What I Fight For: A Bad Boy Military Romance (Easy Team Book 1) (12 page)

              Another, harder tremor ran through the ground, shaking all of us. I heard the wheelbarrow fall over and the man inside grunt as he tumbled out.

              I turned around and saw the confused people standing by the meeting hall, eyes wide with fright.

              The meeting hall! How many dozens of people were inside there now?

              I quickly assessed the building. Normally, it would be better to duck and cover indoors but the buildings were just too unstable here. I could already see them crumbling.

              People outside started panicking and crying out as the ground shook beneath their feet. As far as I knew, Qunar hadn’t had an earthquake even once in the last decade. No one would know what to do. We had to quickly take hand or else people would just start running around in chaos.

              Outside. We had to go outside.

The buildings here were weak but they weren’t very tall. And there were plenty of spaces outside that were in open clearing. We needed to get people outside before they were buried alive in the rubble.

              “Outside!” I shouted at the men near the meeting hall. “Get everyone outside and towards the square!”

              The square was in the center of the town and was completely clear of any kind of blockage. There weren’t even any trees. If the buildings collapsed, they would be well away from the wreckage. We just had to make sure that they didn’t cause a panic and stampede on each other.

              My men near the door quickly started pulling people towards the square, leading them in a swerving line as the ground shook more strongly. I could tell these were just the foreshadowing tremors of a bigger earthquake to come.

              Everything was shaping up to be a natural disaster in the making.

              “The square!” I turned around, shouting at Bear. But he had heard and was already leading people towards the clearing.

              I made my way towards the meeting hall, watching the people tumble out, making sure no one got caught underfoot. In a situation like this, it would be easy for someone to get trampled.

              I watched as Doc Jones and Margie made their way out. Margie was holding a child in her arms and Doc Jones was helping a pregnant woman make her way out.

              But as I got closer to the meeting hall and the number of people flooding out slowed to a trickle, I felt my heart pound.

              Where was Emilia?

              I hadn’t seen her yet. I was positive. She was the face I was keeping a look out for and I hadn’t yet seen her come out.

              “Where’s Dr. Lyon?” I shouted at Tweety as a small building behind us crumbled. People screamed as they ran quickly towards the square.

              Dust plumed around us and fell over us like a second skin. Tweety blinked rapidly as his eyelashes were covered in grit. “I haven’t seen her yet!” he shouted back as he picked up a man who had tripped. “I’ll go inside!”

              “No!” I said, motioning him to keep moving. He needed to direct people out safely. “I’ll go get her!”

              Before I stepped inside, I heard another round of screams and cries of terror as another building in the distance fell, a loud cracking sound echoing across the city as the walls snapped under the pressure of the earthquake.

              A shriek pierced the air behind me as a woman stumbled right as a huge piece of a wall fell behind her, nearly crushing her legs. She reached out towards me in fear and desperation.

              I ran towards her but my heart nearly ripped in worry.

             
Emilia!

              I needed to get to Emilia!

Chapter
Fourteen
Emilia

              “Everyone, out! Out!” Tweety shouted as he rushed into the meeting hall.

              People were already wide eyed and frightened before he had come in with the order. The building shook badly, bits of plaster sprinkling over us. I saw mothers clutch their children to them and elderly people look frantically down at their withered legs, wondering if they could make it out.

              “Calmly!” I heard Doc Jones shout out from the opposite end of the room. He was nearest to the door and was putting out his hands to stop people from causing a stampede. “Calmly! Slow down! Let’s go out calmly!”

              I don’t know how many people actually understood what he was saying but they seemed to understand the steady level tone he was using. Another quake hit us and the walls of the building had a noticeable shiver run down it. The calmness quickly disappeared again into panic.

              Tweety came in and was ushering people out. I helped a pregnant woman towards Margie, who helped her towards Doc Jones, who helped her towards Tweety, who guided her outside towards some safe clearing, I assumed.

              We daisy-chained the patients too weak or feeble to make it on their own. I stumbled at one point, nearly taking down a patient with me, as a strong tremor hit us.

