It was 5:58 and we still had no pills. Erik began pacing the floor. Suddenly the door opened and Walter walked in.
“I’m here to take you to the dining room.” As always, he walked in slowly, seeming completely uninterested in us. “Come on. We don’t want to be late.”
We followed him to the door. He stopped suddenly and pulled a small round container from his pocket. “Oh, yes, I almost forgot. I was supposed to give these to you. One of you has a headache?”
He handed me the container. Inside it were two small capsules. I took one and gave the other one to Erik. “We both have a headache,” I said.
“From all the testing in the lab today,” Erik added. He went over and poured us some water. We swallowed the pills, trusting they were meant to help us and not harm us.
“Very well, then. Let’s go.” Walter held the door for us as we walked out. We went down the hall and to the lobby. Nobody was there except for the guards and the woman at the front desk. The guests were already in the dining room having cocktails.
A platform with a podium had been set up in the lobby. A GlobalLife Genetics banner hung behind it.
“The announcement is being made in the lobby?” I asked Walter. He didn’t answer.
Suddenly, I heard a loud thump. Erik and I turned back to find Walter had collapsed on the floor. More thumps echoed in the lobby. We looked to find the guards unconscious on the floor. The lady at the desk was slumped over sideways in her chair. Then everything went black. Pitch-black. Even the lights outside had gone out.
It was time. Erik and I could see perfectly in the dark thanks to our enhanced vision. We ran to the globe.
Erik stopped before getting there. “Oh, shit! What if it needs electricity to open? Let’s just leave, Sam. Forget this.”
“No! Get over here and start timing me!” I stood right in front of the globe. “We’re only as strong as our weakest link.” I focused all my energy into replicating Drew’s brain waves when he said the phrase. Nothing happened.
“Ten seconds,” Erik called out.
I thought the phrase again. Nothing. Then again. Still nothing.
“Thirty seconds,” Erik called out again. “Just try something else!”
“To take the human race to a higher plane of being,” I thought. It was the phrase Drew had used when describing the goal of the Founders. He had also thought it in his head when he was reviewing the announcement. I waited but the globe didn’t move.
I tried the phrase again, tweaking it. “The Founders’ goal is to take the human race to a higher plane of being.” The globe remained still.
“Forty-eight seconds. Forget it, Sam! We have to go!” Erik grabbed my arm.
“No! Not yet!” I closed my eyes and thought of all my encounters with Drew. First at dinner, then at the gala, then at the lab. He hadn’t said much at the lab because of that announcement he was reviewing. Then it hit me. The announcement! The phrase I’d just tried had been in the announcement. And the announcement was apparently being made in the lobby. So if Drew was reading the announcement in the lobby next to the globe, he couldn’t say that phrase. If he did, it would open the globe. So that phrase couldn’t be it!
But there was something in that announcement that Drew had crossed out. He’d made a change because he said he couldn’t say something. What was it? What couldn’t he say when he was next to the globe?
“Sam, we’re leaving. Now!” Erik pulled on my arm.
I tried to remember that day in the lab. What were the words Drew crossed out? He was announcing the pregnancy and said—
“Sam!” I heard Erik yelling. “Come on!”
“Samantha Andrews, Subject 46A.” I closed my eyes and put all my energy into mimicking Drew’s brain waves.
As Erik dragged me away from the globe I opened my eyes. “Erik, wait! Look!” I pointed to the globe. It was slowly spinning and splitting along invisible cracks. We watched as it unfolded into pieces, like petals on a flower. We ran up to it. Inside was a small box. It looked like a tiny safe with a keypad on top.
“Erik, the password! Put the password in!”
Erik reached inside the globe to get the box. But the box wouldn’t move. It was permanently attached to the inside of the globe. Erik punched the password into the keypad. Nothing happened.
He tried the password again. Still nothing. “It’s not working.” He checked his watch. “Sam, there’s less than 3 minutes! Just go!”
“What? Without you?”
