December 14th, 1997.
“Goddamn it’s cold,” said Lusty, “Wish the wind wasn’t blowing.”
Lusty entered the firehouse while holding a bag of salt to melt ice and snow. She was told to put it down due to the wind that was supposed to pick up and blow snow off of the mountains and spread it across the city.
Lusty then put her turnout gear onto Squad 141 apparatus. She then went over to the riding board which said:
BOSS: LT/PM AUTUMN: D4
CHAUF: FF/EMT RODRIEGUZ
CAN: FF/EMT SULLIVAN: MEDIC
Nozz/IRONS: FF/EMT JOHNSON: D3
Nozz/HOOK: FF/PM NYGUMN: D1
ROOF: FF/EMT SMITH: D2
Lusty was going to ask what FF/EMT and FF/PM and LT/PM meant but remembered that it meant Firefighter/ Emergency Medical Technician, Firefighter/ Paramedic, and Lieutenant/ Paramedic. She knows what ‘D3’ means because she’s a Diver but only Nygumn and Smith will go into the water while she feeds them both rope and Lieutenant Autumn oversees them.
“Hey James how have you been?” asked Lusty.
James replied, “What huh? Oh, it’s you, Lusty. Oh, my ex-wife goes to trial today after a long time sitting in a jail cell. I’m happy about that but I was supposed to have my son with me on Christmas for the first time in two years but that won’t happen because of my bitchy ex.”
“Why don’t you find another woman to be with?” said Lusty, “So you don’t be alone anymore.”
James replied, “Lusty I trust you but I’m telling you this secret and that is I’m actually Bi. But I’m just too scared to come out about it.”
“James I’m Bisexual,” said Lusty, “I know it’s natural to be scared when you like two genders…”
James interrupted, “I was raised in Highwood and the people there see people who aren’t straight as ‘soldiers for the devil’ so if you were or are bi or gay then you have to be on the down-low so no one could find out. Hell if I go back to where I was born and raised and tell them that I’m bi then I’ll be the victim of a homophobic hate crime.”
“And? Don’t let them control how you feel,” said Lusty. “When I came out as Bisexual. My mom said and I quote, ‘Lusty we don’t care what sexuality you are. Me and your father wouldn't care if you're lesbian. We love you for who you are and there’s nothing and nobody in the world who can change who you are. There will be others who will hate you and your sexuality but that’s not for them to decide. It’s what you decide but me and your father support you for who you are and so does everyone else in the Eastside will support you for who you are.’
"My mother is right that there are people out there who will love you for who you are and don’t care about your sexuality. If where you’re from, if they'll hate you for being bisexual then that’s them, not you. If they want to throw homophobic bullshit at you, well you’ll have to remind yourself that it’s your life that you control, not them. Listen you can live your life in fear or not and to me living in fear is no life.”
James replied, “You're right but the people there I know they’re the type who’ll be like some religions when you leave then all of your friends will pretend that they never met you. Also one of my old neighbors came out and the people boarded up the doors to their house and put bars on the windows and blocked the road which just had the Fire Department plow through the terrible roadblock on what my old neighbors made.
”Of course, my old neighbors would throw things into the fire so it would’ve been harder for the firefighters to put out the fire until the men of Engine 59 got tired of their shit and turned their one and three-quarter and two-and-a-half-inch attack hoses against them until police arrived with hats and bats.”
“Hats and bats,” said Lusty, “Another term for police with riot helmets and specialized batons used to break unruly people’s skulls in half.”
Soon Lieutenant Autumn came and he gave Lusty a book that says “FIRST RESPONDER FIELD MANUAL GUIDE FOR NUCLEAR FALLOUT AND/OR NUCLEAR POST-APOCALYPSE. LITTLE BIRD ARMED FORCES AND LITTLE BIRD BUREAU OF PUBLIC SAFETY REPUB:1989, ORG: 1955”
Great a field manual on what to do in case of nuclear war and what to do, Lusty thought, What are they expecting World War Three to break out tomorrow? Or did a country go rogue and launch their nuclear, thermonuclear, and pure fusion nuclear missiles?
“What did you get?” asked Lusty.
Lusty looked at the book that James has which said:
FIRST RESPONDER FIELD MANUAL GUIDE FOR NBCRNA. LITTLE BIRD ARMED FORCES AND LITTLE BIRD BUREAU OF PUBLIC SAFETY REPUB:1994, ORG: 1952.
