- The Wrong World for a Hero -

- 1 -

San Lomadas was 3 different cities on a peninsula in California way back before the interstate was built. The cities grew to their limits and merged together. About 50 years ago a major expressway system replaced the old railroads and warehouses. Despite the experts intentions, traffic got worse.

It wasn’t the worst city in California. The cost of living was high, the education system was middling, and their crime rate was ‘getting better’. They were over crowded, short on water half the year, and at risk of fires the other half of the year. But they were firmly middle of the pack for the state.

The Urgent EMT Services building was a crisp clean building in the popular utilitarian design. The only feature that set it apart from the Police Department were the garage bays for their ambulances.

Their logo was a stern face of a tribal style dragon, red snarling face over a blue shield. It glared at Drew as he walked through the open garage bay doors.

When Drew had walked into the building the week prior to submit his resume he had felt the dragon staring down at him, as if it knew the kind of trouble he brought with him. His heroics ended up getting him terminated on his first day.

Drew took a deep breath as he walked through the ambulance bay and into the front lobby.

This is it, my first day as an EMT.

Drew approached the front desk at a brisk walk. He was already wearing the light blue on dark blue uniform of Urgent EMT Services. The woman behind the desk jolted in her seat when Drew suddenly reached out his hand to introduce himself.

"Hi, I'm Drew. It's my first day here." He said with a smile.

The woman eyed him skeptically. She was in her mid 40s. She had been with Urgent for several years. As far as she was concerned, energetic people like Drew seemed to drain the energy from those around them. Her ex-husband was this same kind of energetic in the mornings.

"I know who you are, Andrew Bonsen. I’m Sadie Manteca, I work the phones and run the office side of things. Ms. Ramirez already told me about the early bird we were hiring. You better quit with the chipper attitude before she sees you, she’s been having a bad day.”

Drew's smile faded a little as Sadie spoke. He had been hoping to start off on the right foot this time.

"Of course," he said, trying to keep his disappointment from showing. "Just a little extra excitement for my first day. That's all."

He made a zipping gesture over his mouth and threw away an imaginary key.

Sadie nodded and handed him a stack of paperwork.

"Good enough. Fill these out, then come back to me when you're done. Your training partner should be here soon."

Drew took the paperwork and went to a nearby table to fill it out. Paperwork had never bothered him like it did other people. The form was simple. He knew all the information off the top of his head.

The lobby was clean and well worn. Large enough for 6 people to sit comfortably in wood and pleather chairs. The kind you see everywhere in hospitals or dentists offices.

As he worked, a few other EMTs walked through in their street clothes, carrying duffel bags and backpacks towards the locker rooms down the hall.

Keep it together Drew, becoming an EMT will be different than being a cop.

Paperwork complete, he returned to the front desk.

No matter how jaded people at Urgent were, they weren’t outright racist.

Drew was startled out of his thoughts by someone calling his name.

“Andrew. Mr. Bonsen. Step into my office for a minute.” Ms. Rameriez waved him forward from the threshold to her office.

- 2 -

Drew entered Ms. Ramirez’s office. She was already sitting at her desk behind a pile of paperwork.

The room was central to the building. It did not have any exterior windows. But it did have fluorescent lights. The over-all effect was to drain the joy out of the room with flickering greenish highlights.

Ms. Ramirez was toned from her career as an EMT. She looked like she could get right back out there in a moment's notice. The green light made her seem like a buff forest elf. During his interview she had been all business and matter of fact. Today she was simply tired. She looked up when she heard him knock.

"Andrew, have a seat. So here we are, this is your first day. I want to set some ground rules." She said.

“Thank you, for this opportunity Ma’am. By the way, you can call me Drew, I prefer it. Andrew is my grandfather’s name and he is still using it.” He said as he crossed the room.

She glanced at her papers. Her desk was large enough to fit three plush chairs on his side. Ms. Ramirez had opted for three stoic hardback wooden chairs instead. One for herself, and two on Drew’s side, placed precisely in the middle of the desk.

The extra large desk gives her room to clutter up her desk. A single match and this place would be a furnace.

Drew chose the right-hand seat and sat up straight.

"It’s good to be back in a uniform, I’m looking forward to saving lives."

"I heard about your little stunt with the mugger last week.” Ms. Rameriz stated calmly.

Drew's heart sank. Her tone was level and controlled and Drew fell into a practiced cadence.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Ramirez. I know I took a risk getting involved, but I just couldn't stand by and do nothing, the guy had a knife."