“Yes! Get out of here. Run!”
He reached back into the globe, trying the password again. Still nothing.
The lights in the building started to flicker. The generator was trying to start.
“Sam! Get out of the building!”
“I can’t! I can’t go without you!”
“Sam, I have to keep trying! We’re so close. We’ll never get a chance like this again! Get a head start. I’ll catch up. I’m faster than you. Just get to Owens’ car and tell them to wait.”
“But you won’t make it in time!”
“Sam, listen to me! I’ll meet you there! Now go!” His voice echoed in the lobby.
I hesitated. “Okay. But hurry!”
I bolted out the entrance doors and took off down the hill. Suddenly I heard Erik in my head.
“Sam, it opened! I got the vials! I’ll be right there!”
“Hurry, Erik!” I stopped to wait for him. I looked around but couldn’t see him anywhere. “Erik, where are you?” I heard nothing back. “Erik, can you hear me? Where are you?”
He didn’t answer. The unexplained silence was making my heart beat so fast that I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Where was he?! Why wasn’t he answering me?! I ran back toward the building.
“Sam, keep going!” Erik’s voice filled my head. “Get to the car!”
“Erik, where are you? Why aren’t you out here?”
“The doors locked as I was trying to leave. I can’t get out. Just go!”
“What? No! I’ll come get you!” I sprinted back to the entrance doors. I yanked on them as hard as I could. They wouldn’t budge. “I can’t open them, either! There’s gotta be another way in.”
“Sam, what are you still doing out there?! I told you to go! You’re running out of time! Don’t worry about me! I’ll find another way!”
It was the last words I heard. He cut his thoughts off from me.
The outside perimeter lights were flashing on and off. I raced down the hill to the large steel entrance gate. I tried to climb it, but it was too slippery and there was nothing to hold on to. I pushed on the gate. It didn’t move.
I closed my eyes and imagined my brain and muscles connecting, just as Erik had taught me back in Texas. Then I used every ounce of strength I had and pushed on the heavy, steel gate. It nudged a little, just enough to squeeze through.
I quickly reviewed Owens’ map in my head as I continued to run. The map led me to an area of old abandoned warehouse buildings. It was the location Owens instructed Erik and me to go to once we escaped. Owens said a car would be waiting for us. But there wasn’t a single person or vehicle in sight. I hid in an alley between two of the buildings and waited.
As I caught my breath, I was hit with the realization that Erik hadn’t made it out. I slumped to the ground. Why didn’t he leave with me? How could he stay behind like that?
Sirens began going off, waking me from my thoughts. Soon they would be searching for me. I had to get away from there. I was too close to GlobalLife. Where was Owens’ car? It should have been there waiting! Where was it?!
My head began to ache terribly as scenes began flashing in my mind. I recognized it instantly. The scenario streaming. It was an ability I’d first experienced when I was in Texas. But I hadn’t experienced it since then. I figured I didn’t have the ability anymore. To make it work, high levels of stress hormones had to be released into my bloodstream. And despite all the stress I’d experienced at GlobalLife, this ability hadn’t turned on.
Until now.
The scenarios came to a halt and I could see a pathway telling me where to go. I took off, racing down an abandoned road, trying to stay focused. But my mind couldn’t stop thinking about Erik. I should have refused to leave, I thought. If I’d refused, he would have come with me. Why did I listen to him when he told me to go? Why did I even consider leaving him there? What was I thinking? Now I would never see him again and—
I hit something, knocking myself to the ground. “Sam!” A hand reached out to help me up. I recognized it instantly.
“Erik!” I hugged him tight, then stood back to confirm that he was actually there. “Erik, how did you get out of there?”
“Sam, we have to go. I’ll tell you later.” He started to head back to the original meeting spot.
“Erik, wait! We need to go this way.”
“No. That’s the wrong way. The map said to go to that area with the old warehouse buildings.”
