Weekly Expressions #22 ~ BK

Andrew waited. His body tense as he paced the room. His hand was sweaty from tightly gripping the phone.

    Carter looked up from the dials on the machine. He pulled one of the headphones away from his ear as he yelled out. “Still nothing!”

    Andrew cursed as he moved the phone away from his head, still tightly clutching it. His heart beat wildly in his chest as the door opened.

    “Lieutenant, time’s up. Where is she?” The agent had been waiting long enough. They were all out of time and Jenine...where was she?

    “Just a few more minutes. Give us a few more.” Andrew was anxious now. He shouldn’t have let her go. She had only gone through once. Andrew had gone through three times. He should have been the one. And now, who knows what happened to her.

    “I’m done waiting Lieutenant. Hang up the phone and come with me.”

    “It cant end like this. She is there…” HIs voice rose. “Just three more minutes!”

    The agent opened his mouth to speak and all Andrew heard was static. Carter’s face jolted up. Andrew jumped over the chair and ran to the desk and stood by Carter. “Jenine?” He gasped into the receiver. “Jenine, are you there?”

    “Andr..And...y..ere….”

    “Jenine you are breaking up.”

    “Andrew? Carter? Guys? Answer me!”

    “Jenine! We are right here!”

The agent stepped up behind them listening.

“Cut the crap guys, I’m not kidding answer me now!”

“Andrew, we lost the part of the connection. Not sure what is wrong…” Carter turned knobs and dials as he worked to get the connection back.”

Andrew’s breathing was ragged as they waited in silence.

“Try it now.”

“Jenine!”

“Andrew!” He heard her breath a sigh of relief. “Thank God! Andrew get me out of here right now!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don't’ know. Nothing is as it was. It’s all different. It’s...changing.”

“Changing? How?”

“The ground is rearranging. I can’t make anything out anymore. I got lost. The path is completely overgrown.”

“Okay, we will talk more when you get back. Get ready on your end. The code is 89175. Tell me when to hit the button.”

They heard a thud and the roar of what sounded like an earthquake.

“Jenine? What’s going on?”

“Andrew!” Her voice sounded distant. “Andrew I can’t hold on for very long! The dial is...it’s...it’s gone!”

“Where is it? What happened?”

“Ah!” Jenine grunted. “Andrew please help me!”

“Jenine hold on!”

Andrew shed his blazer as he raced across the room to the second machine. Carter jumped to his feet. “Andy, no! We don’t know what will happen if you turn on the second machine! It may all cave in. We went in too many times. That would explain the shift in the universe.”

“Shut up, Carter! You aren’t there! You don’t know what is going on!”

“Neither do you! Don’t risk your life. You don’t know what you will find on the other side!”

Andrew glared. “Push the button.”

“No, I’m not killing you both!”

“Agent Morris turn the key to your right and hit the blue button.”

Carter leapt to his right to stop the agent. Morris pushed Carter out of the way, eager to see this experiment through. Andrew hooked the IV up and stepped on the platform as Morris turned the key. With one last look up, Morris pressed the button.