.
July 19th, 1998.
Lusty was eating breakfast which was ham, bacon, sausage, sausage and gravy, scrambled eggs, biscuit with butter, and chocolate chip waffles. Going to put on a lot of weight. But that’ll burn off when I’m running through a raging inferno.
Lusty also watched the news and one thing that the news anchor talked about was how the economy is rising and after the riot, the city’s economy suffered a bit and some companies decided to close shop and move to other Little Birden cities like Las Adventure, City of Chocolate, Fort Bluejay, Fort Carson, and Fort Sunction. Of course, one reason why the economy is on the rebound in the city is due to the city creating mostly agricultural and commercial jobs.
When Lusty got done eating her big breakfast she put the dishes into the dishwasher. Lusty closed her apartment door she ran into her neighbor who lives across from her. He’s a stock investor who smartly invests money and he tried to get Lusty to invest her money but she usually put up a brick wall because she recently read a book about the Great Depression and she doesn't want to lose her money.
Lusty knows that both Japan and Little Bird were spared from the Great Depression and one reason why Little Bird was spared was economic and prepared for a war that didn’t start until 1939. One reason why Little Bird was spared from the economic downturn was research and military construction during the 1930s Little Bird built twelve and a half Cadence class carriers. By 1943 they built another eleven and a half carriers for a total of twenty-four and in that time cities and few towns decided to modernize their roads from dirt and gravel to brick, and asphalt.
Lusty stopped him in the hallway. “Hey Smith, you got a minute?”
Smith replied, “Yeah I do. What do you want, Claire?”
“I thought about it,” said Lusty, “I want to invest some money into a stock or stocks. I want to invest three thousand dollars.”
Smith replied, “Oh I tried to get you to invest for three months but you always say ‘I don’t want to lose the money I put in to invest in which I could put in a savings account or a 401k or a side off bank account for when I have a child or children.’ What changed?”
“I want to invest money and after some time I can sell the stocks,” said Lusty, “And use it to help where I’m from to be better and whatnot. Okay to be honest your last name and my coworker's last name are the same.”
Smith replied, “Okay then. Do you have any idea what stock you want to invest in?"
“I’m thinking about businesses,” said Lusty, “They are PetPal, Brew & Bean, and finally Burger Haven.”
Smith replied, “Alright then I’ll equally split up your money to invest it into those three companies.”
Lusty gave him the money and the two went their own way.
***
Squad 141 Firehouse.
Lusty was sitting at a table in the apparatus bay. She has a bucket of red paint and a Filbert paint brush. She was painting a fire ax which the red paint is chipping so she removed the chipping paint and painted the head and blade of the ax.
“You know what’s unbelievable?” said Firefighter Eddie, “It’s that by 7:30 on the first day of the riot the police ran out of tear gas within four hours.”
Lusty replied, “What did you expect when they tried to quell it earlier and faster? Were you expecting the military to be called out the same moment the riot started and the Paratroopers or Marines doing a bayonet charge? Because that is what the 184th Infantry Regiment did back in ‘67 to scare off some anti-war demonstrators. But at least it’s over and the city is healing, not to mention that it was the first time in several years when the military was last deployed domestically since March 19th of this year.”
Lusty started to hum while she painted the head of the fire ax and made sure she didn’t paint the handle. For a while, it was a slow day and Lusty just spent most of the day just repainting the tools where she saw that the paint started to chip.
***
11:30 PM.
Lusty entered the kitchen and she went over to the fridge. She got a pack of pork chops out and a big can of green beans and a big can of sliced up potatoes. She was the firehouse cook for the day.
She got out a big frying pan and got a stick of butter and she let the butter melt in the frying pan but she had it on a low heat while she cut up some herbs.
I would watch my mom cook and some of the old neighbors grew their own herbs and gladly gave us some, Lusty thought, Whenever my mom made pork chops she made it in butter and herbs and it was delicious. Gonna do the same.
Lusty has no problem cooking for the firehouse as long as they don’t treat her any differently as long as they treat her as a fellow firefighter and not as a second class citizen. They don’t but they enjoy her cooking.
She made fried sliced-up potatoes, pork chops, and green beans and she put it onto the plates and made sure no one got too much or too little and made sure it was all equal.
When she called them to lunch they all liked it and some of them told Lusty that she should resign and open her own restaurant on how much of a better cook she is over the eight male firefighters in the firehouse.
Lusty felt happy that others like her cooking and they really enjoy her cooking.
***
12:10 PM.
