Catch Me // Spider-Man (BOOK 1)

Chapter 14 - I can't lose him

I ran as fast as my feet would carry me. I ran towards certain danger, I ran to help my friend.

Connors couldn't have been that far away. I knew because the nearer I got to Oscorp and to Gwen the closer the sirens and overhead helicopters were getting too. They were following him, watching his every move. In a way it was a good thing. It gave me a rough idea of where he was.

The last thing I wanted was for Connors or Peter to spot me. Connors because he'd probably rip me to shreds and Peter because he'd never let me anywhere near the building I was heading towards now. I kept to the shadows, the side streets. Stayed out of sight, hoping I could slip through.

In an ideal world Oscorp would be the last place I'd be running towards but right now in reality I had no choice. One of my closest friends was in there oblivious. I sent her there. It was up to me to get her out.

Reaching for my cell phone which I'd deposited into Peter's backpack I dialled Gwen's number, praying to whoever would listen that she'd answer.

"Lauren, hey is everything ok?" She sounded calm, she had no idea what was heading her way.

"That depends." I couldn't hide the exhaustion in my voice.

"On what? Lauren what's wrong?"

"Please tell me you're not still at Oscorp?"

"I'm still waiting on the serum." Oh for the love Ian Somerhalder, why can't someone give me a break?

"Gwen you need to get out of there now."

"There's still eight minutes left."

"I don't care if there is eight minutes or eight seconds. Get out of there now." How more frantic did I need to sound for her to listen to me?

"I don't understand. Why? You asked me to do this."

"Listen to me. Connors is on his way to you right now. He's going to use Oscorp. He needs the disbursement device to infect the city."

"Lauren I can't just leave. We have to stop him." Not the time for gaining a hero complex Gwen. I'm already dealing with one. I don't think I could handle two.

"People are gonna die Gwen."

"All the more reason to make sure this gets finished."

I couldn't help the proud smile that came to my face when she said that. She was risking her own safety to save everyone else, and as I reached the Oscorp service entrance, Gwen still on the other end of the phone I knew I had to help her. If she was willing to risk everything then so was I.

"Fine, then I'm going to help you."

"What? No, Lauren stay away from here."

"It's too late. I'm already in the building."

With that I hung up the phone and went in search of the nearest alarm. Eventually I found one behind the desk in the lobby. I typed in the emergency evacuation code, initiated it and then ran towards the stairs. I made a conscience decision to avoid the elevator. I'd seen too many disaster movies. Whenever shit was going down someone always ended up either trapped or plummeting in one. I was not going to let that be me.

I was up as far as the tenth floor when my cell started to ring again. I really don't have time for this. Crap it was Pete.

"Hey," I tried to say calmly without letting in on the fact I'd broken my promise to go home.

"Why can I hear alarms?" Oh shit.

"I don't know why you can hear alarms Peter. Did you hit your head or something? Wait I've got your bag. How can you have your phone?" Diversion tactics. Worth a shot.