6

"If you stay, you’ll die. And so will everyone else."

For a moment, she stared at me, torn between her instinct to save lives and the cold reality of the situation.

But then, slowly, she nodded.

I could see the pain in her eyes, the guilt of leaving someone behind, but this was war.

And in war, sometimes you had to make impossible choices.

As we backed away from the scene, the tension between us still palpable, I knew this wouldn’t be the last time we’d face this kind of danger together.

The city was a battlefield now, and both of us were caught in the crossfire.

5

AQSA

The ringing in my ears wouldn’t stop.

The explosion had hit just as we were pulling away from the building, and the force of it knocked me off my feet.

For a moment, I couldn’t move.

Dust and debris filled the air, making it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead.

My body ached, and the taste of blood filled my mouth.

The woman I had been tending to… she was gone.

I couldn’t think about it.

Not now.

My head spun as I forced myself to stand, my legs trembling under me.

Panic clawed at my chest, but I shoved it down.

I was trained for this.

I had to keep moving.

“Kareem?” I called out, my voice hoarse from the dust and smoke.

There was no response.

My heart skipped a beat, fear cutting through me.

He had been right next to me when the bomb went off.

I scanned the area, my vision blurry, but I couldn’t see him.

My hands shook as I wiped dirt from my face, trying to get a grip.

I took a few unsteady steps forward, the ground still unstable beneath me.

People were screaming, running in every direction.

The city had erupted into chaos again, but all I could focus on was finding Kareem.

I hated how much I cared—how his absence was like a punch to the gut, even though I’d just met the guy.

I was going to be working closely with him…

I needed to make sure he was okay.

Suddenly, I spotted him through the haze.

He was leaning against a crumbling wall, blood running down the side of his face.

But he was alive.

“Kareem!” I rushed over, my heart racing.

He looked up, his eyes sharp despite the blood dripping down his forehead.

“I’m fine,” he muttered, pushing himself away from the wall.

He was limping, but otherwise, he seemed intact.

Relief washed over me, but it was quickly replaced by the crushing weight of reality.

The bomb had gone off.

People were dead.

Again.

“We need to move,” he said, his voice tight. “There could be more.”

I nodded, swallowing back the fear that threatened to choke me.

“What about the others?”

His jaw clenched, his gaze sweeping over the carnage.

“They’re on their own for now. We have to go.”

His words were cold, but I could see the tension in his face.

This was hitting him harder than he let on.

He grabbed my arm, pulling me with him as we made our way through the wreckage.

My legs felt like lead, and my mind was racing, still processing everything that had happened.

The weight of the lives lost pressed down on me, but I couldn’t focus on that now.

We had to get out.

6

KAREEM

The blast had been close—too close.

My head pounded from the impact, and my vision blurred for a few seconds, but I pushed it aside.

The situation was spiraling out of control, and if we didn’t move fast, we’d be caught in the next wave of destruction.

This attack wasn’t just another random strike.

It was calculated, precise.

And I had a bad feeling that there was more to come.

Aqsa was shaken, but she kept up with me, her face pale but determined.

I admired her grit, even in the middle of this chaos.

She wasn’t like most people who froze up in situations like this.

She moved forward, even when it hurt.

We made our way through the narrow streets, trying to avoid the main roads where the panic had taken over.