Lusty was going to ask what “Repub” and “ORG” meant until she thought it meant “Republished” and Org meant “Original”
“NBCRNA?” asked Lusty.
James replied, “Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, Radiological, Nerve Agent.”
Lusty went to go to talk to Lieutenant Autumn.
“Hey Lieutenant?” asked Lusty, “How often do we have to go over these books?”
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “Well we’re not expecting an act of God. We’re not expecting to build another Noah’s Ark when a great flood comes. But rather be prepared because never know out of the blue a flood, wildfire, nuclear attack, or whatnot would happen. Also, a lot of these books will help us when our communications are down because there will be emergencies when we can’t even use our radios and walkie-talkies to communicate with other companies, police, and other emergency officials.
“Hell, tomorrow morning we could deal with a nuclear attack, biological attack, a chemical attack, a radiological attack, a terrorist attack, lava, a nerve agent attack, a crane collapse, a plane crash, landslide, and so on. While we don’t go to every natural disaster but we do go to manmade disasters like engineering hazards like bridge collapses, building collapses, damn failure, air disasters, railroad disasters, traffic collisions, and toxic materials. Just to name a few. You can go now.”
Is there even a God? Lusty thought, Don’t know I’m an Atheist but I do know some people who are Satanists and who are Wicca’s. I know some people who believe that there is a God. I know some people who believe that there is a God and they have their own opinions which I respect because they respect my opinion of me not thinking there is a God and I respect their decision that they think there is a God.
Lusty then stubbed her toe on a door frame. Son of a bitch that hurts! Good thing I clipped my toenails last night or that would hurt more. I probably should clip my fingernails before they get too long. I can’t fit my hands into gloves without the nails breaking. Not going to a salon because I can do it at home without paying a dollar. But I do need to get my haircut though so it doesn’t get too long. I can't fit my hood and helmet on.
Lusty skimmed the book and it said that they would have to triage people with higher injuries and it had a for example. “For example, a person with third-degree burns and radiation poisoning needs to be treated over someone with a broken leg. A person with third-degree burns and missing an arm needs to be treated, not someone with a first-degree burn.”
Lusty rolled her eyes at what the book says about triage and then opened one of the compartments on Squad 141 and it has HAZMAT suits.
“What kind of HAZMAT suits are these?” asked Lusty.
James Smith replied, “Level A Hazmat suits. Level B is in the other compartment.”
“How do you know what compartment I’m looking in?” asked Lusty, “How do you know I’m not looking in the compartment with Level B HAZMAT suits?”
James replied, “I don’t. But your book and my book say that it requires Level A Hazmat suits.”
James then licked his right index finger and flipped a page.
The fire bell went off.
***
At a chemical plant.
“What the hell?” said Lusty, “How did a truck end up inside of the plant?”
They saw a 6x6 truck in the side and it was twelve feet off the ground.
They also saw a green cloud around the plant so without continuing they had to put on their Level A Hazmat suits.
“Me, Lusty, and Smith will go and get workers out,” said Lieutenant Autumn, “Sullivan, and Nygumn fight the exterior fires.”
“Feels weird to wear a HAZMAT suit,” said Lusty, “But just like everything else, I got to get used to it and I’m not going to continue bitching about it.”
They went inside of the chemical plant and the security alarm was blaring.
“SECURITY MEASURE BRAVO IS CURRENTLY ACTIVE,” said the automated PA system, “ALL NON-ESSENTIAL AND SECURITY PERSONNEL PLEASE HEAD TO DESIGNATED SAFE AREAS ALL ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL PLEASE LEAVE THE PREMISES UNTIL THE ALL CLEAR SIGNAL IS GIVEN!”
It was on a loop.
“This thing is really starting to PISS ME OFF!” Lusty growled, “I’m going to shut down this annoying alarm!”
The alarm was giving Lusty a headache and after hearing it for three minutes.
***
In the security office.
Now how do you shut off this damn thing, Lusty thought, Never mind that.
Lusty picked up a security guard and carried him out. She carried the guard out and over to the second apparatus of the Fire Department City of Empire HAZMAT Company 32 which the second piece serves as both a equipment carrier and a Decontamination tent.
