He knew he slept; how could he not? The passage of time was something the human brain was aware of even on a subconscious level. The comfort of the darkness was all he craved then, the suspended black kept his mind clear and utterly relaxed. It was the place he returned to after they were done with him and a place where he free. As much as a comfort as it was, it never lasted. Never. They always came. He never questioned them; such was not for the likes of him. He obeyed, ever the loyal soldier. The nightmare began when he awoke!
Except this was different, things were different now. Vastly different at that too, the cold lack of anything in his mind wasn't present. The calm before the storm was definitely not there either. His head was full of everything. Blinking, he realised that he was no longer the Winter Soldier and that he hadn't been for some time either. Chilled, he shivered as he stood there, naked except for a pair of black shorts and some socks. Why the socks he had no idea, they did nothing to keep the cold away from his feet at all. Memories came flooding back when he thought he recognised where he was. Except this was different…
He blinked and ran a hand over his wet face. The fog of being frozen was still pretty thick and his mouth had that awful taste in it too. As though he had spent the night drinking, then throwing up and hadn't bothered to clean his teeth afterwards. A glass of water had handily been left on a nearby table and he slowly moved towards it. His limbs felt as though they'd not been moved in months, they hadn't, and his movements were slightly wooden and jerky. Not that it mattered; he seized the glass and downed it, instantly feeling better. Amazing what that liquid could do to restore ones sensibilities.
Next issue, clothing. It was cold! Looking around the room, he discovered there was everything he needed in there to get sorted out. Grabbing one of the larger towels, he headed for the bathroom. The hot shower was perhaps one of the best sensations he had experienced in recent years, though it appeared as if the bulb had gone in the room, he would mention it later on. Once dried and dressed, regulation black cargo pants and T-shirt, he returned to the room where he had awoken and sank into one of the chairs. He knew this was not a HYDRA facility, it was too clean and the room was white and somewhat clinical, if a little dark, not the grime covered places he had been used to before.
Nor was it Wakanda. The window in the room showed him a city scape that had evergreen trees and green grass. On the horizon there were mountains and forests, rather than jungle. No, he wasn't in Africa anymore. If he had to hazard a guess, he would say he was in America somewhere, New York would make a whole lot of sense. Was it SHIELD then? He had no real idea who it was who pulled him out the freezer, but he wanted to know why!
Were the triggers still in his head?
He had no idea whether that was true or not, he hoped not. The whole reason behind going into the freezer again was so they could work out how to get rid of them, enough death had happened because of him and he didn't need any more blood on his hands. These were questions that he knew would all be answered in time, he hoped at the very least. Right now, he realised he was hungry, his throat was drier than the ice he had sprung from and his leg muscles were threatening to cramp up from lack of movement. The room he was in was pretty small, so it was time to get up and go for a walk around to see what he could find.
Opening the door, he looked down the long corridor and blinked. He had expected to see more people around than were currently about. There was no one there at all. Odd. Something didn't seem quite right. Whenever he had been brought out of stasis before, he had been closely monitored and there were always people on hand to assist. Now, there was not a soul around, "Hello?" he called, wondering if there was anyone around to hear.
When he reached the door at the end of the corridor, he pushed through it and peered around this corner. Again, there was no one there; this was getting creepier by the minute. He found himself wishing he had some form of weapon with him, just in case someone crazy should jump at him and try cave his head in. It was unlikely they'd succeed but still, having something in his hand would be a comfort more than anything else.
He found a coffee machine. Something akin to relief flooded through him as he had the machine pour something liquid and hot into a cup. Whether it was coffee or brown sludge he had no idea, it was better than the coppery taste he currently had in his mouth though, that much was a truth. It appeared as though this room was some form of recreational area, there were enough sofas and chairs to sink a ship, a couple of vending machines (yes he considered raiding them, no he didn't actually do so) and several bins. There was still not a soul in sight however, maybe if he waited here, someone would appear that he could ask. If not, he could drink the coffee and plan what he was going to get up to next. The thing that bothered him the most, he realised as he sat down, was the complete and utter silence. No hum of machine, no distant beeping, just deep, clean silence. It was unnerving.
