Date: 298 After Landing, Spring
My dearest Peggy,
I doubt that this will ever be seen by you, or anyone else, but after what I have seen and experienced these last few weeks I feel compelled to lay down my thoughts.
Before I continue, I should make it clear that I am well and unharmed. And to the best of my knowledge, I am of sound mind. Though I sometimes question that.
I remember the last words I spoke to you, aboard that HYDRA plane. How I would take you dancing, and have the band play something slow for us. I never had learned to dance, and I'd hate to have stepped on your toes but, to hold you close, it would have been worth the embarrassment. Guess I waited too long to ask you. I expected to die in that moment, and watched as the ice and ocean rapidly rose to greet me.
When I finally awoke, untold time had passed. I opened my eyes and cast them upon a noon Sun, its warmth welcome and needed. When I attempted to move, I found most of my body encased in a layer of ice, in some places more than an inch thick. Once free, I realized I had no idea where I was but it was a land of ice and snow. It was so very cold, and I truly believe that if it hadn't been for what the good Dr. Erskine had done to me I would never have survived the impact or the weather.
I built a fire from what dry wood I could find, and continued thawing myself out and drying the suit. Even now I have to laugh about it, but I felt a little silly sitting next to a fire in the middle of nowhere wearing red, white and blue. But it was warm. I do wonder what had become of the shield, which had previously saved my life as well as many others, but it wasn't with me. Maybe it washed ashore somewhere else, and if so I hope whomever finds it makes good use of it, but more likely it vanished inside the plane.
Of the plane there was no sign. No wreckage could be seen, not even a stray bolt. I didn't think much of it at the time, after all, I may have floated for days before washing shore, but as the weeks went on I started to form a theory of why that was.
Anyway, the next day I started to make my way South, following the coast as I did. It was a long walk, and I had to stop every few days to hunt for food. The war had thought me how to survive in the wild, and I used what I learned. At first I stuck to fishing, the waters were thick with them in some places, but as I traveled the ice turned to snow and with it came forests for me find bigger game in. I made a few rabbit traps in the beginning, but eventually fashioned a spear and found some deer. I also noticed the wolves that had found my scent, but as long as I left some food behind for them they seemed to give me a wide berth.
I admit, I first thought I might have been in Canada, but when my eyes first laid upon a towering wall of ice, I reevaluated that line of thought. From the ground it seemed as tall as any building in New York, and under the sun it wept rivers upon the ground where it would gather and refreeze at night. I looked west, further inland, and it stretched on for as far as I could see. I honestly didn't know what to do when I saw it, but when I saw men (finally, other people!) walking atop it I decided to seek their aid in finding a way home to you.
Unfortunately, my appearance seemed to agitated them. When I emerged from the cover of the forest and into the open, for there was at least a football fields length of clear space between the two, a horn blew from behind the massive wall. And as I grew closer, I was greeted by the men atop the wall firing an arrow into my path. I stood there, where the arrow landed, and waited. I must have waited for several hours, because the sun was started to set when a gate in the wall opened and a dozen men in black cloaks marched out to meet me.
I had heard of historical reenactments, but had never seen one before. I assumed that was what they were but between the massive ice wall and their strange language, I decided that this was not one of them. They came to me appearing ready to fight, but with their weapons still holstered. I had only seen swords and bows in museums and movies like "Robin Hood" up to this point, and I must confess they appear much more deadly when the men carrying them look like they have used them.
Unable to understand them, or they me, we stood there for maybe an hour uselessly speaking words the other couldn't understand. Sometimes one of them would point at me, call me something that starts with an "Y" sound, and then the others would argue about it. I guess they were trying to decide who I was or where I was from, but over time their argument turned to where I WASN'T from. And they all seemed to agree that I wasn't from the lands on this side of their wall.
I spent the next week with these men in their castle. They were weary of me at first, but in time they warmed up to me. In exchange for the food and shelter I helped out around the place, cleaning floors or carrying heavy items around, all while keeping my ears open and trying to learn the language. Whatever was in the super-soldier serum made my brain stronger as well as my body, but it still took a few days to pick up the basics. The rest of the week to reach a point where they could understand me.
Once I was able I learned that I was in a place called Eastwatch, one of a series of castles that stretch across the 300 miles of ice they call "The Wall." I was in a region they simply called, "The North," that was part of the continent of Westeros. I didn't believe any of it at first but after speaking with their maester, a kind of scholar or doctor, I saw the evidence drawn on maps and written across hundreds of books. It was all too much to be just a show, a fake, and so I was forced to accept that I am a long, long way from my home.