Untimely

Chapter 27

(1st, Halo's POV)
I awoke as the car began bumping and swerving slightly. The sound of rocks hitting the metal made me sit up and inspect where we were.

"Where are we?" I questioned, something felt- unsettled.

"Wheaton, New Jersey" the car brakes squeaked to a stop as Steve got out and opened my door.
"Feel better?" He questioned. I nodded and stood on my own, even though he had offered his arm.

"Why are we here?" I walked up to a half open gate fence.

"A flash drive was made here. I need to find out why and what's on it"

"You know this place?" I asked. He was and was not looking around like I would have expected. He was observing the old, brick or wooden buildings, but not heeding any scratches or chips in their frames.

"I used to" he commented before turning down a path I did not want to go. I don't know why. Perhaps I was just being stubborn.

"What are we looking for?" I question, making sure I still had a small pistol.
"Something out of place" he shouted, and then I could no longer see him.

"Out of place" I chuckled, looking at the old flag poles and buildings. "This whole camp is out of place". And it was. Something like this belonged in a museum or under investigation. An abandoned one most certainly does not belong in the twenty first century. Especially one that doesn't do anything for an educational or physical purpose.

I of that makes any snese.

My stomach was feeling better as I had shone a flashlight over the doors of tents and trunks. Granted, I had no knowledge of training camps, at least I think that's what it was, but nothing looked 'out of place'.

/
It was a large camp. And I didn't see Steve again until I had made my way back to the main road and waited a half hour to see him walking back. Clearly frustrated.

"No magnetic readings, no gamma, nothing" he was holding his cell phone while it had a radar on its screen and was clearly scanning.

"Let me see" I grabbed the phone and tried changing some settings, it took a moment, and when I looked back up Steve had begun walking toward a hexagon shaped building that looked as though half the shape was buried beneath the ground.

"Army regulations banned ammunition from being stored within he radius of training camps" he took his metal shield and slammed it against a breaking metal lock before opening the door into blackness. "This building shouldn't be here"

I lightly stepped down the four steps beside Steve as the phone continued beeping. Nothing irregular. When I reached over and flipped a switch- what looked to be a light switch- the larger than I expected room was lit, revealing chairs, desks, old computers, and at the far end of the hall, an eagle with its wings spread to either side of its body. "This is where Shield began?" I guessed, beginning to investigate things.

The two of us stopped at a wall that had three framed sepia photos hanging above head level. "Howard Stark" Steve nodded to the man with a mustache.

"Who's the woman?" I questioned. But all Steve did was walk away.

It didn't take long for him to find something strange. He regrouped my mind's attention when he spoke after a few minutes of looking. "If you're already in a secret building", then he pulled on an old empty book case and the entire wall seemed to shift before he pushed it all the way open. A short, dark hall led to a door that looked mechanical. "Why do you have to hide the elevator?"
It creaked as it carried us down further into the ground. I could tell Steve was gripping his shield tightly, so I placed my hand on the grip of my gun. Maybe he knew something I didn't.

When the doors creaked open, lights automatically flickered on, revealing incredibly old machines that had negative films wrapped around the wheels. In the cent of the room was a large central computer, several different screens, but one chair and one keyboard.

Walking and stopping at it, Steve pulled out a small flash drive. "What is that?" I questioned. He seemed to be hesitating, looking at me, then the device. He didn't say anything for a long moment. I saw his fist tighten around his shield, even tighter than before.

"Shield intel" he said, his eyes almost narrowing at me.

Something hurt in my chest or in my stomach, I couldn't tell where, but it hurt. Emotions are so weak. "Well put it in" I hissed, pointing to the small outlets.

I had to shake that off, so I did, and the computer buzzed to life only slightly. "Initiate system" it typed and said in a questioning, monotonic tone.

"Y-e-s spells yes" and I clicked the enter button after typing. When everything in the room began turning and working I smiled to myself. "Shall me play a game?" I questioned before turning to Steve "it's from a movi-"

"I've seen it" he cut off, taking a step forward when a strange face appeared on the green and black screen.

"Steve Rogers. Born 1945, army recruit and successful tested subject" a little white camera moved itself to face me. "Halo Band, born 1998, Hydra rogue" my heart clenched itself for a moment.
"Who are you?" I questioned, looking at e face flicker on the screen.

"My name is Zolla. A German scientist recruited into Shields beginnings after I was taken captive by Captain Rogers"

I'll just let Steve ask this stuff. I wasn't even alive then.

"Hydra went down with the helicarrier" Steve seemed stubborn in the moment, insisting something that was clearly not true"

I feel like if a robot could laugh, it would be a laugh like Zolla made. "Hydra is a beautiful parasite in the center of Shields cells. Accidents happen, and freedom is taken away"

"That's impossible, Shield would have stopped you" Steve defied.

"As I said before" the computer had a thick German accent, "accidents happen" the screen flashed with two names. Howard Stark, killed in an accident, and...

Nick Fury?

Nick Fury was dead?

"First, because life is so short, I was diagnosed with a disease that destroyed my body. That was not worth saving, but my mind was. With four hundreds meters of recording, here I am. Hydra had learned that humanity was not ready to give up there freedom, we learned that if we tried to take it away from them, they fought back" and now Steve was on it, wearing an old uniform standing among ranks of soldiers. "But now, humanity is in it's own chaos, that it is ready"
"What's on this flash drive?" Steve questioned, ignoring what was causing confusion for me.
"I created an algorithm that helps with us estimate people's future. This way, we can stop anyone who could possibly get in our way. Zolla's algorithm will be humanity's freedom killer" Suddenly, Steve punched the computer screen, causing it to shatter, me to jump, and the Zolla picture to go black.

"As I was saying," Zolla came on another, smaller screen closer to me, "I-

"How do we stop Insight" Steve insisted, his brows furrowed in frustration and anger.

"Unfortunately," the computer began slowly, and my phone began buzzing and beeping. "I have been stalling you, Captain Rogers. In fact, we are both men, out of time"

"Steve, triple bogey headed straight at us" I interrupted.

"By who?" He questioned, starting to frantically look around,

"Shield, 30 seconds" he grabbed my arm and pulled back towards the elevator doors, which had shit a moment before.

Ripping the vent grate from the ground, he shoved me to jump in. But the minute I prepared myself to jump, hot- no, burning- air shoved me in without balance. I fell onto the ground below, while I felt Steve jump down and crouch. He had his shield, because I could see red and orange flashes around a circular shadow.

Suddenly, it felt like a million pounds had just been dropped onto the shield, because Steve's forearm that was keeping him up was pushing against my back. I thought maybe, I was done with the feeling of nothingness, but it came back. Much sooner than I had expected.