August 25th, 1997
Lusty was still mad at Zofia. While eating breakfast with the rest of Squad 141 she bit her lips a few times and bit her tongue once. The AC that’s on helped Lusty calm down a little bit.
When they got done eating Lieutenant Autumn told them to get onto Squad 141 because they were going to go and to fill up the fuel tank for their fire engine.
Out of all of them, Lusty only wore her bunker gear trousers while the rest just wore their station uniform but brought their bunker gear with them just in case they got a call.
***
At the gas station.
Lusty was just standing where she normally stands while the rest were just standing by the fire engine.
Can it get any hotter, Lusty thought, I feel like I’m about to turn into an ice cube or ice cream and melt. Oh, it’s such a hot day. It’ll be a terrible day to fight fires inside buildings.
Soon a passenger airplane flew overhead. It was flying lower than normal but they saw black smoke coming from one of the plane’s four engines. When they got done fueling up the fire engine they heard a loud crashing sound in the distance and saw a fireball so all besides Lusty got back on board and raced to the scene.
When they got to the field Lieutenant Autumn he radioed in a 10-60 (Major emergency), 10-86 (Alcohol Resistant Foam Operation), and 10-87 (High Expansion Foam Operation). Lieutenant Autumn made sure to let them know that it was off-road as well and that there were some shrubs and hedgerows in the way.
After some time of using saws and axes to cut through the hedgerows and shrubs. Foam Company 33 arrived and the crew replaced the bulldozer blade with some hedgerow cutters and the second foam engine went through the shrubs and hedgerows like a hot knife through butter. It’s the same concept that the Allies used in World War 2 with Rhino tanks to cut through hedgerows in France but instead of war, it’s been repurposed for firefighting.
They now had a much easier time getting to the plane crash. Lusty thought about asking Lieutenant Autumn what or how many resources a 10-60 code would bring but she just focused on the job at hand.
The main body of the aircraft is in a gulch between two rocky bluffs with crushed shrubs and crushed hedgerows.
What they could see is that the plane seemed to have broken apart into several pieces, including two wings and three fuselage sections. The cockpit section's lower area consisted of cargo and baggage areas. The cockpit section is accessible by some debris on the left side through a hole in the hull. The left and right wings of the plane have entirely snapped off.
“Oh sweet Jesus,” said Lusty, “I don’t think a lot of people survived. How the Hell did this happen?”
Lusty made sure the Halligan bar in her hand was there. There were some fires here and there but the firefighters on Foam Engine 33-1, 33-2, and 33-3 were dousing them with Class B foam and Class B low expansion foam.
Lusty used her Halligan bar as a makeshift anchor point by ramming it down into the plane floor when she climbed onto the plane even when a piece of the floor gave way due to it being loose but Lusty thought it could’ve handled her weight because it wasn’t that loose. She fell but she was able to swing her body onto the plane.
She counted how many people she saw in the economy class section of the plane.
“Squad 141-7 to Squad 141-1,” said Lusty into her radio, “First class section only has five people. Going to head into the Business class. Squad 141-7 over and out.”
Lusty did that because there were other firefighters getting on board where she got on from and they had either medical jump bags or trauma bags. Some provided first aid to the injured in the First class cabin with two going to the cockpit and the remaining three following Lusty.
Some of the injuries on the plane are outside of the firefighter’s jurisdiction due to the fact that they’re only trained for First Aid and Basic Life Support. Some of the injuries fall under Advanced Life Support or need to see a trauma surgeon or a Critical Care Doctor within half an hour to stand a chance of survival.
Lusty did the same by counting how many people were in the Business class and radioed it to Lieutenant Autumn. She told him that there were twelve people in the Business class and she moved to the Economy class.
She radioed that they’re seven people in the Economy class and to her, the numbers felt light and she heard that the average number on a plane is about sixteen hundred people give or take maybe low about five hundred people, not twenty-four not adding the pilot, co-pilot, and four or seven flight attendants and air marshal.
There was one person who had his head against the backside of an airplane chair so Lusty asked the person if they were okay but when Lusty put her right hand on the person's left shoulder the guy pulled a pistol out onto Lusty.
Lusty was able to quickly disarm the guy in self-defense but she in defense mode slammed the guy onto the floor. It falls under self-defense because Lusty could’ve left but feared she would’ve gotten shot so she stood her ground.
When Lusty cracked her knuckles after defending herself from the guy who pulled a gun out on her. There was a massive explosion and it was one of the jet engines that a spark threw. It landed in a puddle of aviation fuel; it also caught the other engine on fire and blew that up too.
