Chapter One: Breaking Out
Melissa burst out of the door, frantically looking for an escape route. The only way was down the hall, or else go back where she just came from, which was a room filled with Scientists. And no way was she going in there again. She took off running, her feet barely making a sound on the solid tile flooring. She heard shouting from behind, but didn't dare look back. Melissa often had troublesome panic attacks when faced with imminent danger. She kept her feet moving in perfect rhythm. One, two. One, two, she thought. Counting her steps.
When she reached the end of the hall, Melissa took a right, knowing that if she took a left, things could only get worse. The front desk was to the left, and so were the vast lobby and the hazardous security alarms, for escapees just like her. When you crossed the invisible red line, the head of security instantly knew everything about you. What you looked like, your number, and your name. Melissa Blaze was very tall, with shoulder-length reddish brown hair. She was #8028.
Just barely, she heard footsteps behind her. Melissa pushed herself to go faster, willing her feet to move more rapidly. She looked more like a spirit now, like a lost soul in the forsaken walls of her home, her prison. Her feet were just barely touching the ground. Her arms pumped and her breath was short and ragged. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears. Her hair streamed behind her.
"Hey, stop!" Melissa heard, but she didn't stop. No one was going to tell her what to do, ever again. Upon reaching the end of the hallway, she took a left. She shot past a bewildered Scientist, sending her papers flying. Looking back, seven Scientists were after her. Not good.
Oh god, oh god, oh god, Melissa thought.
She closed her eyes and tried as best she could to take a deep breath. The Scientists were far behind her now. She stuck her hands out to her sides, and flicked her fingers back. The doors she ran past silently slid open, their locks now unlatched. Be careful, she warned. Experiments charged out of their rooms. They knew what was happening. They fought the Scientists, and pinned them down. There must have been at least two hundred Experiments now free from their rooms. With only seven Scientists, the Experiments easily overpowered them.
Melissa didn't stop to help. Still she unlatched doors, running down all the corridors, until all the Experiments were freed. They ran, following her. Melissa and her three thousand Experiments charged into the lobby, taking dozens of Scientists by surprise.
"Go, go, go!" Melissa yelled, shoving the younger Experiments toward the door. The older ones charged. Shattering glass was heard throughout the whole building. Melissa circled to the end of the line of Experiments, looking for stragglers. No one. Everyone had made it. Before anyone could notice her, she turned and ran back into the halls. Taking a series of rights and lefts, she found herself confronted with a large door.
The sign above read:
ROOM 8027. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
Melissa shoved against the door, breaking its hinges. She tripped the security alarms and blasting sirens filled her ears. Running in, she found Griffin waiting for her. He took her hand. Griffin was also tall, but he had long blonde hair and piercing green eyes. He was #8027. He was the only other experiment like Melissa. Together they ran out of the broken doorway, shooting past armored guards and Scientists.
They reached the end of the hallway, but there was nowhere to go. Scientists surrounded them, blocking the hallways to the right and left, as well as behind them.
"Bet you didn't count on this, #8028," Jacobi snarled. Jacobi was the head Scientist. He enjoyed torturing the Experiments, and often starved them for no reason. He hated children, which was odd, considering he worked with them every day. He took his job seriously. And what was his job, you ask? To make the Experiments' lives miserable.
"No, actually, I didn't," Melissa answered. "I give up. You win."
Melissa and Griffin stepped back, and then bent down, as if they were bowing down to Jacobi. He smiled, and laughed at the two remaining Experiments.
Ready, Grif? Melissa telepathically asked.
You bet, Blaze. On three.
"One. Two!" Melissa and Griffin shot up, running toward Jacobi. He smiled menacingly.
"There's nowhere to run, foolish children."
"We know!" Melissa yelled. She and Griffin jumped over Jacobi. The only thing in front of them was a wall with a window. Griffin hurled himself through it. Melissa hesitated. She halted and turned to face Jacobi. "Have fun, guys," she said to the Scientists.
"Don't you dare run away from me, #8028!" Jacobi bellowed.
Melissa smiled. "It's Blaze. Not "#8028"."
"Get back here!"
She turned and threw herself out the window.