Where the Sun meets the Star

2. A Tense Partnership

Chapter 2: A Tense Partnership

Dr. Amara Velasco’s POV

The morning sun had barely risen when the ground beneath our feet began to tremble. At first, I thought it was just my imagination—after all, we’d barely slept in the last 48 hours, and exhaustion was beginning to mess with my senses. But as the tremors grew stronger, my instinct kicked in, and I immediately turned to the medical tents where my team was working. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat that mirrored the growing unease in my gut.

“Earthquake!” one of the nurses shouted, confirming my worst fear. No, not now. Not after the typhoon had already ravaged the island, leaving so many injured and vulnerable.

I rushed to the triage area, helping stabilize a stretcher as one of the patients nearly toppled off. My mind was racing, already calculating the possible damages an earthquake could do to an already battered island. The thought of more injuries, more suffering, sent a wave of icy dread through me.

But before I could think too far ahead, the shaking stopped, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. For a moment, all I could hear was the pounding of my heart in my ears, a relentless rhythm that echoed the tremor’s aftershocks.

Then the shouts began. Civilians rushed from their makeshift shelters, panicked and confused. My team was trying to calm them down, but I knew the worst wasn’t over yet. Landslides. After an earthquake like that, landslides were almost inevitable, especially with the island’s already weak soil after the typhoon. My chest tightened, and I quickly made my way over to our radio operator.

“Any word from the higher ground?” I asked, my voice sharper than intended. The fear gnawing at me was starting to show.

The operator shook his head. “Nothing yet, Doc. But we should expect something soon. That tremor was no joke.”

I gritted my teeth and turned toward the perimeter where I knew Kalix and his team were stationed. My last conversation with him hadn’t exactly ended on good terms, but that didn’t matter now. We had bigger problems to deal with.

Just as I reached the command post, another tremor hit, this one far stronger. The ground lurched violently, sending me stumbling forward. My ears filled with the sound of cracking wood and distant rumbling. The air crackled with a palpable sense of danger, and I knew, with a sickening certainty, that this was more than just an aftershock.

“Landslide!” someone yelled.

I barely had time to react before I saw the wall of mud and debris rushing toward us from the hillside. My heart seized as I grabbed the nearest person and shouted for everyone to run. But it was too late.

The landslide hit with terrifying speed, crashing through the field and slamming into one of the larger structures—an old concrete building we’d been using for storage and temporary shelter for some of the injured.

Chaos erupted as people scattered, trying to get out of the way. I sprinted toward the building, knowing that several civilians and a few of my team members were still inside. But before I could reach the door, I was knocked off my feet by the force of the impact.

The world spun around me as mud and debris swallowed everything in sight. I struggled to push myself up, my lungs burning from the dust. My ears were ringing, but I could faintly hear the distant shouts of soldiers and medical staff as they tried to regain control. I had to get to the building. I couldn’t leave them trapped inside.

Scrambling to my feet, I stumbled forward, only to be stopped by a strong hand gripping my arm.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Kalix’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and commanding.

“I need to get to the building,” I snapped, trying to pull away from him. “There are people trapped in there!”

He didn’t let go. “It’s too dangerous. The structure could collapse at any moment.”

“I don’t care,” I shot back, my heart pounding with urgency. “I’m not leaving them in there to die.”

Kalix’s eyes locked onto mine, and for a moment, I saw something flicker in his gaze—something like concern, though I wasn’t sure if it was for me or the people inside. But whatever it was, he hesitated just long enough for me to break free.

Without looking back, I rushed toward the half-collapsed building. The entrance was partially blocked by fallen debris, but I squeezed through, coughing as the dust and dirt filled my lungs.

Inside, it was dark and claustrophobic, the air thick with tension and fear. I could hear the muffled cries of people trapped under the rubble, and my heart ached with the weight of it. I had to find them.

“Hello?” I called out, moving through the narrow corridor that hadn’t yet collapsed. “Is anyone here?”

“Dr. Velasco!” A voice came from the corner of the room—a young nurse who had been treating patients here. She was covered in dust, but alive. Beside her were two injured civilians, one unconscious and the other bleeding heavily from a head wound.

I knelt beside them, quickly assessing the situation. “We need to get out of here,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm, though my own nerves were frayed. “Can you move?”

The nurse nodded shakily. “I think so, but they can’t.”

I glanced at the unconscious man and cursed under my breath. We couldn’t leave them behind, but we also didn’t have much time.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached from behind me, and I whirled around, half-expecting another landslide. Instead, it was Kalix, his face hard but determined.

“Found them,” he said, kneeling beside the unconscious man without hesitation. “We need to move fast. This place isn’t going to hold.”

I wanted to snap at him for following me, for not letting me do my job without interference. But in that moment, I realized something—this wasn’t about me or him. This was about survival. And right now, we were the only ones who could help these people.

Together, we lifted the injured civilians, moving as quickly as we could without causing more harm. The building groaned around us, the walls shifting with each tremor. My pulse pounded in my ears as we navigated through the debris, inching closer to the exit.

Just as we reached the door, another tremor hit, sending a cascade of rubble crashing down from the ceiling. I barely had time to react before Kalix grabbed me, pulling me out of the way as a chunk of concrete fell where I’d been standing seconds before.

For a moment, I just stood there, my heart racing and my breath coming in shallow gasps. Kalix’s arm was still around me, steadying me as I tried to process what had just happened.

“We need to move,” he said, his voice low and urgent.

I nodded, too shaken to argue. Together, we pushed through the remaining debris and stumbled out into the open air.

Captain Kalix Santiago’s POV

The second we got outside, the weight of what just happened slammed into me like a freight train. The building behind us was barely standing, cracks spider-webbing across the walls, and the tremors hadn’t fully stopped. The ground still seemed alive, shifting beneath my boots as if warning us that more was coming.

