Chapter Text
The first tremor was subtle. A vibration beneath Carlos’s boots, like the earth had hiccuped.
He was midway through rolling up hose line at the scene of a warehouse fire, sweat dripping down his temples despite the cooler spring air, when the sound changed. A low rumble, deeper than thunder, a sound that seemed to crawl up from the ground instead of across the sky.
“Anyone else feel that?” Marjan called, glancing around, brows furrowed.
Paul shook his head, but his posture stiffened. “That wasn’t an aftershock. The fire’s out—we need to clear this scene.”
Carlos’s gut clenched. He grabbed his radio. “126 to dispatch—what’s going on?”
Static. Then a harried voice: “Citywide alert. Impact expected. This is not a drill. Seek cover immediately.”
Impact.
His heart dropped into his stomach. “What the hell does that mean?”
And then the sky cracked open.
---
Across town, TK was in the back of the ambulance with Nancy, pressing gauze to the forehead of a teenager who had taken a nasty fall off his skateboard. He had just been joking with the kid about how helmets were the new cool when the rig jolted violently, rocking so hard the stretcher almost tipped.
“TK, grab him!” Nancy shouted.
TK’s hands flew to steady the boy, his own shoulder slamming into the cabinet. A burst of pain shot down his arm.
“What was that—an earthquake?” the kid cried.
But TK knew earthquakes. He’d lived in New York, he’d felt tremors before. This was different. This was heavier.
Nancy’s radio crackled. “All units—asteroid strike detected near Austin. Take immediate shelter. I repeat—asteroid strike.”
TK’s blood ran cold. “Asteroid?”
The next second, the world roared.
---
The impact hit like the city itself was being punched.
At the warehouse, Carlos was thrown forward as the ground heaved. A plume of fire bloomed in the distance—miles away, but the shockwave traveled faster than he could brace. The wall of the warehouse groaned before it collapsed, raining brick and steel. Carlos barely had time to shove Marjan back before part of the roof came crashing down.
Pain ripped across his ribs as something heavy slammed into him. He hit the ground hard, vision sparking white.
“Carlos!” Marjan’s voice was muffled, distant.
He tried to answer but dust filled his lungs. The air was a haze of smoke and ash. He coughed, tried to push himself up, but the beam across his shoulder pinned him. His helmet had cracked against the concrete, his head ringing like a bell.
Not good. Not good.
He reached blindly for his radio. “TK—”
---
The ambulance fishtailed as Nancy fought the wheel.
“Brace!” she shouted.
The street split open like paper tearing. Cars crumpled, alarms blaring. TK clutched the boy and used his own body as a shield as debris rained from nearby buildings. Glass shattered across his back, slicing through his turnout jacket.
The roar drowned everything.
And then silence.
TK blinked through blood in his eye. The boy was whimpering but alive. Nancy was pale, gripping the wheel, shaking.
“TK, you good?” she rasped.
He nodded, though every bone in his body protested. His head throbbed, sticky with blood, and his chest felt tight. But his first thought wasn’t himself.
Carlos.
He fumbled for his radio. “Carlos—talk to me. Where are you?”
Static.
His heart lurched.
---
Pinned under the beam, Carlos gasped for air. Every inhale was fire, his ribs grinding. He could hear voices—Marjan shouting, Paul calling for help—but the world was muffled, like he was underwater.
He thought of TK. TK out there, maybe worse off than him.
And then, through the static of his radio, he heard it faintly:
“Carlos—talk to me. Where are you?”
TK.
Carlos swallowed hard, blood pooling in his mouth. He pressed the button weakly. “Pinned… warehouse… I—”
The radio cut out, the battery sparking.
His head lolled to the side, darkness edging in.
---
TK slammed his fist against the radio. “Carlos?! Stay with me!”
Nancy touched his arm. “TK—we need to get to base. We can’t—”
“I’m not leaving him!” TK’s voice cracked, raw and desperate.
The world was on fire, buildings collapsing around them, screams echoing down the street. But all TK could hear was Carlos’s broken voice fading into static.
And then the radio went dead.
---
✨ End of Chapter 1.