First encounter
As soon as your feet touch the ground, bullets start flying around. You run towards the scorched remains of the tank in the hope that they conceal your figure and try to trace a route to the building.
Once behind the relative safety of the burning piece of metal, you peek around. There's a clear path, but you'll be too exposed going through, so that's a no-go. But you might be able to go around a few vehicles parked on your left. You ready one of your handguns and move towards the trucks as fast and quietly as you can.
In no time you're halfway there but the hiding spots are getting scarcer. If you keep going left you can trace an arch that can, eventually, lead to the armory, which may take too long. You look back at the team, they're holding so far, but you can see glimpses of their faces and you know this is stretching more than you planned.
The decision is clear: you take the right path, it may not be as sheltered but is a direct route.
There's no time to come up with a better solution.
You reach the building before anyone can stop you, or that's what you thought. As you approach one side of the building a shadow comes from behind you and a heavy boot connects with your lower back and sends you flying to the ground. You land with a grunt, and the taste of blood and dirt fills your mouth. The gun has flown away out of reach.
It takes you a couple of seconds to get out of shock and into action, but when you're on all fours the boot hits you again, this time on the stomach "Amerikanische hure" (American hore) The soldier spats and spits you. "Das ist der mädchenname ihrer mutter?" (That's your mother's maiden name?) He kicks you again on the side.
The pain is searing down your abdomen and the last kick has taken the air out of your lungs. While gasping for air the soldier comes on top of you, grabs your hair in a bundle, and pulls your head back "Zuerst werde ich spaß haben" (First I'll have fun) he says to your ear.
His words fill you with disgust and rage. You remember Jhonson's sadistic smile, the terror on Robin's face, and the countless women you have seen and heard their stories through tears. Women, marked inside and out just for being women, for having had the bad luck of coming across a man who believed he had the right to possess them, use them, and abuse them until he got bored.
Anger, fear, disgust, and impotence, every one of the emotions you felt when listening to their stories is concentrated in the center of your chest. You form a tight fist with your thumb sticking out and with every fiber of your being you stick your thumb in his eye.
He releases you immediately, cursing, you roll over and kick him away from you. In one movement you roll back and get a pistol out of the holster. From the crouched position you try to shoot him, but the firing mechanism is stuck and your fingers are slippery with his blood.
You toss the gun away, get up and stand prepared. He charges half-blind, pain, and rage make him clumsy, but not less dangerous. You dodge him like a bullfighter, trying to stay within his blind spot.
With an angry roar, he charges again and manages to grab your arm as you tried to get out of the way.
As he swings you around to get you closer, you take out a short blade that Bucky gave you and use his momentum to swing your free arm in an arc and plunge the blade into his temple. His eye rolls back and he falls to the ground.
You fall to your knees, stunned at what has happened, your whole body shivers and you try to focus your thoughts.
There's no time to dwell on what happened, you'll deal with that later, so you get up and sprint to the armory. Once inside you see several weapons emitting a blue glow and for a moment you feel drawn to the light. It feels soothing and comforting, almost like home, and the pain is slowly fading. The light is calling you, asking you to come with it and a voice in your head says "Find me"
You're startled by this and quickly shake the feeling, remembering your lost companions and what those types of guns can do.
There are a couple of dynamite bars and several hand grenades. You put the dynamite on the corners and one on the door, hook a few hand grenades on your belt and move out.
The enemy is in front of you, but they're all facing the gates with their backs to you. You activate the first grenade and throw it to the group near you and quickly run away to the next.
You repeat this process a few times and save the last grenade you run back to the building and toss it into the armory.
The first explosions cause panic among the Hydra soldiers and several casualties, then the entire armory blows up spectacularly, shooting debris everywhere.
Silence... and then a low whistling sound that intensifies until your ears pop. You're lying on the ground covered in dirt, sweat, and blood. Building parts are still falling around when you sit up.
The scene is pure chaos, with wounded soldiers screaming, and others surrendering, tossing their weapons hands in the air. You can't believe you're responsible for all this madness.
Later on, Bucky finds you, still sitting on the floor, your hands supporting the head, and the elbows on your knees. "Victoria, oh my god you're alive! I...we thought..." He crouches near you and puts his arm around your shoulders pulling you in tight "You saved us, you know?"
You shake your head and smile bitterly at him, there are no words for what you're feeling right now, but at the same time, you're grateful for his embrace.
After a while, he stands and offers his hand for you to get up. You accept it, but you whine and grab your stomach "Oh my god this hurts". Bucky looks at you worried "Where else are you hurt?" he can see the cut on your forehead and lip and the blood on your hands.
"A soldier beat me the hell up" You explain pointing at your stomach and back. He nods and throws one of your arms around his shoulders and helps you walk "The boys are not far, let's get you checked up and get something for the pain"
Bucky guides you through the debris, ensuring you don't stumble with anything to a set of buildings on the far right of the perimeter. Dum-Dum and Morita greet you "You really are crazy Lieutenant!" Says Dum-Dum with his characteristic cigar-chewing grin. Morita throws your other arm across his shoulders and gives you a grateful smile that you reciprocate.
They led you inside one of the buildings that look like the officer's housing and administrative annex. They sit you on a large couch in one of the first rooms and you wince and grab your left side "And the rest?" Jim takes a step back and starts going through a backpack for a medical kit "The others are setting the charges on the factory and releasing a few prisoners, we just finished locking up the Hydra soldiers in the next building".
"How many prisoners?" You ask, Dum-Dum coughs uncomfortably "No more than twelve, Hydra killed most of them as soon as we enter"
A loud primordial scream echoes through the air while the first lights of the sun are rising. Out of the corner of your eye, you think you see a blue light intensifying until it's all you can see.