Chapter 17
~
Calder
I immediately jumped to my feet when the sirens sounded.
And the next shift would start fairly early in the morning.
This was why I hated being on call between shifts. That was always the time that the worst calls would come in. By the end of the last shift of the four, I’d be completely exhausted.
Which meant I’d have to sleep more. Which meant I’d see Rhea less.
Luckily, both Ash and Beck were on call with me that night, and were on the same rotation. So, they’d be just as tired as I was; though I had a feeling Ash would take advantage of that. He’d know Beck and I would use the time to sleep, and he could sneak an extra date during that time.
“Let’s go,” I said loudly, even though both of them were already up. It was a tradition, and being as superstitious as firefighters often were, I wouldn’t break it.
I slid down the pole first, and the two of them followed. By now, we were all wide awake. We needed to be to get ready fast enough. It was the kind of situation where training took over and it was all basically automatic.
We rushed to the equipment room, where a quick flash of Rhea and I together crossed my mind. I pushed that to the side. Now was the time to focus.
“I’ll be first,” Beck insisted as he grabbed his stuff, already flying into his thick pants.
“Over my dead body,” Ash answered, similarly hurrying himself into his uniform.
I shook my head, pretending that I couldn’t be bothered to be part of their petty competition. In reality, staying quiet was giving me an edge of seconds, and I knew it would end up with me winning, which I did.
“I slipped,” Beck shrugged as he finally had his helmet on his head, just after Ash. “Anyway, where’re we going?”
I expected Ash to answer with some ridiculous quip, but he was listening to his radio, which had crackled to life telling us where to go. It was about fifteen crossroads over, downtown. I didn’t recognize the address, but Ash had gone pale.
“You know the place?” I asked, but Ash only gave me a short glance.
“We need to move,” he said, rushing to the rig and getting himself in position. Beck seemed concerned for a second, but he followed shortly. I got into the driver’s seat, wondering what had Ash so out of sorts.
I got the rig out of the station and we tore down the street, sirens wailing.
It would take a few minutes to get to our target, no matter how fast I went.
I hoped that the fire wouldn’t spread too much in that time.
All of us were already tired, and having a huge blaze on our hands was the last thing we needed.
Luckily, the roads were mostly abandoned, and I only passed one or two cars. I threw the rig around corners and broke the speed limit several times before we reached the spot.
It was on an old street, with only a convenience store still operating a few buildings down.
That was a good thing; it meant there were no civilians to evacuate and nobody in imminent danger.
At the same time, with the buildings here in such disrepair, it was possible that the fire would spread fast.
The one that was actually on fire seemed to be an old ice cream parlor. It wasn’t very familiar, but I’d probably gone there a few times when I was much younger. It had clearly been closed for years now, which meant that it wouldn’t be the biggest loss.
I leapt down from the rig alongside Ash and Beck.
“Nothing better than a midnight ice cream, hey Ash?” Beck called out as he rushed toward the hoses.
Ash glared back at him as if he’d just insulted his mother. Beck didn’t notice, given that he was too busy attaching the end of the hose to the truck. Quietly, Ash started unrolling it, so fast that I was sure he’d make a new personal record.
He handed the end to me and I got into position, analyzing the size, origin, and locations of the fire.
It was definitely bigger than the kiosk fire, and had already ravaged most of the parlor’s structure.
We’d have to work fast to get it under control so that it didn’t touch the surrounding buildings.
But with the amount of debris around it, that was a tall order.
“Second hose,” I yelled at Ash and Beck. “Get the perimeter tight.”
They moved fast. Beck made another joke that I didn’t hear. Ash didn’t react at all this time. He seemed furious about something, but I had no idea what that could be. Ash didn’t exactly open up about his feelings very often, and I was sure he wouldn’t this time, either.
I opened up my hose once I had myself stabilized. The water rushed through.. Most people would have been sent flying by the force of it, but I had my feet firmly in place.
The water hit the center of the fire, and the flames roared in return. They weren’t going to go out without a fight. I glanced to the side. Ash and Beck had the second hose running, and were systematically aiming at parts of the fire’s border that threatened to cross over to the next building.
“Keep it under control,” I ordered them loudly, getting nods in return.
I trusted them to do what needed to be done. All I had to do was focus on shrinking the main part of the fire. Once I’d fought it down, we’d be able to end it.
But the entire building was ablaze by now. The windows had shattered and flames were bursting from the holes left behind. Smoke rose high in the sky, and the air around us was becoming thick and hot. Our uniforms would protect us from most of it, but it still wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Adrenaline rushed through my body. This was more intense than the apartment fire, and on a whole other level than the kiosk. It was the type of fire that would take everything to the ground with it.
