From the Theater Hosts, Emergency Theater Live.. Below lies the Episode Guide for the first 18 Emergency! productions created at Voyagerliveaction.com ****WARNING**** These are story spoilers and will take away plot surprises if you read them now before viewing any of the screengrab illustrated, music soundtracked originals. Decide now if you want to read what each episode is about before doing so. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. Full Moon Blues- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep 1, Season1 The gang of Station 51 loses sleep over a bizarre string of runs. The situation only worsens when the biggest disaster call of a lifetime pays a visit close to home. Chapters: 2 - Words: 48683 Published: April 2003 2. Father And Son- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep2, Season1 Dr. Brackett gets a headache when his father moves into town. The crew of Station 51 get a surprise on their doorstep and face a creepshow batch of rescues. Chapters: 1 - Words: 38059 Published: May 2003 3. Juxtaposition- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep3, Season1 Roy DeSoto faces every father's nightmare when his son is trapped in a mudslide. The gang deals with child loss up close. Chapters: 1 - Words: 21406 Published: June 2003 4. Within Sight- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep4, Season1 A late night visitor to Station 51 starts mayhem when an arson gang takes on the town. As a result, one of the best, may be leaving. Chapters: 1 - Words: 28163 Published: July 2003 5. Integrity Game- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep5, Season1 Johnny inherits a four footed friend and Dr. Brackett gets more than he bargains for on vacation. Chapters: 1 - Words: 17125 Published: August 2003 6. The Golden Horn- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep6, Season1 Captain Stanley comes face to face with a real hero and a brush fire threatens the lives and vehicles of Station 51. Chapters: 1 - Words: 31775 Published: October 2003 7. Crazy Days- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep7, Season1 Think you had a bad day? Just wait until you find out what happened to the gang of Station 51 and Rampart. Chapters: 1 - Words: 24491 Published: November 2003 8. The Promise- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep 8, Season1 What matters most is what everybody wants. Johnny Gage learns the power of a promise to Roy when a water tower collapse traps them both underwater. Chapters: 1 - Words: 22871 - Published: December 2003 9. Green Pen Of Johnny's- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep 9, Season1 Find out why Johnny carries his green pens with him everywhere he goes. An airborne disaster stuns the city of Torrance. Chapters: 1 - Words: 39288 - Published: Jan-March 2004 10. From Loaves To Fishes- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep 10, Season2 One big mountain, one very, very small crew. The gang misses their state of the art fire station and vehicles dearly when a firestorm surrounds them on a boyscout river kayak trip event. Chapters: 1 - Words: 15732 Published: June-July 2004 11. Shadows Of The Past- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep 11, Season2 Santa Rosa county teaches the crew of 51's a valuable lesson on life. Then it tries to take it away again in the worst manner possible. Vacation spells relaxation for everyone, er...to a point. Chapters: 1 - Words: 11345 Published: June 2004 12. Crossing The Red Line- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep 12, Season2 Mike Stoker feels the heat when crewmates and the engine get into more than just a little hot water. The city of Carson suffers catastrophe. Chapters: 1 - Words: 10567 Published: July 2004 13. The White Engine-EmergencyTheaterLive Ep 13, Season2 The gang tries out a prototype engine and they learn how faithful man's best friend really is at a house fire. Chapters: 1 - Words: 14582 Published: August 2004 14. Twisted- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep 14, Season2 A mile long moving disaster incites life or death decisions for both Rampart and Station 51. Chapters: 1 - Words: 27423 Published: September 2004 15. 00:51- EmergencyTheaterLive Ep 15, Season2 Dixie's day off incites a riot of rescuing. A high angle recovery tries Roy and Johnny's penultimate paramedic skills. Chapters: 1 - Words: 30004 Published: October 2004 16. Devil's Due-EmergencyTheaterLive Ep 16, Season2 Roy and Johnny inadvertantly meet two Bay City detectives named Starsky and Hutch and get themselves entangled in a web of intrigue when a criminal kidnaps the child of one of their patients. Chapters: 1 - Words: 21012 Published: November 2004 17. That Latin Flair-EmergencyTheaterLive Ep17, Season2 A vision leaves Marco circumspect around the holidays and inspires Roy and Johnny to do charity work for his church group. Chapters: 1 - Words: 17654 Published: Dec/January2005 18. A Fish Out Of Water-EmergencyTheaterLive Ep18,Season3 Station 51 gets wet working with the Baywatch lifeguards of Malibu. A myth almost drowns one of the guards but a miracle, saves him. Chris DeSoto learns Baywatch rescue skills. Chapters: 1 - Words: 29590 Published: February 2005 A. The Face In The Mirror- EmergencyTheaterLive Special 2003 Roy DeSoto makes a mistake in the field and faces the possibility of losing his job. The gang responds to a fogbanked multicar pileup and runs into trouble. Chapters: 1 - Words: 23657 Published: September 2003 B. Too Close To Home- EmergencyTheaterLive Special 2004 The gang at Station 51 enjoy Roy's discomforture over his superstition about DeSoto family vacations always getting cancelled. The gang gets sucked into another of Chet Kelly's half hazard schemes by getting talked into buying a racehorse. Chapters: 1 - Words: 16211 Published: August 2004 =========================== The Story Unfolds... Season One, Episode One- Full Moon Blues.. ******************************** From: Jeff Seltun Date: Wed Oct 16, 2002 3:04 am Subject: The Dead of Night... It was 5 : 30 am, the slight scent of smoke lingered still in the station house from the engine and squad only a half hour returned from a fatal fire, and the drone of avenue traffic outside was ceaseless. A single light was flicked on at the writing desk in the bunk room. "Gage! Do you mind!" Hank hollered. Johnnie looked up, mortified, in rumpled t-shirt and run pants, one suspender fallen down over his arm. "*Cough* Sorry cap. Uh, just a sec, I gotta...uh. Gotta make a phone call.." "Well hurry it up.." Chet mumbled even more grumpy then Cap was. "Shh!!!" hissed someone who sounded suspiciously like Marco and Mike in tandem. "Arff!!" Bonnie yapped in reply. Roy jumped in his bed from his sound sleep at the noise and nap jerked awake, "HUhhhHH?! Ohmygod..*sniff* ohhhh, it's the d*mned dog. Johnnie would you let her out? I'm too sleepy to...too sleepyyy toooo aaaa" "Yeah, ok. I will, buddy. Right after making a phone call." "Will you starting dialing already?!" Marco snapped, flipping over on his pillow and squinting in the light. He immediately buried his head under his pillow in a vain attempt to block out the idle unwelcome chitchat filling his bedspace. His voice sounded five octaves lower than normal and cracky. "ok, yeah. Just hang on.. I gotta, gotta look up the number here." Johnnie said. "Marco.. You shoulda let me and Roy take a look at ya after that four alarm. You're really losing your voice man. A little O2 could fix--" "Gage!!" Cap called out from behind another rusty brick partition. "uh, what Cap? I was just helping out." Gage's smile twitched as he balanced the phone onto his ear while he dialed his number in the dim light he was trying to shield in vain.. "I am a paramedic after all. I mean it's my duty to be part of a team. To look out after the guys, 24/7 . Heh." he chuckled. "Well, it's definitely 12/5 for me Gage. Shhh!" Chet groused. "That goes for me too.." Mike added. "Arff!!" Johnny jilted in his chair when he heard the sound of pissing fill the air. "No! Bonnie no!!" and he dropped the phone on the desk in a dive to reach the Boston Yorky squatting in the middle of the linoleum floor. "Bad girl.. Baddd.." he hissed in a whisper. Chet piped up sleepily, "What? That aimed at your date for refusing you yet again?" Then the scent of a second Bonnie misdeed reached them all. "Ahhggh." "Fah!!" "Gage! Clean it up NOW!" "Johnny,.. you should have hurried.." John was on his hands and knees scrambling for a foot locker under the desktop which held a roll of papertowels. He flipped open the door and hastily snatched for it, all the while stammering apologies and short failed jokes under the guys angry barrage. "Ow.! Ok. All right already.. " he said when a ballistic pillow from Marco nailed him across the butt. "I'm hurrying I'm hurrying. Just let me flush this..." and he hastened to the john with his steaming burden of towels. Bonnie cheerfully followed him the whole way. A brief peace reigned over the bunks except for the desklight and snores punctuated the air. Then Johnny came back into the room, sat down in the wooden wheeling desk chair and picked up the black phone receiver again. "Oh, no you don't.." Chet warned, loudly. "We've already lost the first five minutes of a long four days with no sleep." "Get to BED!!" Cap roared. "Groovy, Cap. Just what I was saying.." Gage knew he'd pushed as far as he could get away with and reluctantly set the phone down again, his whole purpose of non sleeping going unfulfilled. "Gage.. If you aren't under those covers in five seconds, I'm assigning you a month's tower detail!! Five! Four! Three!!" Gage shot out of the chair, slid on the floor in his boots in a dash for his cubicle. "Gage! The light!" Marco rasped. "Two!!" Johnny belly slid across the floor to the light's plug and yanked it. The room was plunged into total darkness. Bonnie began to howl at the rising tension from her human family. "Oh for Pete's sake, Johnny. Give her a snack.." Mike exclaimed. "One!" Cap roared. "Gotonebymybed!" Johnny squeaked as he dove, blind, into the air and landed on his mattress, the bed springs squealed from his impact about two seconds before-- "Zero!" Cap yelled. "Now not another peep outta you for the next hour and a half until dawn." "Sorry C-" "Ahahah..! NOT a single word." Cap seethed. "Ok." came Johnny's soft meek answer. "Gage!" "Allright all right. Sorry. Geez,, I mean all I was trying to do was--" "Hey Cap, should I zap him quiet with the defibrillator?" Roy suggested sleepily.. The gang erupted in giggles. Johnny just snorted as he hushed and petted Bonnie quiet as she pranced on his bed while he stretched out under the sheets, begging him for the treat he held in his hand. Gage felt wet doggy tongue slime his finger and the bite of tiny teeth as she grabbed it from him. "Ow,, hey.hey hey.." he whispered to the darkness. Then a thought occurred to him. "Hey guys? Do you think I just reinforced her little accident by giving her a cookie like this?" "Shut up!!" came five instant replies. Then the klaxon alarm went off and the house lights kicked on automatically. Dispatch issued the call and the gang were on their feet instantly. The call was.... --------------------------- Photo- The station speaker grill Photo- A spectacular night time fire at a warehouse with hoses spraying high. *********************************** From: "Roxy Dee" Date: Wed Oct 16, 2002 4:14 am Subject: Rotten Luck >"Shut up!!" came five instant replies. >Then the klaxon alarm went off and the house >lights kicked on automatically. >Dispatch issued the call and the gang were on >their feet instantly. >The call was.... "Station 51.. Dumpster Fire. 427 Supolveda Ave. Cross/Street Maple. 427 Supolveda Ave. Cross/street Maple. Time out 0540." came LA's run. Chet struggled into his suspenders with a long suffering moan. "Oh, man. Gage. You're gonna pay big time for this.. I could of gotten to REM sleep." "Yeah..?" John said sarcastically. "Well, you should be thanking me. If you hit REM you'd be too groggy to man a hose for our fourth dumpster fire." he said, rushing after the curly haired irishman. Roy and John hit the squad and Cap got the garage door and thumbed the callback mike, "Station 51, KMG 365." "Hey Cap!" Gage shouted over the loud rumble of the garage opening onto the street and the sounds of Stoker starting up the LaFrance and all the gang slamming their doors as they piled onto the Ward engine. Cap looked over grumpily, flipping up his overcoat collar and tightening his helmet's chin strap. "What? Can't it wait, we're going on a run here..!" "At least this one won't take long! That's only ten minutes away.." Gage said as Roy threw the truck into drive and peeled out of the garage top speed. The lurching almost gave Johnny whiplash. Gage rolled up his passenger window and turned on DeSoto. "Hey Roy, what are you trying to do? Kill me? I was talking to Cap there.." "You mean my defibrillator comment didn't sink in? I wasn't joking." Roy said, flipping on the sirens and lights. The dark streets filled with the sirens of Station 51 soon after and the boulevard ahead of them emptied of traffic. His face was almost pure iron. Gage set a hand on his chin. "I don't believe you man. You're really angry, aren't you? I didn't make Bonnie crap all over the station intentionally. I was only trying to-" "I know what you were trying to do, Johnnie.." Roy said, taking his eyes off their speeding route only in brief intervals to stab glares at his dark eyed partner. "It's just that sometimes you just don't think." He gripped the wheel tighter as Johnnie pointed out the next turn. "I don't suppose you get the fact that we've been on runs for four shifts straight. And on none of those nights have we gotten a stretch of sleep longer than an hour. I don't suppose that the term 'sleep deprived' has any meaning for you.." Gage readjusted his helmet on tighter when Roy thunked over railroad tracks a little too fast and it jostled off his head. He fought with it for long seconds until he finally tossed it onto the seat in frustration, going bare headed despite the Code R. Roy just glared at him, not saying much. They arrived, engine and squad onto a seedy city block that was quiet, full of sleeping apartment buildings with black wrought iron fire escapes and one burning dumpster down a dead end alley. Cap dragged himself out of the cab and viewed the sight of such an annoying type of fire with a groan. "Man.. Another one..How many does that make it Lopez? Four tonight?" "Yeah.." Marco croaked in his throat. "One an hour since that four alarm.." he rasped in irritation. Cap sighed "Ok, you and Stoker grab out an inch and a half, we'll have this washed in ten minutes. We gotta make sure that alley of junk hasn't sparked anything beyond that dumpster.." "Right.." Lopez nodded. On his way past Johnny, he couldn't resist a longer than average accusing stare.. Johnny felt ganged up on. "What did I do? All I did was get up to call Lydia. And Marco, I still want to take a look at your throat when we're done here!.." he shouted after the rushing Marco. Chet smiled. "Gage. You're not popular with him this week. Remember he remembers that he lost that bet with B Shift about how many times Bonnie messed on your bed." "Very funny.." John said. "Go make yourself useful and pick those crates up over there and move them out of the way for us.." Roy and Johnny saw Cap stand in the cab and report to