The Portal Effect

Chapter 18

Just when we thought the window was going to shatter from the onslaught of bullets, the gunshots slowly started to stop. Leo and I looked at each other while Andvari kept his eyes on the camera feed.

"Come out of the tower now. Bring the flash drive with the launch codes as well and keep your hands up. Leave the weapons at the top." came a voice. It was amplified over a speaker. We all looked out of the window where the cracks weren't as prominent and saw the Insurgents, which had to number at least one hundred strong, were standing straight, weapons lowered.

"If you do not comply, we will be forced to start killing your friends." the voice said again. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I could not place it, and the person speaking was hidden from view.

"Do they know there's three of us up here?" Andvari asked.

"I don't know. But we shouldn't risk it. Come on. We can't let them kill our friends." Leo said. He found a flashlight and signaled to let them know we were coming down. I briefly saw Leo swap the flash drive with a fake one, hiding the real one in his collar.

"Were you able to contact NASA for more help?" I asked Leo as we prepped to go down. He shook his head.

"The transmission went through, but I cannot be sure if they received it. This isn't like ours." Leo said as he put his gun on the table.

We went down, Andvari taking the lead. As we walked down, I heard the generator come back to life. I hoped that Sarge and John were ok.

When Andvari opened the door, several Insurgents came and surrounded us. When I saw the others, I noticed Keegan and Riley first. Riley was holding his left arm while Keegan had handcuff and a bloody nose.

"Do you have the flash drive?" asked the same voice from before. The owner of the voice stepped out of the large vehicle. When he looked at me, my blood froze. Albeit very much scarred, I recognized those glasses anywhere.

"You fell..." I said, but for once my words failed me. Conan chuckled.

"Yes and was forced to endure the searing heat of the explosion." he told me. I saw Riley pale as he too realized who was here. Conan took no notice of him. He just had eyes for me.

"Your little group seems to be a persistent thorn in our side." Conan rasped. He took off his sunglasses to reveal his radioactive green eyes.

"Yeah, that tends to happen when the people you care about are in danger." Leo snapped, receiving a blow to the stomach. He coughed slightly, but otherwise did not react. I looked at him to make sure he was ok.

"Now, where is the flash drive?" Conan asked. He'd replaced the sunglasses.

The soldier holding Leo took the fake flash drive from Leo and tossed it to Conan.

"No tricks?" he asked, "Because if it is, I will have someone shot." Conan looked at Cody, who was pushed up front with Keegan and Riley.

I looked around, trying to find Sarge and John, but as of right now, they were still MIA. Hopefully they had avoided being captured.

"No tricks." Leo said, but his voice shook slightly.

"Are you sure?" Conan said. He was trying to elicit more of a response.

"If it isn't, then what. Are you going to keep shooting innocent people until you get it? What if we don't have it here?" I asked before Leo could respond. Conan merely chuckled.

"I happen to know it is on this field. After all, I didn't hire a mole just to get faulty information."

Just then, John walked forward, escorted by three soldiers. His face was bruised and bloodied. When he saw Andvari, and then the rest of us, he looked even more beaten.