I’m watching the clock, as if as soon as one of the hands moves something will happen. Nothing ever does. I stand up and stretch. I have been here for at least a couple of hours, days who knows how long, just sitting, waiting for something to happen. I start pacing around the room, deep in thought. “Why am I even here,” I think to myself. I honestly can’t remember. All I know is that I have been here a long time.
I suddenly realize I am not alone. A little girl sits huddled in a chair.
“What’s wrong?” I ask
“I don’t know where I am,” She replies. “Where’s my mommy?” She starts to cry.
“Its okay. Just calm down. We can figure this out together, because I don’t know where I am either.”
She stops crying. “O-Okay,” she says in a shaky voice.
“My name is Dustin, What’s yours?” I ask.
“My name is Eleanor.”
“Well Eleanor, it is nice to meet you,” I say.
...
We group around the window to watch, I know we’re all thinking the same thing “Just work. Please, just work.” It’s been almost 4 years now, 2,568 tests later, still no positive results. Test subject 480DH#2 is the most promising yet, but considering the amount of failure we have witnessed, I dare not think that it is possible that he is the one.
...
I continue to pace around the room, then I see a door in the corner, I hadn’t noticed yet. I walk over to it, the handle is cold, oh so cold. I turn the handle, give a little shove and it opens. What I am see is blank,: a room with white walls, white ceiling, white floor. It’s empty. I’m about to step inside when I feel something latch onto my leg. I tense and look down, only to see Eleanor clinging to me like a Koala to a tree.
...
My fellow scientists and I sit in dead silence listening to the conversation through the scratchy speaker placed in the control panel. It sounds like the loudspeaker from elementary school. I turn to the right to see two of my colleagues whispering. I signal to the guard, he comes over and once again I hear those two distinct little sound that you can never forget once you’ve heard them. The sound of a silenced pistol, followed by their bleeding bodies hit the ground.
...
“Don’t leave me, I'm scared.” She pleads in a shaky tone
“I won’t, because i’m scared too.” I respond softly. She seemed to loosen her grip for second, but when I go to walk into the room it tightened.
I look down at her. “You have to let me go,” I tell her, trying to sound as soothing and confident as I can. She looks at me then lets her arms fall to her sides. I step into the room, nothing happens. This room is of no importance. I look around. Nothing. It is empty. Eleanor comes in as well, and I sit there dumbfounded for a minute.
“What is it Dustin?” She asks with a worried look on her face.
“I’m not completely sure,” I say while still staring at the wall. as I leave the room I realize there is a light breeze coming from somewhere. The door that closes behind me is warm, and when I touch it, I feel like I’m touching nice warm sand. I’m closing my eyes, I can smell the aroma of fruits, and I can feel the sun and the cool summer breeze. In my mind I’m lying on the beach, with servents to bring me drinks. But the sound of crying brings me back to reality.
“Dustin, wake up, please Dustin please, just wake up. I finally open my eyes, to find Eleanor is kneeling next to me, crying.
...
We turn to each other,
“This could be the one” I say with the widest smile I have produced since I won the Science Fair for the fifth year in a row. My colleagues all nod their heads with bright sparkles in their eyes.
...
“Hey it's okay, we're all right” I say. She curls up on the floor sobbing, and I decide to leave her there. I have to figure out where we are. But then again, that is nearly impossible to do.
...
“Increase gas levels 15 percent,” I say with a smirk on my face. “Oh how long I have waited for this day.” The crank of the dial pleases me so, so very much.
...
I start thinking about home, but strangely I can’t remember where I live. I run over to Eleanor. “Where do you live?” I ask in a hurried tone.
“I live in, I-I live in...” her voice trails off. “I can’t remember,” she says in a shaky tone.
“It’s okay, I can’t remember either” I say trying to calm her down. “What we need to do now is write down everything you can remember about yourself and everything you know about me, okay? can you do that for me?” I ask. She quickly nods her head. I take out my notebook and rip off a page for Eleanor. I hand her a pencil and she begins furiously writing. I start to write as well. Dustin Henderson, stuck with small girl named Eleanor, don’t know where we are. Slowly forgetting everything we know. Must figure out what we are doing here, must keep Eleanor safe. Must not forget what I still know. I suddenly feel dizzy. I stand up and start walking around. But I crash into the wall and fall over. I start seeing spots. I let out a deep moan and my eyes start to close as I hear a sudden thump. I can barely turn my head over to see Eleanor’s motionless body on the ground only a few feet away.
...
“Quickly get in, move him,” I bark at them. I walk over to Molly. She gets up off the ground.
She looks at me. “He’s the one,” she says, and bursts into tears. She falls into my arms.
“It’s finally over,” I whisper into her ear, while holding back tears.
...
I wake up with Eleanor next to me. I try to move but I’m tied down. I struggle just for a minute until I deplete nearly all my energy. I let my muscles relax and I just drift off for a minute trying as hard as I can to relax. My mind turns to thoughts of hunger and dehydration. My mouth is parched and my stomach is empty. A tiny whimper comes from next to me. I turn my head to see the huddled, shaking body of Eleanor.
“Eleanor, hey Eleanor,” I whisper, not knowing what lurks in the shadows. But all I hear is a dry croak. As she turns towards me, my expression turns from worry to horror.
Her face is bruised, cut, and bloodied. Her clothes were shredded and a deep bleeding gash lies in her left forearm. I start hyperventilating. I’m gasping for air. I black out.
...
Molly stands next to me as we watch her hologram act the part for her. The few times the test subjects make it to this stage I always grimace, imagining if that was actually Molly. I watch the little men scurry out in their gas masks and lift him onto the stretcher. As we walk into the next room it brings back one memory, another subject who actually made it here. I remember her so well. Subject 305#JL. We thought she was the one, until she was driven mad and took her own life.
...
I wake up once more. I am free to move but the world just keeps on spinning. I see a blur that looks like a door, so I stagger towards it. I reach out and feel cold metal, I twist the handle and fall through. I feel the cold ground cooling my skin. It feels good, and I forget all my problems for a minute. Then the whirring starts.
I look up to see a massive contraption. Mechanical hands extend from the machine and start coming down on top of me. They stop just inches away. I scurry backwards not having a single clue of what’s happening. A nice aroma starts coming from the machine but I can’t put my finger on it. The machine starts to shake then everything stops, and a bowl comes out of the inside of the machine. It lays in the little hands now. I walk over very cautiously, I peek into the bowl. I back up a little confused. “Has this machine just produced a bowl of tomato soup for me?” I ask myself.
...
We hold our breath, waiting, praying for him to take it. We don’t move for the next minute.
...
Without hesitation I dig in. The soup is giving me my energy back, I feel the heat moving down my body, and it feels so nice. Suddenly I feel dizzy and I fall asleep.
...
We sighed, and after a few seconds we realize the enormity of this. We all fall to the ground, both laughing and crying out of joy. Molly just stands there not moving, then she starts to sob uncontrollably.
...
I wake up in a white room, There is a man standing over me. Eleanor is next to him, and another 10 or so men wait in the corner.
“You have no idea, but you just saved the world.” He says to me. I can’t speak.
...