LA that the incident was minor and that the station would be wrapping up in about twenty minutes. Mike and Marco approached the blazing dumpster and tried to hook its lid shut with a fire crook to smother it, but the lid had been tied back against the chain link fence. "Oh, man. Had to be hard.." Mike growled. Marco said to Stoker. "Gage put you in a bad mood too?" he said hoarsely. "What?" Stoker said over the roar of the fanning inch and a half raising noisy steam from the belching dumpster as water began to suppress its flames. Cap took a sniff and asked. "Stoker.. You smelling turpentine?" A huge explosion ripped through the dumpster and it flipped end for end into the air straight up into the night sky and then down again.. "Look out!!" Cap shouted. Marco and Mike abandoned the hose and its high pressure water stream started bucking in the old newspapers and trash in the alley the moment they let go of its nozzle to run. The dumpster narrowly missed pinning their feet from where they threw themselves down onto the ground and its red hot edge landed on the hose, severing it. A hose burst drenched the entire gang in spitting ice cold water. Cap shouted from where he was standing and he barely managed to slam the engine cab door shut before the water got inside. "I don't believe this.. can we have any worse luck?" Stoker got to the pumper and turned off the water so that a new hose could be drawn and filled. A moan filled the silence.. from the ground where the dumpster had been. "Wait a minute. Wait a minute! There's somebody over there..!" Roy shouted. John ran to the squad and flicked on the squad headlights to shine into the piles of junk in the alleyway. As one the whole gang sifted through the garbage until.... ---------------------------------- Photo- Roy and John in turnout in fog. Photo- At night, firefighters battle a stack of burning pallets. ****************************** From: "Clairissa Fox" Date: Wed Oct 16, 2002 12:38 pm Subject: Big Troubles.. >A moan filled the silence.. from the ground where the dumpster had >been. >"Wait a minute. Wait a minute! There's somebody >over there..!" Roy shouted. John ran to the >squad and flicked on the squad headlights >to shine into the piles of junk in the alleyway. >As one the whole gang sifted through the >garbage until.... "Hey I see a foot!" Marco said, thick with laryngitis. "Where?" Mike said, shining his torch where Marco had pointed. He saw Lopez digging in a pile of cardboard, and they all converged on the spot, flinging away water soggy debris when, another moan filled the air, this time, from another direction. Cap was sharp. "Hey gang, fan out." Meanwhile, Marco had located his foot, it was an old boot, rank with stale beer. "Oops not here.." he said. The fog from the harbor began to spill into the alleyway, mingling with the smoke from the extinguished dumpster. Roy began to call out. "Hey mister! Can you hear me? L.A. County Fire Department. Keep talkin! We're trying to find you...." Another cry, this time legible.. "Over here.. Help me.. I--." Cap gestured to the left this time. "Hang on, I got my men searching for you right now. Keep making noise!" then he confided to Roy, "That's danged odd. How can someone that injured be in three places at the same time?" "Don't know, Cap.." Chet thrashed around with an old board, moving aside boxes, and bottles and half spilled steel trash cans, right down to the pavement when-- "Ahhhh...Stop!" Kelly froze. "Guys, over here. He just reacted to what I was doing! But I can't see anything in this fog!" Johnny, Roy, Mike, Marco, Cap, and Chet all ran to that area of the alley which seemed thick with rot, and refuge under their gloves. The stench was only made worse from the water the broken hose had sprayed all over. The headlights of the squad were uselessly muffled in the mist and Gage moved instinctively near Roy to have a reference point. All their flashlights hit the back wall and the damp brick work there under another fire escape. Gage erupted. "I can't believe we didn't find him!" and he whirled around. Cap said, "All right, everybody. Back the way we came." Just then, came the sound of a very familiar starter, and a motor of a truck roared to life. The ghostly headlights of the squad wavered. Gage noticed it right away. "Hey! Hey!!" Gage yelled, running and leaping over crates and boxes. "Cap!! Someone's making off with the squad!!" "What?!" came Hank's voice. "The squad.. It's just been stolen!!" All heads raised just in time to see the two beams of lights from the squad flip around in a high tailed spin as it made its get away. Cap raised his HT. "L.A. Respond a police unit to our location. A carjacker has just made off with our rescue truck.." ##Ten Four, 51. Advising L.A.P.D to your incident.## "I don't believe this..!" Johnny exclaimed. "Who would do something like that? We're on a victim search here..." Marco suddenly gathered to the others with an old speaker rigged to a battery operated recorder in his hand. "How about a bunch of pranksters?" And his glove hit the play button. Trailing moans, just like the ones they had heard following the dumpster's explosion and the same cry Chet had heard, issued out of it. "Oh, man.. we've been set up by drug addicts. Thought the address seemed familiar.." Gage groaned. "Isn't this the same neighborhood where the San Pedro gang hangs out?" Roy stood leaning against an old hat rack. "Yep.. They must be after the pharmaceutical box." he said with a sigh. "That tears it.." Cap said. "When the police get here, let THEM search for more of these planted recorders. I'm not wasting another minute on this.." he roared. "Why me? Why US!!" he said, marching away back towards the engine. His voice came floating back towards the gang. "John, next time you have the brilliant idea of using the headlamps. Close your door next time huh pal?" Gage's face fell as he wiped off a trail of water running down his plastered hair left over from the wild hose. "Right.." Chet said, "I wonder if they'll trash the squad.." "Oh, Chet..." John said sarcastically moving over to Stoker to help them put the hoses, the good and the bad one, away. A minute later, Vince and Martins pulled up, reds flashing. The burly officers ran out with their guns drawn into the air until they spied the bedraggled, soaked firefighters all lined up along the running board of the pumper. One glance of the recorder and wires Cap tossed him and the way Gage was rubbing his face in frustration and weariness told him the immediate urgency was over. Vince waved his junior man to holster his weapon and did the same. "Everyone all right?" he asked setting his hands onto his hips. "We're fine. Anyone birdeye the squad yet?" Hank asked. Vince shook his head. "Looks like he or she made a clean getaway. And it'll take a while to locate it too. The seafog's rolled in for the night.." "Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll try to go for a joyride.." Chet said, wringing out his drenched overcoat around the rear hand bars of the pumper. "Not likely.." Gage commented. "Listen, ah, Vince. Can you give us a ride to the station house? It's cold out here.. "Yeah.." "Go on, fellas. " Hank said. "We'll meet you back there. No doubt Vince has a stack of paperwork for us to fill out for the police report.." Roy and Johnny both grabbed blankets out of the engine's stokes cab to use as towels and a way to keep the squad car's seats dry for the trip back. "Looks like a full moon.." Vince said as Roy, Johnny piled in the back of his car. They waited for the engine to back away from the dirty alleyway. It headed off, silent reds turning off, leaving behind two more police cars which had arrived to begin setting up the crime scene. Gage heard over his walkie talkie. "LA. This is engine 51. Mark Squad 51 out of service until further notice." ##10-4, 51..## Johnny's head banged into the window frame as Vince drove them home, and he said closing his eyes. "Oh, man. If I had known this was going to happen, I'd have never made that phone call earlier Roy.." "You had no way of knowing.. Just a bad run. That's all." "Chalk up another bad one in about four days of bad. I'm beat.." "We all are.." Roy said scratching his nose. "Just that time of year I guess." Vince spoke up from where he was driving. "I know what you mean. The PD's been getting odd calls and pranks all week. Must be a conspiracy going on out there or something. But rest assured. The San Pedro gang's got h#ll to pay for this latest stunt of theirs. Grand theft auto is ten to twenty. No bail in this county for any with prior felonies." "It is? Good.." Gage said closing his eyes again, his arms crossed together for warmth. Roy had already taken off his sodden trenchcoat and had laid it on the floor behind the wire partition separating him and Vince. Then he too, nestled back and uncontrollably nodded off. Vince drove a little more gently the rest of the way to the firehouse and Martins turned down their radio's volume a few notches. --------------------------------------------------- Rampart General, was a madhouse. Dixie McCall was in high gear, one trail of hair falling over her face as she delegated a sudden flood of incoming through her ward. "What now?" she said of Station Eight's paramedic team with their burden.. "We've got a drug overdose.. Don't know where he managed to get it, but this guy's got all the ear marks of meperedine toxicity. Brackett's already ordered us to start Narcan. And we couldn't get in an NG tube. He's been convulsing too much." Gil replied. "Oh, great. Treatment two.. Uh, Dr. Morton will be there in a sec right after he deals with another street gang type in with the same problem.." Dixie was about to unwind for a few precious seconds mentally when Station 10 rolled in. They were working a full arrest. "What do you got?" "Police were chasing this guy for stealing an LA county rescue squad. He didn't watch where he was running by the harbor, hit his head, and fell into the water. Took us over three minutes to fish him out." "A squad? That explains everything. And from the way he's tattooed, I'll just bet he's related to the other five we've just received in house. Has the whole world gone crazy tonight?" "Must be.." "Treatment Two.. Interrupt Brackett's arm laceration. He's just making a row of stitches neat on another biker type. He can handle your man." Dixie said. She watched her orders being carried out and then got onto the red phone to staffing. "Yeah, This is McCall in Emergency. Could you send down a doctor to finish handling a minor laceration in Two? We've a code in. Thanks.." and she hung up the phone. Dixie looked up and began to wonder when the night would ever end. "I hate full moons." Dr. Early had saundered up to get from Dixie the next patient in from the barrio neighborhood. "Why? I think a full moon is romantic and very beautiful. " he said in his calm soothing way. "Not when it's turning a street gang into a pack of wild maniacs, it's not. A bunch of them just made off with a rescue squad and they had a heyday with the paramedic's drug box." she groused. "I know. I just pronounced one of them.." Early said, rubbing his hand. Both nurse and doctor fell into a somber mood. ------------------------------------------------- Roy and Johnny and the rest of the gang were all nursing steaming cups of old coffee around the kitchen table. Only Martins seemed to have enough energy to play tug of war with Bonnie. "And that should do it boys.." Vince said. "Your accounts here and the fact you finally located a tape recorder should put the last nail in the coffin on this gang's activity. Gage winced. "Let's just hope its not for a real one Vince. I don't want to find out that anyone died here.. Thanks buddies.." he said, giving the two officers a small grin as they left the station. Cap leaned back, already showered and in a clean uniform, from his chaise lounge. Bonnie came running over to tug at his shoes in play, but for once, Hank didn't shove her away. "I don't want to even know what Charlie found with the squad when the police called him out to tow it." "Was it spray painted?" Chet asked. "Don't know. Didn't you hear what I just said Kelly? I don't WANT to know. It's bad enough riding shotgun with another station's squad like we're going to have to do for the rest of the day..." "Sorry Cap.." Chet said. Marco suddenly set down the phone. "Hey everyone! My mama heard on the news about the squad being jacked and she and Mrs. Bandido have made us some breakfast burritos in sympathy. They're on their way now to drop them off." "Hey hey.." everyone smiled and the kitchen burst into a more happier mood as the sound of a rich meal that was imminent cheered them. Bonnie barked, abandoning Hank's shoestrings and ran around the table until she had her dish in mouth. She sat up, begging. The whole gang laughed. It was fifteen minutes later. The burritos had arrived, were utterly inhaled and the gang was now splayed out on chairs and couchs completely at ease with the world. Then they heard the outer garage doors open and saw Charlie backing the rescue truck into its usual place with his tow truck. Johnny gasped as he saw a peek of it through the kitchen door. The gang left newpapers and chairs to gather round in the pullup garage in a cluster. Roy opened up his mouth in shock and said......... --------------------------------- Photo: Dixie on a red phone. Photo : Cap crashed on a black chair. ***************************** From: "ecrewgroupie" Date: Wed Oct 16, 2002 2:10 pm Subject: "Whew!" >Roy opened up his mouth in shock >and said......... "I can't believe it! Not a ding! Not a dent! Not a mark anywhere!" "Whew!" his equally relieved partner exclaimed, as they finished circling their seemingly unscathed vehicle, "We really lucked out! Man! We gotta be more careful from now on, though. We may not be so lucky next time." "Repeat after me, gentlemen..." Charley coaxed, as he came stomping stiffly up to the reckless pair. "There isn't going to BE a 'next time'!" Squad 51's paramedics cringed and stood there looking like a couple of school boys being taken to task. "I can't hear you..." Charley reminded the men, with a menacing glare. "There isn't going to BE a 'next time'," the pair parroted and continued to avoid any contact with the angry mechanic's narrowed eyes. Seemingly satisfied, the rescue truck's rescuer tossed their Captain the keys and began taking his leave. "Oh" he casually called back over his shoulder, "Before the two of you head off anywhere, you might wanna check out the side compartments..." --------------------------------------------- No attachments. **************************************** From: "Cory Anda" Date: Wed Oct 16, 2002 4:11 pm Subject: Helping Out >Seemingly satisfied, the rescue truck's rescuer tossed their Captain >the keys and began taking his leave. "Oh" he casually called back >over his shoulder, "Before the two of you head off anywhere, you >might wanna check out the side compartments..." Johnny and the others watched Charley depart with a little more fear for his seemingly prophetic comment upon leaving, then they usually had, of him. Cap rubbed his nose, saundered over to a random door of the squad's flanks. And pulled. California kelp oozed out of the rappelling equipment compartment and onto his shoes into a noodled pile. Bonnie started barking at it suspiciously. Cap pursed his lips and said. "Chet, you start on clearing out this litter in