Page 59 of Phoenix Rising

Becky glanced at Lucinda, her face a mask of concern. “We’ve done everything we can. Now we just need to hope that the dam holds long enough for us to get through this.”

Lucinda nodded, her gaze fixed on the monitors displaying the rising water levels.

It was then that the final, ominous alert came through. The engineers had detected a critical failure in the dam’s structure. The floodwaters were now on the verge of breaching the dam, and the EOC was about to become the last line of defense.

“Lucinda, we need to brace for impact,” Becky said, her voice steady but filled with urgency.

“The dam is on the verge of breaking. We have to be ready for whatever comes next.”

Lucinda’s heart raced as she took in the gravityof the situation. The city’s fate rested on the brink of disaster, and the EOC was now a refuge amidst the chaos. The floodwaters were rising fast, and the possibility of the dam breaking overnight loomed large.

As the night settled in and the storm raged on, the EOC was a hive of anxious energy. Lucinda and Becky continued their preparations, their focus on managing the crisis and ensuring the safety of everyone involved. The storm outside was a relentless force, and the possibility of the dam breaking was a constant, terrifying reality.

With the night sky darkened by the storm and the floodwaters rising steadily, the only certainty was the uncertainty of what lay ahead. The dam’s imminent failure was a grim reminder of the fragile balance between safety and catastrophe, and the EOC was now a bastion of hope and resilience in the face of an overwhelming disaster.

The storm outside was a formidable force, and the night stretched out before them with the promise of a new and daunting challenge. Lucinda and Becky faced the unknown together, their shared commitment to managing the crisis a beacon of hope amidst the gathering darkness.

17

BECKY

Becky stood at the far end of the Emergency Operations Center, the sound of rain hammering against the building nearly drowned out by the relentless chatter of emergency updates and status reports. She was soaked, exhausted, and—most unsettling of all—her mind wasn’t on the crisis unfolding outside. It was on Lucinda.

Becky glanced across the room, her eyes landing on Lucinda’s figure bent over a table, looking over some paperwork. Even in two-day-old clothes, Lucinda looked beautiful. Becky could almost feel Lucinda's skin under her fingertips from a whole room away. She could still feel the warmth of Lucinda’s arms around her from earlier,the way her body had molded perfectly against her own in the quiet moment they had shared. It had been brief, too brief, but it was enough to remind Becky of the one thing she had been denying herself for too long: how deeply she loved Lucinda.

They had agreed to take things slow and rebuild carefully, but in this moment, standing on the precipice of potential disaster, that seemed foolish. What if this was their last night together? The thought chilled her more than the storm ever could. If the dam broke, it wouldn’t just be the city that drowned; everything they had fought so hard for could be lost.

A knot of determination tightened in Becky’s chest. She wasn’t about to let fear win. Not this time.

She crossed the room quickly, weaving through the bustling crowd of first responders and city officials. Her mind raced with the thought of Lucinda—the feel of her skin, the way her eyes softened whenever she smiled. The weight of their shared history, the hurt, the unknown—it all seemed to converge into a singular, undeniable truth. She loved Lucinda, had always loved her, and she wasn’t going to let another moment pass without making it count.

When Becky reached Lucinda, she placed a hand gently on her shoulder, causing Lucinda to look up in surprise. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Lucinda’s brow furrowed slightly, but she nodded, sensing the urgency in Becky’s tone. She stood up straight, tucking the flyaways away. "What’s going on?"

Becky didn’t answer right away, her heart pounding as she scanned the room. They were surrounded by chaos—people on radios, hurried conversations about evacuation routes and supply shortages. This wasn’t the place. Not for what she needed to say, what she needed to feel.

Without another word, Becky took Lucinda’s hand and led her out of the main room. She could feel Lucinda’s hesitation, the slight pull as if she wasn’t sure where they were going, but she didn’t resist. Not fully.

"Becky," Lucinda whispered as they moved down a hallway, the sound of their boots echoing against the floor. "What are we doing? I need to get back to?—"

"Not yet," Becky cut her off, her voice low but firm. She opened a door to a small storage roomused to stash emergency medical supplies and guided Lucinda inside.

The room was dimly lit, the fluorescent lights flickering faintly above them.

Lucinda crossed her arms as she stepped inside, her brows knitting together in confusion. "What’s this about? We don’t have time for?—"

Becky shut the door behind them and pressed Lucinda against it. Her mouth caught Lucinda's hungrily, Becky's tongue slipping into her mouth as her hand wrapped around Lucinda's slight neck. Lucinda seemed to melt in her hands, like she had been holding herself by a taut string.

"Wait, wait." Lucinda pulled away, touching her swollen mouth. "I thought we were taking things slow?"

Becky nipped Lucinda's earlobe. "If this is our last night, I don’t want to spend it pretending. I want to be with you. Really be with you."

Lucinda’s chest rose and fell with quick, shallow breaths. The air between them was charged, thick with the tension that had been building for weeks. The room seemed smaller now, the walls closing in as the storm raged outside. Becky noticed how Lucinda pressed her thighs together.

"I don’t know if I can…" Lucinda started, her voice trembling. But Becky could see it in her eyes—the same longing she felt, the same fear.

"You don’t have to know," Becky said softly, her hand reaching up to brush a stray lock of hair behind Lucinda’s ear. Her touch lingered, her fingertips tracing the soft skin of Lucinda’s cheek. "We’ll figure it out. But right now, I need you."

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