Chapter 3
A Heroic Beginning
Chapter 3
Sam was speechless. He had just witnessed a real, live shooting. Sure, he had heard about shootings on the news and seen plenty of violence in the movies and on television, but he had never seen that kind of violence in person. Sam tried to say something, but the words were caught in his throat. He could only watch as the Odd Worker quickly walked past his victim and exited the generator room. The man he had shot lay crumpled on the floor. Before Sam could manage to say anything, a loud siren sounded. Everyone in the group looked at each other with a mixture of nervousness and bewilderment. Sam turned to try to tell somebody what he just saw and that’s when he caught a glimpse of McBride with a walkie talkie next to his ear. Sam couldn’t make out what was being told to him, but he didn’t have to. McBride’s expression said it all. He looked as if he had just seen a ghost.
The siren continued blaring and McBride said something to the tour guide and Mr. Gates. He ran past the group and down the stairs. The walkie talkie was still squawking as he ran past. The siren drowned out almost everything, but right as McBride passed him, Sam could make out, “Containment failing…” The tour guide shouted, “Ladies and gentlemen, please follow me. There is an emergency. We need to exit the facility. Please proceed in an orderly fashion out the way we all entered. ”
“What’s wrong?” one of the group shouted.
“There is no time to explain. We all need to leave. Now please, make your way out of the doors.”
“Everybody, do as the man says,” Mr. Gates said.
The tour guide walked toward Sam and Will.
“Okay everybody, we need to go now!”
The tour guide started walking quickly out of the hall as Sam’s other classmates followed. Sam stood in place, a rock in the river of people. He tried to get the tour guide’s attention.
“Hey, there’s an injured man down there. He’s been shot!”
Sam looked back to see that people in the facility were scrambling. The center of the machine looked brighter than it was when the tour group had entered the Observation Hall. A number of workers were running through the exit directly below where Sam and his group were. He didn’t see anybody move to tend to the fallen worker.
“Brody. Brody! BRODY!”
Sam turned to see Mr. Gates yelling at him.
“We need to get out of here.”
“But…”
“NOW, Mr. Brody.”
“There’s an injured man. He’s been shot!”
“MOVE!”
“Come on Sam, we gotta go,” Will stood next to Sam, pleading with him.
Sam joined the tail end of his class, who had all moved quickly past him in the commotion. As they made their way down the stairs, Sam tried to push past his fear and get his head around things. There was something wrong with the machine. They all needed to get out of the building, but a man was shot and it seemed like nobody had even noticed.
“Before I leave, I have to let somebody know there’s an injured man down there,” Sam thought to himself.
His chance arrived when he reached the lobby. Sam saw someone who looked like a security guard. Breaking away from the group, Sam made his way toward him. The guard was talking excitedly on his walkie-talkie.
“Excuse me sir. There’s…”
“Not now, kid!” The chatter on the walkie-talkie was frantic. Sam overheard some of the radio chatter.
“Generator set to critical. It’s overloading,” a voice said.
“That’s impossible,” another voice said.
“The gauges are reading right. Safety protocols are disabled. The whole generator is set to go up.”
“Are we getting everybody out?”
“Evac is in progress.”
Sam knew that getting the stricken worker out was even more imperative. If the bullets hadn’t already killed him, the explosion clearly would. He tried the security guard again.
“A man’s been hurt sir. We need to get him out. He’s been…”
“Look, you need to get out of here! This whole place could come down.”
“Sir, I know that. That’s why you need to get somebody…”
“We will kid; you have to get out of here! Now!”
Sam didn’t believe him. He hadn’t even told him where the wounded man was. “Believe me, sir, I intend to, but…”
“Kid, you’re not intending anything. You are leaving. RIGHT. NOW.”
Before Sam could say anything else, he felt someone grab his arm and turned to see Will.
“Sam, what are you doing? We have to get out of here!”
“I know, Will, but a man’s been shot. We can’t just leave him.”
“The hell we can’t. We’re not rescue workers.”
“Will, I know that. I have to at least tell somebody though.”
“Fine we can do that outside! Let’s go!”
“Just let me tell this guy and we’re out.”
Sam turned back to see the security guy had vanished. Sam quickly looked around to try and find him, but he was lost in the sea of people making their way out of the building. Will gave Sam’s arm another tug, this one much more forceful. Will rushed for the exit half dragging Sam. Sam tried to grab the attention of a staff member, any staff member, but failed. Nobody paid him any mind.
Just as Will reached the exit, he felt one of his arms nearly get yanked out of its socket. As he turned to see what happened, an avalanche of people fell upon him, pushing him through the exit and out of the building. To avoid being trampled, he went with the flow. It took him a minute or two to get out of the rush and get clear of the crowd. Trying to get his bearings, he realized he was by himself. Sam was nowhere to be found. It dawned on Will that the yank he felt was Sam breaking his grip. He was still in the building. Will immediately made a move to go back inside, but one of the Institute’s security staff saw him moving toward the building and intercepted him.
“Are you crazy, kid? Where do you think you’re going?”
“My friend is still in there.”
“Are you sure? He could be out here somewhere.”
“Believe me, I’m sure.”
“Stay out here. There’s nothing you can do for him.”
“He’s gonna die in there.”
“If you go in there, you’ll both be dead. Now stay here. We’ll get to him when we can.”
“When will that be?”
“After we’ve determined it is safe to go in.”
“That place can go up any minute.”
“That is precisely why you are not going in there. I’m not going to tell you again, stay here.”
“HUDSON!” Will looked all around for the origin of that shout. He desperately hoped that it was Sam calling for him. Maybe Sam had gotten out and the rush of people had separated them. Unfortunately, the voice wasn’t Sam’s. It was Mr. Gates, who was making his way toward him.
“Hudson, where the hell have you been? I told you and Brody to stay with us!”
“Mr. Gates, I know that. We were trying to do just that.”
“Where is Brody?”
“He just wouldn’t listen. I tried to get him out, Mr. Gates, but I couldn’t. I think he’s still in there.”
“Oh my…” Mr. Gates looked at the security officer.
“Officer…”
“I know, sir, and I’m going to tell you what I told your student here. Nobody’s going back in there. Not him and not you. There’s nothing you can do for him right now.”
“No. Oh no,” Mr. Gates moaned.
“Sam… you damn fool.”