here while Roy and John inventory what equipment we still got left.." Hank ordered. "Aww, cap.." Kelly protested. "Aww, nothing. Tell me you know every single item in the paramedic inventory and I'll let you trade places with Gage and DeSoto. Do you? I'm not hearing anything......" "uh,, not really Cap.." Chet mumbled. "I rest my case. Now gentlemen. I suggest we get to work. I don't know about you but I'd rather burn some elbow grease getting our squad compartments here back in order than have station 8's here with Brice and company aboard like they're scheduled to be doing starting at 1300 if we can't be absolutely call ready by then. Catch my drift..?" "Boy do we ever.." John said. "Brice might be coming here?" "Yep. So get cracking.." Cap said, clapping his hands together and then he disappeared into his office to change shoes. "I want to squash that possibility before it ever happens. Kapesh..?" his voice floated out to them. "Hey Cap, uh, I thought we were a team. You know, the all together in this kind of thing.." Gage hollered after him.. "You know. Working through the good and the baddd.." he hinted.. Cap closed his door soundly. Roy peeled off a towel Chet threw into his face into one hand and he regarded Johnny thoughtfully. "You know, Johnny, you'd better ease up venting like that. Cap's a cap. And what he says, goes.." "I know that. I know that.. But why does he always have rank and privilege pull for him whenever he feels like it should? Always seems to happen during the hardest shifts. Especially full moon ones like today's." "Experience has its rewards Johnny. And bailing out at will just happens to be one of them associated with Captain's rank." Roy said with a small shy smile. "Come on, I'll haul out the gear boxes and O2 to check them and you can get the dressings and splints taken care of, all right..?" Gage nodded and dejectedly followed him to the rear hatches of the trashed squad. Chet ducked when they opened those doors leading to the resuscitative apparatus, as beer cans poured out in a musical tumble onto the floor. Bonnie grabbed one and started growling as she attempted to chew it up. "Hey, give me that.." Gage said. "You'll break your teeth little girl.." and he traded slimy beercan for rawhide bone. "Here, take that.." he said. The toy he gave her was so big, it pulled the tiny dog's head to the floor and she had to tug with all her might to get to her customary spot under the engine to enjoy gnawing on it. Roy dug out all the cans he had discovered, chuckling at Chet's overstrung nerves and got to the O2 equipment and dragged it out. "Well, thank heavens for small mercys. Looks like this apparatus is ok." Johnny flipped open the drug box and found only air. "Not here. Figures.. All the unused syringes are gone too." The IV and dressings boxes were untouched, but in the stokes, they found a dummy, stuffed with trash and wearing a sign saying, "Thanks for being the life of the party fireboys!" Roy heard Marco coughing as he leaned over to scrub saltwater off the hood of the squad and he casually said. "Lopez, check out the resuscitator for me will you? Johnny and I need to get a list together for a reissue of supplies." And he motioned for Gage to follow him into the kitchen with the drug and IV boxes. "All right.. " Lopez said, raspily. From around a corner, Roy watched Marco check all the psi readings and visualize the tubing connectors and regulators and then he smiled as Marco did a draw check on the mask over his own face with flowing O2. Lopez smiled as the oxygen soothed his raw throat and he took a few more thinking no one else was watching him. Johnny grinned, poking his partner in the ribs. "You crafty old.. You did that intentionally.." "Course I did.. Did you think that Marco would have let either one of us get any where near that throat after the night we've had.." "No..." Johnny said, shaking his head thoughtfully. "Well there you go.. That 02 will give him relief and take away some of that inflammation of his.." Roy said, as he sat at the kitchen table to check out the conditions of all their IV solutions and setups. John was considering Roy's angle of attack on Marco."Hey Roy., I think I can trick Lopez into drinking my mother's honey birch bark tea to coat that throat of his.." "Not a chance.." Chet said making his way into the kitchen to dump out smeggy water from his bucket into the sink. "He's still sucking away out there and loving it, but ah, about him actually taking real medicine? Uh uh, Gage. Ain't gonna happen. Not in your lifetime." "Oh, really." Gage grinned. "We got him on oxygen therapy without him catching onto us fussing . What makes you think I'll fail with doing more?" Chet finishing filling his steel pail with hot water from the tap."Because Roy here is much better on the sly that you are Gage. If you try anything else, let HIM do it.." and he walked back towards the garage. "Or, if you two are really concerned about Marco's cough, you can tell Cap about it." Johnny looked at Kelly as if the sky had fallen. "And ruin a great friendship?" "Not to mention the direct tie to a wonderful pair of burrito chefs.." Roy quipped. "That too.." Johnny nodded eagerly. "No way.. Chet. We're not going to resort to that.. Marco's not a baby. We'll just we'll just...uh, " "Fuss over him.." Roy completed for his stammering partner. "Yeah.." "Ok, have it your way.." Kelly said. Then his head peeked around the corner and he added, "I'll let you know how long he uses the demand valve ." "You do that.." Johnny said with firm concern. ------------------------------------------ At Rampart, the fiasco with the San Pedro gang, had died down. Dixie, Joe, Mike Morton and Kel Brackett all sat around the nurses lounge table nursing colorfully etched coffee mugs. None of them were saying much to each other. Until Dixie took her hand away from her chin. "Hey Kel, How did that drowning fare? You know the one who stole the squad from the fire department." "Didn't make it." "Oh," she said, suddenly interested in the cream swirling in her mug. "Sorry.." Joe piped up. "Two of the five aren't going home in body bags at least, Dix. They'll be facing trial for grandtheft auto and impeding official rescue service. Not to mention possession of narcotics." "Ah." McCall said without much vigor. Another long stretch of silence reigned. Until Mike said, "Hey guys. Did you know that it was 51 whose squad was trashed?" Dix, Kel and Joe all erupted into reaction. "No, I didn't know.." "Oh, my.. Those boys have seen their share of misery this week." "That's too bad. Anything we can do?" Joe added. "I can see if I can swing some funds from the paramedic training program to cover their losses.." Brackett said. Dixie added, "And I and the other nurses can plan a party for the whole gang, to cheer them up a little. How about this weekend? At my place? I've a great little veranda, and a pool." "What a great idea. It'll take their minds off work for a while." Joe agreed. "Then it's settled." Dixie grinned. "As soon as I get off shift, I'll start making plans..maybe even a surprise party angle will work.." "Now wait a minute Dix." Kel interjected. "How do we know Roy and Johnny's crew haven't already made plans for the weekend?" "Easy to check.." Dix smiled. "We have all the boys emergency phone numbers. We can call their friends, family and spouses to double check. I can do it." "And I'll make the Beef Borgenon." Early piped up. "What are you going to do, Kel?" "Wait a sec, I'm being dragged into this whole thing?" Dixie's look could melt steel. "And why not? You should at least make an appearance as the head of Emergency Services-Rampart ; to show your appreciation for all the hard work your two best paramedics and their stationmates have done for us.. Especially this week. Kel, have you seen their run sheets? They been frought with fatalities..or else, it's those crazy dumpster fires. That's bound to be more than just a little frustrating don't you think?" "Oh, all right. I guess I can bring a bottle of wine or two over for a few hours.." Brackett sighed, giving in to peer pressure. "Well all right.." Dix said. "Now we have to come up with some entertainment." Mike Morton said, "I can always bring my guitar.." "You sing?" Joe said, almost spitting out his coffee. Brackett tossed him a napkin or two to clean up before the dribble reached his collar and white jacket. "A little.." Morton said defensely crossing his arms. But his smile was mild as he regarded his colleagues. "I do a fair job." "I sing too, doctor. " Dixie grinned. "And I'd be honored if you'd let me sit in on a few songs." "Be my guest.." "Then that's that.." Joe Early said. Everyone took his cue and rose in their seats, eyeing the time running out for their mutual breaks. "I'll let you know what time this Saturday boys.." Dixie said as they dispersed back into the hallway and to their own routines. ------------------------------------------- John looked up when he felt a tapping on his shoulder. "A minute ten. Twenty two breaths Gage." Chet said, whispering around his newspaper at the table. "What..?" "That's how long and how often Marco connected with the O2 earlier man. You said you wanted to know.." "Oh, yeah. Right. Thanks Chet. Seems to have worked. He's speaking more clearly and that cough of his has been less." "One more assist in the bag.." Chet said happily secretive. "His mother will thank us for going through the trouble of fussing like this." "His mother?" "Yeah, she's the one who called Roy asking him to check out Marco yesterday night before we all went to bed." "You actually talked to Rose Marie Lopez?" John said with amusement. "I don't even think I've ever met her.." "Yes, sweet old thing. And we had a nice conversation too.." Chet said. "Seems Marco's in the market for moving out of the house and into an apartment for the two of them.." "He is?" Roy said, munching on a bagel. "Money problems?" "No, just getting closer to assisted care for his mother. She says she's getting on and would like someone to come in every so often to help her out so Marco can free up more of his time to live his own life.." "She told you that?" Johnny asked, in a whisper. "Yeah, man. Like I said, she's a sweet little old lady who'll talk your ear off just as much as she'll fill your stomach with food you can die for.." Kelly admitted. "Oh. Maybe we should ah, should ..ah, help them out to find ...a place like that, Roy.." John said when Chet retreated back into his funnies section. "What do you think...?" he said uncomfortably rubbing a non existent ache in his neck. "Johnny, don't even go there. You know how private Marco gets with his personal life. If we're having this much trouble getting him cared for following fires, what kind of trouble do you think we'll get into prying into his private affairs?" Roy asked reasonably. "Well I don't know. I.. I just think we should help him, that's all.." Johnny grinned and frowned with no confidence.. "Uh huh.. Easier said than done buddy boy.." Roy said, and he turned back to his snack, trying not to catch an irresistable snooze that seemed to be creeping up on him in the background. The noon day sun started streaming through the window onto the couch and Bonnie stretched out underneath it luxuriously lengthening her limbs and moaning with a contented whine. Cap quieted her with affectionate scratches on her belly without looking around his incident reports. "Nice job all , on the squad. We're back in business." Marco piped up from the water glass he was sipping gingerly. As yet, Johnny's herbal tea, was untouched. "Anything to keep Brice out of the station.." he quipped. Then he coughed a few times, clearing loosening phlegm from his chest. Johnny and Roy both cocked an ear to hear how those noises had sounded. Then the two paramedics both pursed their lips in grins of success behind their newspaper pages. Things sounded way better for Lopez. The phone rang and Captain Stanley rose to answer it. "LA County Fire Department. This is Captain Stanley... uh, huh.. " he said as he listened to his caller. "Uh,.. hang on.." He turned to the other guys and said..... ------------------------------- Photo- The luckless squad with equipment strewn about. Photo- Black and White of the Gang in the Kitchen. **************************** From : Katherine Bird Subject : [EmergencyTheaterLive] Big Brother.. Date : Fri, 18 Oct 2002 21:42:50 +0100 (BST) >The phone rang and Captain Stanley rose to >answer it. "LA County Fire Department. This >is Captain Stanley... uh, huh.. " he said >as he listened to his caller. "Uh,.. hang on.." >He turned to the other guys and said..... "Gage,.. it's a Lydia Montegeaux, calling from San Bernadino, inside our district..." For some reason, Cap was beaming ear to ear. Johnny shot up from his chair quickly to snatch the phone away from Cap to cover the receiver before the entire company erupted into cat calls and hoots and whistles. "WHeeuuueeEEEeeee, way to go Gage." "Is this that chick you were trying to call last night? Man she must be really hung on you Gage to call back after you didn't." "Another date? Hey fellas, five dollars down he doesn't arrange dinner plans during this phonecall. Put your gatas where your boca is.." "I'm in.." Mike said, pulling out his wallet and throwing down a crisp five where Marco was pointing on the table top vigorously. Cap just threw up his hands. "You guys are relentless.. Now cut that out.. Give the man some privacy.." They ignored Cap because he was still grinning and even Roy threw down a rumpled bill on top of Chet, Marco and Mike's. John shot acid towards them all , hunching over around the mouthpiece of the phone, turning his back towards the rest of the gang after hissing a few indignant warnings to them all to hush down. Then he completely changed his tone of voice. "Uh, Lydia, Hi sweety. *Smooch* I love you too. How's your arm today? Yeah? The doctors give you a big cast? Wow, I can just imagine. " he paused and his face beamed into a big smile as he slipped into a bonafide protective mode with his voice. The guys piped down when they realized that Gage was talking to a little girl of all things. All their mouths hung open, then one by one, they all retrieved their betting money back thoughtfully as they more or less politely easedropped. Mike started guessing. "Is this a kid you and Johnny had on a rescue?" Roy shook his head and shrugged. Chet said, "Cap, why didn't you tell us it was a little girl on the phone.." "Because it was none of your business, Kelly, now was it..?" he said from around the sports page. "I tried to warn you all to respect Gage's privacy...." Roy studied his now empty coffee cup and spun it around on its base in deep thought. "Yeah, that you did.." Johnny turned around towards the table again and suddenly finger snapped for a pad of paper and a pen, his green one still on the wordfind he had been working on before the phone call. All the guys hastily shot to their feet, to give the writing pad to him and his trusty pen.. "Give me that..." Johnny said, his voice's bite toned down, when he saw them kowtowing sheepishly to aid him because of their childish behavior a minute ago. He shuffled phone receiver to one shoulder and a chin and said, "OK, I got something to write on Hon. What was that again? 