Lusty was in the apparatus bay just minding her business and she put the repainted tools back onto the apparatus of Squad 141 because the paint fully dried.
When Lusty just put a fire ax back on was when Zofia came.
“I see you have some grease burns on your arm,” said Zofia. “As I said that cooking is a traditional female role!”
Lusty replied, “What do you want, Zofia? Just go before I do something I won’t regret.”
“Oh I just came to say how successful I am than you!” said Zofia, “Also you in a short sleeve shirt? Stop making yourself look like a bimbo!”
Lusty replied, “Zofia I know you’re the type of person who wants the world to have no background checks, no waiting period, no paperwork, no questions asked when people go to a gun store. You’re the type who believes in loosening punishments next to nothing then you’ll see more crime but act like nothing. You’re the type who believes in fewer law enforcement officers and you’ll say that it’s better then you’ll have a sky rocket in crime. You’re the type who believes that the poor should pay 12% tax while the middle class and rich should pay less!
"But excuse me that the poor pay 4% tax, the middle class pays 7% tax and the rich pays 10% tax! At least our government for the past two hundred and ninety-three years at least they help out and not feed the elite and the rich with a golden spoon with a golden platter. Also speaking of bimbos. Looks like you got both a butt and breast expansion so you’re being a bimbo ya dumb witch. So leave or I’ll throw your ass out onto the asphalt street!”
Lusty restrained herself from taking a fire ax to Zofia but Lusty just walked up to Zofia and threw Zofia out of the firehouse.
“If I see you again I’ll press stalking and harassing charges!” said Lusty.
***
12:30 PM.
Lusty was daydreaming.
In Lusty’s daydream.
One day in the future.
"Honey, I have some good news. I was able to sell my stocks at a profit, so I have enough money to send you to college," said Lusty.
Lusty’s child replied "Oh my gosh, mom! That's amazing! Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome, honey. I'm so proud of you for working hard in school. I know you're going to do great things." said Lusty.
Lusty’s child replied, "I love you, Mom."
"I love you too, honey." said Lusty.
***
Reality.
I highly doubt a child would say that, Lusty thought, Who knows maybe if I do have a child he or she would but who knows?
Lusty rubbed her eyes because she hardly got any sleep and she was tossing and turning throughout the night. She hardly got any sleep because she was thinking about what her mom would’ve done if she was still alive. But Lusty thought that her mom would just pester her on when Lusty would have children because Lusty doesn’t have any siblings and her mother would’ve been pestering her to have children by now.
If my mom was still alive, Lusty thought, She would’ve pestered me to have children and I’m twenty years old. She probably tell me how it’s common for people between the age of eighteen and twenty-one to get engaged and married and have their first child between the age of nineteen to twenty-two. But that’s because in a month someone would have the money to move out of their parent's house and move into a place of their own if they graduate at the age of seventeen and get a full-time job and about a month after getting a full-time job they can get a place of their own. Hell, I got an apartment of my own and got three jobs of my own. The other two are just to keep me occupied so I don’t get stir-crazy! And I get stir-crazy in five seconds just sitting in the living room of my apartment.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
The quiet of the day was soon broken by the sound of the fire alarm. The city’s all four special operations command companies were called down to the naval port. A fire broke out on a carrier that’s currently being retrofitted from the Late Vietnam War equipment (anything made and used by the navy in the 1960s and 1970s) with modern (as of the late 1990s) but something caught fire and spread like a wildfire in one of the hangers and some of the bulkhead doors got jammed.
***
“Carrier fire?” asked Lusty, “How many times has the Little Bird Navy fought carrier fires?”
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “Thirty-two times. Mostly in World War Two due to mostly Kamikazes. CV-02 Flurry in late ‘44 got hit by fourteen kamikazes and the only thing it did was put the flight deck out of service after an hour the flight deck was put back into service. Once back in ‘43 a High Velocity Aircraft Rocket misfired and blew up a tank of aviation fuel but most of the time it was due to a bomb that came undone during landings if the plane didn’t drop the bomb though. A few times was a miscalculation from the naval gun though but that was rare.”
“Have any of you been on a carrier before?” asked Lusty.
They told Lusty that the answer is no but Lieutenant Autumn had been on a helicopter carrier. But a nuclear power attack supercarrier the answer is no.
***
At the port.
“Never been on a carrier,” said Lusty, “I’ve been on a battleship though but that was a naval museum back in the tenth grade which I thought was interesting.”
