"You got the Little Fox today?" An Australian man sitting lazily behind a desk asked as another man entered the room with a dazed and partially sedated girl in his grasp.
"Yeah, and you wouldn't believe what we had to put up with earlier." The man outfitted as a guard answered, pulling the girl's arm until she stumbled along behind him.
"Looks like they really did a number on her this time." The Australian commented before getting up and leading the other man to a cell.
"You don't see me complaining." The guard answered with a smile, and the other man just laughed. "Serves her right. She nearly sliced my arm open!" He exclaimed, clearly annoyed with the girl. "Some idiot didn't check her close enough when they brought her back in and she managed to pull a blade on me."
The other man looked at the girl who was practically limp in the guard's grasp and then to the guard who was a good foot taller and had a hundred pounds on her, and chuckled. "Yeah she looks terrifying." He said as he punched in the code and the door to the cell unlocked.
Not appreciating the man's lack of empathy, the guard retorted, "It just means you get to babysit longer." Gruffly he pulled the girl in front of him and pushed her into the cell and the other man closed it behind her. "Had to do another hard reset, so now they can't put her in cryo for another two days."
The man re-entered the code to lock the cell and replied, "Makes no difference to me. I'm stuck here for three more weeks anyway."
"I thought you were supposed to be getting transferred to the new site in Athens?" The guard asked.
The other man sighed, "That's what I thought too, but apparently I'm stuck in this outdated hole a while longer."
The girl slowly pushed herself up off the cement floor of the cell, everything still feeling muddled and hazy. Standing up, she moved to the other side of the small room where a cot was set up in the corner. She glanced over it, contemplating sitting down, but finally decided against it. The thing as a whole looked old and dingy and she didn't expect it to be comfortable. Instead she took a seat in the corner across from it, and leaned against the wall. Staring at the cell door in silence as the single fluorescent bulb above her hummed, she waited for her vision and her thoughts to become clear.
With a long sigh she let her head fall to the side and rest against the wall. With her knees to her chest, and her arms wrapped around her legs, she felt very small, even though the room was tiny itself. She closed her eyes and listened to the quiet buzz of the light. Outside the door she could hear the two men talking, but their voices were muffled and she couldn't quite make out what they were saying.
After a few minutes she softly opened her eyes again and resituated herself so that she could lay on the floor, still curled up with her legs to her chest. Exhaling slowly, she stared listlessly at the wall a few feet from her face, and wondered how long the men were going to leave her in the room. Looking at the base of the wall, a piece caught her eye. There was a crack in the cement wall that, while it wasn't the only one, seemed a bit out of place.
Slowly she reached out for it, and felt a bit of the cement crumble under her finger-tips. Propping herself up on her elbow, she inched herself closer to get a better look. Slipping the ends of her fingers into the narrow crack, she found the piece to be a bit loose when she moved it. Her forehead wrinkled in confusion and she wiggled it a bit further until a small chunk of the wall popped out, making her heart skip a beat. Behind it there seemed to be a hole that had been carved out but it was dark and she couldn't see what was inside.
The opening was just big enough for her wrist, and cautiously she slipped her hand into it. Feeling around, her hand brushed against something, and carefully she pulled it out to find it was a small notebook that was partially falling apart. Confused and intrigued by her discovery she brushed away some of the dust and opened the cover.
"Your name is Lucy Vonnegut and you're me." The girl looked up, confused, as she read the first line that was scribbled in the book. "You won't remember writing this, but hopefully my prediction will be correct and you will one day find this again." The girl wondered if she had accidentally discovered someone else's journal and felt like maybe she shouldn't be reading it. However, as much as she thought about it she couldn't keep herself from reading further.
"I was supposed to have my mind wiped earlier today, a 'hard reset' they called it, but I guess it didn't take quite right; but no one noticed. They put me in here in this cell, none of them realizing I still remembered everything." She was intrigued by the strange ramblings of this "Lucy", but she still wasn't sure she understood what she was writing on about.