414 Rural route 60, San Bernadino Iduhapi Campground Resort? Yeah, so that was where I was calling into last night . It's that camp you told me about where the counselors take you into the woods and stuff for hikes and then teach Braille. Yes, that's right. You said your grandfather was sending you there this week. Yeah, That's not too far away for me to come visit ya.. I'll be coming.. Don't you worry..After all, I am your "Big Brother".." he grinned, and visibly melted as a very young voice warbled excitedly into his ear. "And I'm sorry about not calling last night like we planned for your cabin's sleepover in the morning in time for sunrise show and tell. I sorta kinda got interrupted..." And he glared at the gang for the treatment he'd received last night trying to contact Lydia. "Huh? No. no.. It's wasn't for a rescue. Just a.. just a tiny garbage fire.. Heh. " and he laughed. "Yeah, there's a lota garbage in the city, that I'll admit. Yeah, I got it all right here. Your address and everything. You're really close, just a few miles away up in the mountains. I'll write and send ya a care package for you and the other girls all right? Ok,. I promise I'll come visit ya on my shift off, yeah, I'll bring my firehat. I promise.. Ok, gotta go. ..Bye bye Lydia.." And he hung up, smiling to himself hugely as he made his way back over to the kitchen table. The fellas were quiet, absorbing what they had overheard. Then Chet spoke up. "She a niece or something, uh, Gage?" "No..no. I.. I sort of volunteered for the Big Brother Program earlier this spring. Lydia's blind, and I got picked to be her sponsor for the summer. You know.. penpalling, picnics, that sort of thing. You see, Lydia's five and she requested a firefighter for her sponsor. heh. Guess she did that because her own father was one and passed on when she was three in a car accident...And, that's also, how she got blinded..." Johnny said. Then he cleared his throat self consciously. "Well.. now that all your nosy curiosities are satisfied.. I think I'll get back to my puzzles.." he said with a final glare of challenge. He met none, only nods of understanding and warmth. Chet spoke up again. "Wow, Gage, that's that's really something. Being a sponsor and all for her like that. I've heard of the Iduhapi retreat. That's in the heart of the San Bernadino Mountains, isn't it?" "Yep. Halfway between us and Station Ten. Believe it or not, it was Brice who told me about the Big Brother program they had going with the camp. I mean, I couldn't look like a fool and not help out you know what I mean?. He called me about it this spring.." Mike chuckled. "You mean you got suckered into volunteering because Brice was..." Johnny felt pinned when that truth was revealed. He just rolled his eyes and contented himself with tightening his lips. Marco coughed and said, finally sipping Johnny's special tea.. "Amigo, when are the two of you going to stop this one upmanship of yours. I mean. Even your paramedic re-cert scores were the same last month. I can just see it.. Soon, you'll start donating to the same charities in higher and higher amounts just to see who'll top the other.." "Yeah, well I draw the line there.. Brice is Brice is.. not my idea of a fastheld friend but there's station honor to uphold. Our station was the only one who wasn't involved with this Big Brother thing.. Couldn't let that stay that way.." "Appreciate it, Gage.." Cap said. "McConike called about Station Ten's program and I was very very glad that you were already on the rosters. Only got a grunt of approval from the chief and no inspection dates." he said with relief.. "Glad to have obliged. I wash your back, and you wash m--, oh never mind Cap. I'm having fun. Lydia's something really special and I'm really glad I can be there for her.." Roy smiled, getting up to fetch the coffee pot. "Want more coffee Johnny?" he said. "Oh, no thanks." then he noticed Marco drinking his medicinal tea. "Hey Roy.. He's doing it.." he said, holding up his puzzle page so Marco wouldn't hear him talking about him. "And Kelly here thought I wouldn't be able to get it by Lopez. Hehehe.. shows him a thing or two.." Roy rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, well. As long as Marco's cough goes away I'm happy." "Oh, it will. It will." Johnny said. "Between the two of us, we'll get him squared away." Chet had over heard. "Yeah, that's until the next big fire un-does all that nice preventative work.." "Shhst.." Gage said, knocking on wood. Marco licked his lips, draining the last of his cup and set it down while he read the National Geographic article he was turned to. Gage leaned in to Roy, "Hey Roy, think I should sneak over there and pour more tea for him?" "Nah, don't over do it.. or he'll catch on.." "You're right." Gage said. "We'll just keep an ear out like we've been doing.." Roy said, "Ummmhmmm." from deep inside his article. Johnny turned back to his puzzle with a good heart, smiling when the next word he found in his paper turned out to be .. 'samaritan.' Bonnie barked when the clock struck one pm and the cuckoo popped out from over the couch, disturbing her nap. All was quiet for the next half hour until.... --------------------------- Photo: Gage smiling like a proud papa. Gif: A District map showing all firehouses in the Emergency show and their locations. Photo: Johnny's fireman's hat. ************************** From : "Cassidy Meyers" Subject : [emergencytheaterlive] Bonnie's Bad Day Date : Mon, 21 Oct 2002 11:36:53 +0400 >Bonnie barked when the clock struck one >pm and the cuckoo popped out from >over the couch, disturbing her nap. >All was quiet for the next half hour until.... Roy noticed something strange. It made him do a double take from his newspaper. ::What th--?:: he thought. Bonnie had left her couch and was cowering under it, trembling. Roy nudged Johnny, who was deep into writing a pen pal letter to Lydia, the blind girl from his phone call, and he pointed Bonnie out without saying anything. Gage immediately frowned. "Chet, did you go and do something stupid like yell at Bonnie over some infraction or anything?" Kelly stopped working out with his hand held barbells on the exercise mat next to the mop cupboard. "What?Huh?" Then he noticed Bonnie laying low too. "I haven't moved from this mat buddy since your phone call. I'm innocent this time. Maybe she's mad at you. It's your bunk she chooses to use as territory marking post on occasion." "Very funny.." Johnny said. He walked over and noticed Cap watching Bonnie too from his black recliner. "Cap, what do you make of it?" "I don't know. Maybe she's sick or something. Her food's hardly touched. Why don't you two go check her out? You and Roy are the stationhouse paramedics here.." he said in a no nonsense tone of voice that was also an order and he arched an eyebrow before turning back to his stocks page. Johnny began a protest, "Cap I..." Hank briskly folded his paper to another page loud enough to drown out Gage's remark. Then he said, "Do I hear a little bird in here? Sounds like it's tweeting too hard or something.. Marco, why don't you go to the shed and open the main doors so it can get on its merry way.." Chet sniggered and so did Marco and Mike. Roy just rolled his eyes at his long time partner and was the first one to get up out of his chair to amble over to where Bonnie was cowering under the couch beneath Marco's legs. DeSoto knelt on his knees and peered into the darkness under the leather cushions. "Come here Bonnie.. Come on, girl. I just want to take a look at you.." he started baby talking when she picked up her muzzle from the floor and dipped her head at him, rising to her feet. "Yes, let me see you..." The tiny Yorkie whined a bit, and timidly wagged her tail but came finally into his hands. Roy picked her up, scratching her head and sat on the couch with her. Johnny sighed heavily and pushed back with a linoleum wood squeal in his kitchen chair and made a production of joining Roy with Bonnie. The dog was just as shy but affectionate with Gage as she was with Roy and that puzzled both men when nothing seemed amiss with her physically. Johnny said, "Now, Cap. I've been down this doggy exam route before. There's nothing wrong with her that we can tell.." "There must be Gage. Have you ever known Bonnie to cower and hide before??" Cap countered. Chet piped up, "Not even after she's been using Gage's sheets as a latrine..." The guys laughed. Johnny glared at them. "Ok, all right you guys..So you've had good laugh off me. Now be quiet for a sec.."Then he lifted Bonnie's chin and went nose to nose with her. "Bonnie..Hey, I'm not annoyed at all here.. At least, not with you..." and he shot a look at Chet. "So what's your problem you little wriggling ball of fur?" Bonnie whined again and licked his nose bashfully. Gage caught his breath and pulled away, wiping doggy kiss off. "Yeah,.. love you too.." and he got up again. "Listen, Cap, I don't know what her problem i--hey... I know, maybe she's sick of her food. You know, maybe she wants a change.." "Yeah, a change like staying away from you, Gage.." Kelly said, unrelenting. "Why else would she be singling out your bunk and not anyone else's?" Cap threw an "end of fun" look at Kelly and replied. "Worth a shot there, Gage. Why don't you try some of that bacon from the crisper. There's some left over in there from breakfast." Mike said, "You mean, Marco didn't finish it all?" Lopez vigorously shook his head. "My throat's still rawer than anything. I only wanted a few bites.." "Ok. All right.." Johnny said holding up surrendering hands. "I'll bribe her, just like I do with the cookies at night to keep her from howling.." Bonnie watched Johnny go to the frig, listening to his babytalk tempting, right up until the bacon was held under her trembling nose. Her whine cut off and she sneezed with tension, jumped off the couch and retreated underneath it once more. The whole gang heard her whimpering start up all over again.. Johnny threw up his hands in resignation and shrugged. "I tried.." Then he looked at the bacon in his fingers and decided it looked pretty good so he dropped some of it into his mouth and the rest he slid under the couch with his foot. Cap concluded. "Chalk it up to another Bonnie personality quirk. Michelle did say Bonnie would be very like her mother that way." "Spitting image..." Gage grunted. Roy said, still slumped quietly on the couch. "I don't know.. This Bonnie's got more class. When she has a bone, even Steger on B shift can't get it away from her." "Heh. That's true.." Gage chuckled. Then he put his hands on his hips. "Why don't we just wait and see how she does for the rest of the day. If she's still off by shift change, we can just have them call the V-E-T later.." From under the couch, Bonnie's soft, incessant whines shut up. "Smart dog.." Marco said. "The old Bonnie never caught on to us spelling that word out l-.." Right then the doorbell on the side entrance rang.. "Ah, it's the school kids.." Mike said, "They're here with their teacher to get a tour of the firehouse.." "All right everyone.. Neaten up. Gage, tie your shoe.." Cap ordered. Gage lifted a knee and did so, losing his balance in his haste. Then all stood as Mike led their guests into the kitchen. "Hello. Glad you could make it.. Everyone..this is Miss Cindy Thorne.. and these, running around us in figure eights, are seven students of hers from the Grover Middleland school.. " Stoker introduced. A short pixie like blond in a scarlet red dress came through the door and took off her sunglasses. "Fireman Stoker. Nice to see you again.. I hope it's not too busy a day today for that tour we prearranged." she said, shaking the hand of the man she had only heard on the phone before. "Not too busy.." Stoker grinned, letting go of her palm. "Glad you made it over. Traffic must have been a bear.." And at the same time.. Gage spoke too. "No, no.. it's ok. In fact, we've done nothing much in the way of runs today.. except a few alley burns and a bunch of thugs who made off with the sq--" Johnny started up, but Roy nudged him subtly in the ribs in a hint. "Ah,..helped us get a lot of cleaning done today..." Cindy stayed focused on Mike, the one fireman she knew and replied to his comment. "The usual. I had the school van take us over instead of using the bus. I parked it in the back lot, is that ok?" "Sure.. that's fine. That's where we park our own cars.." Marco said. "That's right.." Cap brightened eagerly. "We have uh, milk and cookies for the kids if you'd like after the tour... Fireman Lopez's mother brought some over with lunch just two hours ago..." he said thoroughly gentlemanly. All the gang's faces lit up when the kids excited laughter and chatter about being in a real station house brought back childhood memories of their own and they gathered around the happy throng of seven children. "That's ok, captain. I made sure the kids had eaten before bringing them over. Last thing they need is more sugar. They're rowdy enough as it is.." the pretty teacher said as clusters of girls and boys ran in circles in a good natured tag game around them all. "Ok.. uh, would you like to split up the kids and have my men take one or two each to show them around the firehouse?" Hank asked. "That would be wonderful..Might work out better separating them like that. They can be a handful.." she laughed. " The kids were so excited about coming here for their annual field trip.." "No problem.. They know to rejoin you immediately if the call tones go off for us?" "Yes. We've rehearsed that just before coming here." Chet picked two of the older boys and said, "Right, You and you. We get to play with the sirens first..Race ya!!" and the curly haired firemen with his two shadows headed off in a mad dash for the La France.. "Aww, man.." said one boy not picked, watching them go.. Roy picked him up. "We'll all get a turn. Just be patient there. What Fireman Kelly doesn't know is that MY group gets to wear the helmets first.... Who's coming....?" "Me!! Me!!" came a girl's voice, a blond child dressed in blue and red. "Ok, looks like we go with this young lady here all right..?.." he said, setting down the disappointed boy. Roy and his two children trundled off to the garage shed after Chet's group of two. "Marco, why don't you come with me?" his voice floated back. "We'll get out our two helmets from the squad.." "Sure thing pal.." Lopez said, giving the elementary teacher a jaunty wave of departure. And he, too, disappeared through the kitchen door. Johnny took two more girls, twins, to show them the hoses in the back yard so they could play man the hose by the old engine parked out back. His two children eagerly ran up to the antique and climbed on board it. Cap saw where they were through the kitchen window and grinned when they all heard the brass bell go off as the two girls experimented.. Then he looked down at the final child, a very tiny boy with glasses, still holding his teacher's hand. He knelt by his side. "Hey son, why the long face? I'm the only fireman in this whole station house who's the captain.." "Wow.." he said, eyes getting really big.. "Yeah, so it looks like you and me are the only ones left.. That means we get to do the best thing before any of the others.. Mike's gonna stay back and chat with Miss Thorne here while we get to go do the tour.. Have you ever seen a dispatch radio before?" Cindy, Cap and Mike all grinned, thoroughly captivated by the cute awed expression on the boy's face when he slowly shook his head from side to side in hushed anticipation. Cap went on.."Well, I can let you talk to Sam, the man who