Samantha Dahl is a green woman who managed to survive seven years at Thurmond. She is also the founder of a secret holding location that psi can hide in once the camp system has fallen. She is the childhood friend to Lucas Orfeo, Mia Orfeo, and Ruby Daly.
"I want to feel every ounce of pain and happiness life can serve up, because it'll mean I've survived." - Sam, Sparks Rise
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Sam grew up on Greenwood Lane in the small town of Bethesda, Maryland, with her parents Todd and Ashley Dahl. Todd Dahl was a pious man, who believed in God as a being who only came to earth to execute justice, and Ashley was a weak-willed woman who only did whatever her husband wanted. The family also had a golden retriever named Scout. Sam was close friends with their neighbors, the Orfeo's, whose son, Lucas becomes her best friend. Sam, Lucas, and his younger sister Mia used to play in the treehouse Mr. Orfeo built for them, which they called Greenwood, and would play out fantasy stories Lucas would write.
When the IAAN pandemic broke out and the economy crashed, the Orfeos moved away from their home in Bedford due to foreclosure, breaking Sam, Lucas and Mia's. At some point after the Orfeos left Sam's photographic memory appeared. After discovering Sam's powers, Mr. and Mrs. Dahl believed that their daughter was a punishment sent from God to them because of humanity's sins and decided to get rid of her. One morning, they sent her to school on a Collection day and she was taken to Thurmond.
She would be given the id number 3284, and would be classified as a green. Being a green gave Sam a lot of freedoms that the other colors didn't. She was allowed to walk around the camp with her hands free. Sam would constantly protect her friends, mostly Ruby, since the girl was in constant fear that the PSF's in the camp would discover her orange abilities.
Five years after Sam arrived at the camp a PSF zoned in on Ruby. Sam defended her friend and Sam is severely punished for it. When Sam got back to her cabin she's upset that Ruby never defend herself. Ruby had never told Sam what she really was, and the argument caused Ruby to erase herself from Sam's memory by accident.
The Darkest Minds[]
Sam is sent to Thurmond, and is processed by the employees there. She is assigned to cabin 27 and quickly makes friends with Ruby.
Sam grows tired of the daily life of the camp, but since she couldn't leave there was little to do. She would constantly visit with her new friend Vanessa, who slept in the next bed over. Because of Ruby's mistake, she can't remember their shared past. The girls in her cabin would sometimes question about their broken friendship. One day, thanks to Cate Connor's medication, Ruby has a violent seizure one night in her bed. The girls in her cabin call the infirmary and Ruby is taken away.
Cate removed Ruby from the camp and since the PSF's didn't have a body and didn't want to admit what really happened to Ruby they lied and said she died because of a follow up incident with IAAN.
In The Afterlight[]
Sam is surprised to see Ruby in Cabin 27 when she returns from garden duty one day. Sam had already figured out what happened when Ruby had erased her memory and asked her to return her memories. Ruby does what she is asked and gives her memories back. That night Ruby and Sam hold onto one another.
Ruby asks Sam to cause a scene which Sam willingly does. Ruby would sneak up away to the Control Tower. Not long after, Thurmond fell, and Sam was shipped to a hotel with other Thurmond survivors who didn't have a family member arrive when the camp fell.
Through The Dark[]
In Sparks Rise, Sam is reunited with her childhood best friend Lucas Orfeo after he and his fellow reds are posted at Thurmond and reconnects with him. They attempt a daring escape, but they fail. Sam is left with a limp due to a snakebite, and Lucas is reprogrammed by the Trainers.
In Beyond The Night, Sam finds Mia after the camps are closed and bring her to the house she had hidden an unresponsive Lucas. Bounty Hunter's follow Sam home after she went to get Gas Stamps, and Lucas is taken away. Sam and Mia are brought into a facility for questioning, and Vida rescues them. They meet up with Ruby, Liam, Chubs and Vida and together they find Lucas alive in a safehouse out near Virginia. Sam and Mia tell the gang to bring them to Greenwood, and with her Orange abilities, Ruby saves Lucas and bring him back to his old self.
The Darkest Legacy[]
Between the end of In The Afterlight, Sam and Lucas would acquire a farm. The farm would be used as a hiding spot for several psi. During a rescue mission gone wrong Liam calls Sam and Lucas to pick him up, which they do, and they try and track down a missing Ruby.
The houses are vibrant with Sam's bold colors, but decorated with polaroid pictures that are wholly Lucas's.
Personality[]
Sam is shown as fearless and brave, always sticking up for Ruby when the PSFs tormented her. She is seen to be a fierce, determined girl with a strong hatred for the camp. She is protective of younger Ruby and acted as Ruby's only true friend growing up in Thurmond. Sam is shown as full of grit and kindness towards the protagonist. In The Darkest Minds, it reads, '"We'll be fine," Sam had told me one night, just before they turned the lights out. "No matter what--you hear me?"' (27).
Physical Description[]
Sam is described by Ruby in The Darkest Minds, where she says she has long tangled dark blond hair, and fierce-looking dark eyes. She has a small pink scar that curves between her top lip and her nose, and the first time Ruby sees her, she notices that someone had cut the wires from her braces, but had left the metal nubs glued to her front teeth.
In Sparks Rise, Lucas describes Sam as being ruff and skinny, with honey colored hair and brown eyes. Lucas also confirms that she was born with a cleft lip and had surgery to repair it.
Relationships[]
Ruby Elizabeth Daly[]
Sam and Ruby were best friends during their incarceration at Thurmond and they were bunkmates. Ruby was constantly afraid of being outed, so she would constantly hide behind Sam. Sam wanted Ruby to stand up for herself more, but she never did.
Lucas Orfeo[]
Sam and Lucas were childhood best-friends before Lucas moved away and Sam got sent to Thurmond. Sam sees Lucas again when he's assigned to her cabin block as a guard. Sam feels shock when she sees Lucas and identifies him as a Red. At first Sam thinks Lucas doesn't recognize her, but when she gets put in the cages and he's asked to stay behind and guard her, he sings This Little Light of Mine which proves that he remembers her. When Sam gets bitten by the snake and taken to the Infirmary, she constantly says Lucas' name. When Lucas kisses her before they try to escape, she feels dizzy, a good dizzy.
Power[]
Sam has a very strong photographic memory, and because of that her mind takes a snapshot of everything her eyes have landed on, tucking them away in her mind like a filing cabinet, organized and in the right place. She describes it as a blessing and a curse, unable to forget the harsh world of Thurmond but a blessing to be able to recognize Lucas when he comes to Thurmond.
Quotes[]
"I recognize him the way you recognize the sun on your skin after spending too much time in the shade."
"Not even a hundred years would have been enough for me to forget that belongs to Lucas Orfeo."
"I fought so hard to keep his voice from disappearing. Sammy Sunshine. I can hear him say it even now as he chased me up the tree trunk of our treehouse, his hair shining like a raven's wing."
"I want to feel every ounce of pain and happiness life can serve up, because it'll mean I've survived."
"Don't be afraid. Don't let them see."