I guess that farm won’t be harvesting corn for some time, Lusty thought, Could go for some corn on the cob with some melted butter. My mother made some delicious corn on the cob with butter melted on it. But my mom made beans for dinner every night because beans are cheap and usually a substitute for meat because a pound of ground beef is sixty-nine cents and a can of beans is eight cents. Beans never sat well with me.
Lusty decided to open up the emergency exits even though when one was jammed shut that didn’t stop her from using force to get it opened. Lusty helped some passengers to get off with the help of ground ladders.
When Lusty stepped on a piece of the floor it broke and made her fall into the underbelly of the plane but the passenger’s luggage broke her fall. She was able to stand up, jump up, catch the floor, and pull herself back up. Her back cracked as well.
What the hell happened, Lusty thought, Was it engine failure? Did it hit a bird? What caused the plane to crash with a smoking engine?
Lusty entered the cockpit and found the black box.
There was an orange device on the floor.
“Damn the number four engine is smoking,” said the Co-Pilot, “Going to transfer fuel from Engine Four to the other three engines.”
The pilot grabbed his headset.
“Empire tower this is Flight Seven Five Two One,” said the Pilot, “We’re suffering from engine problems. We’re initiating the Emergency Landing procedure.”
ATC replied, “Copy that Flight Seven Five Two One. Can you make it back to the airport?”
“Don’t know tower,” said the Co-Pilot, “Our starboard side is tilting.”
ATC replied, “Alright then. Try to come back to the airport where Runway 04 will be available.”
“Damn it. We lost Engine power in Engine four,” said the Pilot. “We’re going to land in a field.”
The Co-Pilot grabbed the phone on the plane, “Prepare for an emergency landing.”
There was soon a loud crashing sound.
“What the hell happened though?” asked Lusty, “I thought they were supposed to do some kind of inspection before people come to boarding or whatnot?”
“That’s what they do in the military,” said a voice, “They do pre-flight checks so they don’t find out about malfunctions in the air for the jets, planes, and helicopters for the military.”
Lusty turned her head and it was Lieutenant Autumn.
“Jesus you scared me!” said Lusty.
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “The foam companies are dealing with the fire that’s caused by the jet engine because water would just spread the problem and the oil and aviation fuel will just float on top of the water. So they’re using foam and Carbon Dioxide extinguishers.”
“You could’ve called me by my name or nickname,” said Lusty, “Not just saying that on what military aviation does.”
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “Lucky that you’re not an enemy because I was trained to sneak up onto enemies with a knife or garrote wire. That’s what I did to Victor Charlie.”
“Who the hell is Victor Charlie?” asked Lusty.
Lieutenant Autumn replied in Vietnamese, “Việt Nam cộng sản.”
Lusty gave him a look that she wasn’t following and had no idea what the hell he was saying.
“Communist Vietnam,” said Lieutenant Autumn, “Viet Cong, VC/V-C, Charlie. Read a book or ask a Vietnam veteran.”
Lusty replied, “My father was one. He just talked about how he just listened to a radio and told the LBMC Artillery Battery of the 9/12th on where to shell. He didn’t tell me where the shells would go to the only time he did tell me about the war is that when he did was when he gave an artillery battery order which shelled his own side which Little Bird Marines radioed down an artillery barrage on another company sized Marine element operating within the same area.”
“9/12th ah yes,” said Lieutenant Autumn, “Ninth Marine Division, Twelfth Regiment, Ninth Artillery Company. With both World Wars combined and the Korean War and the Vietnam War they fired over seven million six hundred sixty-four thousand tons worth of artillery shells. For comparison, the Allies dropped 2,150,000 bombs in all theaters, and in Vietnam, the US and its allies dropped 7.5 million tons of bombs. Of course, artillery shells won’t be flown by a bomber and dropped like either unguided or guided bombs.”
Lieutenant Autumn lost Lusty again so he decided to see how the rest of his company was and they’re fine but they’re currently removing an engine that landed through a barn and surprisingly didn’t kill the farmer. Not adding a part of the wing is over the barn as well and a crane is on its way to move the wing.
Lusty then went back to Squad 141’s apparatus and got a Class D fire extinguisher but noticed a van pull up and it’s from the Little Bird Aviation Administration. They wanted to look at the plane up close but Lusty stopped them and when they tried the ‘Our boss will pull rank’ card but Lusty told them that she outranks everyone and that she outranks the Mayor, Governor, and she even outranks the president but only people she don’t outrank are high ranking firefighters.
Nobody besides Captains, Lieutenant, Battalion Chief’s and other firefighters can’t be outranked by anyone else where they even outrank government officials and everyone else but they’re only outranked by either a Fire Commissioner or Chief of the Department.