“Going to need an engineer in here ASAP,” said Lieutenant Autumn (over the radio), “Need a technical engineer in here ASAP to shut off this place. Going to try to activate the emergency shut off until a mechanical, and chemical engineer gets here ASAP.”
Near the entrance of the facility that Lusty saw it wasn’t the media she was surprised they haven’t sent a news chopper yet. But she saw a vehicle that's a truck-based, long chassis emergency response vehicle with a black-and-white color and it’s apparently based on a 1980s-1990s Freightliner "E33" Emergency Service Unit truck. She saw the seven Special Weapons And Emergency Service Unit officers in white HAZMAT suits.
They were there to keep people back and whatnot and just to make sure workers who weren’t in the contaminated areas stayed out and to make sure the contaminated workers got decontaminated by the fire department, and to see the emergency doctors on the scene that’ll provide first aid until they could be taken to a hospital by a Hazardous Material Tactical Ambulances with HazMat Tech EMT’s and HazMat Paramedics that can provide emergency medical care and decontaminated people in hazardous environments.
Lusty saw a few leaves blowing Eastward. Oh no, the wind! The wind will blow that chemical cloud into the city, the city will go into a curfew and a lockdown.
Lusty then went back inside but some of the doors were reinforced or required power. When the place is on lockdown and a lot of the automatic doors are either locked or need the power to open. But during lockdown bravo the power to the doors is redirected to other places and not to the door.
After half an hour a mechanical engineer came and she relayed how Lieutenant Autumn could shut off the main area and the reactor that’s where the chemicals are to stop the leak. Lusty was getting tired of finding routes around locked areas she just said “Fuck it” and she got an Oxy-Acetaline cutting blowtorch and started to cut through some automated doors.
Lusty knew it could harm others who aren’t in protective gear but at the same time, a second too long is a second too late. Every second counts and they didn't know how many people inside are infected and need to be decontaminated and she feels that if they’re a second late at getting to someone then it was a second too late.
They were able to get every worker accounted for that was working today and Lusty was safe because the workers in the contaminated building were in both Level A and Level B hazmat suits and in the non-contaminated buildings they were in safe places that prevented them from getting contaminated. If Lusty took a bazooka or some kind of Anti-Armor launcher to blow away the doors then the workers would be fine by not getting contaminated but they would either get hurt by the shrapnel or explosion.
***
Outside.
Lusty was standing in a pool where she was getting some kind of decontamination soap put on her and a HAZMAT firefighter sprayed her with a red booster hose to get the soap off but she had to do it twice once still in her Level A Hazmat suit and in her turnout gear but it was a precaution though just in case of any exposure. Lusty wanted to voice how her HAZMAT suit was airtight but she wasn’t going to make fourteen people’s jobs a lot harder and to her, she did it voluntarily because her mom always told her to stay healthy. Doesn’t help that the eye expression she saw she could see in their eyes that they can just spray her with a normal firehose against a wall to decontaminate her if she refused to be decontaminated for a second time.
Also, the fourteen HAZMAT firefighters were once Little Bird Army, Marine, and Air Force CBNR units and were a part of the Little Bird Navy NAVSUP (Naval Support not Naval Supply Systems Command) Hazardous Material (HAZMAT) Control and Management (HMC&M) teams either on ships or at Naval yards.
Lusty and the others also had to have their HAZMAT suits hang out alongside with their turnout gear and air packs to dry off and whatnot and before they could leave they had to be checked out by an EMS Emergency Physician, HAZTEC EMT or HAZTEC Paramedic because it’s protocol before they can go back into service.
***
An hour later.
“In case of a nuclear attack,” said Lusty, “All first responders will have to stay away from ground zero from eight thousand to ten thousand feet (1.52 miles to 1.89 miles) for a minimum up to ten miles as a maximum… Is this book just saying what’s common knowledge?”
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “I’m not going to stand outside and use my thumb to measure the cloud. If my thumb is bigger than the cloud then I’m safe and if the cloud is bigger than my thumb then I’m screwed. But just keep reading the book.”
“Lieutenant if you don’t mind me asking,” said Lusty, “But what was the hardest thing you did in the military special forces?”
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “1982 Moscow, USSR. Some Ultranationalist jack wads took over the Little Bird Embassy for forty-seven days the Vice President of Little Bird was playing kiss ass but when President Bill Waterson came back from vacation with his with Sandra and their three daughters well when he heard that his Vice President was playing kiss ass and wanting to give what the Ultranationalists wanted well he told the Vice President to piss off and he also said and I quote, ‘I want the First SFG there like yesterday’. So me, and eight others were in Moscow, USSR on April 7th, 1982 me and the eight of the First SFG were in Moscow.”