“Yeah, I already went there but Owens’ car never showed up. Something must have changed. I can see where we need to go, Erik. It’s all in my head. Just follow me!”
I heard Erik’s voice as I ran in front of him. “You better be right about this, Sam.”
The pathway generated from my scenario streaming had us run down a narrow, deserted road. Snowy fields surrounded us on both sides. After a while, I could see the pathway running out. It ended under an old stone bridge.
“Erik, the bridge. That’s it.”
We ran under the small bridge and waited. Off in the distance, we could see helicopters hovering over GlobalLife, surveying the area from above.
“There’s nobody here,” Erik said. “Maybe we should keep running.”
“Just wait a minute.” I knew this was the right spot. I could feel it.
“This doesn’t seem like— ” Erik was interrupted by the rumble of an engine racing up behind us. But it wasn’t a car engine. And it wasn’t just one engine. It was two.
Two large motorcycles stopped right next to us. They were driven by large figures wearing helmets that hid their faces. “Get on,” the one yelled at me. The other one ordered Erik to do the same.
“Sam, no! We don’t know who they are. And we have to stay together.”
“I’m going, Erik. I feel it. This is right.” I got on the back of the motorcycle, ripping my dress to get my leg over.
Erik hesitated, then hopped on the back of the other one.
The motorcycles sped off, going farther and farther away from GlobalLife. We slowed down when we got to a remote area near the ocean. I could hear the waves breaking on the rocky cliffs. The driver stopped, then suddenly sped up. I held on tight as he drove almost to the edge of the cliff but then turned sharply down a long and steep incline into some type of underground garage, which opened as we approached.
Inside, the bright lights of the garage blinded me for a second. As my eyes adjusted, I looked for Erik. He was right behind me with the other driver. We parked near a door and both drivers jumped off. The driver who’d been with me removed his helmet and held out his hand to help me off.
“Hi, I’m Vince. I work for Mr. Owens.”
I climbed off the motorcycle. Erik came over and stood beside me. “What is this place?”
“It’s a safe house. We’re deep underground. There’s a whole complex right through this door.”
“Owens said a car was picking us up by some old warehouse buildings but it never showed up,” Erik said.
“Yeah. We had a change of plans,” Vince explained. “That generator kicked in sooner than we expected. With the power back on, the original meeting spot was too close to GlobalLife. They would have seen us.”
“How did you know we’d find you?” I asked.
“Owens knew that one of you would figure it out. Let’s go inside. You can clean up.”
I looked down to find that my dress was not only ripped but also covered in mud from the motorcycle ride.
Vince led us inside to a long hallway that opened up into a large seating area. It had modern, high-end furniture and concrete floors. Off to the side were several other rooms. One of them looked like a control room. It had computer monitors lining the wall and people were working on digital touch screens that hovered in the air.
“This is the common area,” Vince said, leading us over to a large leather sofa. “It’s a place where people come to have meetings or just hang out. Have a seat. We’ll be right back.” He and the other driver disappeared down a hallway on the other side of the room.
A soon as they were gone, I hugged Erik. “We did it! We really got out of there!”
“It was close. But yeah, we made it. It’s kind of hard to believe.”
“Wait—how did you get out?”
He smiled. “The garbage chute. It was in a maintenance room off the lobby. I remembered seeing it on the building map Owens gave us. I’m guessing that room’s usually locked. But when I went to check, the door was open. There was a cleaning cart wedged in it. The maintenance guy was wheeling it out when he got knocked out by the gas. I didn’t know where the chute would take me, but I tried it anyway.”
“Where did you end up?”
“In a dumpster outside the back of the building. I got out, then ran and climbed the fence just as the alarms went off.” He brushed his suit off. “I didn’t even get that dirty. I don’t smell, do I?”
I laughed. “No. So what was the deal with the password? Why wasn’t it working?”
“I don’t know. It’s like you had to put it in multiple times. I was ready to give up, but I punched it in one last time and the box popped open.” He showed me the two vials tucked away in the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He grabbed my hand. “We got what we needed, Sam! We can turn off the timer!”