              My heart raced as I passed off the patient to Margie. God, did earthquakes normally happen in this part of the world? I thought being thousands of miles away from California, I would at least be safe from earthquakes!

              But actually, in California, I would’ve been safer during an earthquake. Buildings there were built with earthquakes in mind. They were reinforced and designed with quick exits and strong beams. I would’ve been less afraid of an earthquake in the middle of our hospital in L.A. than here in Qunar.

              The buildings were small and scattered here but they were poorly built and were already crumbling with these few shakes. God only knew what would happen next if a big one came.

              “How many more?” Doc Jones called out from the doorway.

              I looked behind me. There was a child and his mother, another heavily pregnant woman who was having a hard time standing with so much shaking. And a man whose broken leg I had just splinted and bandaged.

              I heaved the pregnant woman up to her feet and almost toppled over myself. The woman was very near her due date and her belly was unwieldy. My shoulders nearly buckled from her weight.

              “Get the kid!” I shouted at Margie as she ran toward us to help. She nodded and went grabbed the little boy and picked him up bodily, running towards the door. The child’s mother running right behind her.

              Doc Jones ran towards us. “Just the man then?” he said, already heading towards him.

              I stumbled and fell, unable to hold the woman as she leaned almost completely on me.

              “Doc! Doc!” I cried out, turning around. He stopped, a shower of plaster sprinkling his hair white. Screams of panic and terror were coming from outside. Clearly, earthquakes were not a common phenomena here.

              “Take her!” I said, getting back on my feet and holding the pregnant woman’s hands. “Take her! I’ll take the man!”

              Doc Jones stared at me. Clearly, he was thinking the man would be harder to help but the woman was heavy with child and desperately in need of someone to lean on. The man was skinny and just had a broken foot. It would be easier to help the man than the woman.

              Doc Jones nodded and quickly heaved the woman up, letting her lean her weight entirely against him as he helped her out of the building.

              I helped the man up, letting his much lighter body lean against mine as we hobbled our way towards the exit. We made slow progress and Margie and Doc Jones were already out of the hall before we even reached the door.

              But as we got to the door, I saw Tweety suddenly appear in front of me, his face covered in road dirt and dust from crumbling buildings.

              “Take him!” I said. “He’s the last one!”

              Tweety nodded and instead of helping him walk, he bodily picked up the man and ran towards the city center.

              Everyone had gathered there. I realized Easy Team must’ve pushed everyone out to the square where they would be as far away from the buildings as possible.

              In the distance, I saw one crumbled building, already lying in a heap of rubble. I hoped to god no one had been caught inside.

              “Emilia!” I heard a voice shout from my left.

              I was about to turn towards the voice when there was a loud splitting sound as the ground shook hard beneath my feet. I cried out and covered my head as a huge corner of the front of the meeting hall fell in huge chunks before me.

              I felt a large piece of stone fall hard against my hand, sending a shock of sharp pain through my body. I squeezed my eyes shut as stones fell across me and dust clouded my lungs. I coughed. I heard shouting and screams in the distance as chaos broke out amongst the city people.

              At last, once the hard tremor had passed, I blinked and opened my eyes. I looked around me to see nearly the entire front of the meeting hall lying in crumbled chunks around me, creating a nearly six foot high wall that barricaded me in.

              I couldn’t see towards the square anymore. To get there, I’d have to climb over the rubble and run. Panic started to flood my veins. The reality of the situation started to dawn on me.

              These were just the tremors foreshadowing the big one.

              An earthquake was coming and I was trapped.

              And alone.

              My throat almost seized up from fright.

             
Oh god.

              “Emilia!”

              I heard the voice again and I nearly cried in relief and gratitude in hearing that strong, capable voice.

              “Here!” I croaked, my throat sandy from the dust. “I’m here!”

              “Are you okay?” Cooper asked. I could hear him over the wall of rubble but I couldn’t see him. Considering how tall Cooper was, I realized just how effectively trapped I was. Panic began to rise again in my throat.