“I thought you were in the Army?” asked Lusty.
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “I was in the army and later army special forces. Even though our relationship was and still is bad, we worked alongside with the USSR Spetsnaz. Of course we took no prisoners even though I was just the team medic for that just using a double action .44 magnum with a ‘heavy frame’ that gave the gun a matte finish and walnut grip and the barrel was four inches which is a requirement for Little Bird military revolvers. I also had a twelve gauge autoloading semi-automatic shotgun. But I do have the same type of revolver in my locker but it has a 10⅝ length barrel. Oh no not my locker here but at home.”
On the tv the news came on in which the screen said “Breaking News” before it showed a news anchor. The news anchor said that due to a chemical leak earlier and the wind is blowing the chemical cloud eastward toward the city and the city government is advising people to stay indoors and to keep their windows and doors closed.
The news anchor also said that all things like Little League practice and Little League games has been canceled for an undetermined amount of time and the city is currently under a lockdown and a 7 AM to 6 PM curfew and that’s for people who need to go out to either work or to go get things but they need to limit their exposure time and need to stay out for thirty minutes as a maximum but they shouldn’t leave their homes.
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“This is the news that profits off of people’s being afraid,” said Lusty. “The news wants people to be afraid so they can boost their ratings.”
Lieutenant Autumn went over to the payphone in the kitchen. He told the phone operator to make a party line in which he called the twenty-one off-duty firefighters who work on Squad 141 on B, C, and D shifts. Lieutenant Autumn then called the maintenance yard and radioed for the two spare fire engines for Squad 141 because B, C, and D shifts are on their way to work due to it being a city-wide emergency and they need to be prepared.
Even though Lusty abhors Zofia, Lusty didn’t have any negative thoughts about Zofia and didn’t wish that something bad would happen even though Lusty has thought about bad things happening to Zofia on her off time.
“Why are the four shifts just the first four letters of the alphabet?” asked Lusty.
Engineer John replied, “It’s military. A is for Able, B for Baker, C for Charlie, and D for Delta. They changed D in the fifties from Dog to Delta.”
“Alrighty then,” said Lusty.
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “Alright Squad 141 let’s go on a store run.”
They all got on Squad 141 apparatus and went to the supermarket and went shopping and stocked up on food and other supplies and went back to the firehouse before the chemical cloud hit the city. While they were out they just saw that nobody was out besides those still at work but it’s like the city became a ghost town due to everybody being home now just having their eyes glued to the news on TV or their ears glued to the radio to listen to the news over the radio.
When they got back to the firehouse they kept the apparatus bay doors closed and the regular doors and windows closed and they turned off the firehouse’s HVAC system and followed basic defense against chemicals.
Lusty looked out of the door for Squad 141, not the C02 unit. There was a dense yellow lime cloud smoke.
Hope it ain’t Chlorine Gas, Lusty thought, Or Mustard gas. Whatever it is, I don't want to be caught out in it. We’re probably under some kind of alert that command or whatnot has us under.
Lusty got done reading her field manual that was written and typed by the Little Bird Armed Forces and the Bureau of Public Safety.
“The Civil Defense Administration people will be walking around in this,” said Lusty, “Wearing gas masks and in their casual or three-piece suits and seeing places with higher toxicity or whatnot. Kinda reminds me of an old civil defense film I saw and the narrator says ‘You’re a part of the civil defense team alongside your family, every fireman, every policeman, every doctor, nurse, lineman and operator, and every community employee and they’ll be ready to help your community and other communities’ yeah I would scoff at it but now I’m on that team.”
Unknown to Lusty she was actually right with the Empire branch of the Little Bird Civil Defense Administration agents are out walking around taking where the chemicals are less toxic to the high toxicity of course they’re wearing air masks to protect their respiratory organs.
Lusty went upstairs to take a nap.
What was actually surprising was that they didn’t have any emergency. That was because of a medical emergency or any other emergency besides hearing about the police enforcing the curfew and about a few times that the police would either have to use flashbangs to scare off people or shoot someone in the leg to detain them.