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “Lusty grab the Oxy-Acetylene cutting torch. Smith and Eddie you two are both attacking the fire. Sullivan grab a saw. If those bulkhead doors won’t open then cut through them!”
Lusty got the Oxy-Acetylene cutting torch and followed them on board but when Lusty got ahead of them the first bulkhead door was jammed and Lusty put on her welding mask and cut the bulkhead door hinges and they removed the door.
Lusty went on her way ahead of the others and if any bulkhead door was jammed she would cut the bulkhead door off of its hinges. She wanted to know why the bulkhead doors are closed. She always thought that if they were in a battle she could understand why the bulkhead doors would be closed but in noncombat she thought the doors should be opened.
Lusty made a left turn while going down the hall.
“Wrong way Lusty,” said Lieutenant Autumn, “You’re going to Hanger C, not Hanger A!”
Lusty turned around because she almost got lost.
“How in the Hell do sailors and pilots not get lost on these big ass ships?” asked Lusty, “I mean these carriers are like a mile long and whatnot and some of these directory signs don’t have enough words or initials to say where you’re going.”
Firefighter Eddie replied, “Stop complaining. Like everything else you have to get used to it.”
Lusty rolled her eyes.
When they got to the hangar where the fire was, it was time for Lusty to back off. Her job wasn’t to fight fires but to get anyone out and to her it felt like the oxy-acetylene tanks on her back would explode though.
She went to a side-off area of the carrier but due to the fire blocking other bulkhead doors, she had to improvise and had to cut through some walls of the carrier.
Lusty heard some coughing and the first thing she said was “Mom? Dad? Call out!”
Even though it's been a couple of years since her parents died, Lusty has been going through a trauma loop and on the inside she fully blames herself for her parent's death. She thought she saw someone move.
“Mom? Dad?” said Lusty, “Are those your ghosts trying to haunt me or help me do my job?”
Lusty started to tear up and when she does cry after a while she has a hard time breathing. She started to feel as if her skin was on fire.
“Squad 141-7 to command,” said Lusty on her walkie-talkie, “Don’t know what’s in the air on this carrier but my skin feels like it’s on fire.”
Someone replied, “Yeah others have reported it as well. Got HAZMAT coming in.”
Lusty decided to leave the area and go to other parts of the ship to look for others to survive. But her skin was itchy as if she rolled around in Poison Ivy.
Goddamn what’s in this air that’s making my skin so itchy, Lusty thought, Feel like I should jump off of this ship into the ocean so the water could dose my skin so it could stop burning. Itchy is nothing but an itchy feeling!
Lusty decided to leave the aircraft carrier when her air pack got low on oxygen. When she did get outside of the aircraft carrier she got sprayed down by a firehose and just felt the water hit her and the water got whatever chemicals on her to be washed off.
That feels better than just feeling like not feeling like getting targeted by mosquitos, Lusty thought, What the Hell is on that ship? I mean who puts chemicals on a naval ship to make someone make their skin feel like they’re on fire I mean come on.
Lusty took off her bunker gear and let the water wash over her. If I see Zofia I’m just gonna punch her straight up! I’m not joking. Gonna deck her right in the face, maybe right in the mouth. Somebody gotta put her snobby ass in her place!
Lusty stayed outside as all interior operations were put on hold and increased exterior operations without others getting hit by a chemical that’ll make them feel like their skin is on fire even if fully wearing their turnout gear with their skin all covered.
***
A few hours later back at the firehouse.
Everyone had to take a shower but the shower room in Firehouse 141 has walls between the shower heads with shower curtains for privacy.
Lusty also decided on what to make for dinner and it was pork but to her, she just kept thinking about what was on the carrier that made them feel like their skin was on fire. One reason the fire was easily extinguished was that it was contained in the hangar and hardly spread.
While they were eating dinner they also watched the news and wondered what was on the carrier would be announced but it wasn’t. The news mentioned that the refitting of the carrier would be delayed by a year and a half.
After eating dinner Lusty went outside and sat on the bench in front of the firehouse and she just read a book. While she was reading Zofia came back.
“Yeah, Lusty I wanna say is that,” said Zofia, “I’m more successful than you.”
Lusty replied, “If you mean successful by piggybacking off of your parents then yes you are. Your parents pay for your tuition and your parents pay for your bills so you’re not successful. You’re just a whiny bitch who thinks everyone else are failures and you’re only successful. Maybe if your house is on fire don’t call us because I won’t drag your body out next time. Last time I should’ve left you to stay in that office supply store than save you! I’m going to give you the count of three to leave or I’m calling the cops to have you arrested for harassment and stalking!”