"I know, Drew, I’m glad you weren’t hurt. But the you two ended up in traffic and nearly run over by a truck.” She said.

It was an accident, he threw us both into the street. I was able to pull him back in time to save him.

“I understand where you're coming from.” Ms. Ramirez sighed.

“You need to understand that this is not the police academy. I told you when we last spoke, we are not the police.” She slammed her palm on the last clear space on the desk.

“We can get sued for any little thing. Believe me, they all try to sue. Our job is to provide medical care, not fight crime. We leave that to the actual police."

"I know, and I'll do better. I was trying to do the right thing.” Drew said with a nod.

Ms. Ramirez shook her head, "You can't be playing hero like this, Drew. We're here to provide life saving emergency care. Deliver patients to the ER. Do not start fights. When I hired you, I warned you to keep your head down, focus on the work or it would be the end of your job. Was I unclear?"

Drew held her gaze. “No ma’am. It won’t happen again.”

Ms. Ramirez smiled. "Good. I believe you. You’ve got what it takes to be good. I don't want to lose you because of a silly mistake. But remember, if something like that happens again, you need to call the police. Let them handle it."

Drew nodded again. "I understand. Thank you for talking to me about this, Ms. Ramirez."

She sighed and looked at him for a couple long seconds.

“My guess is you’ve had this conversation before, so you know how to say the right things. Let me make something clear, we're not looking for any heroes here.” Ms Rameriz stood up behind her desk. She leaned across towards Drew and lowered her voice.

“I have friends in the police force, so I know what it’s like there. There are more good cops than you realize. Sure, the cops you stood up to are assholes. Maybe they deserve to be fired. Except now they are on paid leave and there’s less cops on the streets. That’s not helping the good cops stay alive.”

She stared across the desk at him.

All the good people are tired. When good people do nothing bad guys win.

“All I want are people who can do the job without creating more of a mess." Ms Ramirez sat back down amongst her paperwork.

Can I just let things like this slide? There will always be bullies. People that end up hanging with the wrong crowd and change for the worse, or maybe they have been a bad all along. It doesn’t matter. I’ll call them out and stand up to all of them.

Sure I may have made too big of a scene. Ms. Rameriez has a point, the good cops need all the backup they can get, or their lives were more at risk.

“Am I clear Mr. Bonsen?” She asked.

“Understood, thank you ma’am.” Drew forced himself to respond without looking away.

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It was a fair warning. I got officers investigated. That’s something. But I lost my chance at being one of those good cops fixing things from the inside.

"I hope your first day is uneventful. Now get out of my office, I have work to do.” She said.

Drew turned to leave but Ms. Ramirez caught up to him at the door with a sympathetic look on her face.

"I know you have a good heart, Drew. But you need to be careful. This job can be dangerous and you don't want to get yourself or anyone else hurt. Just make sure you keep your head on straight from now on, okay?"

Drew nodded once more, "I will, Ms. Ramirez. I promise."

- 3 -

Drew nearly ran into a woman as he exited the office.

She was in her thirties with short brown hair, the kind you associated with Bieber fans. It paired well with her no-nonsense attitude. She stood about his height and her neck and shoulders were so toned she probably could do more chin ups than half the cadets at the police academy.

She easily pushed him back out of her space. “You Andrew Bonsen?”

"Yes ma’am, I am, my friends call me Drew." he said, holding out his hand.

She shook it briefly, her grip was firm.

"I'm Sarah, I’m not your ma’am. I’ll be your trainer and if you do well today we will ride together for a while. Let's get started."

They headed out to the ambulance and started checking their supplies.

“Alright Drew. What’s the first thing we check before hitting the road?”

Drew quickly responded.“Vehicle readiness. Ensure the ambulance is in good working condition.”

Sarah nodded approvingly and Drew quickly checked the vehicles systems.

“Now, show me how you check the medical equipment.” Sara said as she checked off a few things on their inspection sheet.

Drew efficiently went through the compartments, listing off each item as he inspected them.

“Good job, but remember to check expiration dates on medications. We can’t afford any oversights.”

“Got it.” Drew said as they moved on to supplies.

“It’s crucial to organize the supplies logically, so you can grab what you need without hesitation. Efficiency can make a difference in critical situations.” Sarah said.

“I’ve got the way I like to do things so you will learn that way. If you ride with anyone else then you learn their way. Got it?” She continued.

“Got it.” He said.

“And what’s the last thing?” Sarah asked.

“Check the radio and make a test call to dispatch.” Drew said with confidence.

