After moving a truckload of supplies into the warehouse, Duncan sent the truck driver and helicopter away, leaving only the members of the three squads.
The seven members of the three squads stood in formation in front of Duncan, with others on either side, waiting for his orders.
Aside from Bark's security squad, the members of the other two squads had no idea what they were about to do.
The seven members of the Special Operations Force were emotionless. Even if the mission meant certain death, they would carry it out.
The seven members of the U.B.C.S. were more bewildered. Why had they brought a truckload of weapons and ammunition to this warehouse? What kind of mission were they supposed to undertake?
Were they going to launch a small-scale terrorist attack?
Duncan had few qualms about the U.B.C.S. Most of them were Umbrella employees who had been trained in the company's orphanages, so there was no need to worry about whether their families would cry after they died.
Whether or not to be a bleeding heart was the kind of stupid internet debate Duncan had never cared about. As long as it wasn't some country's brand of "kindness" that turned people's values upside down, he didn't really object.
"Next, we're going to carry out a rather special mission. The task itself is simple, and there's a good chance we won't run into any danger. If you have any questions during the mission, you can ask me during a break. At all other times, you must follow orders. Understood?" Duncan said solemnly.
"Understood, sir!" 3
The three squad leaders answered in unison, making their positions clear.
Duncan wasted no more time. He waved them back into their vehicles, ready to set off for another world.
It was noon. They still didn't know what time it was in the other world, and if time flowed at a different rate there, they would have to figure that out too.
The gateway between worlds could be set to specific coordinates. The first time it opened, it had led to a random location, but after Duncan had entered that world, he could choose where to place the portal for future trips back and forth.
When he'd just taken Bark and the others through, he had already set the portal's coordinates on the road where they had appeared. They could drive straight out from there.
There was plenty of open space outside the rented warehouse. Six vehicles lined up in a row. The first two were driven by members of the Special Operations Force, the middle two by Duncan and the security squad, and the U.B.C.S. brought up the rear.
Duncan was a little nervous. He had already tried it once, but traveling between worlds still felt like something out of a dream, and it left his blood racing.
"Move out!"
A phantom doorway appeared over the warehouse entrance, a mirror-like plane of space settling into place before them. Even the emotionless Clone soldiers of the Special Operations Force briefly froze at the sight of something so fantastical.
But their obedience, ingrained in their genes, soon drove them to start their engines and slowly drive through the portal.
"My God... It's real!"
A security squad member sitting in Duncan's vehicle had only heard about traveling between worlds; he'd never seen it before. He let out a scream. Even filtered through his gas mask, his voice still brimmed with shock.
One black SUV after another passed through the portal. The last two vehicles carried members of the U.B.C.S., who had never seen anything like this before.
The squad leader was a Black man named James. Sitting in the passenger seat, he watched the vehicle pass through the portal, his shock unmistakable beneath his gas mask, even through its lenses.
He had no idea what this was. A miracle? Some kind of advanced technology? A method of spatial teleportation?
But once they had passed through the portal, he realized that this mission probably wouldn't be so simple after all!
Traveling between worlds didn't feel all that bad. With the vehicle shielding them, the scorching summer heat of the other world couldn't affect them until they got out.
They had made it into another world, and there were no other vehicles nearby. They could be glad there wouldn't be a crash. There weren't many pedestrians around either, and no cops as they'd expected. Everything about this trip had gone perfectly!
Just then, a blue bus came around the intersection ahead.
As the black Umbrella convoy passed the bus, a burst of flames suddenly flared on the overpass ahead. Someone shot off the bridge like a cannonball, smashed through the bus's front windshield, and fell inside.
Screech!
The bus driver was startled by the sudden turn of events. In his panic, he yanked the wheel, sending the bus tipping toward Duncan's convoy.
"Oh, shit!" Snow, who was driving for Duncan, cursed and yanked the steering wheel at the sight of the bus rolling over.
It seemed the bus driver realized there was another vehicle beside him. At the last moment, before the bus fell, he turned the wheel again. It swerved and toppled beside them, knocking off only the side mirror of Duncan's vehicle.
Everyone in the convoy was rattled by the sudden incident. They all lowered their windows a little so they could hear what was happening outside and judge the situation by the sounds.
What they heard was alarming. The dense gunfire outside instantly put them on edge, and the sound of weapons being readied filled the radio.
"Stay calm! Don't stop. Get out of here first!" Duncan was calmer than the others. He grabbed the radio and told them to leave the trouble behind.
Everything had been fine when he came through earlier. How had they run into a gunfight as soon as they got back?
The convoy started moving again, accelerating down the road. But the trouble wasn't over yet.
They had only just reached the overpass when another explosion rang out. A burning car crashed down from above, blocking their path.
That wouldn't have been a problem on its own. There was plenty of room beside it to drive around.
But along with the car came a woman who looked like a diver.
Her reddish-brown hair flew through the air as she plunged headfirst toward the ground. Halfway down, she bent at the waist, raised a hand, and fired a grappling hook at the underside of the overpass.
Using the grappling hook, the woman landed safely on the hood of the lead black SUV, in a very graceful crouch.
The convoy came to a stop again. The four Special Operations Force members inside the SUV stared at the crouching woman on the hood. When she looked up and saw the four people inside, she could barely keep her expression composed.
A vehicle full of people wearing black combat gear and bulletproof vests, all with gas masks on, carrying what were clearly restricted automatic weapons? There was no way they belonged on a city street!
It wasn't as though there'd been some kind of gas leak. Why were they dressed like that?
"A civilian has appeared, armed with a handgun. Awaiting instructions." The Special Operations Force soldier in the passenger seat quickly picked up the radio and reported to Duncan while the woman on the hood was still stunned.
Duncan rubbed his brow in the fourth vehicle. "Ignore her. Keep driving!"
At his order, their vehicle started moving again.
The woman on the hood was sensible enough to jump down and run like mad.
Just then, another person fell from the overpass ahead.
This time, the person was different. It was a man, with black hair long enough to nearly cover his face. Half his face was hidden behind a mask, his left arm was a metallic prosthetic, and he held a fully assembled M4A1 in his right hand.
"Sir, an armed hostile has appeared ahead. Should we take him out?" The soldier in the passenger seat of the lead vehicle picked up the radio again.
After being interrupted one time after another, Duncan's blood pressure shot up.
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