The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2) (38 page)

Owens raced to send some final thoughts to Erik and me.
“Don’t worry about what she said. All those people will be in the dining room. And they’ll be unconscious once that gas hits. I’m sending you pills to take so the gas won’t affect you. Make sure you take them! And remember. Power is out at 6. Generator will be on in 4 minutes, maybe earlier. Don’t waste even a second!”

Walter came in and escorted us back to our room. We changed clothes, then went to the lab for more testing. Neither one of us could concentrate, which annoyed Alison. I blamed it on the pregnancy. Erik told her he was upset about us being separated on Sunday. Luckily she bought both our excuses and was happy to get rid of us by 3.

“Sam, forget about the globe,”
Erik thought to me when we were back in our room.
“There’s no time. 4 minutes! That’s nothing. And Owens said the generators could come on even before that.”

“We have to try it, Erik. I’m not backing down on this. We’ll give it 1 minute. If we can’t open the globe within that time, then we’ll leave.”

“That minute could be the difference between escaping and being a prisoner here forever.”

“Yeah, and that minute could also mean saving both of our lives. We need to get those vials, Erik.”

“Dammit, Sam! You’re driving me freakin’ crazy with this! What’s wrong with you? You’re always the cautious one. I’m the one who’s all about taking risks. And now I’m being cautious for once and you won’t listen to me!”

“I’m not arguing about it, Erik.”

He gave up trying to change my mind. We spent the next hour playing out the escape plan in our heads. Then I practiced mimicking Drew’s brain waves again.

Right before 5, I hugged Erik tight one last time, just in case our plan didn’t work. I knew if it didn’t, I would never see him, or anyone else I cared about, ever again.
 

“We’ll get out of here, Sam,”
Erik thought to me, but I could feel that he wasn’t confident.
 

I wouldn’t let go of him. Erik and I had been through so much together since meeting at that diner in Texas, but the past couple weeks had brought us closer than ever.
“If we screw this up, Erik, I’ll never see you again. They’ll keep us apart so we can never escape.”
 

“I know. That’s why I need to tell you this before we go. And it’s not because of some stupid software, either. I know how I feel. I—”

Natalie and Kendall walked in and Erik let go of me. He didn’t continue his thought, but I wasn’t sure I wanted him to. I couldn’t get sidetracked with emotions. I had to stay completely focused on our plan.
 

Natalie whisked me off to the bathroom for hair and makeup. She had a new dress for me to wear for the announcement. It was pink and flowing. Very girly. Erik wore a gray suit and light blue tie. The pink and blue were obviously picked to go with the baby announcement theme.
 

Erik and I didn’t mind-talk until 5:50, after Natalie and Kendall had left.
“Okay, one more time. Just to be perfectly clear,”
I thought to him.
“As soon as the power goes out, we’ll run to the globe. I’ll try thinking the phrases while you time me.”
 

“Right. But wait a minute. Is the gas being released at 6 or is the power going out at 6?”
 

“Crap! I don’t know! He didn’t say. And the pills! We never got them!”
I was panicking. The plan was falling apart before it even began.

“Shit! Where are the damn pills?”
Erik yelled in my head.
“Sam, what if Owens isn’t helping us after all? What if it’s all been some elaborate game that GlobalLife’s been in on all along to see if we’d actually try to escape?”

“No. Owens has to be helping us. He’s already helped Colin and Jack. In that dream I had, someone got Colin and Jack out of the airport and into a car. They were safe, just like Owens said.”

“You don’t know if they were safe. You just saw them get picked up. Owens is the one who told you they were safe. He could have been lying about the whole thing.”

Erik was right. I was relying on what Owens had said. A man we’d just met. Why were we trusting him? Because he let us hear his thoughts? What if he
was
working for GlobalLife?

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.”