Zofia didn’t take Lusty’s warning. After three seconds passed Lusty went inside and used the phone to call the police who did come out and arrested Zofia for harassing Lusty.
She went back to reading her book in peace until her neighbor who’s a stock investor came to tell Lusty that he successfully invested her money in PetPals, Brew & Bean, and Burger Haven. He told Lusty that she could sell her stocks when she wanted but it’ll be better if it’s at a higher peak or something so she can get double if not triple her money back. Or if she sells her stocks at the wrong time she could get next to nothing or lose money rather than gain.
She thanked her neighbor for doing that.
After a couple of hours, Zofia returned because her mother bailed Zofia out. But Lusty did the same thing again by calling the cops which got Zofia arrested for harassment again. She was warned to stay away from Lusty because if Zofia gets arrested again for harassing Lusty, Zofia can and will be held without bail and will be charged with a felony.
Zofia just scoffed at the idea of being charged with a harassment felony charge. She came around Lusty for a third time but Zofia’s mom bailed out Zofia again. Even though her bail went up from twenty dollars to one hundred and fifty dollars. Doesn’t help that Lusty also filed two different police reports about Zofia harassing her.
When Zofia came to harass Lusty for a third time Zofia was arrested but this time she was charged with felony harassment this time her bail was ten thousand dollars but her mom didn’t have the money but her husband did. When Zofia’s dad heard she got arrested he told his wife that Zofia deserved it and needed to have her knocked down a peg and not have her head above the clouds 24/7/365.
Lusty was happy that she wouldn’t have to deal with Zofia for some time until court showed up but until then Zofia was out of sight and was out of Lusty’s mind. But while she was still reading her book someone walked up.
“Ah ouch that’s painful!” said a woman.
Lusty looked up to see Zofia’s mom and Lieutenant Autumn twisted Zofia’s mom's arm behind her back. He disarmed Zofia’s mom who had a Butterfly knife and Zofia’s mom was disarmed by Lieutenant Autumn.
“Oh what do you want?” asked Lusty.
Zofia’s mom replied, “You got my baby arrested! It’s your fault! Nothing is Zofia’s fault! It’s your fault, not Zofia’s!”
“I radioed and called the cops,” said Lieutenant Autumn. “A patrol unit is on the way.”
Zofia’s mom tried to break out of Lieutenant Autumn's hold and his grip on her got harder and harder each time. It wasn’t long until a patrol unit did come by and one of the two responding officers asked Lusty if she was going to press charges which Lusty was for attempting assault with a deadly weapon. Zofia’s mom thought the question was directed to her because of Lieutenant Autumn holding her hostage. But it wasn't because Lieutenant Autumn defended his co-worker and followed the law of defending someone from harm.
After some time passed Zofia’s mom got out of jail but unlike her daughter, she decided to stay away from Lusty because Lusty has co-workers who will gladly defend her from anyone who’s a threat.
***
The next day at home.
Lusty was bored so she made a homemade scrambled egg and hardwood bacon sandwich by making her own bread. But while she was making homemade bread there was a knock at her apartment door so she picked up her pistol, took out the magazine, and slid the magazine back in when she saw that there were bullets in it.
Lusty opened the door and it was a man in a three-piece suit. It was Zofia’s lawyer who told Lusty that she was out of mind of having his client get arrested who did nothing wrong and that they’re counter-suing her. Lusty told the lawyer that his client should’ve followed the law and she wouldn’t be in a jail cell. Zofia broke the law three times back to back while the first two would be misdemeanors but the third one is a felony.
After an hour Lusty was washing dishes when there was another knock on the door and it was Dave who came by to see Lusty to see how she was.
“Shouldn’t you stay with your pregnant girlfriend?” asked Lusty.
Dave replied, “Yeah but Linda would’ve told me to get out anyway. She likes having me around but on days off I spend some time with her but not around her 24/7 because from time to time she does like having me around but me being around her 24/7 is a major no. She’s nice and lovable but she can’t be around the same person all the time without getting the feeling that she’s trapped and with her having seven brothers and two younger sisters I bet that was fun.”
“What is she doing now?” asked Lusty.
Dave replied, “Fine. Learning how to grow a garden because she’s mostly at home.”
“Well that’s nice to hear,” said Lusty. “Well in the back of my head, I’ve been thinking about having children one day, or not. Guess like every other company has to pay the employees though. You know what I’m down for another but very long-term challenge!”