The further he went into the place, the creeper it became. There was no staff anywhere and all the lights were off in the place too. He shivered. The air was cold, had a fusty sort of smell to it, as though this place had not been used for some time. Pressing his lips together, he walked on. He found the elevator. Pressing the button told him what he already knew; there was no power. The stairs it was then. Finding them, he opened the door carefully. Something was very amiss here and he needed to be careful. Maybe there would be some people down in the lobby.
When he reached the lobby downstairs, he discovered something that shook the very foundation of his being.
There was a single woman standing in the centre of the room. He noticed there was smashed glass on the floor, that the lights were off and there was wire in the background hanging from the ceiling. He registered all of it but it had no meaning. His attention was drawn to the woman who was now slowly turning around. Something was wrong with her movements; the way she turned was too slow, too awkward. When she faced him, he gagged.
Her lower jaw was missing.
It didn't seem to stop her however; she began shambling over towards him, a moaning wet raspy sound coming from what remained of her mouth. The stench she emanated was vile; he was sure that had he eaten, he would have puked up. Gagging still, he took a step back, through the doors and crashed into the stairs, "What the fuck?" he muttered as his hand caught the rail before he toppled onto his back. His heart thudded in his chest, his palms suddenly very sweaty. That was like nothing he had ever seen before. His mind raced and he darted back up the stairs, putting some distance between Mrs No Jaw and himself. He was pretty sure she was after his head!
He scarpered, straight back to the place he had come from, found a window and looked out. Down below were plenty of people, were they people still? They shambled around aimlessly, shuffling and bumbling around as though there was no care left in the world. He watched them for a long moment, unable to tear his gaze away from the horror that was below him. Shuddering, he wrapped his arms around himself and turned his attention to the skyline. It was ruined. How he hadn't noticed earlier was surprising. Most of the nearest tower bocks had smashed windows, their status as habitable building now severely in question. There were more than a few that looked as though they had been hit with something and nearly knocked down.
A quick sweep of the street with his eyes told him that a lot of the convenience stores had been raided, probably for food. A couple of dead bodies lay in the road, their heads destroyed by something. Perhaps that was the key to surviving here, kicking heads in. He shuddered when he remembered the woman with no jaw, how her dead glassy eyes had starred at him. Running a hand through long hair, he pulled it out of his face and decided that here was as good a place as any to stay for the time being.
He went and raided the vending machine. A quick slam from his metal arm and it yielded its goodies to him. Alright, a couple of packets of crisps and a chocolate bar did not make for a very good meal but it was better than nothing at all! There was a fire axe on the opposite wall. He was willing to bet that the alarms had been dead some time, if the layer of dust covering the top of the case was anything to go by. He took the risk and yanked the cover off and picked up the axe. Silence! Perfect!
At least now he could face the horror downstairs, though what he would do afterwards he wasn't sure about. That could be dealt with after. Right now, he wanted to clear the ground floor of that thing. He crept down the stairs once more. The thing that was once a woman was still around the door. Without thinking about what he was doing, he charged forward and swung the axe easily. It cleaved the woman's head in two and she crumpled to the floor. Horrified by the way maggots burst out of her skull; he yanked back the axe and chopped, over and over.
It was only when he stopped that he knew he was screaming. The axe clattered to the floor and he leaned over, vomiting back up what he had eaten earlier. Spitting, he then straightened and picked up the axe. With a sigh, he leaned against the nearest wall and looked around, wondering what he was going to do now. The sun was setting and he got the idea that being out in the open at night was not a sensible idea. There were plenty of lockable rooms and it was in one of these on the second floor that he spent the night.
The following morning, he took the axe and decided it was time to get out there and see if there was anyone else alive in this apparent city of the dead.