Five days later. The lockdown and curfew ended and the chemical cloud dissipated and some rain came and washed away the chemicals that were on buildings and vehicles. Of course, A, B, and C shifts were able to go home but D shift had to stay because it was now their active shift.
Lusty and them heard about how Empire Memorial Hospital and three other hospitals are busy dealing with people who are suffering from severe respiratory failure or just having a very hard time breathing without the aid of a machine or a mobile air tank.
***
At home. Lusty first got the mail before taking an elevator to the forty-third floor of the apartment building she lives in and entered her apartment 43D.
Lusty turned on the TV which was the news.
“And the chemical plant owner has been arrested by the Empire Police,” said a female news anchor, “The chemical plant was built in 1915 for the Little Bird Corps of Chemical Warfare and it was transferred to civilian control in 1949. The plant wasn’t updated well and has not been maintained since 1957. The plant owner has been putting profit over workers and general safety. The safety measures that are in service at the plant have been in service since 1941.”
Well its automated PA system almost gave me a fucking headache, Lusty thought, But something like this could’ve been avoided if they have never taken the low road like companies always do so they can keep maximizing profits. But the owner will feign innocents like he didn’t know and whatnot. Hell, just for the sake of being bored I’ll swing by the plant and take a look around.
Lusty called Dave who gladly tagged along with her.
“Scary about the chemical cloud that we went through,” said Dave.
Lusty replied, “Yeah it was scary… Before you say it you’re going to say you have a cousin or some kind of family member who works for the LBAFCC or something like that.”
“Oh I do but she works with cadet soldiers against NBCRNA attacks,” said Dave. “Of course back in ‘91 a rookie soldier slapped her on her ass and she punched the guy so hard right in the mouth that all of the guy’s teeth got knocked out.”
Lusty replied, “Your cousin… She is a…”
“Aromantic and Asexual,” Dave interrupted, “To her, she sees romance as uninteresting and boring. She did label herself as lesbian until she went on four different dates but the women she went on dates with were with straight women who said they were Bi or Lesbian but just said that so they would attack her and call her a freak and whatnot. The other Watersons? We told her that we didn’t care and still don’t care about her religion and sexuality because we told her that they will always love her no matter what.”
Lusty replied, “Lovely family. At least your family and extended family members are there for each other. Do you have a family member who’s interested in dating a cute bisexual female firefighter? I don’t care if the person is a male, female, trans or non-bi and I don’t care if their sexuality is straight, bi or lesbian.”
“Well you’ll have to tell me what you’re looking for in someone,” said Dave, “I know that you’re not looking for another Zofia.”
Lusty gave a chuckle but they arrived at the chemical plant that’s shut down. They looked around.
Lusty found a note on a three-hole piece of paper.
TO: CEO: Barrington Webb, COO: Addison Rush & DEPARTMENT HEAD: Griffin Torrent
Look, this is the fifth time I wrote this within eight years. Listen the equipment and safety features here date back to World War One, Interwar Period, and World War Two! A lot of this Equipment and safety stuff is either rusting away or just wearing out sometime today, tomorrow, or one day in which something bad will happen, and when it does happen I’ll say ‘I told you three so.’
It’ll be better to pay out some amount of cash to get all of this updated or new stuff before something bad happens than keep relying on equipment that was last updated and stop being made between 1945-1948!
Also sometimes these walls creak and sometimes it feels like a wind gust of 0.1 MPH will tear down these walls! It’ll be better to shut down this place for repairs and retrofitting for several weeks to a month or so before something bad happens! But no you three will just talk with the stockholders who will gladly put the workers and the general population in harm's way and probably kill an untold amount of people and just say a ‘Sorry we didn’t know’ card but in reality you all know it would happen! But you all will just listen to people who think cheating on their spouses is a cultural norm and the same people who line your pockets with lots of cash!
A lot of these chemicals if mixed or damaged then they’ll cause an untold amount of casualties or just create the biggest class action lawsuit against the company if they get damaged and leak out and blow anywhere that the wind blows.
From: CEO (Chief Engineering Department): Selena Savage, Head of Security: Li-Anne Sun, Foreman: Ned Mason.
Looks like they warned the higher-ups, Lusty thought, Another page? Wonder what it says.
TO: Chief Engineer: Selena Savage, Head of Security: Li-Anne Sun, Foreman: Ned Mason
We have gone through the plant recently and everything looks fine and everything is in fine working order. We’re not going to shell out some money to fix things that us heads and owners of the company have seen first hand that’s fine.