Lusty went back to the plane and a part of the plane’s wing was on fire and she decided to do what she’s trained to do.
***
11:44 AM.
Back at the firehouse.
“I still want to know what happened,” said Lusty as she was getting off of Squad 141.
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “Who knows. That’s what the Government is going to try and figure out.”
“I just know they’re going to get sued out of the ass,” said James Smith, “Stuff like that could’ve been avoided.”
The payphone in the firehouse rung so Lusty answered it but told James Smith that it’s for him so he took the phone from Lusty and Lusty went to go make lunch but when she looked through the fridge and cabinets there wasn’t a lot so they took a trip to the supermarket. But they only dropped Lusty and Michael Sullivan at Maxwell Supermarket and the rest went to the hospital because that was what the phone call was.
***
Inside the supermarket.
“Where the hell are the tomatoes at?” asked Lusty, “I want to get a couple.”
Lusty then looked around and went to the produce part of the supermarket and got a couple of tomatoes and since they were on sale she got four for thirty cents.
What a steal, Lusty thought, A tomato is originally ten cents but four for thirty cents it’s a steal!
Lusty thought about what to buy for the firehouse but in her mind she thought about what she’ll make for lunch and dinner. Lusty walked around the supermarket and she made sure she put enough stuff in the cart.
Lusty put fourteen boneless Chicken breasts into the cart, some ground beef, some canned goods, a box of butter sticks, a bottle of olive oil, Kosher salt, black pepper, two cloves of garlic, tomato butter, four small cherry tomatoes, a lemon, some parsley, and oregano.
Lusty also got some taco shells, sprinkle cheese and whatnot
Firefighter Sulivan went around getting packaged foods, ready-to-eat dry products, frozen foods such as TV dinners, shelf-stable foods, prepared mixes such as cake mixes, and snack foods. He also got crackers, cake, candy, ice cream soda, chocolate malted, sundaes, doughnuts, bagels, and sweetened carbonated beverages.
When they got to the checkout they got two full carts. It was the fastest 90 bucks they spent. Of course, they do a thing where they have one member carry all of the groceries but they have paper bags, not plastic bags.
Lusty had to carry all of the paper bags which she didn’t bitch about it and didn’t care about because she’s used to carrying paper bags when she would go with her parents to the supermarket.
Lusty remember when she asked a bagger at a store why they used paper bags and the bagger told her that paper bags are stronger than plastic bags, better for the environment, and are biodegradable and it helped that on days when it rained or looked like it would rain Lusty’s parents would have her go to school using paper shopping bag to protect her school supplies because they couldn’t afford to get her a backpack until Lusty’s dad gave her his M1968 Rucksack that he wore when he was in Vietnam.
***
Back at the firehouse.
Lusty locked the kitchen/dining area doors so no one could come in while she cooked. But after an hour of cooking, she made Tomato-Butter Roast Chicken and a Chicken Avocado Caprese Salad.
For the time it cooked the eight of them were pissed at her for locking them out but when they ate it they let it slide because it was worth it for her not wanting to spoil what she made.
On the TV while they ate lunch they saw the news talk about the plane crash that they witnessed and went to earlier the news anchor said how that nobody knew what happened. But the aviation company called “FeatherAir” refused to comment on the accident and also said that the LBAA or Little Bird Aviation Administration is currently investigating alongside with the Bureau of Law, Bureau of Fire/Fire Department of Little Bird, and with FeatherAir.
“One of my old neighbors he and his son work for FeatherAir,” said Lusty. “John works as a luggage handler and his son works as an airplane fueler. He tried to set me up with his son and we went on one date when we were both fifteen.”
David Nygumn replied, “Why didn’t you and him get together? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“Oh because his son Jack wanted me to be a housewife,” said Lusty, “And he wanted me to be home 24/7 only going out on Saturdays to go to the store, maybe go on the first of every month to pay the rent. He wanted me to pop out children and give him a kiss goodbye when he goes to work and a kiss when he comes home from work and that if he was stressed out that I should give him a blowjob and I told him that ‘I would give you a blowjob and I mean that I’ll bite your dick hard enough you won’t use it again’ and I’m single and that’s why I hate sexists like him. He told me that on our only date when we were in the tenth grade.”
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “FeatherAir? They have a subdivision called Constellation and they make military aircraft for the Little Bird Armed Forces. FeatherAir also sent some of their passenger aircraft to the Little Bird Army and Marines but painted black for nighttime photo recon and for nighttime operations. Or for me to jump out of them and accidentally land on a fucking tree breaking my leg.”
