Chapter 78
En Route to SHIELD Holding Facility, Washington, D.C.
September 2011
“They’re both injured,” Steve snapped. “We need a doctor!”
The Hydra agents in the back of the armored transport didn’t move.
Steve glared at them and leaned over to examine Sam’s wound. It was clean, and already sealing; the bullet had passed right through his side. “Minimal damage,” Sam muttered, pressing a hand to it with a wince. “I can still move.”
The transport bumped over a pothole. Natasha hissed in pain and leaned forward.
Sam steadied her while Steve examined the wound. The bullet seemed to have missed her scapula and collarbone, thankfully, but it was bleeding too heavily.
“She’s going to bleed out,” he snapped, glaring at the Hydra agents.
One of them slammed an electric prod into Steve’s gut. He doubled over with a grunt. The shock dissipated, leaving his fingers numb and buzzing.
Another bump came from below the transport.
One of the agents thumped on the front wall. “Drive better, morons!” she shouted.
Steve shook his head. His ears were still ringing a little from the shock prod. They’d upped the voltage on those things, probably after the footage from the elevator fight. He’d have to be more careful about them in the future.
Next to him, Natasha tilted her head slightly. A wrinkle of concentration appeared between her eyebrows.
Steve glanced at her.
She met his eyes, flicked her gaze to the floor, looked back at him, and cocked her head just a bit.
Steve turned a little and and listened.
There was a strange humming sound coming from beneath the floor of the transport.
Sam looked at Steve quizzically.
The humming got louder.
“Settle down,” the male agent barked, and poked his shock prod threateningly in Steve’s direction.
A large, circular opening suddenly appeared in the floor. Steve caught a glimpse of a silver arm and brown hair. He threw himself sideways into the Hydra agents with a grunt. They both shouted and he felt the shock prods nailing him again and again in the ribs and gut and thighs. He reached up and found the woman’s neck with his fingers. The man’s shock prod hit Steve’s ribs, and the woman choked and froze as the shock passed across Steve’s body and into her. But he was enhanced, and she was not. The electricity proved too much.
Steve reached for the male agent, but with a curse, the man shoved him off and kicked him in the stomach.
A large body hurtled past Steve, slammed into the Hydra agent, and snapped his neck.
Sam helped Steve up. “Come on. We gotta go.”
Steve grinned at Bucky, who was stepping over the body of the Hydra man, and glanced down at the hole in the floor. “How are we getting out of here?”
“I’ve got help. Hop out, lie flat on the ground, next vehicle right behind. Go!” Bucky insisted.
Natasha went first, dropping out feet first without a backwards look. She vanished on the pavement. Sam followed, and then Steve moved into position.
He glanced up at Bucky. “Who’s helping you?”
“Not now,” Bucky said firmly.
Steve frowned, nodded, and slid out of the vehicle.
He lay on the pavement for less than two seconds, disoriented, and then metal slammed into him and Steve rolled with a grunt into a small metal space.
It took a few seconds to get his bearings. They were in the bucket of a massive bulldozer cruising down the road closely behind the armored transport, stuck in New York traffic.
Bucky somersaulted into the space. “Quickly,” he said, and pulled bundles of orange clothing down from the top of the bucket. Sam and Natasha had scrambled off to the side; they took hard hats and orange vests from Bucky and dragged them on over scraped, bloodied, and bruised bodies. Steve examined the reflective strips for a second before following suit.
Bucky started feeling around on the back of the bucket.
“This is old SHIELD strategy,” Natasha said, voice echoing oddly in the confined space. Steve felt horribly exposed and tugged his hard hat lower over his forehead. “These things are ancient. Where-”
“Here,” Bucky said, and a piece of the back of the bucket fell away, leaving a hole just large enough for a medium-sized man. The engine noise got fractionally larger. “Careful on the climb.”
He slipped through the gap and into the guts of the bulldozer.