But there wasn’t time to process it. I turned to the civilians, setting the injured man down as gently as I could. My team rushed forward to help evacuate the remaining survivors from the area. The medical staff were already on their way, but my focus remained on Dr. Amara Velasco.

She was bent over the man we had just carried out, checking his pulse with the intensity of someone who could block out the entire world if it meant saving a life. It was a trait I admired, despite her frustrating stubbornness.

“You okay?” I asked, watching her closely. Her face was smudged with dirt, her hair falling loose from her ponytail, but she didn’t look up.

“He’s stable for now, but we need to get him on fluids immediately,” she said, her voice steady despite the adrenaline still pumping through us.

That wasn’t what I meant, but I didn’t push it. Amara was all business, and I respected that. But part of me couldn’t help but feel a protective instinct kicking in—something I wasn’t used to feeling on missions like this. Maybe it was the way she’d charged into the building without a second thought, the way she’d risked her own safety to save others. Or maybe it was the way she’d looked at me, her eyes full of a fierce determination that mirrored my own.

I watched as her team arrived, taking over the care of the civilians, and only then did she straighten up, wiping sweat and dust from her brow. For a split second, her gaze met mine, and I saw it again—the flicker of something more than just professional tension.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” I said, more to fill the silence than anything else. “That wasn’t the last of the tremors.”

She glanced back at the building, the same fear and exhaustion mirrored in her eyes. “No, it wasn’t.”

We stood there for a moment, both of us catching our breath. The air was thick with dust and the smell of wet earth, but for the first time since we’d met, there was no sharpness in her gaze, no anger behind her words.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice softer than I expected. “For coming in after us.”

I blinked, surprised by the sudden shift. “I wasn’t going to let you go in alone. No matter how stubborn you are.”

She smiled, just barely, and for a second, I saw a side of her that wasn’t wrapped in the armor of a doctor on the front lines. But the moment passed quickly, and she turned her attention back to the patients.

“Just… stay out of my way when I’m trying to do my job, okay?” she added, but her tone lacked its usual bite.

“Deal,” I said with a smirk. “As long as you don’t go running into collapsing buildings without me.”

Her lips twitched, and I knew I had gotten under her skin just a little. I liked that.

I turned back to my team, ready to organize the next steps for securing the area. As I made my way toward them, I took in the sight of my soldiers, each one as battle-hardened as I was. Despite the chaos and danger around us, they stood calm and ready for the next order.

Sergeant Major Argus Falcon, my right-hand man and best friend, was the first to approach. “You good, Cap?” he asked, his expression unreadable beneath his helmet.

“Barely,” I said, catching my breath. “How’s the situation?”

Falcon glanced over at the landslide area and shook his head. “Not good. The tremors didn’t just destabilize the building; the whole area is compromised. We’ve got people scattered, some injured, but we managed to evacuate most of the civilians.”

I nodded, running a hand through my sweat-soaked hair. “What about the rest of the team?”

“Lemuel’s setting up a sniper’s nest on the high ground in case we need overwatch. Tando’s already running recon on the perimeter, checking for any structural weaknesses that could collapse further.” Falcon paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Yolo’s assessing the landslide debris for any explosive remnants from old conflicts, just in case.”

“Good thinking,” I said, scanning the area. I could see First Sergeant Lemuel Fajardo in the distance, his sniper rifle slung over his shoulder as he climbed the hillside with ease. Tando Tala was near the edge of the rubble, already in combat mode, his eyes sharp as he moved with practiced precision. Specialist Santaniel Lauriel and Staff Sergeant Yolo Fuentes were working in tandem, Yolo expertly picking through the wreckage with the caution of a bomb expert while Santaniel kept watch, his focus unwavering.

This was my team—top in the Army for a reason. We didn’t just handle crises; we lived them.

“Where’s Zandra?” I asked, scanning the area for Dr. Zandra Daniella Steven, our medical support in the field. She was a First Lieutenant and one of the best combat medics in the service.

Falcon nodded toward the far side of the clearing, where Zandra was crouched next to a wounded civilian, her hands moving quickly to wrap a bandage around a deep cut. Even in the middle of a disaster, Zandra worked with precision and calm, her movements fluid and confident. Her relationship with Falcon was something I respected—two professionals who didn’t let their personal lives interfere with their duty.

“Zandra’s doing what she does best,” Falcon said, his voice softening ever so slightly when he spoke about her. “She’ll join us once she’s stabilized the critical cases.”

I glanced over at Dr. Amara and her team. They were working tirelessly to tend to the wounded, but the situation was getting out of hand. I needed to get everyone out of the danger zone before another tremor hit.

“Falcon, go tell Zandra to wrap things up,” I ordered. “We’re pulling out soon. I don’t trust the ground to hold much longer.”

Falcon nodded and jogged off to relay the message, leaving me to assess the rest of the area. I watched as Dr. Amara and her team moved between patients, working in synchrony. Despite the tension between us earlier, it was clear that Amara ran a tight ship. Her medical team operated with military-level efficiency.

But there was something else I couldn’t ignore—the way Amara didn’t hesitate to get her hands dirty. She wasn’t just barking orders; she was down in the mud with the rest of them, lifting, treating, and calming the injured. It was hard not to admire her dedication, even if we butted heads more than I’d like.

Argus returned, Zandra walking beside him with a determined look on her face. “The civilians are stable, Captain,” she said. “But I agree—we can’t stay here much longer. The structure’s not safe.”

I nodded. “We’ll evac in five.”

Before I could issue the next order, a rumble echoed from the hillside—a warning of what was to come. The ground trembled again, but this time, it was different. I felt it in my bones.

“Shit,” I muttered. “Another landslide.”