“I thought they didn’t do nighttime operations?” asked David Nygumn.
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “The Air Force and Navy don’t but the Army is a mixed bag where they don’t do nighttime ops unless if something happens and the Marines just say ‘Fuck it’ and do nighttime air ops well the Marines has been doing it since 1942.”
“Ain’t nighttime operations for aircraft dangerous?” asked Lusty.
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “Back before 1944 it was. In 1944 the LBN added lights onto the flight decks of the Cadence class carriers which made it for fighter planes, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers to see where the flight deck was but still had problems as several planes landed at once not seeing each other and crashing each other on the flight deck. But the deck crews didn’t stop making new ways of telling others not to land when one already landed at night. Not adding it helped because now well then it helped until the 1950s and 1960s with better safety and procedures came in.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Damn Lusty I think you missed your calling in life,” said Michael Sullivan. “Don’t want to sound rude but this is a better chicken than what my mom can make and she’s a cook as a job.”
Lusty replied, “I want to say that your mother heard that and is probably on her way here with a rolling pin. If Zofia was here then she would say ‘Cooking is a traditional female role’ and I swear if I hear her snobby bitch ass one more time she’s getting punched! I don’t even know why or what I saw in her.”
Firefighter Michael replied, “Sometimes victims become romantically attached to their rescuer. Most times it’s not really much of a lover’s quarrel but it more or less falls under that the victim becomes what their rescuer does for a living. But Zofia was and is full of herself. A snobby bitch is what she is. She is probably out there yelling for gender equality even though we have gender equality here. But I hope she gets hit by a car or something falls on her.”
Soon the fire bell went off for a commercial store fire and the fire was at an office supply store.
***
Downtown, Empire.
Engine Company 23 was already busy stretching their attack lines and Ladder Company 23 was already busy with the vertical and horizontal ventilation but they saw fire shooting out of the center of the roof. They could hear that there’s a huge hole in the roof as well and it’s as if something smashed right through it.
Why can’t Squad 525 take this call? Lusty thought, Their firehouse is five and a half miles from here while our firehouse is eight and a half miles and that’s taking the fastest route.
Lusty just grabbed her Halligan bar and went inside the office supply store. There was a right orange fire right in the center of the store with some fires across the store but the majority of it was and is at the center of the store. She just went up and down the aisles further from the fire getting closer.
After searching eight aisles Lusty found a knocked-out woman who had second-degree burns on some parts of her body. Lusty didn’t get a good look at her but she carried the woman out when Lusty put the woman down when she got outside the woman she saved was Zofia.
If I knew it was Zofia, Lusty thought, I would’ve left her ass in there! But she would’ve got saved anyway because someone else would’ve saved her. Wonder what’s going to happen next?
There was a creaking sound so interior operations were called off and exterior operations were taken over and they just doused the fire from the outside. They even had a structural engineer come down and due to the high heat, the structural engineer told them that while it’s impossible to tell from the outside but she estimated that they had two hours to put the fire out or the structure would cave in on itself due to the heat and have the roof cave in on itself with the walls possibly caving in but not a hundred percent sure.
With Lieutenant Autumn being the only Lieutenant on scene and he’s the incident commander taking over of the two Captains on the scene (on Little Bird Lieutenant is a rank higher than Captain, not the other way around) so he radios in a fourth alarm but due to Battalion Chief Marcus is away on a bomb call with Firehouse Fifty Nine they had to wait for the Eighteenth Battalion Chief from the Eighteenth Battalion.
Lusty used her training and provided first aid but it was mostly just providing fresh air to them because it’s mostly major smoke inhalation but a few including Zofia had to be taken to the hospital for their burns.
Before she could be taken to the hospital Zofia woke up and saw Lusty there not by facial recognition but due to the back of Lusty’s turnout gear it has Claire’s nickname ‘Lusty’ and Claire’s last name ‘Johnson’ on the back.
Zofia even though in pain, Zofia got up and went over to Lusty.
“YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS!” yelled Zofia.
Lusty replied, “For starters back up and get out of my face or I’ll knock you on your ass! Second, I didn’t even know you work here. If I wanted to get back at you then I would come at you and not put innocents in harm's way! So get that stick and your head out of your ass! Shut the fuck up and I'm tired of your shit you snobby ass bitch!”
“WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?” yelled Zofia, “WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT YOU POOR GHETTO BITCH?”
Without saying a word Lusty just gave a Hook punch and hit Zofia hard enough to knock her on her ass.
“Now if I were you I would get up and go to the hospital,” said Lusty, “Before I kick you straight in the mouth with my rubber hip steel toe boot to kick all of your teeth out!”