“Perfect. They really teach you new recruits good.” Sarah stowed the clip board behind the driver seat. “Now, let’s hit the streets.”

- 4 -

The sun had come up an hour ago. A hazy morning was still building over the city of San Lomadas. Drew and Sarah were cruising along the interstate in 7 am traffic, at a refreshing 35 miles an hour. Their overpass afforded Drew a view of the city that would be ruined in a few minutes by the smog.

Down below, the residential blocks had a few cyclists, and homeless folks starting their day. He could see a group of police cars and a backhoe clearing out an encampment that had taken over Lockley Park.

If I was still a cop I might be down there clearing those people out and helping them find beds for the night.

A semi truck merged out of the far right lane and into the second lane. They started to drift too far over into their lane. Sarah honked and the semi straightened out.

Two patrol cars pursued a small Honda northbound on the opposite side of the highway and Drew imagined himself behind the wheel of the speeding vehicles.

“I hope we don’t get called in for that.” Sarah said with a nod to the car chase. “High speed chases usually end up with an ambulance on the scene. And that’s not something you want to see on your first day.”

Dispatch called in on the radio and it made Drew jump. Someone died at City Lights Senior Center.

“And there you go, your first pick up.” Sarah said to Drew before she responded to dispatch that they were in route.

Drew and Sarah arrived at the City Lights Senior Center right after their breakfast service ended.

It was a nice building when it was first built. They had kept up with the repairs but the architectural style of the city had changed.

The building looked dated, it had yet to get the face lift that the shopping center across the road was sporting. The open areas were in need of good landscaping.

A large group of crows was sitting on the fence surrounding the property.

Sarah parked the ambulance right in front.

She went around the back and pulled out the gurney and a body bag.

Sarah took the back and Drew grabbed the front of the gurney.

They walked inside to find the staff gathered around a guest’s room just off the lobby. Drew could see a frail old woman lying in the bed.

Mrs. Chen, the nursing home director, approached them and spoke quietly. "Thank you for coming so quickly. Doris passed away peacefully this morning."

“I’m just glad we were close by, we are short handed today.” Sarah responded in a hushed tone.

Doris’s room was quaint. She had a couple spare cardigans in the closet, a small kitchenette with a mini fridge. Drew could see packages of fig newtons, and Lipton tea. If Doris ate anything else she kept it hidden.

The room had two beds and two sets of dressers, but her roommate was either really tidy and elsewhere, or Doris had lived alone.

The staff dispersed to let the two EMTs do their job.

“Oh, would you look at that,” Drew whispered to Sarah as they went about processing the body.

Sara didn’t respond. She filled out the paperwork.

Zip the lip Drew. It’s still your first day.

After ten minutes they were moving the body to their gurney.

“The crows outside are all gathering around the window.” He said.

Sarah shrugged and said, "So what? Crows are smart birds. Maybe they're just curious."

“So maybe they knew Doris here.” Drew suggested as he zipped up the body bag.

“With them all watching it feels like a wake. Should we say some words?” He asked.

“Quit joking around.” Sarah said, then after a pause she replied. “We didn’t know her, what would we say?”

They wheeled Doris out of the building. The crows on the fence started to follow them. As they loaded Doris into the ambulance and prepared to drive away when they heard loud cawing sounds.

The crows had flown down to sit on the fence and on top of the ambulance. They seemed to be holding a vigil for the old woman.

Mrs. Chen came outside and saw the crows sitting silently everywhere.

"Oh my," she said. "Doris used to feed those crows every day. They must know that she's gone."

“They probably brought her a bunch of shinny stuff.” Drew said.

Mrs. Chen smiled politely for a moment then went back inside.

Drew turned to see a confused look on Sarah’s face as he joined her in the cab of the ambulance.

“Are you some kind of crow fanboy?” Sarah asked.

“I saw a documentary once, that if you befriend crows they bring you bottle caps and buttons and coins. Anything shiny actually.” He said.

Sarah put the truck in gear without a word. As they drove away, the crows continued to follow the ambulance, swooping and diving overhead for a few blocks.

- 5 -

Drew sat in the passenger seat of the ambulance, gazing out of the window as the crows still followed them. They had delivered Doris to the county morgue and were heading back to the garage for lunch.

Sarah focused her eyes on the road silently.

“You are some kind of lucky, Drew.” Sarah passed a car that was waiting to turn left at a light, trusting their siren to keep the other cars out of the intersection while they sped through.