Maybe I should call for backup, I thought, but it wasn’t entirely time for that yet. If we got the upper hand soon, we’d be fine. No reason to wake anyone else up if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.
“North side!” Ash was yelling, a tone of frustration in his voice. Beck seemed surprised at the way he’d snapped.
“I am doing north side,” he insisted, almost confused. “What’s gotten into you? Got the lack-of-sleep grumpies or something?”
“Just focus on the fire,” Ash answered with an unnecessary amount of venom in his voice. He seemed more emotional than usual, as if he was using his fiery anger to hide something deeper.
I didn’t feel like questioning him at that moment. We had to get the job done first. Any awkward heart-to-hearts had to wait until after. Though I did wonder whether this mood had anything to do with Rhea. Had she said something to Ash? Alluded to choosing me or Beck instead of him?
It was possible, but it wasn’t something I had to think about right now.
I managed to bring the fire down to a more manageable size, and Beck and Ash had cornered it around where I was focused.
It had only taken about fifty minutes, which was less than I had expected.
The entire time, Ash had been completely silent, with a scowl on his face mixed between fury and heartbreak.
Beck had tried a few more jokes, but none of them landed with Ash.
Not a single time did he even attempt a witty retort.
I made a note in my mind to see if I could get something out of him when we got back to the station.
Even a single sentence could help figure out what was going on.
Having him in this kind of emotional state wasn’t good for the job.
It was the kind of thing that could lead to slipping up.
And that, for a firefighter, could be life or death.
Several minutes later, we’d put out the fire, but it was clear that the building was entirely gone.
Smoke rose up from the blackened rubble where it used to be, with not a single beam or table or anything else still standing.
There were a few of the walls still in place, their paint completely unrecognizable, but that was it. Nothing would be saved.
At least it didn’t seem like it belonged to anyone, and it could be cleared for a new building if someone bought the land. As far as completely destructive fires went, this one had a fairly powerful silver lining.
“Roll up,” I said, but only Beck began working the hoses back onto the rig.
Ash walked forward instead, taking his helmet off. He stood at the edge of the rubble, staring out into the smoke that was now slowly starting to dissipate.
That made me wonder if this place was somehow important to him.
I couldn’t really see the connection. Ash had never been overly into ice cream, and I had never even heard him mention this parlor before.
But by the way he was staring out at it, it seemed like it had been important to him.
If he was brooding over something else, he could’ve done so in the rig, or back at the station.
“Ash.” I approached him slowly. I did want to give him time, but simultaneously, I really needed to get back to sleep before the next shift. And there was still a shower in my way.
He didn’t acknowledge me, so I put my hand on his shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” he answered finally, shaking my hand off. “I’m tired.”
“Uh huh.” I raised an eyebrow to make it clear that I definitely didn’t believe that was the only reason for his mood. “Look, you know you can talk to me, right?”
“None of your business,” Ash snapped rudely. I decided at this point that it was probably better not to push him any further. But we did need to get back to the station. We couldn’t spend all night staring at smoke. The investigative team was already waiting to take over the scene.
“We have to go,” I said firmly, turning away and hoping it was clear that this was more of a command than a suggestion. “Get on the rig.”
Ash didn’t answer, but I heard his boots crunching behind me as he followed.
I got back in the driver’s seat, and with the sirens quiet, headed back to the station.
“Gloomy bunch,” Beck said when we’d all gotten off and started cleaning the rig off. “Someone steal your ice cream?”
“Shut up,” Ash barked as he checked the hoses.
“Damn, alright.” Beck backed off, but he shot a look of curiosity at me.
I simply shrugged. I had no idea what was going on, either.
There was no point in pushing it now. It was better to just grab a shower and get back into bed.
Maybe if Ash got some sleep in him, he’d be willing to tell us what his problem was.
When we were done and the equipment put away, I headed for the showers. Afterward, I marched myself straight up to the barracks, where I noticed that Ash’s bed was suspiciously empty.
“Hmm,” I muttered, glancing over to Beck’s bunk. He was already fast asleep on his back, one arm over his face as he snored.
With a sigh, I turned around and went back downstairs to the firefighters’ parking lot. Ash’s bike was still there, so he hadn’t gone on a sad ride. I decided to check the lockers. His was locked. I peered through the slots; everything was still there, too.
He must have gone on a walk. It was with this thought that something clicked in my head. There was one place that Ash might have gone to sort out his feelings.
I rifled through my pockets to find my phone and dialed Rhea’s number. Several rings later, it was clear that she wasn’t going to answer. I hoped she was asleep, but I had a feeling that she was receiving a visit from Ash.