Zofia did and by the tone of Lusty’s voice that she wouldn’t hold back by kicking Zofia right in the mouth or hitting her again.
After a couple of hours they found out that it was a jet engine that fell straight through, blew up and caused a fire. They have no idea what’s going on but they radioed for the Little Bird Aviation Administration to come down and to get it and to see what happened.
***
Back at the firehouse.
“Hey, Lieutenant?” asked Lusty, “What is a 10-60 in the Fire Department?”
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “A major emergency. For example the collapse of a private dwelling, derailment of a subway car, plane crash, explosion, collapse of a building, tunnel collapse, riots, an earthquake or Tidalwave or anything that requires five Engine Companies, five Ladder Companies, two or three Battalion Chiefs, one Deputy Chief, one ladder company acting as a FAST Unit, a Rescue Task Force - which includes one Rescue Co, one Collapse Rescue, and a Squad company, and also has Haz-Mat Company, Haz-Mat Technician Engine Company, Communication Unit, Field Communications Unit, Recuperation and Care Unit and a Public Information Officer.”
“Is there anything more to it?” asked Lusty, “Like if there’s a major emergency but needs more companies or units?”
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “Yes it’s a 10-60-2. It brings in five additional Engine companies, five additional Ladder Companies, two additional Battalion Chiefs, one additional Deputy Chief, one EMS Division Chief, one EMS Deputy Chief, and two EMS Conditions Officers. The remaining firehouses will remain on standby just in case if they either need to relocate to cover areas that don’t have fire protection or if they need to come down at a later time. Even though this city only has three battalion chiefs and two safety battalion chiefs. Only once has this city had to radio a 10-60-2 back in 1969.”
“What happened?” asked Lusty, “Because a book I read never mentioned it.”
“Lieutenant Autumn replied, “It was a dark day that nobody wants to remember. It was a day that everyone was silent about because nobody ever thought it could happen on its own soil and didn’t know that some ‘non-violent’ demonstrators could be so violent. On October 26th, 1969 it was a very dark day for this city but the word ‘Terrorism’ entered this city's vocabulary and whatnot and a curfew fell on the city for a year.”
“What really happened?” asked Lusty.
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “October 26th, 1969 the Vietnam War was in full swing, and news about it was on every night. Everybody knows that the war is a lost cause. I used is a, because I’m speaking because I’m talking about it as if it was that day. When the Tet Offensive happened everyone in the world knew that the War wasn’t going as well as the government said. So a group of ‘Anti-war’ demonstrators snuck into a military warehouse on the district line of The Ports and The Factory District.
“Fire was intense and after learning what was in it the Captain of Engine 71 radioed in a 10-60 so Firehouses 14, 15, 17, Rescue 17, Collapse Rescue 17, Squad 525, 23, 69, Foam Engine 33, and Battalion 25 went to the scene. 3:00 pm on the dot… A boom in four seconds killed three hundred and fifty-five firefighters, eighteen military police officers, and fifty-seven military depot workers were killed and other military warehouses around it went up like a stick of dynamite.
“Government reported after the fire which took months well in the first warehouse that it had enough explosives that it was only 25% of the explosive power of the Atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki in 1945. Everyone in the city had to go home and stay there and the city was put on a lockdown… The police, and Little Bird Home Guard? They went apeshit more or less against the anti-war demonstrators… They were beaten or shot indiscriminately with either rubber, wooden, or live ammo. Heard about what happened in 1973?”
Lusty shook her head.
“February 28th, 1973 four hundred Little Bird National Policemen, Policewomen, and two hundred Island Patrol officers raided a compound,” said Lieutenant Autumn, “But it took two weeks until the Second Marine Division, who were battle hardened Marines who came back from Vietnam. Of the six hundred police officers well five out of ten were armed with Semiautomat Service Garands (M14 Battle Rifles), and Automat Service Garands (M14E2 Automatic Battle Rifles), Two out of ten were armed with AutoRifles (M1918A1 B.A.R), AutoRifleA1 (M1918A2 B.A.R), One out of ten cops had a Trench 1937 SMG (M1921 Thompson), or a Trench 1939 (M1928/M1928A1 Thompson) or Trench 1942 SMG (M1 Thompson), or a Trench 1943 SMG (M1A1 Thompson) and the final two out of ten were armed with X16s (M16A1) and in fourteen days, twelve hours, seventy-two minutes, and sixty-nine seconds they fired fifty-four thousand eight hundred and eighty rounds.