              I looked down. My right hand was bloody from the impact of a falling piece of debris but it didn’t feel broken.

              “I’m okay!” I shouted back. “What do I do?” I tried not to sound so terrified but I couldn’t help it. There was no way out. The meeting hall only had one door and I was now blocked in it.

              “Can you climb over?” Cooper asked, his voice strong and steady. It calmed me a little to hear him speak so evenly. “Can you find a steady place to try and climb over?”

              I looked around. Everything looked like a jagged, crumbly mess but I found one section that looked a little more stable. It had some bigger pieces of broken wall that looked less likely to disintegrate if I put my weight on it.

              “I can try!” I called back. I started climbing, putting my hands tentatively on the rubble, gripping where I could.

              “Wave your hand where you are, if you can!” Cooper said. “I can help pull you over!”

              Now a little higher up, I took firm hold of a broken bit of wall and stretched out my right arm as high as I could and waved it, hoping he could see me over the wall of rubble.

              “Got you!” I heard him say in satisfaction. His voice sounded nearer and I felt better just knowing he was that much closer.

              “Okay, climb over as quickly as you can and I’ll help you down!” Cooper ordered. It was imperative I climb as quickly as possible. The big one was coming. He and I both knew it. I only had a small timeframe to get myself over the wall and safely towards the city center.

              I reached for another bit of broken wall, pulling myself up the jagged rubble. I gritted my teeth as my feet felt around for stable footing so I could boost myself up higher.

              My left foot found a corner of a wooden beam and I pushed myself up.

              Then a horrid snap sounded and the beam broke, making me lose my balance and slide back down the rocky wall, cutting up my arms and legs in the process. I cried out as I fell.

              “Emilia! Em!” Cooper called out in worry. “What’s happened? Are you okay?”

              “Yes!” I cried out, tears gathering at my lashes as I felt so completely overwhelmed and panicked. I stood up again, refusing to cry and give in to the terror within me. I gripped against a broken corner again. “I fell!” I explained.

              “Emilia, try and—”

              But whatever Cooper was about to say was cut off. The ground started shaking. And it shook hard. And I could tell by the strength of it that this was not one of the foreshadowing tremors that was warning us of the big one.

              This
was
the big one.

              The wall of rubble in front of me started to buckle and sway from the power of the shaking. I stumbled myself, unable to stand upright. Fear swept over me.

             
This is how I die.

              The realization hit me like ice cold water.

              I was going to die alone in the desert, trapped amongst rubble, buried underneath a building.

              Tears fell down my cheek without my noticing. I cried without sound or noise, just piercing fear as I realized my own death was right around the corner.

              I couldn’t see but I heard screams as buildings began to collapse under the strength of the shaking. The ground rumbled like a waking beast.

              And behind me, I heard the meeting hall moan as the remaining walls began to give way. I looked up above me. Nothing to cover me except the bright blue desert sky that seemed unaware of the chaos that blossomed beneath it.

              The building would collapse and I would be buried alive. Maybe I’d be killed instantly. Maybe not. But if I was buried alive, there’s no way they’d be able to recover me before I died.

              Where would they take my body, I wondered hazily as tears fell silently down my cheeks. The shaking grew stronger. I heard an odd sound of ground splitting apart.

              But before the meeting hall completely collapsed upon me, I saw felt the sky darken momentarily.

              I looked up just in time to see the unbelievable sight of Cooper flying up over the broken rubble wall. He threw himself on top of me, knocking the wind out of me as he pinned me to the ground. Immediately, he locked his arms around me and pressed his body over mine, completely covering me.

              I could hardly gather in a breath before a hard, terrifying quake finally took hold of the earth and shook it for all it was worth. I heard the foundation give way as the meeting hall finally succumbed to the earthquake, falling apart like a stack of wooden blocks.

              And all I saw or felt was the ground shake ferociously beneath me and Cooper’s broad body above me, shielding me, as the walls fell on top of him, plunging us into a dark and jagged world.