We all hit the floor as fast as we could as more and more shots rang out. All of our ears were ringing as the loud guns kept firing. The bullets kept flying through the thin walls. I was laying over Eren trying to keep him as safe as possible. I just needed to get us out of here.
Hassam and Pixis were down on the ground trying to lay as flat as possible. He lifted his arm slightly and went to put force fields around us but I felt as he got hit, twice. With all the adrenaline I couldn't tell where he got hit, all I could tell is that he was still alive. The force fields went up around us. One around Pixis, one around Hassam, and lastly one around both me and Eren.
"I can't hold this long, we need to find a way out of here," Pixis said just loud enough for all of us to hear.
"Is it safe to stand?" Hassam asked and Pixis nodded. "I have a way out, but I would rather not get shot," he said double-checking.
"We're safe as long as these are up," Pixis said quickly.
Hassam nodded and made his way to his feet. He walked over to the wall behind the bar and pulled down one of the old beer spigot levers and a small doorway behind the bar opened up.
"Through here," he said quickly motioning us to follow him. He got down on his knees and looked to Pixis to remove the force fields so we could all get through. Pixis nodded and removed all of ours one at a time as we all crawled through.
Pixis was the last one to remove his. He went to crawl and crumbled the second he put pressure on his arm. We all looked down and saw blood dripping from it.
Shit, that's where he got shot. I could see two holes in his sleeve from where the bullets went through not only his jacket but his arm.
I leaned down and grabbed his bad arm so that I was holding him above the bullet holes. I helped him through the small opening so that he didn't have to put pressure on his arm. After we all got in the small space between the walls Hassam pulled another lever. I heard the beer spigot pop back into place before the wall slid back making it look normal.
We all looked to Hassam for answers. "That's why I chose this place," he said with a nod as he led us down the narrow hallways. "This used to be an old speakeasy back in the 1920s. When it reopened officially in the 40s they boarded it up. In the 90s this place was renovated and they found the old entrance."
"How did you know it was here?" Pixis asked.
"I worked here a few years back and the old owner told me about it. He was a very sweet man and he didn't deserve what happened to him. He loved this bar and everyone who walked inside it. He treated everyone equally and made sure to keep an eye on anyone who walked into this bar. I've never seen anyone more dedicated to their work."
"You keep talking about him in the past tense," Eren asked. I already knew the answer hanging my head low.
"They shot him. Right here in this bar. He refused to leave even after they made him close. I was no longer working here by the time everything happened, but when I heard the news about him I pushed to put out a story about him, his life, his death. They didn't let me. They told me no one wants to read about a vermin." Hassam's voice shook for a moment before he cleared his throat leading us down a narrow steep set of stairs that lead to an empty basement.
It was hard to see anything in here. There were no lights, the only source of light was Hassam's phone which was a weak burner phone. Pixis pulled out his burner phone to try and help with the light but it didn't do much better.
There were a few tables and some chairs pushed up against the walls. Tons of spiderwebs that made my skin crawl. There is a layer of dust covering everything. This place looked frozen in time. I could still smell the remains of stale alcohol that has probably seeped into the foundation throughout the many years of business.
The bullets sounded like they slowed down eventually coming to a complete stop. The silence was deafening as the ringing in our ears persisted. Hassam was quick to hand me his phone and asked me to keep the light so he could see Pixis's arm. He looked around the basement before pulling off his belt and quickly looping it around PIxis's arm and tightly tying it off. "That should help for the time being, but it's just a temporary solution," Hassam said, clearing his throat before looking around realizing the shooting had stopped.
"Do we know what happened?" Hassam asked. He was wondering if it was his men who had started firing through the wall or someone else who came through the door. Either way, he felt guilty about having an attack happen to us.
"They weren't after us," I said I didn't know if I was comforting him or scaring him with this news, but all I knew is what I heard through their thoughts. "The guards came in and they were looking for you," I said letting him know. "I don't know who won the shootout, but I don't have a good feeling about who the winner was."
Hassam's eyes shot to the ground as he realized that he was on the hit list. He knew he might be, but knowing for sure made his heart pound and his stomach drop.
He cleared his throat realizing we still need to get out of here. "There used to be an exit into another bar a little way down, but I don't know if the tunnels are stable enough. They could collapse in at any time," he warned. His thoughts were swarming as he realized even if we got out of here they were going to look for him. He had no more backup to even help him.
I looked at Pixis and made eye contact and tried to get my point across as much as I could. Mentally asking him if we could take him with us. He needs protection. He's a good man. Besides all of this would be for nothing if he dies. What was the point of everyone risking their lives tonight if he can't even spread the message we all risked our lives to get to him.