“When the Second Marine Division came in they just ‘softened up’ the compound area using incendiary 105mm and incendiary 155mm, incendiary and white phosphorus 60mm, 81mm, 120mm mortar rounds. Not adding HE, Incendiary, and White Phosphorous 105mm tank shells and incendiary tracer .50 caliber machine gun bullets. Of course, no one liked what happened so President Bill Waterson’s wife more or less said ‘If you don’t like what me and my husband to do then you don’t know what we’ll do next from 1973 to 1975 the police and military would wear gas masks and block anti-war demonstrators and overuse tear gas and the overuse of tear gas caused respiratory problems, chemical burns, allergic reactions, and respiratory distress. And that’s a majority of the reason why protests and riots end early here because they don’t want the same thing to happen to them.”
It should happen to Zofia, Lusty thought, Entitled bastard who thinks that the government owes her something because she’s a middle-class bitch. I suffered in life but I think that the government doesn’t owe me anything because I would go to bed hungry or not take a shower. I blame that jackass who got my mom fired and lost her license to help people with issues. I have anger but I don’t have an excuse to take my anger out on society and blame society and blame the government for my problems!
“Ah okay thanks for the history lesson,” said Lusty. “Oh where’s James Smith at?”
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “Your welcome for a dark day in this city’s history that nobody wants to remember. Also while you and Michael were shopping we dropped Smith off at the hospital because his son had to be taken there.”
“What happened to his son?” asked Lusty.
Lieutenant Autumn replied, “Don’t know. We didn’t ask, he just said it was an emergency so we dropped him off and he told us not to wait so we came back to get you and Michael. So we’re just going to do as he wishes.”
“But don’t you think he would like some company so he won’t be alone?” asked Lusty.
Lieutenant Autumn, “I do think that we should be there for him and his son but at the same time so does one million four hundred thousand citizens of this city. Also, I made the call because in my time in the army, I learned that every decision won’t be easy but I thought about either taking Squad 141 out of service so we could be there for him or staying in service to protect the city of Empire. Yes, I know that Rescue Squads Seventeen and Eighteen and Squad Five Two Five would do the same but I made the call to stay in service.”
Lusty wasn’t going to argue with Lieutenant Autumn and she knows he was right that they got to help other people in the city but at the same time she wishes they could be there for him.
They all went into the kitchen just playing a card game for an hour until the payphone rang so Lusty answered it because she was closer to it. Lusty told them that they have to go to the hospital because it was James Smith on the phone and he just wants to have his other family with him.
***
Empire Memorial Hospital, fifth floor.
“I don’t want to get into your personal business,” said Lusty, “But if you don’t mind me asking. What’s the emergency that called you away?”
James Smith replied, “It’s my son. I’m supposed to get him tomorrow for the next two weeks until he has to go back to his mom. He was at his friends' house when he told his friend's parents that his stomach felt like it was tightening up and feeling hard as a rock. Well her dad is a Medical Specialist who knew that something wasn’t right and after getting my permission he took him to the hospital. Turns out he has been poisoned. I know it wasn’t them because they’re the type that love children not in a criminal way but their house is a staple that other houses should be for children to live in without getting hurt or sick.
"I was just with my son for a few minutes and he just told me that his stomach was hurting and still feels hard as a rock but the doctor said that test results will show what’s wrong. That was five minutes ago when I was with my son but an hour and a half ago when the doctor put in the results and I'm just waiting for the results to come in.”
“I don’t want to sound rude or out of place,” said Lusty, “But do you think…”
James Smith replied, “My ex-wife is behind this? Damn straight I do. I mean she comes up with schemes trying to get full custody but in reality, if I go to family court and try to get full custody then they’ll become unfindable because she’ll go off the grid and whatnot and if she goes to family court she’ll just pull the ‘He works a dangerous job’ card and she’ll know I’ll use evidence against her of her doing drugs and whatnot so we’re both at an impasse. Just me being here will make me lose custody of our son but right now I’m just saying fuck it. My ex? She is probably high on crack or meth or something. Doesn’t help that I showed the family court that she isn’t unfit to raise a child alone. I don’t know and honestly, I don’t care if she comes here or if she gets hit by a train on fire and speeding like a bat out of hell.”
Lusty and Firefighter James Smith noticed Firefighters Eddie, David Nygumyn, Michael Sullivan, Engineer John Rodriguez, and Lieutenant Autumn come into the waiting room with white styrofoam cups where they all went and got cups of coffee.
James Smith looked down the hallway towards the hospital room that his son is in and soon a doctor came out. He went to go to talk to the doctor so Lusty and the other five looked down and soon Firefighter James Smith started to cry so Lusty walked down the hallway to hug him and let him cry on his shoulder.
After a few minutes, they were back in the waiting room. Soon James Smith's ex-wife came.