calls out all the firemen everywhere to respond on rescues if you'd like.." "Wow.. can I really do that?" Cap winked at Cindy.. "It'll be the afternoon station's check.." he said aside. "Right this way.." Cap said, bending over and taking the herostunned boy's tiny hand into his own big one. They disappeared out to the garage too, to the radio substation alcove by the big LA County map. Stoker was left with Miss Thorne by the table "Well, have a seat. This may take a while. The gang gets pretty entertaining whenever school tours stop on by...." "I can just imagine..." Cindy said.. as sirens and engine hoots and antique pumper bells filled the air punctuated by animated laughter from both children and firemen alike.. Then she heard a subtle whining that she hadn't noticed before because of her student's happy noises..... "Do you have a station dog around here, Mr. Stoker? I think I'm hearing one." "Oh, yes, That's Bonnie. She's having an off day today. She just started carrying on about two minutes before you and the kids arrived. It's nothing. As far as we can tell there's nothing wrong with her. She's right there under the couch." "Poor thing. She doesn't sound too happy right now at all. One would think that she was upset because of the kids.." "oh, no, Miss Thorne. She's usually running around playing tag with them full throt--" Mike broke off his sentence when Bonnie's crying suddenly ceased abruptly. A subtle low rumble rose from the ground and trembled into a great belching roar that slammed into their ears, shaking Station 51 up to the rafters . Laughter turned to screams from the children as the full teeth of a sudden earthquake threw them to the ground whereever they were from truck or hose like paper dolls. Out in the garage, the tremor burst open the main doors and they squealed in metal shrieks as they rose in their tracks until the fierce shuddering split them apart. --------------- In the fire engine..Chet grabbed his two boys and shoved their heads down onto the floor as he himself ducked as the ceiling came down in the garage, lights, rafter, roof and all, on top of the LaFrance only narrowly missing Roy's side of the rescue squad. ------------------- Roy had his two students under the squad, and all three were choking on dust from the walls and from the stove's ruptured gas line pouring from the darkened kitchen. He hugged the children's helmeted heads tightly to himself and started to pray.. ------------------- Cap shouted but couldn't be heard over the roar of violated earth moving beneath the foundations. He yanked his terrified student deeper into the comm's alcove and pushed him against the wall to cover him up with his own body as the garage roof caved in behind them over the engine and part of the squad. ------------------- Simultaneously, out in the yard, Johnny managed to grab the two girls with him off the old engine and he brought them to the ground into the only open area away from the yard's brickwalls, before they swayed, disintegrated and collapsed around them. In his worry for the girls, Gage, wasn't fast enough to get himself into the clear. --------------------------- Only twenty feet away, the kitchen was remaining intact, shaking and shuddering. Mike Stoker and Cindy crawled under the swaying, shifting table, with Cindy screaming all the while for the children at the top of her voice. --------------------- Dust and tremendous destructive noise filled the air everywhere, for about a minute more, before silence fell over the place where six firemen, seven children and one teacher had been playing so joyfully a short time before. *** *** Cars on the boulevard outside Station 51, skidded out of control and screeched brakes as their equilibrium was thrown off as the earthquake sputtered and writhed around them. Then an awful quiet fell over stopped traffic as people, one by one, staggered from their halted vehicles. One driver looked up and couldn't believe his eyes. The firehouse he normally drove by everyday, had its garage collapsed down on top of its rescue squad and engine until only its outer walls were standing. "Oh my god..!" he said, "The crew must still in there!" and he and others rushed forward, but the earthquake had sent the water from burst hydrant out front, high into the air and smothering clouds of dirt and dust kept them from getting closer to the partially downed firehouse. From inside.. There was no sound coming at all until the tones for the California EBS system began to issue from the place the dazed auto driver knew was the station's radio alcove. A dispatcher's voice took up a new note of urgency when his board showed one base station horribly dark off his channel monitor. ##Station 51. Topological Survey reports a Richter Scale Class ground tremor in your vicinity. What's your comm and station status? ...Station 51, This is LA. Respond....## Outside, the disbelieving driver didn't know if there was anyone still left alive in the rubble he was seeing to answer the call... ----------------------------- Photo : A very cute Bonnie wearing a red bow. Photo : The Station with both doors open, getting a tour with kids in the yard. Photo : A pile of red tumbled bricks in close up. Photo : A crushed fire engine. Photo : Station 51's block, levelled by an earthquake. Avenue and power lines in front are intact. Gif : The Emergency! title in red. Gif : An Earthquake alert symbol and icon in red and black. Audio : The disaster all call speaker tones, for four alarm call. ************************************* From : "patti keiper" Subject : [EmergencyTheaterLive] Aftermath Date : Mon, 21 Oct 2002 19:54:57 +0000 >##Station 51. Topological Survey >reports a Richter Scale Class ground >tremor in your vicinity. What's >your comm and station status? >...Station 51, This is LA. Respond....## In the blackness, the boy with glasses looked up. He could see a yellow light flashing on the radio over his head and could hear the dispatcher speaking. He was crying steadily in small sobs from where he sat up against the brick wall, and he looked out into the daylit ruins of the garage. A steady cloud of water misted from the shattered hydrant by the street into the bay and cleared away some of the worst of the dust. ##Station 51. Transmit HT as an alternative. All bands have been cleared for you. This is L.A.. Respond....## The boy looked down. Next to him on the ground was the fireman who said he was captain for the others. He was lying on his stomach and not moving. Remembering what his mother taught him about helping people, he got up, pushing wood chards and debris off of himself, he quickly snatched the microphone off its spigot and held it to his mouth. He knew about CB radios because his dad had one. "Mister... I'm in the fire house! The roof came down and I can't wake the captain fire chief.... Hurry!.." he sniffed, very frightened. Around him, rising warm wind from the outside and sounds of frightened people on the avenue filtered in to him. Gasping, the boy could see another foot underneath the red vehicle in front of him. It was Susie, his friend's, and it was starting to move as if someone were pulling her. There was a long pause as L.A. checked to be sure things were switched to a one to one frequency. Then..Sam's voice came back on the air.##Son. Understood. I've got help coming. It's on the way. ## Robbie could hear multiple call signs going out on the air behind the man's voice. All he could think about was that it was alot of numbers. 8, 10, 127 ,36, Batallion 14... He started to memorize them in his shock but the dispatcher man's voice dragged back his attention.. ##What's your name?## "R-Robbie.. my teacher's name is Miss Thorne.. We were here on a tour of the firehouse. " ##All right Robbie..There's been an earthquake and that's why things are fallen down. Do you think your fireman Captain Stanley, is still alive? ## Sam asked. "Yes.." Robbie replied. "He's making noises." #Good. How many besides your teacher were with you..?## "Seven, sir.." ##Ok. Now, I want you to get out of there if you can. Can you see the daylight from the main doors. Are they open?## "Y-yeah. But its hard to see... The fire hydrant's on and there's a funny smell in here.." Sam was side keying a dispatch to the gas company to shut off service to that block with one hand. He turned back to his microphone to Robbie, still inside the shattered fire station. Already, he was getting citizen's reports about further damage to the building next to Station 51 and minor reports of some more in nearby warehouses. But none were as bad as those coming in about the station house. #Robbie. Drop the microphone and leave. It's not safe for you to stay. Don't worry about your teacher and other classmates. There are more fireman and police on the way who'll take care of them. Now go.## L.A. heard the line disconnect as the child dropped the radio mike. Sobbing.. Robbie, gave one last look at Cap, who was moaning as he started to awaken, and crawled over him and over brick piles and sections of the ceiling rafters. He made his way through the spraying water from the ruptured water line and safely outside the collapsed garage. Sam switched to Station 51's HT frequency and started hailing. ##Station 51. This is L.A. monitoring on handheld frequencies bands. Your situation is noted and assistance is on the way...Gas company has been notified....Station 51, do you copy?## ========================== Once Robbie was outside, the auto driver who had stopped earlier, snatched him up. "Are you all right son? Where were you?" He cast his eyes on the still dusting, smoking debris of the main garage. He couldn't see where the boy had come from at all. "I was in there..on a field trip..But I talked to the radio dispatcher man and he has other fire engines coming!" But then the situation proved too much and the tiny boy fainted in the man's arms. The group of people from the avenue gave shouts of dismay as the man lowered the boy to the cracked concrete of the boulevard to make sure he was all right. No one had the presence of mind to go into the firehouse, distracted because of their concern for the pale boy. ======================= Roy coughed and looked over his shoulder just in time to see Robbie safely getting out. His arms were full of two weeping little kids, still in their tour helmets. Marco, was nowhere to be seen. ::He was right here next to us...:: Roy thought, peering around in urgency. Overhead, he could hear the actions L.A. was taking to aid them all. He snatched up a handy talkie from inside the squad's shattered driver's window when the squad door didn't open. "L.A., This is Squad 51.. Still here. Stand by. I gotta get some of these children out..Will advise once I know more." Roy could almost hear the sound of audible relief in Sam's voice. ##10-4, 51. ETA of responding units is four minutes..## Already, Roy could hear PD sirens growing in the distance as they wove around scattered stopped vehicles on the boulevard. Roy wiped away blood from his forehead and he shouted, "Cap!!" "Ughhh..h.." came a moan from his left. Roy turned to the boy and girl, gripping their arms. "Now did you see where that little boy just went? He was getting out to safety.. Now I want you to follow him.." "We don't want to leave you..." one of them cried. "It's ok to be scared. But there are people out there who are going to be able help you better than I can in here. You're going to be fine.. I'll show you exactly where to crawl out.." Roy gasped. He lifted them over sections of the roof and winced as cold hydrant water covered them all. ::At least a fire can't start in here.:: He glanced down where he saw Cap struggling to sit but Cap waved him on even as he held his sore head. "Go DeSoto.. Finish what you're doing.. I'm ok.." Hank said. "I'm not going to go anywhere until you're with me.." "All right.. Here, Cap.." and Roy tossed him the HT he had retrieved. He started shouting even as he picked up each child and watched them go through the tangle of metal garage door sheeting to the street. "Marco! Chet! Answer me!" A blast of an air horn from the engine under the worst of the debris pile cut through the hiss of spouting water and Roy smiled. ::Chester B, am I glad to hear you. You must've gotten your boys into the cab all right..:: Roy saw drivers intercept his tour kids even as they clustered around the first little boy lying in the street who was already waking up from his faint. DeSoto leaned heavily on the garage frame for only a moment before he went back towards the squad. Only half of it was buried. He touched Cap on the arm, who had staggered to his feet to hang onto the squad's mirror. "You better?" he asked as he pulled the passenger side door open for the paramedic helmets there and got out the two turnout coats from the side compartment he could reach. He handed Johnny's to Cap to wear and put on his own. "Yeah, I think so. I think a board hit me in the head when I pushed the boy out of the way..." he gasped, catching his breath.. "I heard Kelly's blast just now. Any sign of Lopez?" Roy shook his head. "Not yet." Then he thought of something else. "Mike!!" And he yelled to the kitchen which was now dark. A part of the roof outside had fallen over the window, blocking out the sunlight. The smell of gas was very strong when they both got there to where the door was partially jammed open. Looking through the cracked glass window in the door, they saw a pair of legs on the floor... Lopez's... "Marco?!!" Roy started to push on the door, trying to break it out of its jammed frame. "No, you need an air bottle in there. Go!" Cap said, pulling him away. Roy ran back to the squad, shoving and kicking away debris to get to the right store compartment. He got on his tank in record time. He was back at the kitchen entryway when Cap finally got the door open with a crowbar. Hank coughed as a wall of gas boiled out over him. "Get him out first. Then go back for Stoker and the woman.." Cap ordered Roy as DeSoto put on his face mask and reset his helmet over it.. A small form shot out from under their feet, from the darkness, yelping.. It was Bonnie.. She disappeared through a crack leading to the backyard as if on a mission.. Roy sighed in relief.. "Bonnie's alive. Gas can't be too bad in there.." he shouted through his face plexiglass. He got to Marco and grabbed him by the shoulders. Even as Roy did so, he shouted. "Mike!! Miss Thorne!!?" He couldn't see anything at first as his retinas still burned with sun dazzle.. But then he saw that the side door had been chopped down with an axe and opened and he caught a brief glimpse of Stoker carrying out Miss Thorne into the only direction he could, into the backyard.. She seemed out cold and he seemed to be hurrying more than just because of the gas danger. ::She must be worse off than Marco if Stoker left him behind.:: Roy thought. Then Cap's HT crackled as Roy finished dragging Marco out near where outside air was pouring through the children's escape hole washing away the gas fumes. Roy listened to a new incoming voice even as he watched Cap get Marco's airway secure for a listening check. It was Chet.. ##I'm ok, and two twin girls and the boys who were with me. We're out in the yard! I don't see Gage. But I think I know where he is.. Bonnie's digging through a brick pile..## came Kelly's voice. ##The woman's respiratory arrested. Stoker's working on her now.