The Portal Effect

Chapter 14

I was jolted awake by the sound of loud voices. Keegan was still asleep. I crawled to the window, ignoring the stabbing pain in my hip. Peeking over, I saw a small group of Insurgents arguing near the car we had used. They were clearly upset.

"Someone is here! AND YOU DIDN'T SEE THEM!" bellowed the man standing by the passenger door. He was very tall, and heavily muscled. In his hands was an assault rifle, and at his waist was a belt of ammunition.

"No, sir, I did not see them. I was patrolling the other side. I thought this car was already here..." the man of interest tried, but he never got to finish his argument. The boss man shot him execution style.

"Find the person and kill them. Then we leave. GOT IT!" he bellowed. At the gunshot, Keegan sat up, surprised. He almost said something, but I held my finger to my mouth. I then pointed out the window. He crawled over and looked out. The Insurgents were walking around the area, breaking down doors and calling out.

"Bloody fricken hell." he groaned.

"Got any ideas?" I asked as we sank below the windowsill.

"Well, if they come in here, we could surprise them and take their guns. Get a fighting chance." he suggested.

We both looked at the building we were in. There was nowhere to hide.

"Yeah, bad idea in this spot." he admitted after a moment.

"Gotta do something though. I do not feel like dying today." I spoke.

We both started for the door, staying as quiet as possible. The moment we reached it, however, the boss himself stepped through the door. He wore a wicked grin.

"Hands up where I can see them. Now." he ordered. We did so, and he walked towards us.

"A pilot and a woman. Maybe you will be of more use alive than dead." As he spoke, his eyes roved over my body. I gagged internally.

"Gross." I muttered.

"Come on, get out of the house and come with us. We need a pilot to fly this cargo plane we found a few miles out." he ordered.

Keegan and I glanced at each other. Fear spiked up, and I felt something break a bit in my mind. They couldn't be dead, could they? He hadn't mentioned any bodies. But why would he?

I looked back at Keegan as we walked to where the others were waiting. As soon as we made eye contact, I knew we were thinking the same thing. Let them take us to the cargo plane and then attack from there. It made me miss my group even more.

As they led us away from the town, they talked in hushed voices. I was able to pick up snippets here and there, but nothing significant. The man with a gun to our back prodded me now and then as I began to slow down. They must not have realized I was injured. Or they didn't care.

"What's the slow up?" demanded the boss when he realized we were falling behind.

"I think she's injured." spoke the man behind us. He prodded me forward with the barrel of his gun.

"Hurry up then. Carry her if you must." the boss snapped.

"Just try to keep up ok." hissed Keegan.

"Oh yes, I'll just keep a consistent pace while I bleed to death." I snapped back. The bandage was thoroughly soaked through now.

Soon we made it to the edge of civilization. The place was a graveyard full of scrapped metal and cement. And in the middle of it was a cargo plane. I sighed in relief. It wasn't our cargo plane. There was still a chance the others were still alive. Keegan looked just as relieved, but something still disturbed him.