“You’re not supposed to be here!” said Jame’s Smith ex-wife
Firefighter James replied, “Yeah? And! At least I was here for our son's final moments! You weren’t here! You were out either getting high or getting laid or both! While I may not have him this week, but I’ll never see my son again! At least I raised my son with love and care while you didn’t and now he’s gone!”
“Well that’s not my fault,” said James Smith's ex-wife, “With him around I really couldn’t do what I wanted to do!”
Lusty replied, “You were a mother and the first thing about parenting is that it’s not all about you anymore! Mother’s like you shouldn’t have children! You should’ve thought about him and your son over where you were going to get your next ounce of crack, weed, heroin, meth, crystal meth, crack cocaine, cocaine, or going to get laid at. I’ve babysat and I made sure the kids I babysat were taken care of before I took care of my needs!”
Firefighter James Smith's ex-wife was about to hit Lusty only for Lusty to dodge it. It wasn’t her first rodeo of pissing someone off and whatnot but James Smith’s ex-wife stormed out of the hospital huffing and puffing because someone else called her out on her bullshit and her being unfit to have a kid.
They went back to the firehouse after an hour but all of them showed James Smith that they have his back and support and that anything he needs even just to talk that they are there for him.
When Lusty went to go for a walk around the hospital because her leg felt like it was going to lock up and cramp.
Lusty soon ran into Zofia who was coming out of a hospital room with her parents.
Great I’m about to hear some more bullshit from my ex, Lusty thought, I don’t care who the people who are with her are, and I will punch Zofia again if I have to.
“Oh you must be Claire,” said Zofia’s mom, “Zofia told us all about you. I’m suing you and everyone who was at the place where our daughter was hurt earlier at the office store fire!”
“WILL YOU SHUT UP!” snapped Zofia’s father, “It’s you why our daughter is so snobby and has a huge stick up her ass! You always gave in to what Zofia wanted so it’s you why she thinks she’s entitled to everything! Yeah, I was happy to let her get her driver's license and get her a car but no instead of giving her a Jalopy where the door doesn’t open up without giving it a kick but you just bought her a car that’s a luxury coupe as her first car!
"When she did something that deserved a punishment you just told her to go because you taught her that nothing is her fault! You raised her on to be entitled and snobby while I wanted to raise her to be kind and compassionate but no you always sidelined me and told me to fuck off all the time! If you go through with suing the woman who saved our daughter and the Empire Fire Department, well I’ll gladly defend her and the department for doing their job! Yeah, she may have hit Zofia but she should’ve swung a baseball bat made of steel encased in cement to hit Zofia because she’s so stuck up and it’s not her fault! I’m not paying for the rest of her university tuition where she has to get a better job to pay for her tuition and rent and bills because I’m not!”
Zofia and her mother left.
“You’re Zofia’s dad?” asked Lusty.
The guy told her that he is and told Lusty that he was sorry that she had to go through that.
“My and my wife's daughter Zofia is an entitled bitch,” said Zofia’s dad, “Honestly I wanted to raise a nice and lovable daughter but her mother just raised her to be a snobby entitled bitch. But I’m telling the truth that I’m cutting her off though.”
Lusty replied, “I don’t know what I saw in her. We dated for a while until she kept getting mad at me for doing my job. So she and I broke up and I don’t regret it. Also, I think that Zofia will still be stuck up and whatnot. Nice meeting you Mr?”
The guy replied, “Mr. Aleksander Kowalczyk. It’s Polish and I told my wife to stick it so that I wasn’t changing my name to something she wanted me to change it to something more English-like. Told her that I had some family members who were killed by the Nazis because some were rounded up, and were members of the Polish resistance or in 1 Dywizja Pancerna or First Armored Division. I told her I wasn’t going to change it and she can get all pissy if she wanted to. You met Heidi Schneider and you dated my daughter Zofia Kowalczyk-Schneider”
“How did you know me and Zofia dated?” asked Lusty.
Aleksander replied, “She told me because Heidi is homophobic. Zofia also told me how she would perform sexual acts on you which I told her was that it’s need-to-know info and I didn’t know. Well, have a nice day Claire.”
Aleksander and Lusty shook hands and Lusty went to where the members of Squad 141 were.
“I need to talk to the police,” said Firefighter James Smith, “My ex is probably going to go to a travel agency to make a one-way trip somewhere and start a new but old life.”
Lusty went over to the payphone.
“Whoever put gum on the mouthpiece,” said Lusty, “They need to get bitch slapped back to the year 1849 or 1876 when Antonio Meucci who made the first constructed telephone-like devices, or when Alexander Graham Bell got patient of the invention of the telephone!”