## Roy pulled off his mask and tank and snatched up the HT Cap had left on Marco's stomach. ##We hear you Chet. Hang on. Marco's unconscious, too. Let us get a handle on his situation and we'll be right there! We got the rest of the kids out. L.A.'s on the ball and the gas is getting shut off..## He heard the sirens from the approaching police car arrive and shut down. Very soon, Roy heard someone climbing over the debris in the driveway and a face peered into the place in the torn main doors where the children had gotten out. It was Vince. "You boys ok in there?! Everyone's fine out here by the road!" Roy shouted from his place by Cap and Marco, talkie still in hand and to his ear, listening to Chet's continuing report even while he shouted at Vince. "Go to the yard Vince.!.. Johnny's trapped and Stoker and Chet's got an arrest victim.. We'll get out there with the gear soon as we can..Marco needs us right now." He ducked when Vince's body weight and movement jarred tilted rafters and made plaster pieces fall onto the three of them as he hastened to go where directed. Roy glanced back down to Marco, removing his overcoat. "Cap, is he still breathing?" -------------------------- Photo: Cap outside in a closeup. *Animated gif* Flames, burning low. Photo : The Gang in the station garage bay around the squad and engine. Photo : Close up of the Squad's gearboxes in their storage racks. Gif: The word "quick" in melted and burning metal, wafting smoke. Photo : Closeup of Roy outside, wearing a stethoscope. ***************************************** Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 23:37:20 -0700 (PDT) From: "Patti Keiper" Subject: Digging by Daylight.. >"Go to the yard Vince.!.. Johnny's trapped >and Stoker and Chet's got an arrest >victim.. We'll get out there with >the gear soon as we can..Marco needs >us right now." >He ducked when Vince's body weight >and movement jarred tilted rafters >and made plaster pieces fall onto >the three of them as he hastened to >go where directed. >Roy glanced back down to Marco, >removing his overcoat. >"Cap, is he still breathing?" Hank looked up. "Barely. He's gonna need O2 and I think something else is wrong with him. He feels awfully hot to me." "Yeah well, we gotta get him out of here first. Who knows when the gas company will get L.A's stop order. This earthquake might have given them higher priorities.." Roy said. "Last thing we need is 100 % O2 mixing with all the fumes in here." "Hey..Knock it off, t-that's my line." Cap quipped. Roy grinned, which levelled, as he concentrated on a quick assessment of Marco's condition. He got a grip on Lopez's carotid, and paused as he got an initial breathing rate visually. "Marco's doing well enough for an evac, Cap.. Watch him a sec. I'm going to see if I can free up a stokes for him and the resuscitator. Stoker's gonna need it if that school teacher's down too deep." "I remember hearing about her.." Cap shook his head, trying to clear it. "Yeah. That's right..S-Sounds like a plan.." Roy looked up at Cap. "Hey. You all right to be alone for a bit? You still look groggy." "It's nothing. I'm only a little woozy. Go.." he said, meeting Roy's eyes evenly with his own to show the truth in his words. DeSoto studied Cap for a moment but was finally convinced. He ran. He got to where the squad's rear compartment was and started to lift off rafter beams and ceiling pieces until he got down to the rescue truck's heavy equipment locker doors. Miraculously, he got everything he needed free in half a minute. He set the biophone, drug box, defib, O2, and the IV box next to the squad stokes on the brick strewn floor in the only narrow space available. Along the wall map's baseboard. On a whim thought, he grabbed shovel. ::There's not much digging Chet and Vince can do getting to Johnny with their bare hands.:: That done he shouted. "Cap.. How're you doing?!" Hank didn't answer right away. "Cap?!' "Huh? I'm fine. I'm fine.. What do you got over there?" Cap said. Roy moved to check out the split garage doors where Bonnie had run through to get to the back yard. He smiled and just about cried when he saw almost a two meter gap. :: Tipped on its side, the stokes could pass through that rear door fissure easily..:: "Found a way out. I'm coming back!" And he ran back through the dusty mist to the front of the garage, almost leaping over the debris piles. "Cap..did you hear me? We're getting outta here.." He screeched to a halt when he rounded the fender of the squad. Cap was crouched , still squatting on his feet, almost on top of Marco, but he was slumped over with his head sagging down. Roy grabbed his shoulder, his stomach flipping. But Cap immediately lifted his head. Recovering from his fright, Roy spelled it out in no uncertain terms. "Hey, are you going to be able to do this, Cap? If you're feeling hurt worse than you think you are, I can go get Ch--" "No. Roy, let's just get him out now. I'll sit down once we're outta danger.." Cap said, looking at his paramedic. He grabbed onto Marco's feet and picked them up, while Roy got his shoulders. "Come on.. Let's move. Look, his resp rate's already dropping off. Marco won't be able to wait much longer for O2 if you detour. Besides, neither Kelly nor Vince will want to leave trying to get Gage outta trouble without a fight. And that will cause a serious delay my friend.. Don't tell me that it won't." He wasn't happy, but Roy didn't protest further. It took several minutes, with Cap stumbling and sweating over boards and bricks for both of them to get Marco safely enscounced into the stokes and strapped in. They piled all the gear on top of him for a one trip carry, until they got to the split in the rear hanger doors Roy had found. Roy gestured for Cap to head on through first to accept gear in hand-offs. Soon the three of them were free from the shattered ruin of station 51's garage, and into clearer air and sunlight. Cap grunted when he saw the level of destruction around them in the yard. The high tan brick walls ringing the station were completely levelled. "My god, the epicenter must have been right here.." He barely got stumbling to where Mike was when he dropped Marco's stokes the last few inches to the ground. Roy said, "Think you're right, Cap. Now just take it easy over there.You've done all you can do.." he said as Cap sat painfully down next to Marco's head to monitor him. DeSoto grabbed the 02 apparatus and handed it over to Stoker, who was listening to a tenative recaptured air exchange on Miss Thorne. "How's she doing?" he asked Mike. "Got her partially back. She's breathing one out of three." he said, snatching for the demand valve. He began to use it full flow, letting her pull air when she could but assisting and taking over when she lapsed. "I got lucky. She never lost a pulse." Then he tossed a head back behind him. "You'd better get over there buddy. Chet and Vince are having problems digging Gage out." "Is he conscious?" "Don't know.." Mike answered. "Sort of had my hands full here." "I'm going over there. She'll maintain all right. Here's more info on them." Roy dragged Marco's stokes near enough to the O2 so he could string a mask from the other port for Lopez. "Marco's really out. Breathing shallow. And he's febrile for some reason. Keep an eye on Cap too. Possible head injury.." he said setting a ten liter flow for Marco through a non rebreather. Mike nodded. "Ok. Got it. Roy, I think the woman's problem is just the gas exposure. Nothing fell on either one of us at all.." "Noted. I'll contact Rampart as soon as we know about Johnny too.." Roy said. He grabbed the shovel he and Cap brought and ran around the antique engine towards where he could hear Bonnie barking. On the way, he met the four tour students they all had gotten out of the station. "It's all right kids. Your teacher's not dead. We're just helping her on some oxygen. Your friends are safe, too, out in front. Just wait here where it's safe in the open. Don't go anywhere, all right?" Four heads nodded. The kids were shivering where they were clinging together seated on the ground, mousy with emotional shock. But Roy didn't see any critical problems on them so he left them alone in Mike's line of sight. He ran faster until he got to where Bonnie was letting the dirt fly high. Chet and Vince were in high gear too, still trying to dig next to a frantic Bonnie. Vince was beginning to get desperate, using his helmet. Roy dropped down onto the brick pile and laid to with his spade fighting down unbidden fears. "Heard anything?" "Not a peep." Chet said just as anxious. "There's NO way we can get to him, man. There must be half a ton of bricks here. This is where the hose tower was.." "Just keep digging. There's gotta be an airpocket or something under there." Vince said. "We hope.." Chet said. Kelly's shortness made Roy try to ease his doubts even as his own grew worse. "Part of the stack was reinforced concrete and wire. That wouldn't collapse flat." Roy said. ::Johnny. Hang in there.:: For several tense moments, there was just the "chuck" of helmet and shovel and bare hands, biting into soil and rubble. Then Kelly said, "Hold it! Hold it! Look!" Bonnie had moved to a different area of the debris pile and was cocking her head at a sound just beneath her. She began to dig madly and the pitch of her barking changed to one of excited discovery. There was a small cave beneath her and in her eagerness, dashed inside of it. "Bonnie. No!!" Kelly warned. But the tiny Yorkie's tail reemerged unscathed, and soon, came the rest of her. When her head followed out of the hole, Gage's dusty sock and foot were tightly in her mouth. "Johnny!!?" Chet yelled, and he shoved Bonnie aside to bury his head into the hole up to the shoulders with both hands, reaching deep. "He's alive.. I can see him breathing." came his muffled report. "His arms and shoulders are pinned pretty good in here. I think a small chamb--" There was another cave in and a plume of dust hissed out of the fissure and Kelly let out a startled yell. Vince grabbed onto his belt in a tackle to keep Kelly from slipping under the ground even further. His efforts proved just how unstable the regolith in their area was. Another collapse came, this one bigger and heavier. Suddenly, both Johnny and Chet started to thrash in panic as their airspace suddenly filled up in choking dirt and brick. Vince hauled Kelly out by his pants, with every sinew of strength, until inch by inch, the curly haired fireman was pulled free.. Chet gasped and choked on chalky grit that had blown into his nose and mouth. "Get him out of there!! *cough* The whole roof caved in.*cough. cough*" Roy started to dig underneath where Johnny's leg was writhing as quickly as he dared. It was Bonnie who found Gage's other pinned leg, twisted above the first just before his struggles began to weaken. Vince and Roy abandoned helmet and shovel and quickly each hauled on a leg full weight backwards, sliding awkwardly on the slippery brick pieces. "Come on. Let go.." Vince grunted to the earth. "He can't breathe.." Johnny's limp head dragged clear at last and thunked over a few boulders when all three of them fell on their butts. "Johnny. Can you hear me?" Roy shouted. He crawled to Johnny's head, accidently jarring him in his haste to get an answer.. Gage's mouth gaped open. A rock was inside blocking off his throat. Roy hooked it free with a couple of fingers.. "Johnny? Hey.... It's gone.. Come on spit it out." he said, slapping his partner's face, hard. The sudden sting to the skin on his rock rubbed raw face, drove Johnny to full wakefulness and he flopped over onto his side, coughing wetly. He threw up a lot of dirt and mucous until he gasped in; the first solid breath of air he had taken since he'd been buried. "*Hack* Whaa? Roy?....*gasp* Oh man... I thought.. I wasn't ever ........gonna make it......out of t-there.. " Roy dropped his head in relief.. "So did we... Just keep breathing regular. You're still blue.." Gage added more as his head cleared. "Thanks for trying to shield me Chet. Almost worked." and he sagged onto the ground in exhaustion, grateful to be seeing daylight and moving air. Then hypoxia nausea rose up and he got sick again. ::Mud this time. Better from my stomach than from a lung or two..:: "Got it all out?" Roy asked, still hanging onto him when he was through. Johnny nodded, without opening his eyes. "Yeah.. I think so." "Believe it or not, you're completely pink now after all that.." "I feel green.." "Just lie still for a sec. Hurt anywhere else besides your hand?" Roy asked. "My hand?" Johnny said, picking his head up and peering down. A bent rod was embedded through the bones in his left palm and was sticking out the back of it. "Aw Roy, why did you tell him about that? Now he's gonna freak out.." Chet said. "Oh, man.." Gage said, ignoring both of them. He curled around himself as his eyes seemed to reconnect his nerves centers into a core of agony through his impaled hand. "Royyyy?... this just isn't my day...ah, h*ll.." he grimaced. Chet was still coming down from Johnny's close call. "Not everyday a full moon earthquake scores a direct bullseye on Johnny Gage..That's for d*mned sure. " And he laughed. He stopped immediately when Gage caught his breath, around another spasm.."Oooo. Come on. It's time to get up Gage. If we let you think about it too long, you're going to have to be carried out of here." he said gently.. "l'll tape that immobile after we get ya over to the biophone." Gage let the three of them sit him up and then with a groan, he let the burly Vince lift him bodily to a very shaky pair of feet. Bonnie nearly leaped somersaults when she saw her favorite fireman finally standing vertical. She barked happily, frisking in the dust, until she saw the huddle of frightened kids by the old engine. She dashed off to be with them in a cloud of dirt.. Very soon, the kids snapped out of their dazed stares to timidly reach out to pet her dirty back. "Would you look at that.. Bonnie works better than smelling salts." Gage grinned, halting them all. "You owe her a ton of bacon my friend. She's the one who found you, Johnny.." Kelly commented. "Well I'll be.." "Come on Captain Hook, let's get you cleaned up. If we don't hurry, you just might have to stay this way...." Roy quipped, glancing down at Johnny's speared hand. "Oh ha. Aren't you funny.."Gage replied sarcastically. He shifted his weight as Roy moved his good arm over a shoulder. Then he paled, when he saw what was dripping on his shoes. "What makes you think I wanna work after this?" DeSoto went on with his interrupted sentence.. "We've got three injured patients to attend to, not counting you. Don't worry, I'll let you black out if I have to, just as soon as another squad gets here to relieve you.." Roy nodded for Chet to start applying pressure to Johnny's brachial artery when the wound around the rod started to spurt as Gage's blood pressure rallied with his mental clarity. "You're all heart.." Johnny grinned weakly. As soon as they all got over to the others, Johnny promptly forgot his hand. "Chet, let go of me.. Just put a tourniquet on this. If I have to work, I'll do it verbally, You can at least get vitals sets.. Roy, what do we got? Looks like Miss Thorne's the worst of them.." he said, reaching over with his good hand to get the band Chet needed to stop his hemorrhaging. Gage grabbed it out of one of the gear boxes Mike had flicked open for him, between one of his positive pressure valve ventilations he was delivering to