“Yeah, but I shouldn’t have left you behind like that, Erik. And you shouldn’t have told me to. I thought you were gone forever.” I hugged him again.
“We both made it out, Sam. That’s all that matters. Hey, what happened with the globe? I was so busy keeping time I wasn’t listening to what you were thinking.”
“The first two phrases didn’t work. I was in a total panic and then you were yelling at me to leave.”
“So what was the phrase?”
“It was my name. And my, uh—my number. Subject 46A.” I told Erik how I’d remembered Drew reviewing the announcement speech and how he crossed out the part with my name and subject number. “Why would that even be in his speech? Isn’t that weird?”
Vince came back in the room. “There are some people who want to see you.”
Erik and I stood up, expecting to see Owens and whoever else played a role in our escape. But instead, we saw Jack and Colin coming out from behind Vince.
“Colin!” I ran over to him.
“Sam, I told you never to leave me again,” he said, not letting me go.
Jack went over and hugged Erik. He looked like he hadn’t slept since we’d seen him last.
“Colin, I didn’t think we’d ever get out of there. You wouldn’t believe what happened when we—”
I stopped, almost passing out when I saw another person coming down the hall.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Secrets
“Uncle Dave!” I yelled.
Colin let me go. I ran up to Dave, tears streaming down my face.
“Uncle Dave! I can’t believe it’s really you!”
“Hi, honey. I’m so happy you’re safe.” He gave me one of his big Uncle Dave hugs that I’d loved since I was little girl.
“What happened? How did you get up here? Was that letter really from you?” I had so many questions for him.
He smiled. “Sam, just slow down. We’ll get to all that later. But first, tell me, are you okay? Did they hurt you at all?”
“No. I’m okay. What about you?” I stood back and looked him over to see if he’d been harmed by GlobalLife. But he looked just as I’d remembered.
“I’m fine, Sam. I got away from them before they co
uld do too much damage.”
“Uncle Dave, I was so worried about you.”
“I know, honey. I’ve been worried about you, too. But it sounds like you’ve been taking pretty good care of yourself. Getting out of GlobalLife not just once, but twice! Making it down to Texas. Finding my old friend, Jack.”
Jack came over and gave me a hug. “Hey, Sam. I didn’t even get to say hello when you came in.”
“That’s okay. You need to be with Erik.”
Jack turned to Dave. “Dave, I need to introduce you to my son, Erik.”
Dave shook Erik’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Erik. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Yes. Dave and I have had some time to catch up while we’ve been waiting here for you two,” Jack said.
“Well, sorry we took so long, Dad,” Erik kidded. “See, Sam? I told you we should have escaped sooner.”
“Let’s go sit down,” Dave said. “We have a lot to talk about.”
Jack and Erik sat down. Dave and I sat across from them.
“Colin, get over here and sit by your girl,” Dave said. “He’s talked about you nonstop,” Dave whispered to me.
Dave moved over and Colin sat down, putting his arm around me. My heart ached as I sat next to him, knowing I was pregnant with Erik’s child. How could I ever tell Colin that I was pregnant? I felt sick just thinking about it.
“I have to admit we were surprised you were able to get out this soon,” Jack said. “Owens didn’t think the plan would happen for another few weeks. And then all of a sudden it was tonight. What happened?”
“There was gonna be an announcement about—” Erik stopped before mentioning the pregnancy. He looked at me for permission to continue.
I got in his head. “Please don’t tell them yet. I need to tell Colin myself. And Dave. Let’s just wait. They don’t have to know this second.”
I could feel Erik’s mood change from excited to sad as I waited for his response. It was almost like he couldn’t wait to tell them about the baby.
“What announcement?” Colin asked.
“Oh, just some announcement about the project,” Erik lied. “But the reason we had to get out tonight was because they were gonna move us to separate rooms on Sunday.”
The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2) Page 30