Lusty removed the chewed bubblegum and threw it in the trash.
I think I need four thousand Tetanus shots, Lusty thought, Just disgusting. While I’m here I should ask to get a Tetanus shot. Remember getting Anti-Polio shots in school which are either in a cube of sugar for children afraid of needles or getting a shot. Mom always wanted me to get it in sugar but my Dad always told me it was my decision to get it in a sugar cube or from a shot but I was getting the vaccine either way. Some of the nurses who gave the vaccines look like they would replace the vaccine with diseases that they were there to prevent by giving us the vaccine. Remember seeing an adult one time who was afraid of needles and asked to get his in the form of a sugar cube but the nurse just told him to be a man and he got the vaccine shot.
Lusty put a quarter into the payphone and called the Empire Police Department and because Empire Memorial Hospital is in Uptown it’s under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Precinct. While James Smith's son's friend's father could’ve taken him to any hospital but he took him to the one he works at not to add that Empire Memorial is a mix of trauma, children, and rehab hospital.
After some time a female police officer came and Lusty knew who it was. It was Captain Asyling Ryan. Lusty pulled her off to the side and asked what she was doing there only for Captain Asyling to tell Lusty that on Little Bird that any crimes involving children as the victims usually have a Captain or a Lieutenant come out first but the other cops after getting notified are placed on Tactical Alert Bravo.
Lusty has no idea what “Tactical Alert Bravo” was until Captain Asyling told her that it means that the officers in the city will get ready and will deploy ballistic vests and riot helmets and will be ready to move to an area within response areas. While Captain Asyling is the Captain, but her radio callsign has her as city-wide.
Lusty took Captain Asyling to the rest of Squad 141 and talked with James Smith. He didn’t hold back on the information he gave her about his ex-wife and it took eight pages of her notebook.
While James Smith was talking to Captain Asyling, Lusty was over at a hospital directory and it showed each room was from medical surgical rooms, ICUs, maternity care, behavioral and mental health rooms, Private rooms, Twin rooms, triple rooms, staff lounges, two cafeterias, X-Ray, Virus lab, Disaster aid wing, Quarantine, HAZMAT unit, Decontamination wing, Pharmacy, Counseling, and Pediatric care. Not adding gastroenterology, Emergency Department, Cardiology, Neurology, Radiology, Outpatient, Oncology, Pathology/Laboratory.
After ten minutes the doctor came back and told James Smith that they found some antifreeze in his son’s stomach and before his son went to his friend’s house his mother gave him something to eat for breakfast. Captain Asyling used her walkie-talkie and radioed in to bring James Smith’s ex-wife into custody.
“I still can’t believe someone can do that to a child,” said Firefighter Eddie. “I mean parents should be loving and caring to their child or children not be dicks to them.”
Firefighter Nygumn replied, “People out there can be cruel and wicked but the hard thing is that you can’t see someone’s true colors until it’s too late.”
“Ain’t there a religion out there?” asked Lusty, “That prohibits or does not accept allogeneic blood transfusions?”
Lusty was told that some do prohibit blood transfusions while others allow it.
After that, they went back to the firehouse and after some time Firefighter James Smith came out of the locker room wearing a black band over his badge. Normally they’ll have a black band over their badges for the mourning of a fallen firefighter or police officer or medical personnel. But Lieutenant Autumn let it slide because he just lost his son and wants to show some compassion and friendliness to him.
Even though Lusty never met James Smith's son but she decided to put a black band over her badge as well. She thought it was weird but the kind that his son called the male firefighters at Squad 141 and the CO2 unit firehouse as “Uncle” and called Lusty as “Aunt” because James Smith told his son on how firefighters are brothers to each other and how they have a single female so she’s like a sister.
They also decided to talk about what happened with the plane and the plane engine in which all but Lusty thought that it could’ve been failures or bad maintenance but Lusty thought about that. It could’ve been industrial sabotaged by an employee or one of the four Little Bird Airline companies to try and drive FeatherAir into the ground into either buying them out or making them go quietly into the night and cease operations.
“If it’s FeatherAir Airlines ceased operations,” said Lieutenant Autumn, “Then it’ll hurt the Defense Industry because as I said earlier their subdivision makes helicopters and jets and other aircraft for the Little Bird Armed Forces but I don’t see them going out of business anytime soon. Not adding Constellation makes aircraft for the Blister Canyon Armed Forces and Lava Falls Armed Forces earning billions each year so I can see if FeatherAir goes then their subdivision Constellation would just survive on their own. But I can see them being sabotaged to be bought out.”