Chapter 3 - The Order He Remembered
Brooks stepped away from the truck before speaking.
“Clare.”
The radio hissed.
He tried again.
“This is Daniel Brooks.”
“I know who you are.”
Her answer was calm.
That made it harder.
He looked across the black river.
“Were you on the medical evacuation team at Darwan?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t recognize you.”
“I wasn’t asking you to.”
There was no anger in her voice that he could usefully answer.
Only distance.
Brooks remembered the earthquake.
The damaged field hospital.
An evacuation corridor that narrowed each time an aftershock struck.
He had commanded the ground element supporting the medical teams. Clare had been an Army critical care nurse attached to the evacuation effort.
Her brother, Noah, had been a medic.
The building had collapsed during the final withdrawal.
Brooks had written those words so often that they had become almost administrative.
Final withdrawal.
They did not describe Noah’s boots beneath a sheet.
They did not describe the sister who stood beside the transport vehicle without making a sound.
“Clare,” he said, “I need to know whether you can work with me tonight.”
Inside the dining hall, she watched Jessa tuck a blanket around Rose Mercer’s feet.
“Yes,” she said.
“Despite what happened?”
“Because there are people here who need us to.”
Brooks exhaled.
“Understood.”
She hesitated.
Then her voice sharpened slightly.
“But don’t tell me to wait unless you can tell me what we’re waiting for.”
That was fair.
He had earned it.
“Our team is six minutes from the pump station. They’ll assess the trestle from that side. County crews are opening vehicle access. I’m requesting transport ventilators and additional patient carriers.”
“Thank you.”
“Can you get everyone to the second floor?”
“We’re working on it. The main staircase remains usable.”
“Keep me informed.”
He ended the transmission and turned.
Ruiz was waiting.
“You know her?”
“I knew her brother.”
She studied his face.
“Then let the assessment team make the assessment.”
Brooks looked at her.
She held his gaze.
“Sir, if you try to make up for another night, you’ll lose this one.”
He considered answering as a commander.
Instead, he answered honestly.
“You’re right.”
Across the river, Clare stood at the foot of the stairs.
Moving people who could not walk demanded patience the building did not seem willing to grant.
Staff worked with the equipment they had, protecting vulnerable residents while keeping the staircase clear.
Clare checked names against the evacuation chart.
Forty-three.
She made Jessa count independently.
Forty-three.
“Why twice?” Jessa asked.
“Because being frightened makes people certain of things they haven’t checked.”
The young nurse nodded.
At the landing, Elias stopped beside Rose.
“You said I could stay with her.”
“You can.”
“They’re moving her before me.”
“Then you go with that team.”
A staff member began to object.
Clare shook her head.
“We plan around what keeps them calm when we safely can.”
Elias reached for Rose’s hand.
She squeezed back.
The smallest movements seemed enormous that night.
At the top of the stairs, Lionel had cleared the linen-room entrance.
Beyond it stretched a narrow enclosed walkway.
The floor was dry.
The windows were old wired glass.
At the far end stood a steel fire door leading into the detached laundry annex.
Clare stopped at the threshold.
Every instinct wanted her to run ahead and declare the route safe.
She remembered the catwalk dropping beneath her.
She remembered Ava’s bracelet.
She stayed where she was.
“Lionel, nobody goes through until the rescue team reaches the other side.”
He nodded.
Outside, a loud crack split the air.
A tree fell somewhere behind the building.
The impact shook dust from the ceiling.
Jessa looked at Clare.
“How do you stay so calm?”
Clare considered lying.
Instead, she showed the young nurse her hand.
It was trembling.
“I decide what needs doing while I’m scared.”
Jessa looked relieved.
As though courage had just become something she might be allowed to possess too.
The radio crackled.
Ruiz.
“Weston, our team has reached the pump station. The trestle is above the water. Assessment is underway.”
Clare closed her eyes for one second.
“Copy.”
Another voice joined the transmission.
“Technical lead here. We can see the annex entrance. The door appears secured from inside.”
Lionel raised his keys.
“I can open it.”
“Hold your position,” Clare said.
She relayed the information.
From the dining hall below, someone called urgently.
A resident had become less responsive.
Clare turned immediately.
Malik was already moving.
For a moment, the past and present pressed against each other.
Another storm.
Another damaged building.
Another voice calling for help while the way out remained uncertain.
May you like
She tightened the strap on her pack.
Then she went toward the patient.
