The Portal Effect

Chapter 11

After nearly three hours of searching, we found a small band of agents hiding in a cave surrounded by boulders and trees. There were no more than seventeen of them. Only two seemed to be unharmed. The others had burns and deep wounds, broken bones and concussions. Millie and Kaia were the only medical personnel that had survived as of right now.

"We don't know if others made it out the door. We all just ran until we got here." Millie explained. She wiped her hand across her face.

"And one of them, after the adrenaline rush passed, died soon after. He had too many lacerations across the chest and neck."

I nodded, looking around. Had the outside world seen what happened already? I knew the other science agencies would have sensed it, especially NASA. Did NASA have anything to do with the lab? If the experiment had gone right, would NASA be able to send humanity to distant galaxies far away from this wretched planet?

"I don't know if Karen made it either." Millie was saying. I looked back at her.

"Harley, if you need anything..." she offered.

"I'll know where to find you." I replied, giving her a weak smile. She walked away to attend to a man limping heavily on his right leg. His blood seeped through the wrapping.

"Harley." called Leo from the south border. I walked over to his side.

"The complex is five miles from here at least. If the beasts survived, or more came through, we aren't safe here." he said, gesturing to the basic defense fencing set up.

"I know, but we have to think that NASA, at the very least, noticed the wave of energy and has sent out a rescue team." I told him. He grumbled something before looking at me.

"I hope you are right. I'm damn tired of the twins fighting over who gets border tonight and Nick seems more upset about losing his favorite set of knives than having lost the only home we have ever known."

"Yeah, well, remain positive. Because if NASA does send help, we can get more answers from them than we will from the Secret Service agents. They don't know anything more than we do." I said, trying for a smile and optimistic tone. As I looked around, the people were starting to settle down as the sun set.

That night, I had troubles falling asleep. Images of the complex flashed before my eyes like a slideshow on repeat. The first thing I saw as I closed my eyes was the bright flash of light that raced the explosion.

At some point the dreams became too much, and I woke up in a cold sweat. I went to the campfire, sighing as I sat next to Leo.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked. I nodded.

"Me neither. I can't unsee the events...." he said.

"Don't worry. You aren't alone. We couldn't have known that would happen. We didn't even know there was a portal there." I assured him. And for the next few hours, we sat there in silence, ears open for the tell-tale signs of a beast hunting us.

Sometime after the sun first peaked, Cody, McFay, and Jessie joined us at the fire. Jessie was shivering slightly.

"Did you two get any sleep?" McFay asked. But I could tell she had gotten just as much sleep as us.

"Like a blink." Leo replied, shrugging.

"Come on, we're going to scout around for survivors that might be around." McFay commanded. She was determined, determined to get the events of the past day off our minds. We both got up.

"Leo, Harley. You two scout to the south. And don't separate for any reason whatsoever." Cody told us as we collected a walkie talkie and some rope as well as first aid supplies.