Leave Me Bleeding [Winter Soldier] I

The Hunt [Chapter 6]

"People fear death even more than pain. It's strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over."

-Jim Morrison

                Running frantically from the person who used to be Bucky, Ophelia felt her heart pounding in her chest. There was so little for her to fight for, her life being nothing more than a weapon for HYDRA, and so Ophelia half considered giving up this game of cat and mouse before it could even start. Everyone knew who the winner was going to be; once a man who saw through the carefully delivered lies of HYDRA, a man who regarded Ophelia as a human rather than a weapon, Bucky was now the Winter Soldier. 

           If she let Bucky find her, he might just kill her quickly, a bullet through her skull; something she had thought about many times in her life. That was supposed to be quick and painless when done right, and she suspected he would do it right given his military training. Turning this hunt into a game was twisted, but Ophelia was not surprised with HYDRA's decision. Part of her believed they were placing bets on how long she would last out here.

             She gripped onto a small and fragile looking tree as she began to fall down a snow bank she did not see coming. Clutching onto the rough, wet bark, she pulled herself up before she would have tumbled down like a boulder. She remained still for a moment, assessing the area around her and processing how to get through it. 

            Pausing for only that second, Ophelia was able to take the time to realize how terrifying it was being on the other end of this. The hunter became the hunted, and she didn't know how to escape. She had never been the hunted, the prey, and knowing that she was going to be slaughtered in the snow and forgotten by everyone made her run a little faster. 

           Her life was never much, she had done as she was told by HYDRA without being asked twice, an almost perfect soldier. But a soldier that they could control like the Winter Soldier, now that was perfection. He was already strong, had the right amount of the Super Soldier serum in his veins, he had the skills and training that she was never given. As she made her way carefully down the snow bank, taking each step slowly and thoughtfully, she made her way back up the other side. When she glanced behind her- something she imagined every person who she had hunted down had done- she remembered the tracking chip that was in her arm.

                Even though Bucky knew where she was and would knew where she was heading, if he didn't catch up to her, there would be a chance her cells in his system were not permanent. Everything HYDRA had done was rushed, they were bound to have holes in their plan. She needed to keep ahead of him and hope she survived until nightfall; they wouldn't keep their perfect soldier out in the cold where he might die. After all, Bucky was still healing; they would bring him back to the base, and use the tracker in her arm to find her, and finish the task.

              If she could get rid of the tracker, survive until nightfall, maybe she would make it to civilization. It was a long shot, given that she was deep in the mountains during early winter. HYDRA was a large organization; cut off one head, two more shall take its place. They had people everywhere, integrated into society, no one would suspect them. Ophelia would know none of them by face, of course, as she had only ever seen a handful of HYDRA members. Mostly guards and doctors. Occasionally Zola and Red Skull, but not any longer. 

                On the other hand, no one outside of the base would know what she looked like. She looked like anyone else. She could blend in to be anyone, if she made it out alive. The chances of this were slim, and Ophelia was not exactly an optimistic person right then; some sort of bravery filled her, as if she had this duty to survive. Some part of her thought maybe if she made it out alive, she could turn this back against HYDRA, tell the world their secrets and maybe even save Bucky, if there was any part of him left in the shell that was now the Winter Soldier. Either way, she had to try.