the stilled teacher. Roy said, "Natural gas inhalation. On her and Marco both. He's breathing ok, but she's partially unresponsive. Marco's also got an unexplained elevated temp. Cap found it assessing him. Cap's got a slight concussion I think. He was out for a while. I haven't gotten a look at his pupils yet.." "Chet you go handle that while Roy calls us in." Gage snapped. "Stop fussing with me." "Right. Almost got this secure.." Chet said, giving one last yank on the tourniquet around Johnny's upper arm. "There.." he smiled, biting a lip. "Going numb?" "Not fast enough..." Gage peeped in pain. "Good. You're set. " His eyes flickered downward.. "Give me that.." and he pulled out Johnny's penlight from his pocket to look at Cap. "Walk me through the neural Johnny. I've only seen you guys do this a few times.." he said seriously, then he beamed, full charm, smiling at Cap as he knelt by him. "Hiya Cap. Great to see you winking those peepers at me. Thought you were dead for a sec in there. .." he leaned in with his light.. "This won't hurt a bit.." Johnny began instructing Chet by rote what things to look for. Soon, he had the info needed to share with Roy when he was ready on his end. DeSoto threw an eye on Miss Thorne to count the actual times she tried to breathe around Stoker's vents and he shivered in utter weariness. The initial adrenaline he always got in a crisis, was leaving him, letting him feel every bump and ache the earthquake had imparted to him. ::But.....It sure feels great knowing no one died. It could have been worse...:: He coughed once to clear out the acrid dust in his throat. Then he started writing in his note pad the findings in prep for a medical base station hail. Trussed up and no longer bleeding like a stuck pig, Johnny checked the psi on the regulator of outgoing 02 on the apparatus feeding Marco and the teacher's masks. ::Plenty of oxygen left here.:: he thought with satisfaction. He even nodded with approval when Chet was simply perfect getting an accurate BP off Marco where he lay in the stokes. ::94/60. Not too shocky..:: Gage thought after Chet had told him what it was. A minute later they all heard a chorus of sirens as the first of the responding stations rolled up to their scene. It looked strange seeing firetrucks actually rolling TO a firehouse, with all their reds flashing. Cap got on his walkie talkie as soon as he bird eyed the number on the pumper's door. "Engine 51 to Station Eight. We've got four victims in the yard. B-- -uh,...Bring three s-stokes.." The fast reply from Eight's Captain Stone made it clear that they knew who at least one of those stokes was for. ##Hank? Hang on. We're coming. Looks clear along your south exposure. Man what a mess. Hope you aren't bad yourself..## "I'm fair.." Cap replied. "Watch it in there. Gas leak in the kitchen. "And don't tell me any details about the engine or the squad. I simply don't wanna know..We just pulled one of them back from the brink only this morning..!" he wailed. Nearby, Roy grinned and mentally downgraded Cap's medical status a few notches after overhearing his joking remark.. He brought the black phone receiver to his ear and plugged in the red comm box's aerial antennae. ##Rampart this is Squad 51, How do you read?## --------------------------- Photo : Chet Kelly sneering in jest. Gif : A resuscitator in a green case with the PPV connected up. Photo: A screengrab from Snakebite with Johnny on top of the engine, Chet and Marco nearby. ******************************* From: "Cassidy Meyers" Date: Fri Oct 25, 2002 7:58 pm Subject: Hard Run.. Special acknowledgements to Story Consult-- Justafan1701- on LACoFD Telecommunications and earthquake seismology. >The fast reply from Eight's Captain >Stone made it clear that they knew who >at least one of those stokes was for. >##Hank? Hang on. We're coming. Looks >clear along your south exposure. Man >what a mess. Hope you aren't bad >yourself..## >"I'm fair.." Cap replied. "Watch it >in there. Gas leak in the kitchen. >"And don't tell me any details about >the engine or the squad. I simply don't >wanna know..We just pulled one of >them back from the brink only this >morning..!" he wailed. >Nearby, Roy grinned and mentally >downgraded Cap's medical status a >few notches after overhearing his joking >remark.. Mike looked down as Cindy Thorne started actively coughing under the resuscitator. He lifted it free to make sure she wasn't getting ill. "Easy.." he said as she began to struggle as some consciousness returned. He sighed in relief when he saw that she wasn't sick at all. "Miss Thorne. Keep this over your face. It's just an oxygen mask. You took in some gas in there from the stove but you're going to be fine." "Oh,hhh... Robbie? Rachael?....I can't see any of them.!" she said, gasping, knocking Mike's hands away. Cap near them turned from Marco. "Cindy! No.." he shouted and they both grabbed her head and shoulders when she suddenly sat up. Immediate dizziness almost made her pass out again. "Stoker, she's probably just worried about the kids. Hang on there a sec, pal." Cap took her face into his hands, cradling her cheeks, until he made full eye contact. "Cindy? It's all right. They're all out.. You are too. Now just lie back down and let us make sure that you're ok. Help's already here from another engine company and we'll be outta here just as soon as we can. But first, you gotta take in some more O2. It'll help clear your head. And it will make you feel a h*ll of a lot better. All right?" Cindy coughed, trying to focus on Mike and Cap blearily, but finally, she let them lower her back down to the ground when their calm reasoning finally registered in her brain. Then she noticed Marco, "Oh, is he ok? He's hurt!..." she gasped, blinking in distress. "He's fine. His story's the same as yours." Mike said to her. "He's just decided to nap a bit longer than you.." Cap shot eyes at Stoker and he nodded in agreement for her benefit. "Now, just keeping breathing this in. " Hank said, setting the O2 back over her face.."That's it.. Nice and easy. Stoker's gonna stay with you for a while here until you get your equilibrium back." "But.." she said weakily, muffled through the mask as she tried to get used to it being there. "Don't worry about your students. There's a police officer here who'll watch the children for you.." he looked up.. "Annddd...right now, it looks like most of them are playing tag with our station dog..They're just fine, really." Cap said matter of factly with a huge grin, brushing hair and debris out of her face. Cindy Thorne closed her eyes when her shock suddenly overtook her mental will. "Oh, ..I've got to..reach their..paren--.." "We'll do that soon. Just rest for a bit. I'm sure tha--" Mike broke off his comment when she blacked out. He moved a hand to her carotid as she went limp. Cap eyed him but he waggled his head. "She's all right. Still moving air on her own. There's resistance here." he said, checking with a test vent on the mask into her lungs. "Got a pulse rate about 100. I'll get an actual draw count for DeSoto when he's set.." Cap sat back down onto his rump, letting his weariness show in his face again. He gingerly felt the back of his head and it came away bloodied. "Good. Keep on her, Stoker.. I'll get back to Lopez." Roy was only half aware of the teacher's brief episode of awakening. He was concentrating on listening close to the biophone. "Rampart this is rescue 5-1. Do you copy?" ** Static ** Roy changed channels on the biophone, to the little used all call band, redirecting his comm transmission to HQ LA. "LA, this is squad 51, is our channel clear to Rampart? We can't seem to raise them." ** Static ** Johnny looked up from watching Chet immobilize the rod running through his hand, trying not to wince. "Think the repeaters are out?" he asked Roy. "Maybe.." DeSoto said. "LA must be scrambling to get an all stations check and haven't found out that our district's radio relay is down." "He got through before.. I heard him when the kids and I were still ducking down in the engine cab." Chet said. "That was landline, Chet." John said. "We were in the stationhouse." "I know. Things can change quickly following an earthquake.." Kelly said. "But, you know how good those guys are about reestablishing a comm net once a problem is detected." "Well, Miss Thorne and Marco can't wait." Roy said. He lifted his HT. "LA, this is Squad 51." ##Go ahead, 51..## "Our radio telemetry seems to be out on our biophone. Is there anyway you can relay to Rampart General Hospital for us? We've four victims that need a doctor's attention right away.." There was a longer than average pause. Even Cap looked up at the delay. ##Squad 51. All channels have been utilized for emergency broadcast communication only. Disaster protocol is in place. Suggest using a landline to Rampart. If the telephone line to the station house has been effected, payphones are showing as still in service in your area. ## "Payphones?" Gage said incredulously. Cap piped up.. "Yeah. Payphones. They've got underground cabling. The same dirt which knocked out the repeaters alignment must have cushioned the payphone network. Makes sense. DeSoto, free up off the biophone. Let the man work. We'll try his suggestion first.." Roy shrugged, uncertain and embarrassed he even bothered LA, who was now set in a higher priority moding. "10-4, LA. We copy. We'll 10-8 to a landline." #Squad 51..# the head dispatch acknowledged. "Cap, why didn't you tell me not to biocall?" "Quite frankly Roy, I'm not up on earthquake scenario past the basics. I was in the dark just as much as you were. First time I've ever been in one." Hank shrugged. "First time for me, too.." came the voice of Captain Stone, from very near by. He waved his men over with the requested stokes and they clustered around the group in Station 51's shattered backyard. "So, far, we've all been using HT's. But only between units. I found out from McConike about the landline trick for our rescue squad." "Who's here?" Gage piped up. "Gil and Brice...They're getting the 02 and their gear. We figured you boys wouldn't have had much equipment left after that.." Stone replied throwing a thumb over his shoulder at the rubble between the bunkhouse and kitchen ends of station 51. "Cap. We've been inside. The gas is off and we're already opening holes to ventilate. All the fumes are gone. And believe it or not. Your kitchen phone is working. Gil's already got Rampart on the line for you. Switch to our station's frequency on your handheld to get him. He's set to relay." Roy spoke up, "Thanks, Captain Stone. But I think I should field that call personally. I've got all our patient info up here.." and he pointed to his head. "One to one, that way, with the doctor would be faster." "Fair enough. I'll send Gil out here to assist Brice on treatment." Stone shrugged. They all turned when some of Engine 8's crew dropped down the rest of the rear door from the mangled garage using a short K-12 application, offering easy access back into the shattered heart of Station 51. "Oh, man.." Cap groaned. "I didn't want to see that.." he said as a falling rafter kicked loose from a wind gust, and smashed into the main dome light on top of the Ward's cab, pulverizing it. Vince piped up to Stone's men. "Ok, let's get these kids out of here. They're students from Grover Middleland school. That's their teacher lying over there. Move out. I've got additional squad cars here so we can evac all of them." Firemen moved to escort the frightened children away from the scene. Roy rose to his feet. "Johnny. Hey. I've got to go back inside. Take it easy now. And try to get along with Brice, huh? He's going to be senior assessor here, even over you, all right?" He jogged, gripping his handy talkie, and ran by Brice, who was coming, helmeted, with gear. "I know that. I'll be a professional!" Johnny shouted after his partner. He winced when the effort shot a bolt of pain through his hand. "That's professional patient, Gage. The moment Squad 8 got on scene, they bumped you out of service man.." Chet said. "Don't rub it in, Chet." Johnny spat. His anger was tempered when Bonnie, suddenly free of her children charges, came running up. She reared up, planting kisses of worry and affection onto his chin. Johnny smiled in spite of himself. Brice rushed by Roy without even looking fully at him.. "The woman?" Roy said, running in the opposite direction. "Still breathing.. Marco's gas inhalation too!" he shouted after him. Roy wheeled, reluctant to leave the yard, until Cap re- enforced his departure to the kitchen phone with an arched eyebrow.. Captain Stone was on DeSoto's heels to make sure that flashlights were delivered to the dark kitchen for Roy's note dictation via landline. He sent more men arriving from the responding units to the surrounding area to cruise for trouble spots beyond Station 51's scene. As an after thought, he got his engineer to pull up 51's squad and the LaFrance out of the garage once the worst of the roofing debris had been pulled off of them. Stone huffed a breath on his sleeve and polished the door handle of the engine when he saw Hank watching him once the two trucks were free of the garage rubble. Cap chuckled when he saw that little move and lifted his HT. "Needs a lot more than a wax job, Ben.. Appreciate it, though." Stone added, ##I'll have my crew check em out. Neither of them are leaking fuel.. I got a fanning hose wash on them just in case.## "Take good care of my boys and my station.." Cap sighed, and he let Stone's men move him to a stokes for a lie down and soon, he was fitted with an O2 cannula and his turnout was removed. Hank's HT, however, stayed fast in his grip by his head, where he could hear everything, even as he let go physically and mentally. He felt a man move closer to monitor him as he closed his eyes. "Night Cap.." Gage said, lying in his own stokes. "Don't doze too deep with that headcrack of yours." "I won't. Just don't gore Brice with that hand pike of yours." "Deal." Moments later, Brice finished crossing the yard and he knelt by Cindy Thorne first for a new vitals set. He looked up to see Bonnie still bathing Johnny's chin with kisses and Gage being too out of it to push her away. "Getting mouth to mouth from a dog, Gage? Must be protocol I haven't yet heard about." "Very funny. This dog saved my life, I'm not about to tick her off by complaining.." he said, lifting Bonnie into the stokes where she promptly laid down in between his legs, setting a worried muzzle and front paws onto his stomach, still softly whining with stress. Brice curbed his banter. "What have we got here Gage? Roy didn't tell me much.." "Stoker revived the woman. No trauma. Cap's got a blow to the back of his head. Pupils equal and reactive. Marco's out, febrile after LOC. BP, 94/60, Resp 12, shallow. Pulse 92. Me, I, uh.. Almost choked in a cave-in. Puked out a lot of ingested mud. Chest seems clear. And I got this little little..problem--mm ." he said lifting his stabbed hand. The sight of the rod made Brice pause and he sank his glasses lower on his nose to get a closer look at it from where he was listening to Cindy's breath sounds through a stethoscope. Brice asked Chet, "Blood loss.." he said. snapping his fingers, about Gage. "Oh, uh, Gage lost about 600 CC before I got that tourniquet in plac--" "Get him on a cannula, Kelly. 