Craxis

- n. The unease of knowing how quickly your life can change, that no matter how carefully you shape your life into what you want it to be, the whole thing can be overturned in an instant.

Life changes in an instant. It's what life is. The twists and turns are natural, and most times- come unknowingly.

Santana lived by that saying, and she was one that basically went with the flow no matter how windy the roads got. She was a laid-back SGT, with a much different leadership style compared to that of a traditional active-duty soldier. It came with its pros and cons- sometimes the cons outweigh the pros. But she always had a fix for it.

Now, being on deployment- there is always a lingering possibility. A scenario that no one can plan for, an event that can't be foreseen by any intel or high-ranking officer. A deployment, was as it was- a deployment. And anything can happen.

And it was that fateful morning that their mundane time in country would come to a screeching halt, and everything as they knew up until that point would change.

Santana was jolted from her bed, the building shaking. Windows creaking, a loud boom heard in the distance. Her first thought- a rocket landed on base. Because what else could it be right? The shaking subsided, and the first thing she did was grab her phone to see if she had any texts. Nothing. She got up from her bed, and headed out to the hallway. There was a male in the hallway a little way down.

"Did you feel that?" He asked. What a terrible fucking question.

From as far back as she could remember, earthquakes had always scared Santana. So a jolt like that easily shook her.

But before she could answer him, the fire alarm started blaring- followed with the incoming warno playing on the towers outside. Chaos. Santana ran back in her room to grab her M4, and headed back into the hallway to make her way outside to the rally point which was the bunkers. She saw Marley and Madison leaving their room.

Okay. That's two. She thought inwardly.

Accountability was of utmost importance on deployment- and with whatever was going on she knew she'd want to get a head start before being asked.

Once outside, she met up with her crew who were in the front bunker.

"San, what the fuck was that?" Hanna asked.

"I have no clue. But let me text SSG Sylvester and let her know we up so she doesn't worry."

As Santana turned her phone on, the light from her screen revealed little particles flying through the air.

"What the fuck?"

The girls looked around, and realized there was a huge dust cloud forming near the northern part of the base. Their barracks were semi close to the wall that separated the inside of the base with a huge Afghani town outside.

"No fucking way." Brittany said. "Is this a-"

But before she could finish her sentence, a sound played over the towers. A sound they had all hoped they would never have to hear- but was always a possibility. Ground attack.

Everyone rushed back inside the building, quickly securing the doors and waited for further guidance.

Santana ran up to SGT Hart, who was the highest-ranking person in the second squad of PM shift.

"Hey, you got everyone? You guys up?" Santana asked him.

"Yeah- we're good. You gonna text Sylvester?"

"Yeah I got you. Make sure your crew is solid. Shoes on, doesn't have to be boots. I know some of your guys are in PTs."

"Roger. On it."

With that he turned and ran over to where his squad was congregating.

"SFC Shuester, what do you want us to do?" Santana asked.

SFC Shuester was the platoon sergeant, the one with the most experience. He's deployed twice before, so she figured that he'd have an idea or plan for this situation. It was his job, so he had to have something right?

"Oh, I don't know SGT. What should we do?"

What kind of fucking question was that?

"SGT, that's why I'm asking you."

Luckily, the barracks building was shared with another unit and the Captain (CPT) from that unit ended up taking charge and giving some guidance.

For the next who knew how long, they'd all be pulling security. Which was a given, because they didn't want anyone coming inside.

About two hours into pulling security, everyone starts to get a little uneasy. No one knows what's going on outside, what the situation was, or who began this attack.

The unknowns are what make a situation scary.

Santana's phone begins to ring, and it's Caleb- Hanna's boyfriend. She's used Santana's phone a few times now, so him having her number wasn't a surprise. Hanna and the rest of the crew was on the other side of the door.

"Hey Caleb, whats up?" Santana says as casually as possible.

"Hey San, sorry to call you like this. I been trying to get in touch with Hanna but I don't think her phone is connected to the wifi. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah- everything's fine." She replies. Because why worry him with something she had no details on right?

"Oh okay, because she called me earlier and told me something about a ground attack and-"

Santana cuts him off. "Ope. Oh yeah, no. There's a ground attack right now. Sorry, I didn't wanna say anything if you didn't talk to her yet."

