Reality || Ch.19 (Part 1)

Instructions

My heart was beating so hard, I was surprised that nobody else heard it. Just 5 more minutes until we need to present to the audience, 5 more minutes until our plan of escape starts, 5 dreadful minutes of constant worry and panic. But all my worry melted at the sight of Emily’s confidence, she seemed so ready for the risks we’re taking, and if she’s ready, I am too. We’re just behind the door leading to the field outside. The field had 2 parts; an obstacle course, and a shooting range. We’re going to show what our enhanced genes allow us to do. The doors opened, and outside was super hot and bright, it felt like I was melting in the Texas sun. I looked around to see who was there. To my left I saw a small group of well dressed people, both men and women, some old, some younger. They sat in chairs behind a small fence, along with a few armed guards, and Dr. Stern. Dr. Stern's face seemed so nervous, his wrinkles seemed to have grown from the stress, but he still managed to have a confident posture while sitting next to the others. Just ahead was the course, with many obstacles, it looks different than the one we practiced on, which is purposeful, so it’s truly a test. Emily and I got ready at the starting line. “I know it’s not a race, but how about the last one there, owes a favor to the winner.” Emily said, smiling. “Hmm, any favor?” I asked, smiling back. “Anything, but only if it won’t do any harm to someone.” I thought for a little. “Deal.” I said, holding out my hand. She shook it and we looked ahead. The sound of the starting horn blared, and we shot off, the race was on. Emily is faster than I am when it comes to running, but not by much. The first obstacle was a zigzag tire track, I had to be careful not to trip. After that, some sort of platform with monkey bars, my hands almost slipped a few times, but I managed to get across and catch up with Emily. We turned left, and next there was a wall and rope, I was stronger than Emily, so I got over faster. Then there was a rope to swing over a small chasm. It took a few swings for me to cross, because I wasn’t fast enough. But Emily did it first try and got a great lead. We stopped where we started and it was over, the audience gave a subtle applause. Dr. Stern let out a sigh of relief, and gave a thumbs up. I didn’t give him the pleasure of smiling at him. But Emily’s smile was as big as ever. She came over and punched my shoulder. “Now you owe me a favor.” She said. “Yeah yeah.” I told her, and we went to the shooting range. We each picked up a pistol, and some shooting headphones, I’ve only handled a pistol once before, and it went well, mostly. There were two printed shooting targets on the wall at the opposite side. We each took turns shooting at our targets. By the end of it, my wrist was sore from the kickback, my average was really good for my level of training, but Emily’s was bullseye almost every time. We put the pistols and headphones down, and moved back into the building. I was in a room with a table, and two chairs. A fluorescent light was above me, its buzzing was the only sound I heard until one of the well dressed men came in through the door, and sat down. He was a blonde man with glasses. He gave a reassuring smile when he saw my ears go down. "Don't worry, I'm just asking a few questions." He told me, so I relaxed a little. He asked many questions about what I can do and stuff, asking about my vision, diet, IQ, and just random things. All of them came one by one to ask questions, all of the were pretty much the same, except one that stood out. "What are your thoughts on Emily?" A white haired woman asked. "What do you mean?" I asked nervously, I never expected that type of question. “I mean, you are the only ones of your kind, there must be some type of chemistry.” She stated. I shook my head quickly, “We are just friends.” I told her, which is mostly true. She gave a skeptical look, then smiled, and left without any questions. A guard came in and told me to head to the library. I met Emily half way there, with nobody else around, I guess everybody's at the meeting with Dr. Stern. Emily leaned closer, "Do you think it's time?" she asked quietly. I nodded "Let's get ready." We went to the storage room and got supplies for our trip; food, water, camping stuff, and tools. We also found a bag of money, and thought it would smart to bring it. We packed up two backpacks, and a duffle bag, bringing them to the garage. The large door was opened, and there were three different black jeeps. We filled one of the trunks with our stuff, and grabbed the keys from the wall. Emily got in the driver seat, and I got a gas can to fill it up. As I was pouring, the door slammed open, and a group of people came storming in, along with Dr. Stern. I panicked, dropping the gas can, that started spilling. I jumped into the Jeep, Emily started it up, and floored the gas pedal, then I felt the shock of the collar.