"I managed to swipe this notebook and pencil off the guard, but that was about all I could do. I think they finally realized the reset didn't work, and they're going to take me back soon." The girl could tell by the handwriting that whoever had written it had been in a hurry, and was just trying to get everything down as quickly as possible. "I don't remember everything, but one thing I know is that I, well you, have to get out of this place, so I'm just desperately hoping that you find this again and can continue the work I didn't have a chance to. I'm sure this is all going to sound ridiculous and hard to believe but you have to just trust that you can do this. They don't call you Little Fox for nothing, there's no one with a better chance of escaping than you." The entry ended there but the girl didn't move and just keep rereading the last line. The words 'Little Fox' resounded in her ears and her breath felt like it had been trapped in her throat.
She had heard those words when the men had put her in the cell earlier, and somehow she knew without doubt that they had been referring to herself. Instantly her mind began running through hundreds of possibilities, but ultimately only coming to the conclusion that the person who had hidden this journal was herself at some past time. Heart beating quickly she turned the page with wide eyes to find another entry.
"Heard the guards talking today, I'm pretty sure the building is underground. Not sure where yet exactly. Cell lock can be picked with the fork that comes with lunch." Glancing down a few lines a few more words of text read, "Got a glimpse outside. The base is located somewhere in North America, but there is a homing signal in the mechanism they implanted on your back. Unless you find a way to disable it you won't get 100 feet out without them ambushing you and bringing you back. Also, don't let them know you can get out of the cell, they installed an electronic system." The girl reached back to feel the metal plates lined down her spine that she already knew were there. She couldn't deny it now. This was definitely her notebook.
She flipped through the many pages, scanning through the many entries, amazed at how much information she had seemingly managed to gather. Each one added a bit more knowledge to the inner workings of the base, then proposed a question which the next entry would try to answer. She found it fascinating as it was like reading a conversation that went back and forth, yet it was all the same person.
However the thought never left the back of her mind, reminding herself that she was this "Little Fox" and she was going to have to figure out something to add so that at some point she could finally attempt to get out of this place.
"Cell door code is 3790274." One of the entries caught her eye and she looked up to the keypad by the door. Excitedly she continued through the book, pouring over every detail. So far she had ascertained the habits of four different security guards, the last one being the one that currently worked there, as he was described as being Australian. She also had a fairly good idea of the layout of the base, even finding a crude drawing of a map, with only a few parts missing.
Turning one of the pages, her heart skipped a beat to see that it was the last page with writing on it. Trying to keep herself calm, she focused her eyes on the last entry. "There's a way to disable the tracking signal, but it won't be easy. First you're going to need to get to the reset room." Flipping back a few pages she located the corresponding room on the map drawing and picked out the best route to get there. "You're going to have to reset yourself, it's the only time the device is powered off. However, rather than restarting it like they always do, just leave it off. The difficult part is that your mind is going to be wiped, you won't remember anything. It also means you won't have any of the abilities the device gives you. But the only important thing is that once you've done it, just get out and get out fast. This should be the last entry, because this was the last thing needed before you get out. So if you're reading this it means it's time, and you need to go now."
She hurriedly flipped through the rest of the book, sure that there had to be more, but only found blank pages. She reread the last entry another time before closing the book and closing her eyes in an attempt to calm herself. The words were true, and the time for escaping was now or never. Accepting that this was what she had to do, she forced her breathing to level out and the beating of her heart to calm down. Then she went back through the entries and made a list in her head of the pertinent things she need to do and remember to be successful in her escape.
Happy with her plan, and rehearsed it numerous times in her head, she tucked the notebook into the waist of her pants where it wouldn't fall out and replaced the chunk of cement from the wall. Then, after moving to the wall with the door, she carefully pressed her ear to the cold surface and listened for the sign that indicated the guard was enjoying what she now knew to be his usual late evening nap.
She waited for what was by her estimation a few hours, checking the sounds every few minutes, until finally she was confident he was asleep. A theory that was confirmed when she heard the faint sound of his snores coming from the other side of the wall. After taking a final deep breath to calm herself, she punched the code into the keypad and quietly pushed open the door and slipped out into the dimly lit area.