“I thought for sure Ms. Rameriez was going to boot you on your first day. I’ve not seen her that mad before.” She said.

“She was pretty harsh, but I get it. I’m not a cop. I missed my shot at that already. She gave me a second chance knowing how I screwed up at the academy.”

“It’s true then? You did flunk out of the academy?” Sarah asked looking at Drew from the corner of her eye.

“I didn’t flunk, I graduated 3rd in the class.” Drew leaned towards Sarah taking his eyes off the road.

“I got in an argument with some senior officers that had been on the force a long time. They were assholes to this kid they handcuffed to a chair threatening gang related charges and I called it like I saw it.”

A call code came through the radio for a non lethal fender bender a few blocks away.

“That’s us.” Sarah said. As the closest truck, she notified dispatch they were diverting to check it out.

“Well shit, you must have really pissed them off. Congrats.” She said.

They arrived at the scene a few minutes later. Sarah pulled the ambulance over to the curb in front of City View High school.

Sarah tossed the keys underhand to Drew. “You earned the keys. After this, you take us back to the garage.”

Drew stepped out of the truck and grabbed his medical bag. A police officer was speaking to some witnesses nearby.

Sarah radioed in to dispatch. “Dispatch this is Ambulance 23-19. Scene looks good, police are on-site, both vehicles present with minor damage, drivers are up and about. Will assess and call for another truck if necessary.”

Drew approached the first driver, a woman with a minivan.

The front of her vehicle has some damage but it’s one of those newer cars that crumple in collisions. Likely totaled but that’s safer for the drivers. She’s dressed to run a marathon, or attend some kind of cycling class. She’s on the phone with her insurance, talking fine if not a little impatient. Seems to be favoring her right leg.

Sarah watched Drew approach the driver and took notes.

“Ma’am, hello I’m with Urgent EMT Services, do you need assistance?” She waved him off without looking his way.

“Ma’am, it’s standard procedure when the police are called for an ambulance to do a preliminary check.” When that got him the cold shoulder Drew made a mental note.

Possibly hard of hearing. Refused medical services.

“You have a good day ma’am.” Drew said.

He walked to the other vehicle to check the other driver.

“Hello ma'am, I’m with Urgent EMT Services, my name is Drew. Do you feel alright?”

She seems fine, she could be a young grandma, and she has a small dog in the car with her.

“Oh, no thank you young man. I’m alright, just worried about how I’ll pay for repairs after being rear ended.”

She definitely has the “I bake cookies” vibe.

“Sorry to hear that ma’am, if anything starts to feel odd, don’t come find us. There are fast moving trucks that drive by here. Just give us a holler, we will stick around for a few more minutes.” Drew said.

Drew wandered back over to their ambulance while Sarah spoke to the cop at the scene briefly.

They were about to leave when they heard gunshots coming from the direction of the school.

More gunshots sounded and a police call code came over the radio. “10-33, gunshots fired at City View High School. All officers report. SWAT in route.”

Drew threw the keys behind him as he took off running towards the school. “Call for backup Sarah!”

Sarah shouted at Drew but he cut her off. “I have to go in and help!” Every second someone could be dying.”

As he got closer, Drew saw people running out in a panic, and he could hear more shots coming from the school.

He pushed the doors open and rushed inside. The hallways were chaos, with people screaming and running towards the exits.

I’ve got to stay focused. Which way would they be?

Drew charged down the hallway, staying low, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he followed the sounds of gunfire.

I'm going the right way if everyone is running against me. It’s like driving the wrong way on the highway.

He turned a corner at a sprint. The shooter’s back was 10 feet away. A young man dressed in black, aiming his shot gun at a group of terrified students huddled in a corner.

Without hesitation, Drew tackled the shooter, wrestling the gun from his hands. The gun went off, shattering tiles on the wall.

“Stay down you are under arrest!” Drew shouted.

Drew pinned the shooter on his stomach with his knee. The devastation around him was like something out of a B-movie. Children and teachers lay injured and dying all around him.

Alright, got this kid down, need to start triaging the people around-

Another shot rang out.

Drew looked down at the blood spreading across his chest.

“What?” Drew barely had time to register the second student with a rifle. The kid had popped up from around the other corner and fired on him.

Drew stumbled back, his vision blurred as he collapsed onto the floor. Screams mixed with the sound of police sirens and the sporadic dubstep of his heartbeat in his ears led him into the darkness as he passed out.

The police arrived on the scene and stormed the hallway, taking down the shooters with a barrage of gunfire.