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| PAGE THIRTY SIX |
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The earthquake died away. It was immediately followed with the tones for a four alarm fire emergency through the HT lines. Captain Stanley was on his feet and running for the shattered garage door, hanging onto his IV before anyone could intercept him. He pelted outside, but got instantly winded before he even got halfway down the driveway so he skidded to a halt, hanging onto the battered LaFrance's driver mirror and waited as Captain Stone rendevous'ed with him at a dead run. "How bad is it? I heard the alarm tones go off." Hank asked. Then he sucked in his breath when LA identified the address of the new alarm call through his radio. "Yep. It's Arco, the refinery across the street. A pipe line has been ruptured. There's no telling when a side fire will set it off. I've got my men and half the assignments here not dealing with casualties, responding." Stone informed him. Cap's eyes shot across the triage tent strewn boulevard and he squinted into the mid afternoon sun. All seemed normal over there. Until he saw a curl of steam rising from a natural gas spire where it shouldn't have been. "Oh, man." he groaned, sitting on the runner board of his battered engine. "If only I had a functional crew, I'd get my men in there.." Stone grinned cockeyed. "Sit back and enjoy the show. And don't even think about leaving the driveway. I told Peters to slap handcuffs on you the moment your feet touch the road." he joked. "Oh really.." Hank said, grinning back. "Well, don't think I'll be going anywhere anytime soon. I've got four mother hens hovering over me constantly. Oh look, there's the worst one coming now.." Brice appeared in the doorway, at a run, making sure that Cap hadn't done anything stupid like dash off with a responding engine company. He stood next to Stone and wiggled gimme fingers at Cap to give him his IV arm. "Let me D/C that, Cap.." Hank didn't understand at first what Brice meant until Stone pointed down to the IV bag and tubing still in Hank's grip. "oh.. sorry, Brice. Just a little distracted here. There's a hotspot at Arco across the street." "I know. We all heard it on HT frequencies." Craig pulled out Hank's IV cath and bandaged the site. "If you're gonna be in public view. Look the part, Cap.." and he tossed Cap his overcoat and helmet. "Leave my sight, and I'll come after you.." he said. "Scout's honor.." Hank said, rubbing the itchy ache where the IV had been. "My head's fine for your reference." "Yeah? It may feel fine for the moment. Just wait until your shot wears off." Craig said seriously. Cap's face fell at that prediction and it remained while the two captains watched a worried Brice jog back into the sadly crumpled station 51. "So that's your story.. What about your man Marco?" "It's bad, Ben. It's some kind of bleeding fever called the Marburg Retrovirus. Overheard the CDC docs clutching at straws and ordering their team in Mexico to secure female bats of all things. Seems they might have a natural serum to this thing in their mother's milk." "Air Force in on that?" "I suppose so." Cap said. "I'll keep an eye out for a convoy conveying them here.. Anything else you need?" From seemingly right beside their feet, Brice's voice boomed out. "A + whole blood! Remember, Captain Stone? Step on it..!" Stone and Stanley both looked around in amazement that they were hearing Craig's voice outside when they looked down and saw an HT on the engine's runner behind them, set to two way intercom. Hank grumbled. "That !.." and he stifled his explicative. "...mother hen..." he said between clenched teeth., more softly. "Tenacious isn't he?" Stone grinned. "When he monitors a patient, he doesn't mess around. The guys call him the Tick for a reason. I'll keep you posted Hank.. And Brice.. I've got techs on the way with your blood bags.. They'll be there with you paramedics in five..!" he said, running across the street and to the scene of the Arco Refinery call. |
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Mike Stoker appeared in full gear at the doorway. "Cap.. Can I go?" "D*mn straight you're going..Make yourself useful. And keep me up on a detailed report and I do mean detailed. Get in there.." he ordered, and snatched up Brice's spying HT. "Here.." he said to Mike changing its mode back to normal setting. Stoker grabbed it and took off running after Stone and joined the stream of firefighters and firetrucks, entering the refinery's grounds. Cap was left behind in the bright sunlight, wearing a groove in the driveway in front of his quake dusty engine and squad, as he began to pace with worry. Birds' sweet oblivious songs mingled with the wailing sirens in his ears and both sounded vile to Hank. "Oh, mother of G*d. What next?" |
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******************************* From : "Cassidy Meyers" <killashandraRey@hotmail.com> Subject : [EmergencyTheaterLive] On a Clear Day.. Date : Mon, 11 Nov 2002 08:52:59 +0400 Offstory- Acknowledgements to the Modena Intergate Emergency! Equipment Manifest Website for the fireman's courier battalion chief car photo. http://modena.intergate.ca/personal/pl8s/ Mike Stoker arrived, and put on his full SCBA gear as he made his way over to the white helmeted batallion chief directing men where he wanted them. He said, "Stoker, Station 51, Engineer." the moment he was in the man's earshot. He was slightly surprised to see the man was Chief MacConike. The chief looked at Mike and saw his company HT. "Take your unit to the west end. Looks like the pipe rupture is underground, luckily not under a storage tank. An earthquake fissure's responsible for the leak indirectly." The chief wasn't wearing an air bottle, but one was set near him so he could suck a breath or two from its mask lying on the hood of his truck when he needed to. Mike Stoker took off his mask when a clearing wind blew the mirage like fumes wafting around them away.. "Sir,.. I'm the only one available from 51. The quake took out our station house." The wizened Batallion chief's eyes narrowed in instant sympathy. "What are you doing here, son? We've got more than enough man power to handle this.." Mike grabbed the chief's arm. "Please, MacConike, don't send me back. Hank Stanley's one of those Code I under triage watch. He sent me here to keep him up on things. It would mean a lot to him and the other guys if I stayed." The chief took in a long breath and sighed. "All right. Let me think. Find a place for you, huh? I know. Station Eight. They're down one man. He's been sent to the airport to collect an animal or something for a bunch of microbiologists in the area working on a bio-yellow alert situation." Mike told him more about that. "That's for us, sir. The animals are bats with a cure for one of my crewmates." "Oh? Hadn't heard much about any situation over on that side of the street..except for someone's HT joke about the fuss that Hank was raising about losing vehicles in the quake. Hookraider's got charge over that side of the block." MacConike said. "Everyone ok over there son?" Mike's face went even stonier as he hid his fear for Marco. "For the moment.." MacConike missed nothing. He knew the battle waging inside Stoker better than he cared to admit. Finally, he looked up and met Mike's eyes. "All right. I usually don't let lone crew work a scene but if it's for Hank, I'll allow anything. Gotta show him no hard feelings for that hat stunt he did as a probie." "Huh..?" "Never mind, son. Get at it.. Round off Captain Stone's crew and head on in.." "Right.." and Mike put on his SCBA mask again and used his HT to find where Captain Stone's crew was stationed around the leak. "Thank you, Chief.." he waved to the older man. He got a heartfelt sendoff salute in return. |
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