Quickly she glanced around the room, looking for anything that was going to ruin her plan. The room was shaped like a semi-circle, with the perimeter being lined with cell doors, and in the middle was the security guard's desk. At first glance, he didn't look armed, but when she looked closer she saw that he had a handgun holstered on the hip farthest from her. For once she was actually glad she was barefoot, and with steps as silent as her breathing, she crept across the room until she was behind the man who was slumped back in his chair, his arms across his chest, and his mouth hanging open slightly.
Glancing quickly at the security camera feeds in front of him she saw a few guards roaming the halls, but the route she planned on taking seemed to be clear. Now she just need to get his access card from around his neck without him waking up. With a steady hand she slowly lifted up the card from his chest and with the other, carefully guided the lanyard around his head. Right when she had it just about off, he closed his mouth and shifted his position. Instantly she ceased moving, and held her breath, but let it out again with a sigh of silent relief when he settled back into sleep.
Slipping the remaining part off from around his neck she checked the screens once more, then headed for the door, unlocking it with his keycard. Making quick work of her route she slipped through doors using the guard's access card, and ducked into side hallways whenever someone came by. Pausing in one of the empty hallways, she pulled out her notebook to check her map before opening the next door.
Seeing she was right on track she closed it again and went to return it to her waistband. However, before she could do so, an arm grabbed hers from behind, and a metal hand clamped over her mouth. Before she could let out a startled gasp, her assailant was already pulling her into a room, his grip too strong for her to wriggle free. Once inside he removed his hand from her mouth but didn't release his grip on her arm.
Looking up with wide eyes, she saw a man dressed in black, with his long unkempt brown hair hanging in his face. "You shouldn't be here Fox." He said gruffly, and she felt his intense glare piercing into her. "What's this?" He asked when she didn't respond, looking at the notebook in her hand. "And this?" He said motioning to the access card in her other hand.
Her heart beat rapidly, panic coursing through her. She hadn't planned on meeting anyone along the way, and with her window of opportunity dwindling, she knew she would soon lose her chance of ever being free. "Please-" She whispered breathlessly, but he had already yanked the objects from her hands and she knew he would put the pieces together pretty quickly.
"You're a traitor!" He exclaimed through gritted teeth.
She shook her head and tried to defend herself, "No, I—"
He silenced her by pushing her against the wall with his metal hand around her throat. She inhaled sharply, unable to keep herself from flinching. Seeing that explaining herself was not going to get her anywhere, she quickly searched for a different approach.
"They call you the Winter Soldier, right?" She asked, and his countenance changed slightly. She didn't remember much, but she did however, remember this bit of information. "And I'm Little Fox, you said so yourself." She continued, somewhat breathlessly.
"So you know what I can do." She said, placing her hand on the exposed portion of his neck. He flinched at her touch and pulled away and she lowered her hand back to her side. He clenched his jaw, and looked like he was thinking hard for a few moments before he begrudgingly released his grip.
Knowing time was still of the essence, she held out her hand for her things, but he refused to give them back. "Look, that book has the only answers I have." She said, "They call me Little Fox, but before that, before all of this I was someone else." She said pleadingly, knowing that his mind had probably been as meddled with as her own, but desperately hoping that something would reach the person inside, not just the machine they had made him on the outside.
"I had a family, I had a life. I have to get out of here, I don't have a choice." She said, but his response was to only frown back at her. "They do things to us here, they mess with our minds. They force us to forget who we are, you're probably someone else too!" She pleaded. He paced the room, flipping through the journal, but he didn't respond.
"Please," She breathed, "you have to help me, this is my only chance. He stopped his pacing and looked into her eyes. What she was saying sounded ridiculous, and everything he knew told him he should just march her back out that door and alert security. However, there was something in her eyes that just wouldn't let him do it, and she seemed so sincere, that for some reason he wanted to believe her.
"What do you need?" He asked gruffly, handing her back the lanyard and notebook. For a moment she just stared at him silently, her mouth halfway open. "Y—you're going to help me?" She asked breathlessly, having not expected him to actually do so. He simply continued to glare at her, but knowing she probably only had a few minutes before someone would realize she was missing, she hurriedly shook the look from her face and continued.
