Sam is terrified. At the start they kept him with Bee, but after the other boy made the lab explode and tried to get the hostages free, they got them separated.
Now Sam is hold with the other students. Every evening soldiers come in and take some of them out. No-one ever come back. Yesterday they took seven guys, couple of them were in his same class last year. They were frighted. And even if Sam knows they will keep him for the last day, he feels scared as well, for himself and for the boys all around him.
When the door opens that evening, someone starts to cry and someone else tries to make the first one stops, but apart for that, no one moves, to frightened to direct the attention on himself.
But the soldiers that enter this evening, they are wearing different uniform from the ones of the days before. Before Sam can metabolize that, William Lennox is kneeling in front of him "Are you ok Sam?"
As the other soldiers take care of the 76 other boys, Epps joins Will in front of the traumatized teenager, "Sam thank God! Are you ok?Can you walk?Where is Bee?"
The last question is the one that wakes Sam from is numbness. "They keep him in another room, a laboratory. they wanna use him for generate a army of clones!"
"Ok, we will find him, you have to go with the other students, there are ambulances and pullman and our big friends outside" Will's voice is all business, but Sam can see behind is stony face that he is worries about Bee.
"I will stay with you, and I will bring Bee out of this place!" Sam riots over that, as he stands in front of the soldier.
"but…" "Will, we have no time for this" Epps interrupts him, and turning toward Sam handing him his gun "I showed you how to use it, try to stay behind us, shot only if is necessary, and aim to the legs. Let's go"
The complex is a labyrinth, but they manage to capture a technician and he lead them to the right lab.
Sam was sure he was ready. In hindsight he was completely wrong. He cannot force himself into the room, and Will just nods at him and to the other soldiers and commands them to lookout to the corridor. He enters in the lab with Epps and the technician.
Epps' grasp on the technician shirt tightens. "What happen here?" he asks in a growl.
"E-e-every evening th-th-they bring here some hostages, and they kill them in front of him. Th-they leave the corpses here with him till the next evening, when they bring in a bigger g-g-group"
The technician stammers about the number of guys to be the same of the number of days, "Th-they are keeping hi-his friend for the l-l-last day" but Will is not listening at him anymore, too concentrate on "him", the blonde boy who seems still working on something on one of the table without looks in their direction.
"Bee.." Will tries, hesitantly, to gain the boy's attention "Bumblebee?"
"I'm sorry I cannot be faster, I cannot make it works faster, I had to finish, I had to save them, I couldn't save them all, but I still need to save them…" Bee's tone is broken, with an edge of hysteria, and Will finds himself lost on how to help him.
"Bee, you are safe. They are safe. Don't you wanna come out and see Sam?" Epps tone is the one you could use with a frighten baby, or with a shady animal. The technician tries to run away, and Will mindless hope the soldiers outside will take care of him.
"No, I…"
"Bee, please…" Epps places an hand on Bee shoulder, relieved when the boy seems ok with the physical contact. The boy still unable to establish eyes contact with them, eyes fixed on the machine he's working on, and when Epps try to pull him far from the table, the boy react violently "No, I had to finish, I cannot let more of them die, please, PLEASE, I need more time, more time! GIVE ME MORE TIME, PLEASE!" He is hysteric now, his hand outstretched toward the machine and his face streaked by tears as Epps drags him further, hugging him on the ground.
"Please, I have to save Sam, I need to save Sam" Bee's pleading voice breaks the soldiers heart. Will is kneeling in front of them now, his hands restrain gently Bee' cheeks. "Bee, look at me. It's me, Will. You are safe now, and Sam is safe as well. He is just outside, he is waiting for us…"
Bee keeps sobbing as he try to get ride of the two men. "I have to finish it, I have to protect Sam" Is voice is feeble, and fade away as his eyes fall on the bodies o the corner. "I couldn't save them… I cannot save anyone, right?"
When Will suddenly stand up, Epps can only hold the boy tighter and watch his friend storms out of the door. He starts wondering if the situation is became to overwhelming for his Captain, even if he knows the man to by tough. Well, the situation is heartbreaking, and he will not keep it against him if he really run away, but at lest a warning could be welcomed.
But Will is coming back, and Sam is with him. Sam avoids to look at the corpses all around, and just stands close to the table, unsure on what he's supposed to do.
Will kneels again in from of Bee, who still silently sobbing and watching at the bodies, and again gently forces Bee to look at him "Bee, Sam is here, he is safe"
"Sam?"
Bee's voice sounds so little and tensed, and Sam's legs decide for him: they advance of few steps, and after drop Sam on his knees. "I'm here Bee, everything will be fine, ok? Let's go home, ok?"
"Sam? I'm sorry, Sam, so sorry, so sorry…" Epps release his grip on the boy, ready to grab him back in any moment.
Bee just duck in Sam's arms, and both the teenagers start crying loud for the first time in a week.
When Bee fall asleep, or unconscious anyway, Sam refuse to let him go, and carries him, bridal style, out of their prison, by himself. He sit on one of the ambulances bed with his precious cargo still in his arms, and refuse to let him go. He smile to the paramedic that bring them a blanket, and let another one takes Bee' vitals, but his vice-like grip on the other boy still tightened. Tomorrow, or in a week, when everything will start fading and Bee will looks less pale and scared, tomorrow he will let Bee out of his sight, till that moment, the sound of Bee breathing is the only thing that keep him sane.