4-6 liters O2. Use our unit. Elevate his legs. Then position your captain with his head raised. I'll be right with you, Gage. Almost through assessing this woman." Brice said. But Johnny didn't answer. Gil arrived from the rubble and took Brice's pointing hint to check Johnny's consciousness level as Chet followed his medical orders to a T. The two Station 8 medics got to work.. --------------- Inside the dark and silent kitchen, Roy's face was illuminated by flashlight and he took the phone from the Station 8 paramedic waiting for him there. "Thanks Gil. I'm trading places with ya.." "Sure thing. It's Brackett on the line." And Gil ran off to the yard. Roy set his HT on the phone top and nodded to the fireman with the flashlight to go about his business, grabbing the torch from his gloves as he set the kitchen phone receiver to his face. Roy shifted the light under one arm so he could see his notepad. "Rampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?" As he waited for a return, Roy had his first real, thinking look at the devastation that the quake had brought to his station. He watched as a frightened sparrow arrowed through the airspace where the garage roof had been. ::Will we be able to get over all of this?:: came the thought, unbidden. A familiar voice broke Roy out of his fear. ##This is Rampart. Go ahead, 51. You're reading loud and clear..## Roy sighed and almost sobbed when Kel's steady confident baritone met his ear. "Doctor Brackett. We've uh, four victims at our location. The earthquake has pretty much destroyed the stationhouse here. Trauma is apparent. Three of my victims are... are Code I. Victim one. A female approximate age, twenty two. Found apneic from natural gas inhalation. Now breathing on her own on one hundred percent 02. Victim two. Unconscious. Moderate gas inhalation and etiology of unknown fever on ten liters O2. Victim three. Cave-in. Obstructed airway now relieved. Ingested mud. Foreign body impalement of the left hand. Arterial bleeding is under control. Victim four. Possible head injury with history of blackout, awake and oriented. Pupils equal and reactive." ##10-4, 51.## came Kel's voice. Roy could hear the man's concern seeping through his doctor mode even through his short reply back. #Can you give me full vitals for Victim one?# "R-right. doc.. uh. ..s-she's.." and his voice caught; the sudden realization of what had happened finally sinking in. "Well, she's like I said and..and.. I- I'm sorry doc.. I can't--" At the base station, Dixie and Kel's faces fell out of their professional shells at the sound of pain in his voice. Brackett was stunned, hearing his best medic fall apart on the job. He felt Dix tap him sharply on the arm and looked up to see her give him a do something look. ##Hang in there Roy, I'm with you. Gil tells me that you've got a full response already on scene so you've got plenty of help right there. Roy, you're not alone.. Dix is right here, too. We'll get your friends taken care of as fast as we possibly can here by working together. So don't worry. All you have to do is give me one detail at a time. Focus on that and we'll get through this difficult rescue just like we do all the others.## Dr. Brackett heard only badly concealed muffled sobs on the other end of the line. ##Roy, I guarantee it. It's just always harder when things hit close to home like this.## Roy felt unbidden tears begin to run down his face but he didn't say anything and he sniffled wetly, the weight of the phone call, reporting catastrophe, wearing on him. ##Now go ahead on the woman's vitals..## He heard Kel order. Roy cleared his throat and spoke.... -------------------------- Photo: A crushed fire engine. Photo : Dr. Brackett, looking down on us. Photo: Brice, smiling in a firehouse kitchen. Photo : Roy, wearing a stethoscope outside. Photo : An aerial view over Station 51, showing the block as totally levelled. Collapses everywhere. ******************************* From: "Cory Anda" Date: Sat Oct 26, 2002 2:14 am Subject: Big Time Complication >##Now go ahead on the woman's vitals..## >He heard Kel order. >Roy cleared his throat and spoke.... "Hang on, we're HT to the outside here. Relaying direct to station 8's paramedics. Please stand by. Vitals to follow." Roy said. ##Standing by..## ---------------------------- Five minutes later, DeSoto had his initial medical orders relayed to the yard to Gil and Brice over his hand held. Dr. Brackett asked Roy one more question. ##What's your ETA on an ambulance ?## "We don't know that yet, doc. Depends on how badly the roads in our area are damaged." Roy said. ##10-4, 51. Get them here any way you can. When you can. ## "Yep.." Roy said, impatient. "Just wish I could." Kel added. ##I'll be frank with you, Roy. Gage, we can turn around, same with your captain and the school teacher. It's Marco I'm worried about. I don't like the fact that his vitals are sinking like this and the fact we can't figure out his LOC or snap him out of it with epinephren. Or that sudden onset of fever.. And another thing, that odd bloody patching Gil found in his throat's d*mned pec-- Hang on Roy, Joe's telling me something.## There was a pause and Roy could hear the two doctors confirming a new development. Brackett came back online. ##Roy, we've got word there's a battalion triage station setting up near you. Joe's just heard about it from squad 99. They're treating victims there, just down the block from your 10-20. Perhaps you can move out to their location as an alternate to transporting here if the roads prove to be impassable. Wait a minute, on second thought, I want you to utilize them instead of us here at Rampart, understood? I'm getting orders now from FEMA for some of us to be flown in, over the alert scanner..## Dr. Brackett said. More warbles came that Roy couldn't quite make out. Then an exclamation.. ##Beautiful! That solved our problem, Roy. Just got my own orders to report out to your own area within the next fifteen minutes. I'll rendevous with you myself to see your victims. Count on me muscling in to be their attending MD.## "Appreciate it, doc.. listen, off the record. Just how bad is it out there?" ##My guess is extremely localized for the most part. All the runs coming in that are quake related are in the same one mile square area. No major fires, but my casualty reports are still sketchy.## A ruckus outside the kitchen caught Roy's attention; police clashing with media types. Roy's forehead furrowed as he gripped the phone tighter. "Listen doc. I know you're busy.. Could you do me a favor? Could you have Dixie call our families to let them know we're all right. No doubt they're pretty panicked watching us on their television sets, I see a camera crew out there right now, bumping heads with the PD." ##Will do, Roy. Contact base again if there are further developments. See you soon.## "10-4. Squad 51, out." Roy hung up the phone, and walked the few feet to the plaster powdered kitchen table in weariness. He wiped the sweat off his blood caked face with a dusty towel he found there and slowly began recapturing his wits, leaning against it, until a sensation of heat against his back made him jump off its edge. It was a coffee pot, still warm and steaming from where Johnny had left it before the quake. Roy stared at its unreal normalcy, smelled its perfumey steam curls, delicately wafting in his flashlight's beam, until a shout from the yard caused him to hightail it back outside as fast as he could.. "What do you mean it's my fault he's shocky?! I couldn't have started O2 on him any sooner because both lines were on Marco and the girl, who needed the help more at the time, Brice, so back off ! If Gage were awake, I'm sure he'd be agreeing with me wholeheartedly!" Roy got himself between Kelly and Brice. "Hey hey hey.. Hush down! Just what's the matter with you two? We've got nosy press types already in the driveway. This is no time to let personality clashes come to a boil where they might overhear it.." he said. All the while he spoke, Roy was watching Gil, who was keeping well out of it. He didn't miss Gil speeding up an IV of Ringers Lactate on Marco, nor his slipping in an oral airway on him. Roy's practiced eye also saw that Cindy's atropine, to boost her respirations, had already been administered from the sight of the yellow pop caps on the ground. Mike was now absent. ::Stoker must have gone on to damage patrol. Cindy's only on a light nonrebreather. At least, she's doing better.:: He got an OK gesture from Gil about her, pantomimed. Another part of his mind dealt with putting his two coworkers sharply into line. "Keep it down to a quiet roar if you two have to argue. Or better yet, let's all just do our jobs here, as a team.." he lectured. "We'll take a vote on who was right over a poker game once our butts are safe and sound on solid ground next week, all right..?!" Chet and Brice both studied the ground, then both looked sheepishly around to make sure that Stone, nor any of his men had overheard their petty bickering. "That's better.." Roy said, glaring at Brice and Chet, as he began crouching by Marco to look at his pupils. "Now here's the scoop. Brackett's on his way here. It's looking more and more that the roads might be out in our vicinity for there's a helicopter triage station area just down the boulevard. It's already up and running. So let's get our victims out of here and where we'll be able to do them the most good all right?" For two minutes, the four of them mobilized and packed up all of their equipment and supplies. Just then, Captain Stone returned to the yard. He was oblivious to the tension just evaporating. "Ok, everybody.We're moving out. There's a triage-" Roy cut in. "Uh, yes sir. Captain. We got word from Brackett about it. We're set.. We're ready to move when you are. Everyone is stabilized and supported on O2." "Fast work.. All right. Let's do it.." he gestured to his men who ran out of the station house following a very hasty cleanup and damage check. The runaway hydrant had long since been emergency capped. "But there's been a further change.We're opening your bunk house to these triage victims of yours and any others who are waiting turns to be flown out of the disaster area. Only the garage bay was unstable boys, the rest of the station checks out. You may be running a triage base station for this block from right here.." "Understood, Cap.." Brice said. "I'll move our gear into there." Stone looked down at Captain Stanley, who was mumbling to himself in his half sleep, giving random orders based on what he was hearing in his ear through the talkie. "Is he ok? Saw him go out a few minutes ago." "He's on just a precautionary IV, and his vitals are fine, Cap." Roy said. "He won't be running any operations but that doesn't mean he won't be dreaming about us doing it. He's got quite a grip on that hand held. He's hanging on every word. Even in his sleep." he grinned. "His concussion appears to be minor." Stone didn't move from his hands on hips planted position, so Roy volunteered to him a quick a medical rundown on all the others too. "Ok.." Stone said, satisfied. "I'll let the triage head know what you got.." Stone got teams of men to grab the four stokes to haul them into the sleeping quarters of Station 51 and out of the hot California sun. Already, earthquake dust was making the air hard to breathe. ------------------------------ The bunk room was surprisingly intact. Not even dusty. A quick check showed that they had a viable phone line in there too, at the night writing desk. Only the power and gas service was knocked out. And Engine 51, itself, proved capable of supplying water needed for cleanup and first aid. Bonnie, stuck like glue to Johnny's stokes, sinking down underneath his covering blanket, so she wouldn't be discovered lurking there. Chet almost squished her with Johnny's O2 tank before he remembered. "Oh, sorry Bonnie. Keep watching him." he said to the breathing lump, as he transferred the D tank to the floor. The bunk house outer door was opened to daylight and portable lamps were brought in from the triage station for them to use. IV's were taped suspended to the wood working and blankets abounded. Gear from the two squads sat in a row on the floor the length of the room in the aisle. And more O2 apparatuses from multiple companies were brought in with another set of universal HT's and a makeshift command center board. Roy heard a helicopter land nearby, its wash sending eerie prop echoes through the shattered roof in the bay next room over, and he fervently hoped it was Brackett's. Cap and Johnny's stokes were set off the floor between chairs instead of using valuable bedspace, but Marco had been placed on a long board on a bed in prep for a priority move. He was first on the list to go. DeSoto set a defibrillator next to Marco with nervousness. He was the only one in the room so far who was at risk for one's use. Roy got another vitals set on him and frowned. He waved Brice over.. "He's worse. Rales now, in the lungs. And his fever's up. Help me get a temp on him.." "That fast? I don't understand what the problem might be. Gage said all he did was take in a little gas.." Brice said checking the placement of the mask over Marco's oral airway. "We were in a big fire two days ago, and before that, he had a bad cold. We've been busting our butts fussing over him to see a doctor ever since." "Did he go?" "Do pigs fly?" "Oh. I see. White coat anxiety syndrome." "Actually. No. " Roy grinned. "Marco's just a busy man. He has an aging mother he's been caring for and lately it's been taking up a lot of his time. " "To the point of letting himself be sick for days?" "Guess so. Marco's like that. Always doing for others over himself. He tells me that's why he's a fireman. " he smiled. But that smile faded. "He told us over dinner on Sunday that the two of them just got back from Mexico City, after burying a cousin. A boy I think, who had died suddenly. Help me here.." Soon, Brice and Roy got a temp off Marco internally. Roy held it up to the lamplight. "A hundred three? Brice, this has got to be an infection. I don't like it. And that gas inhalation's just getting Marco into hot water.." "It definitely brought out this illness to the foreground.." Brice agreed. Gil had been nearby, checking on Gage and Cap and the teacher. "Well, we'd better get him into some cold water before his central nervous system crashes out. His breathing response is too level and slow as it is.." Gil said. "Want me to patch him?" "Yes, his systolic is seventy eight and weak." Roy opened Marco's shirt and sheared his T shirt in two out of the way. Brice got out the defib paddles, holding them in the air above the bed. "Wait. Here. This is faster.." and he placed them onto Marco's ribcage and manually scoped him. All three medics looked at the tiny defibrillator screen. It was showing tachycardia, deep. "Look at that.." Brice exclaimed. "It's the fever..and partly the gas.." Roy said. "No PVC's though. He's sure holding well. That rate's just about 140. " "That's the epi Brackett ordered." Brice said. "It quickens but it strengthens too." "I'll get a strip off the portable monitor after I get him patched in.." Gil said. "The doc is going to want to see this.." "No doubt." Brice tossed away the paddles, leaving the unit between Marco's knees. "I'm going to go grab some ice from your frig. You do have some in there?" "Yeah.." Roy said. "Two bags." Brice left to get it. Roy and Gil got cloth sheets wet and stuffed them inside the plastic one they had