Chapter 23: A Friend Lost

GREECE - HYDRA FACTORY

The Red Skull is screaming. "YOU ARE FAILING!"

Zola cringes before him. Around them, Hydra troops search the rubble of another burned factory.

"We are close to an offensive that will shake the planet, Doctor. Yet we are continually delayed because you can't outwit a simpleton with a shield!" Schmidt berated.

Zola gestures at the devastated facility and defended "Sir, this is hardly my area of expertise. I merely develop the weapons, I cannot fire them... And the Allies did not take this installation easily. Your troops fought to the death."

"And now they are dead. I trust you see the problem... Finish your mission, Doctor. Before the American finishes his." He puts his hands on either side of Zola's head, squeezing a little, bringing their faces close. "You have done great things. Do this one more." Zola contemplates his task.

"Sir!" A soldier interrupted. The troops haul the injured plant manager, Velt, from the rubble. Red Skull bids them forward.

"We fought to the last man..." Manager Velt tried to defend.

Dr. Zola cringes as Red Skull pulls his Luger. "Very nearly."

Zola turns away, his face illuminated briefly by an inevitable flash of blue light.

"How's the experiment going on doctor?" Schmidt asked indifferently.

Dr. Zola took a few seconds to regain his composure before answering. "The girl is definitely a lot more sturdy than my other subjects. So I planned for her to undergo a new set of experimentations...unfortunately, his father doesn't agree until now."

"I'm confident that we'll be able to replicate his work. It's only a matter of time. Besides, we have in our hands a more persuasive bargaining chip for the woman. Dr. Erskine is no longer needed." Schmidt smiled creepily. "Make her watch." Then he laughed maniacally.

ALPINE PASS, RUSSIA. JANUARY 1945.

Steve and the Howling Commandos gather on a high plateau. Morita crouches over the transceiver. Jones listens to the transmission. Falsworth wields binoculars. Dugan and Dernier adjust a winch at the cliff's edge. Steve and Bucky stand in conversation.

"The engineer just radioed ahead. Hydra dispatch gave him permission to open the throttle." Jones slipping off the headphones. "Whatever's on this train, they must need it bad."

"Well, they're not going to get it." Morita confidently said.

"I wouldn't be so sure..." Falsworth said. In the binoculars he is using, he can see a far-off, speeding train in the distance. "Because they're moving like the devil."

Steve checks his rifle. Bucky looks over the cliff's edge. "Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?"

"And I threw up?" Steve said.

Bucky looks over the edge again, leery. "This isn't payback, is it?"

Steve looks up with a grin. "Now why would I do a thing like that?"

"Jerk." Bucky replied.

"Punk." Steve countered.

A train whistle shrieks through the pass. In the binoculars, Falsworth can see a futuristic Hydra train approaches. "All aboard, gentlemen! Mind the gap!"

Steve, Bucky and Jones attach T-bars to the cable. Steve said to Bucky and Jones "Okay, this is a very short, very fast train. We've got a ten-second window, tops. Miss it and you're a bug on the windshield."

Dugan checks the speed of the train against his watch and said "Better move it, bugs."

Steve, Bucky and Jones hook to the cable stretching across the pass. Dernier raises his hand and...drops it. Steve jumps shooting away. Jones and Bucky follow.

HYDRA TRAIN - ROOF

The Hydra train rockets along. Steve, Bucky and Jones drop hard onto the slick roof. Jones almost not making it if Bucky didn't help him. The three meet eyes: whew.

HYDRA TRAIN - REAR CAR

Steve kicks open the back door. He and Bucky rush in, weapons ready, only to find nothing. They look at each other. Steve heads for the next car.

Meanwhile, on the roof, Jones crawls toward the engine.

HYDRA TRAIN - MIDDLE CAR

Bucky and Steve bang into the next car and find it empty.

"I thought they were supposed to be hauling something." Bucky anxiously said.

Steve unhooks his shield, wary. "They were." He yanks open the next connecting door, stepping into the Hydra train's forward car. Another darkened car.

Steve and Bucky creep forward then a steel plate drops over the door, sealing them in. The lights brighten, revealing a massive Hydra trooper. Six and a half feet tall and heavily armored, both of his arms sport huge cannons.

Steve and Bucky open fire, but their machine gun bullets bounce uselessly off the trooper's armor.

The trooper takes aim at Steve. The blue pulse blows the shield out of Steve's hand and slams him into the back wall. The shield drops to the floor. The trooper turns to Bucky and fires.

Bucky dives. The blast rips a hole in the wall behind them, outside, a jagged ravine whips past the moonlight. A red light blinks from a camera on the ceiling.

HYDRA TRAIN - ENGINEER'S BOOTH

Dr. Zola watches on a monitor as the trooper presses in on Bucky. He leans into a microphone. "No. Finish the other one." He ordered the trooper.

HYDRA TRAIN - FORWARD CAR

The trooper turns back to Steve as he gets to his feet. The trooper aims at the star on Steve's chest. Bucky grabs Steve's shield off the floor and leaps in front.

"Bucky, no!" Steve shouted, alarmed.

BAM! The cannon fires, hitting Bucky square in the shield blowing him through the hole in the wall. With a last desperate effort, Bucky snags the jagged edge. The trooper's weapon is momentarily spent by the blast. As it starts to power back up, Steve lunges, grabbing Bucky's slipping hand. Steve starts pulling him back in. Then...BAM. The trooper fires again, vaporizing Bucky's arm into a blue mist.

HYDRA TRAIN - ROOF

On the roof, Jones stares in horror as Bucky's body whips away, tumbling into a bottomless gorge.

HYDRA TRAIN - FORWARD CAR

Steve reaches out in anguish. "BUCKY!" The only response is wind and the clatter of train wheels. The trooper takes another step. Steve grabs his shield and turns, enraged. The trooper fires. This time, Steve holds on, knocking the blast away with his shield. He advances.

HYDRA TRAIN, ENGINEER'S BOOTH

Dr. Zola slams his hand on the console. "Again! Fire again!"

HYDRA TRAIN - FORWARD CAR

The trooper fires again. Steve deflects it and keeps coming. The trooper re-aims. Steve charges, red-eyed. He throws his shield at the trooper.

HYDRA TRAIN - ENGINEER'S BOOTH

The screen goes dark. Dr. Zola swallows, frightened. He turns for the train controls. But he heard a click sound. A .45 presses into his temple.

Jones hangs from the roof, gun arm extended into the window. "Stop this goddamned train."