He laughs nervously, knowing the position she's in. He was a former Marine, and understands the military life. "Oh okay. Because I thought she was overreacting to the fire alarm earlier. Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're alright for now."

"Okay. I don't want to keep you. But please, keep her safe okay?"

There it was. His words echoed in Santana's mind. Keep her safe. Because that's the job, right? The responsibility handed to her as her SGT.

"Don't worry. I will."

The call ends.

The door behind you opens.

"Come on everyone file through this way. We're leaving the building." A security forces soldier was directing everyone down the hallway and out the back door.

"Where are we going?" Marley asks you as you both jog down the hallway.

"I have no idea. But let's go so we aren't far behind."

The PAX terminal was basically the airport of base. The way on and off whether you were a military member or a civilian contractor. It was about a little under a quarter mile away from the barracks and that's when Santana realized that she needed to work on her cardio.

As they ran, the smoke cloud was still lingering in the sky, the smell of gunpowder filling the air. Faint gunshots could be heard, as well as explosions from what sounded like grenades.

It was like a scene out of a movie.

Santana made sure her crew was out in front of her, the only person missing was Brittany. But Hanna said that she took off running the moment the door opened.

Upon arrival at the PAX terminal, a soldier was at the front door directing everyone inside. As they made their way in, that's when they saw the damage made from the initial explosion. Ceiling tiles lay broken on the floor, light fixtures hanging from the wires that remained intact. Dust particles flying everywhere from the foot traffic heading upstairs. It was a mess. Why would they be told to go there? It seemed much safer back at the barracks.

Once everyone was inside, Santana got accountability again. Brittany had beaten everyone there; she was waiting patiently upstairs in a corner of the terminal saving spots for the rest of the squad to get there.

"Man being in here, we gonna inhale asbestos." Madison chimed out. Everyone was tense, she wanted to break the silence.

"Not the time, Madi." Mason replied. "Read the room."

"Okay but being tense is going to do what, Mason."

"Okay twins not right now." SPC Aria Montgomery interjected. "Little now is not the time."

"Okay enough, enough. Everyone just relax. Just take a breath." Santana said.

"Sarge we can't take a breath we'll get asbestos." SPC Noah Puckerman added with sarcasm.

Everyone laughed.

The shift spent the next few hours talking and helping each other calm down. The eventful morning was a real eye opener to a lot of them.

Coming onto this deployment, everyone knew it was going to be no easy task. They were a field artillery battalion. Most of the people in the 1st platoon weren't even field artillery. Most of them were support jobs such as cooks, human resources. But the mission they were given was air defense, which was something outside of everyone's comfort zones.

They had to learn a brand-new job in months, and then immediately get sent to Afghanistan to perform that job. It was constant pressure. It was stress. It was sitting on a gun, that had the capabilities to shoot down rockets. Mortars. Artillery. Their job was to protect the 15,000 people performing their own missions on base. Their safety, primarily- depended on the C-RAM.

"Hey, San?" Brittany was sitting down on the seat next to Santana.

"Whatsup? You okay?"

"Yeah, I mean. As good as you can get right now, you know?" Brittany grinned shyly. "I was wondering if I could borrow your phone to get in contact with my brother."

"Of course." Without a second thought, Santana handed her phone to Brittany. "Where's your phone?"

"I.. Dropped it. On the run here."

"Dude.." Santana turned.

"No it's okay. Is it okay if I add him on your facebook? That's how I normally talk to him."

"Yeah go ahead." Santana replied.

"Oh shit. Did you even talk to Dani today, San?" Brittany tries to hand the phone back. "Fuck no okay sorry, I didn't even ask before I grabbed your phone."

Santana stops her, "No I didn't talk to her. But it's okay she's taking a final and I want her to finish first."

Dani and Santana got married right before deployment. It was rushed, they weren't together very long before they made the decision to exchange vows. Not that any vows were really exchanged, because they got married at the courthouse.

The toll of the shit Santana was getting from SSG Sylvester, the stress from the job was only heightened by the relationship she had with Dani. It wasn't easy, and being that their relationship was somewhat new? Made it ten times worse.

Deployments can make or break a relationship. You hear it time and time again. It will show what type of foundation your bond is built on. Some survive, and some don't.

Life changes in an instant. It's what life is. The twists and turns are natural, and most times- come unknowingly. And sometimes, there isn't anything you can do to change the course it's on.