Code Black [The Experiments Book 1]

Preface

Preface

"Run," his voice bellowed as he pushed them out the laboratory door. He stood in the doorway, waiting for a reaction. She stood, paralyzed with shock and unable to react in time for the windows to shatter, the sound of water erupting in the hallways of the lower floors. "Go to the top floor; bring the young ones with you. There is an escape route there. The others are already gone. Now GO!"

He slammed the door in their faces, as she swallowed a gasp. The two youngest, the small blonde boy and the Japanese girl looked up at us, their frightened eyes glowing. Snapping into focus, her eyes trained on them as her brain worked out the escape route.

"Come on," a low voice beckoned, the familiarity shuttering through her. She looked into his dark eyes and nodded, knowing. She grasped the little boy's hand, sprinting after them. He kicked the door to the stairwell and ran, jumping three stairs at a time. Water collected below them as the floors shook vigorously, pulling them off our feet.

"Come on, faster or we'll never make it," he shouted. He grasped her hand, pulling upward until her feet lifted off the ground.

"We can only run so fast," She yelled, her voice barely audible under the sound of rushing water and metal screeching, ready to implode. He turned around, startled by the shift in sound and the protest. Sighing, the woman and pushed him up the stairs, feet soaking in the rising water. The little boy cried out as his hand slipped. His pant legs soaked with water. She firmly grabbed him under the arms and pulled him up on her back, running with adrenaline. Her heart pounded with every waking moment in their escape, reaching the top and bursting through the last door. The sky opened up, as the building shook again. A few more seconds and their lives would end in water.

"We have to jump, there's no other way," she shouted, looking over the edge. The street below was flooded, cars and boats lolling in its current.

"I agree," he replied, "but I don't think we can make it."

"We have to try," I said. He grabbed my hand, squeezed it, and nodded. I clambered over the edge counting down from three before jumping into the air. The little boy screamed into my ear, sending shivers through my entire body.

He held on tightly, waiting to make impact with the water below.