?"

She heard a click.

"Ruth?" Bucky's voice called from the radio. Ruth knew he must have taken it away from Nat as soon as he heard Ruth's voice. "Ruth it's me, what happened? Are you hurt? Are you ok?" His words were rushed, desperate to hear her voice.

"I'm alive," Ruth replied, her voice weak. "Kal's gone. It's done."

Bucky breathed a sigh of relief, "Fantastic. It's so good to hear your voice. I should never have let you go. When the bombs went off I...I had no idea if you would've made it out in time. And then your comms were cut off—"

"I'm alright now," Ruth interrupted, "I made it out." Her words were strung with delicate lies. She wanted her last conversation with him to be one where he could hear the beauty of his voice, where he wasn't frantic trying to save her when she couldn't be saved.

"Where are you?" He called out. "There's quite a bit of rubble that we'll have to work around over here but we can get you as soon as we're out. The lab is actually pretty secure. We can even call Dani to meet at your location so we'll have your exact coordinates."

Ruth moved to sit farther back on the ground, her face contorting to hold back from audibly wincing, stretching her bad leg out in front of her. "I'm on the far south side of the building, not too far out from where Kal's coordinates were when I looked for her. I'm just outside. It looks like some sort of landing zone outside a hangar," It hurt with every breath. "Everything's pretty beat up." She struggled to make her voice sound normal. Her head swelled, fading in and out of reality.

"We'll be there as soon as we can. Hang tight," Bucky told her. The tone of his voice telling her he was unaware of the shape she was in.

Tears started streaming, burning down Ruth's face, her mind coming closer to the realization that this was it. She didn't want it to end like this. "Hey, Buck?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember any parts of The Hobbit that you could tell me?" She asked, trying to keep her voice from cracking, "To pass the time?"

"Oh, uh, sure," He replied. "Now, I feel like if I were to live in Middle Earth—that's the world where The Hobbit takes place—I would want to live in this western elf kingdom. It just seems like it would be a cool place to live, ya know? There are elf parties all the time. And with how old the elves are, you know damn well that they've perfected a garden party." He let out a small sigh, "Now, I can only imagine what these things would like on screen because Steve isn't letting me watch Lord of the Rings until I've read the Hobbit. He said I shouldn't even bother watching the Hobbit movies anyway."

Ruth laid down on the ground, her strength giving out on her. A sharp pain as if she were shot again struck her chest. She audibly winced.

Bucky stopped, silence on his side of the radio. "Ruth?" He asked cautiously, his tone then getting louder, "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Tears flowed down her cheeks now. She couldn't help but show it in her voice. "I'm really beat up, Buck," Emotion cracked her voice. "Kal cut me quite a bit...she shot me three times."

Bucky's blood went cold. Everything dropped from his chest.

"There's a lot of blood, James," Ruth cried out, the fear in her voice clear as day.

A knot rose in Bucky's throat. He couldn't lose her. Not again. "It's alright," He told her, trying to make his voice sound like he meant what he said. "It's ok, you're going to be ok. We're on our way now, just hang in there." His voice grew increasingly frantic, stumbling over his words. Ruth could hear him yelling something at someone else in the room.

Ruth's breath heaved, "I don't have much time."

"Don't say that. You're going to make it through this."

"James, please...please listen to me."

Bucky held the radio closer to him, steadying himself to sit down in a chair, his body barely able to stand.

"I love you," Ruth said to him. "With everything that I have, and everything that I am."

Bucky gripped the radio right, his knuckles white, tears burning in his eyes. "I love you too, Ruth. With all my heart."

Ruth genuinely smiled, her breath hitching. She could taste the metallic blood in her mouth. She gasped for breath between each sob. "Why am I so scared?"

Bucky's heart broke, ripping inside his chest. It couldn't end like this. "I'm almost there, ok? I'm almost there. You won't have to be alone."

"I love you," Ruth repeated. Her breath quickened as she felt her body slip away, trying to hold onto the little but of light left within the encroaching darkness that surrounded her vision. "I'm so sorry."

She could hear Bucky's voice screaming through the radio, desperation the only clear thing as his voice sounded as if it were miles away. Her love, her heart, out of reach.

There's a point between life and death where your mind wanders. It's like the short space of time just before falling asleep, where everything feels as it should be. Nothing feels urgent. Time seems to slip away. It's as if you're drifting, memories from your past gone from view.

Her body felt cold. Her mind drifted away past this tortured life. Her lungs took the shortest breath, the last tear fell down her face.

Then all at once, she was gone.