"I need to get to the reset room, and wipe myself. It's the room straight across the hall, I was almost there when you grabbed me." She explained. He squinted his eyes, and she could tell he didn't understand her plan. "It's the only way to deactivate the signal." She said, pulling the collar of her shirt down to show the glowing red light at the base of the back of her neck. "Then I just get the hell out of here."
"What do you do once you're out?" He asked.
"I don't know." She said shrugging, "Get as far away as I can. Anything is better than staying."
He considered her words a moment before nodding. With a small smile she nodded back. "Good, let's go." Opening the door, she peered into the hallway cautiously before stepping out, the man following behind her. Quickly she scampered across the hallway and pulled out the keycard to unlock it.
"Hey!" A voice echoed from down the hallway where a guard appeared, drawing his gun. She slid the card a second time, and a third, but each time it failed to give them access. "Come on, work with me here!" She mumbled angrily and the man approached. The Winter Soldier, however, took care of him easily, and with a few calculated movements, the guard lay motionless on the floor.
Finally, the card scanner beeped and a green light appeared, showing that the door was unlocked, and she breathed a quick sigh of relief before pushing it open and pulling him in behind her. In the middle of the room sat a chair with dozens of cords and wires around it, and beside it was a computer. Opening the notebook, she flipped through until she found the page containing the instructions she needed. Quickly she punched in the codes and found the proper program to run, making the necessary modifications needed.
Nervously she climbed into the chair and attached wires where they needed to go. Next to her, the Winter Soldier had grabbed the pen next to the computer and was writing a note on her arm so that she would know what to do when she woke back up. After turning her head to read it she asked, "You're not coming? You deserve to get out as much as I do, we can go together."
He shook his head and put the cap back on the pen. "It won't be long before they know something's up if they haven't already. With that dead guard out there, they aren't going to miss you slipping out. You've got no chance unless you've got someone to slow them down until you can get out. I'll make sure they don't find this." He said, holding the notebook.
She wanted to protest, but she couldn't deny that everything he was saying was true. She laid back in the chair and said sincerely, "I'll come back, I'll get you out. I don't know how but I will. I promise." He didn't say anything, but simply pressed the button which made the process begin and the last thing she saw before blacking out from the pain was his metal arm slamming the door shut as he rushed back out into the hall.
Slowly she blinked her eyes open to the strange room around her, and looked around to see wires protruding from the chair she was sitting in, and the words 'procedure complete' glowing on the computer screen. Confused, she hurriedly started yanking off the wires, freezing when she saw a single word written on her forearm, 'RUN'. She stared at it a moment, then jumped when she heard a gunshot ring out from outside the room.
Breathing rapidly she pulled off the remaining wires and scrambled out of the chair. Nervously peering out the doorway she saw the coast was clear and darted out, running as quickly as she could. She wasn't sure which way she was supposed to go, or even where she was, but she heard more gunshots back the way she had come so she kept running forward. She down again at her arm, reading it once again, and decided she agreed. She wanted out of whatever this place was that she was in.
Adrenaline coursing through her, she continued to run as fast as her feet would carry her, until to her surprise she burst through a doorway to stumble into several inches of snow. Somehow in her panic and confusion, she had managed to find a way out and she nearly laughed at her luck. Still wanting to be as far away as possible, she picked herself back up off the ground and ran as fast as she could away from the compound and towards the line of trees a few hundred feet away.
With all the energy inside her, she barely even felt the cold snow under her bare feet. Nearing the tree line, she gasped for air, her lungs burning from the running combined with the cold air. Just as she was approaching the cover of the trees, a loud explosion boomed behind her, the force knocking her to the ground, sprawling. She glanced behind for a few seconds to see smoke escaping and debris scattered around.
Still not understanding anything that was happening to her, she scrambled to her feet and ran through the forest, ignoring the branches that would scrape her arms and legs. After running for some time, and her gasps for air turning into confused sobs, she finally reached the edge of the forest and found a road that she followed until she could see the lights of a city far up ahead. Exhausted, and with a pounding headache from where she had hit it when she was thrown to the ground by the explosion, she plodded on through blurred vision until she couldn't go any farther and fell to the ground on the side of the road. In the distance she could hear the sound of a car approaching, and she hoped desperately with every ounce of energy she had left, that it wasn't the same people she had just ran away from.