Don’t worry everything will be fine and the machines got another twenty years maybe longer before they break down. Just keep going back to work day in and day out. The machinery and equipment won’t break.
From: CEO Barrington Webb, COO: Addison Rush & DEPARTMENT HEAD: Griffin Torrent
Wow doesn’t surprise me, Lusty thought, Another company worried about their bottom line and knew that this wouldn’t have to happen if they didn’t take the low road like they always do.
Lusty then called Dave over who was looking through a binder.
“Come on, the police would love to see this,” said Dave, “Come on Lusty.”
***
Outside of a three-story concrete building with a small three-foot tall, two-inch wide rectangular wall around it, there were three signs that said, “EMPIRE POLICE DEPARTMENT. DEPARTMENT OF POLICE”.
“Back at the Ninth,” said Lusty, “Is Captain Asyling your girlfriend?”
Dave replied, “No she isn’t. But she’ll make sure this gets to the right people and make sure this won’t go missing.”
Both Lusty and Dave gave the evidence to Captain Asyling Ryan who then made sure it went to the right people who won’t let the company get away from facing justice and letting them get away and act like nothing happened.
When they got out of the ninth precinct the first person they saw walk by was Zofia and Zofia being her stuck-up self. Zofia even told Dave that he’s nothing good and just a loser.
“I know four things,” said Dave, “They are carpentry, firefighting, providing medical aid, and kicking ass! I don’t see any fires to be put out, I don’t see anyone or hearing anyone calling out that they or someone needs medical aid and I don’t see any wooden boards needing to be used for constrictions. Do you see any or hear any of those things Lusty?”
Lusty replied, “No I don’t.”
“No you don’t,” said Dave, “That’s right. What are you looking at? Don’t you eyeball me! You want to know why my family calls me ‘Brawler?’ No? Then I suggest that you can fuck off before you’ll be put in the hospital Intensive Care Unit!”
Zofia did while huffing and puffing.
“I never seen anyone more or less tell Zofia to fuck off,” said Lusty, “Guess not a lot of people will kiss her ass more or less.”
Dave replied, “My family has been up against worse than Zofia. Also, I dealt with jerks like Zofia before.”
“Who has your family fought in the past?” said Lusty, “If you don’t mind me asking.”
Dave replied, “Germans in WW1, Nazis, Imperial Japanese, Fascist Italians, Vichy French, NVA, VC, KPA, Soviets, Union, Confederacy, and the British. My family has been in the Minutemen, Congressional Army, US Army, US Marines, CSA, British Army in both World Wars, in the Royal Flying Corps in WW1, and the Little Bird Armed Forces. Of course, my family always sees the enemy as the enemy but they also see them as humans as well with the exception being war criminals and people like well I already said them.”
They got back into Lusty’s car and Lusty drove home and Dave went with her.
***
Lusty’s apartment.
“Nice place you got here,” said Dave.
Lusty replied, “Thanks. No offense but it’s better than your place. I’m going to make a scrambled egg sandwich with bacon and sausage. You want one?”
“Sure I take one,” said Dave, “Got a bar, a fancy table, you have been spending some money to spoil yourself.”
Lusty replied, “Not going to spoil my money on my ex and I don’t have children to spend money on. No, I’m not interested in getting pregnant, well not now at least because I’m nineteen. Maybe one day I’ll have a child or children to spend my time, money, and love on to raise. If my mom was alive she'd say that ‘You’re a healthy-looking candidate so you can give my daughter children so I and my husband can finally have grandchildren!’ But that is what they or what my mom would say because I’m the only child. They wanted to give me siblings but they hardly had the time to be with me and were poor and were given poor pay that was enough to pay the bills and hardly had enough to go to the grocery store.
“Only way we could get enough food for a month was when I was in the Sixth grade, well when I got home… Fucking bitch… Sorry, I just remembered my Sixth-grade art teacher wanted us to paint like we’re Bob Ross, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and/or Pablo Picasso. But it was a stormy day and when I came home my dad said ‘Come on Claire we’re going to the grocery store’ so we went to the store. We filled up two shopping carts and well that day I learned that day that they had gotten food stamps to help.”
“Yeah but due to our differences,” said Dave, “My biological mom and stepmom and my dad’s first wife before she died by arson well they had a garden. Also, do you even know when Little Bird even started its food stamp program?”