Pixis seemed to understand what I was asking. "Well, we could test our chances with the tunnel and probably all die by getting crushed. If it isn't caved in already," he said before turning to me and Eren giving us both a nod, "Or, we can all head straight back to our home base and make it out of here safely."
Eren tensed up for a moment before looking at me seeing if I was as concerned with this as he was. When he looked into my eyes he realized it was my idea. He relaxed a little and gave me a nod. If I trusted him then so did he, he thought to me.
"But that's dangerous right? Having some random person come in, I could never," he said raising his hands and shaking them trying to dismiss the conversation.
"A stranger who just saved our lives, and has been offering us help since we got here," I added.
"A stranger who had people point guns at all over you and also caused one of you to get shot," he said, shaking his head.
"Hey, look you can try and say that you will be fine but we all know that you're just as scared as the rest of us. You know that now they are after you, now that they've taken out all your bodyguards you're as good as dead," I said straight from hearing his thoughts.
He opened his mouth and closed it again not sure what to say back. I could see how his thoughts went all over the place. He was conflicted. He wanted to stay alive to be safe, but he didn't want to put any of us in danger to do so.
"You won't be putting us in danger, we all have a lot to lose, and we all are risking everything we have, but it will be safer if we all do this together. You need a safe place to stay but you still have messages to get out there. I know we can't stop you from doing that, I know you don't want to stop, and quite frankly we don't want you to stop," I kept going trying to convince him.
"What about the rest of your team? Your family? Won't you be putting them in danger?"
No one knows where home base is so you will be safe with us, and when you need to come out in the middle of the day we have a way of getting you there and back safely. While you are out you will be surrounded by people so it will be hard for them to get at you in public without showing their true colors to everyone." I kept making points that he couldn't deny. Looking straight into his mind to see what he would worry about and shooting the concerns down as they popped up.
"But, won't they be concerned taking a stranger in?"
"Not if you come in with us," Pixis said with a smile. "It's not the first time we brought strangers in, they trust our say. If we tell them you aren't dangerous and they can trust you then they will believe us," Pixis smiled trying to help convince him.
"Besides, why stop at just one story? I mean you got Pixis's story but now you have the chance to get all of our stories. I'm sure people will be willing to share them."
He just stood there for a moment before Pixis looked down at the burner phone that displayed a warning.
"Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but I think we have to make the decision now. This phone is going to die and if we don't make the call now and this phone dies. They will assume we are dead." Pixis said bringing the harsh reality back to light. When we get back we are going to die no matter what. Mom is going to kill us, and everyone is going to help her when they realize what this mission actually was.
"Okay," he nodded, finally agreeing to come with us.
"I mean I guess it's for the best so no one else dies tonight," he said his mind flashing back to the gunshots wondering just how many people died for the sake of protecting him.
"Well, you might be able to witness a murder tonight if you come back with us," I laughed.
He let out a face of concern, which turned to confusion when I laughed.
"Only one?" Pixis asked adding a light chuckle, "I'm sure mom is going to murder all three of us after this stunt we pulled tonight."
"Not to mention Nanaba," Eren said pointing at Pixis's still bleeding arm.
"Shit, I'll be killed twice," he laughed.
"Nothing you will have to worry about," I assured him. "We didn't really tell anyone that we were going on this mission. Well, we told one person, and that was the woman that made this meeting possible. Her name is Nanaba, and she told me that if anyone came back with even a scratch on them she would kill us." He looked down at his arm and gestured to the two bullet holes, "this is more than a scratch."
"You didn't tell anyone you were coming here?"
"No, we assumed this was a suicide mission, and we knew they would flip out if we even told them we were thinking about this let alone going through with it."
"Which is why we need to make a phone call before they assume we died on this mission," Pixis said, lifting the phone back up before deciding to call Nanba and have Erwin open a portal where we were at.
After a little talking and explaining the situation and where to put the portal we saw a small one open up before widening and opening for us to come through.
"You go in first," Pixis said to Eren, "Levi you go in next. Hassam will go in after you and then I'll come in last. When you two go in you need to explain that an unfamiliar face will be walking through so no one panics okay?" Pixis said looking me and Eren dead in the eyes and making sure we knew that this was for Hassam's safety.
"Yes sir," Eren said before walking in. I followed suit and saw relief wash over Nanaba's eyes.
"Oh thank god," she breathed.
"Well, um we have a surprise visitor coming in," I said, and before anyone could ask what we meant Hassam walked through the portal.