Lusty replied, “Do I look like a history book?”
“Back in 1940,” said Dave, “President Abigail Sparkle started with rationing because of the war effort and on January 1st, 1945 she met with the Little Bird War Department and they ended rationing the same day. But people were used to using ration coupons which gave her an idea to help feed the less fortunate and passed the Little Bird Fair Food Pay Act of 1945 which said that anyone can continue to use their wartime rationing coupons over cash money. And in October of 1945 the Little Bird Bureau of Human Wellness would have people sign up to get the booklets per month and worked the same way. Of course, she made it in grocery stores and later supermarkets when they were built in the 50s to take the coupons.”
Lusty made them two some breakfast. They also watched the news but Lusty’s thought was wrong. She thought that nobody got hurt by the chemical cloud and that they were either in the hospital on a respirator machine or some were dead.
“Well this won’t look good for them,” said Lusty. “I mean what they did falls under negligence and criminals.”
Dave replied, “And it falls under manslaughter charges as well as Criminally negligent homicide. They were told that their equipment is outdated and needs to be either replaced or taken out of service for repairs. Being replaced is better but now they’ll just have to pay the price while having to pay restitution to the people who have wrongly died.”
“So tell me how you and Asyling Ryan know each other,” said Lusty, “If you don’t mind.”
Dave replied, “My girlfriend Linda introduced her to me. She’s alright and nice but she’s the type to believe that the justice system works even if severely flawed. She knows how flawed the justice system and military justice system is.”
“How does she know?” asked Lusty.
Dave replied, “When she dropped out of high school after being held back in the eleventh grade for the third time, and joined the Little Bird Navy and became a logistic specialist on BB-03. Well, something criminal happened to her and when she filed a complaint well the Navy didn’t believe her and kept the three on the same ship with her instead of moving her to another ship or whatnot but as she says ‘The navy believed the three guys because they have ‘weapons’ between their legs while I don’t’ and the three guys thought that due to the Navy sided with the three that raped her but when the fleet arrived back at their port Asyling took her papers and left without looking back of course she was able to get the three that raped her arrested when they stepped foot off of the battleship for furlough she had them arrested in front of their dates too.”
“Talk about getting karma,” said Lusty, “Sounds like she did what the Navy wouldn’t or didn’t do and had them arrested and face a trial unless she took them around back and put a .45 bullet in the back of their heads.”
Dave replied, “No they faced a trial and got sentenced and the guy who Asyling told but covered it up he was also tried for covering up a crime of course it was in a criminal court, not a military court. Also, Capt Asyling was issued and uses a double action .41 caliber revolver and the only reason why she’s a Captain is that she showed leadership skills and that the EPD was looking for a promising new Captain or Lieutenant for the Ninth and she fit the bill… Doesn’t help she’s overprotective of her sister Mackenzie but she taught the female officers under her command to shoot rapists in the nuts.”
“Sounds painful but they deserve it,” said Lusty, “Oh as I was saying earlier do you think you’ll have any family members who’ll be interested in dating me?”
Dave replied, “Not entirely sure but some might be interested. What are you looking for?”
“Someone who’s nice, kind, and will show support and be there,” said Lusty, “But not the type that’s always there and know if they do something wrong then they’ll admit they fucked up and don’t need me to say ‘I told you so’ and know what to do so I wouldn’t have to give guidance if asked,”
Dave replied, “You’re going to have to be more specific. You just described my whole family. You need to be more descriptive unless you want to just randomly pick for you.”
“Never mind I’ll just have to rethink who I want to be with,” said Lusty, “Only thing I know is I just don’t want to be with somebody who’ll be like Zofia.”
There was a knock on the door so Lusty answered it in which there was a guy in a suit who gave her an orange envelope and told her that she was being served and had to go to court one day because it’s from Zofia.
Doesn’t help that Zofia tried to get a restraining order against Lusty the same day but the judge refused and told Zofia that if he granted the restraining order then it’ll interfere with Lusty from doing her job as a firefighter and no sane judge will allow the restraining order to happen.
When Lusty found out she did go to court and fought Zofia over it, the other two judges saw it from Lusty’s point of view. To add that Lusty spends her days off in the Southern half of the city of Empire while Zofia is in the northern half while Lusty is only in the northern half is work-related.
***
Still in Lusty’s apartment.
“Well, I was born in a big city,” Lusty sang, “Where the wind blows and swirl around. With a guitar and a heart full of hope I set out to sing and to find my scope. In the land of golden sunsets and whiskey streams where love’s a dance and heartache’s a theme.
“Oh I’m a troubadour, a wanderin’ soul singin’ my songs tryin’ to make ‘em whole. I strummed my strings on a porch swing. Sang ‘bout love and all the pain it brings a honky tonk angel caught my eye. Her red lips smiled, she said 'Don't be shy.’ In the land of golden sunsets and whiskey streams where love’s a dance and heartache’s a theme. Oh, I’m a troubadour, a wanderin’ sour, singin’ my songs, tryin’ to make them whole. We danced beneath the moonlit sky.
“Two hearts beating, no need to ask why but the road called me, it whispered my name I had to leave, chasing fortune and fame. Now I’m standing on a neon-lit stage, the crowd’s cheerin’ trapped in a golden cage but in my heart, I hear that old porch swing the honky-tonk angel the love I left behind.
“In the land of golden sunsets and whisket streams where love’s a dance and heartache’s a theme oh, I’m a troubadour a wanderin’ soul, singin’ my songs tryin’ to make them whole. If I could turn back time, I’d go back home to the land I left where I truly belong but I’ll keep strummin’ my strings, singin’ my tunes.
“Hoping someday I’l find my way back soon. In the land of golden sunsets and whiskey streams where love’s a dance and heartache’s a theme I’ll keep singin’ my songs, tryin’ to make ‘em whole.”
Lusty then wrote down the lyrics into her notebook.
“That sounded nice,” said Dave, “Gonna sing it at a club or nightclub?”
Lusty replied, “Nope. Just going to sing it from my heart. But I’ll come up with some songs to sing at clubs. You wanna make a request?”
“Nah I’m fine,” said Dave, “But going to headout now.”
Lusty replied, “Alrighty then. See ya,”
“See ya later Lusty,” said Dave.
Lusty just laid on her couch just strumming her guitar strings. It wasn’t until lunch time until she got off of her couch to make herself a homemade meatball sub sandwich and last time she had a meatball sandwich was back in home ec class back in the ninth grade and when she did she both got a second degree burn by the grease and she knocked a senior student out in the hallway for telling her that her breasts are too small.
Lusty even remembered telling that student that she loves her body for who she is and what her body is and nobody is going to tell her that she should make her breasts get bigger to attract the jocks attention.
The reasons why Lusty didn’t go out with the jocks is because a lot of the jocks were and still are narcissistic and a lot of them when she was in school treated their girlfriends as nothing but glorified trophies. But a rumor and gossip about her well students thought she was a lesbian for not wanting to date a male jock because she wasn’t interested in dating someone who thinks that the world revolves around a Gridiron football or a Baseball or a football/soccer ball or whatnot.
Lusty also looked through her yearbook that her parents would save up to buy one for each year.
Was it me? If I didn’t become a firefighter then would my parents still be alive? Lusty thought, Because when I graduated from the fire academy they had a week off because of me graduating and not being a trainee firefighter no longer with me being a Probationary firefighter. If I just took another job then they would probably still be alive… If they were still alive I would move them out of that death trap of a tenement building! I still miss them but I’m doing what they want me to do and that is to move on.
Even though Lusty is busy being a firefighter, armored car guard, and musician, she was busy watching the news to watch the trial which was nationwide, or listening to it via radio. It was several weeks long. She was hoping that the justice system won’t let the owners go because they were rich and they had friends in high places.
Lusty was actually surprised that they were found guilty for what they did about putting profit over people. Five people died at the chemical plant and twenty-nine others died with seventy-one being put in the hospital. Lusty thought that it was funny that two of the three owners/higher-ups were also charged with jury tampering of them bribing a few jurors which they were dismissed and replaced in a heartbeat. She was happy that the justice system was doing what it was doing as it was supposed to do and created to do.
Lusty thought it was funny that the defense lawyer tried to use the letter that the three heads at the plant against the prosecution only for the three owners and their lawyer to shoot themselves in the foot because of the response letter. Lusty also thought it was funny that when the lawyer said that it wasn't his client's handwriting on the paper the judge had the three provide a handwriting sample in both print and cursive and they were a dead-on match.