Out of the Fire by B.A. Colella

Author:B.A. Colella
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: B. A. Colella

TWENTY-EIGHT

Friday, December 9 – Night Shift

6:05 p.m. Flavor danced across Tony’s taste buds. Juicy T-bone steaks; not the typical fire station dinner. He scarfed up every bit of the grilled apple tossed salad and Brussels sprouts. Manny Santos was quite the chef, especially with beef. His filet mignon and potatoes au gratin were legendary. And after a cold breakfast and an apple for lunch, Manny’s cuisine was a gourmet meal. The only missing item was a bottle of cabernet.

For dessert, Manny served a selection of cheesecakes from a local bakery. No grocery store products for him. Tony tried to resist, but he couldn’t refuse the lemon brûlée, one of his favorites.

Tony’s willpower had strengthened considerably as his physical condition improved, and he seldom let his guard down. It would be so easy to munch all day; the food was excellent and junk food abounded. For this meal, however, he made an exception, figuring he could burn it off in the weight room later.

Hooked on sci-fi podcasts, Tony moved to the quiet room to listen to a production where aliens in human form tried to subvert world governments. Unoriginal, lacking verisimilitude, and certainly not Kurt Vonnegut, it was entertaining and unintentionally amusing. Captain Schrum interrupted his dip into escapism.

“I’m leaving in a few minutes on my Kelly shift, but I wanted to compliment you on your work today. You’ve accomplished what you set out to do, and more.”

“Thanks, Cap. I’m grateful for the second chance.”

Tony had five minutes to reflect on Schrum’s words.

“Vehicle accident with entrapment, airport fire.” The prealert drew a weary sigh as Tony got up and headed for Rescue-14. At least he’d eaten dinner.

An update followed the blaring Klaxon. “The accident is in the eastbound lanes of Airport Boulevard, near the office park. According to the state police, it’s a chain reaction involving a tractor-trailer.”

Rescue-14 led the way out of the fire department gate, with Rescue-15 and Rescue-18 in tow.

“Probably some nut speeding and weaving through traffic,” Kyle said.

“Yep, it’s a free-for-all.” Common sense driving had vanished during COVID, and nowadays you took your life in your hands on the highways. The secondary roads weren’t much better.

The westbound lanes were stopped dead as Tony approached the entrance to the highway.

“Shit, it’s going to be the berm for us,” Kyle said. He keyed the mic. “Lieutenant-1 from Rescue-14, we’re going to skirt this traffic. You might want to hang back until we try it.”

“Lieutenant-1 copies,” Wozniak said. “I’ll keep 15 and 18 on the boulevard until we hear from you.”

Tony made a sharp right and eased his way along the berm.

“Watch it!”

“I see him,” Tony said as he braked to avoid a car that was pulling into their path.

Kyle hit the electronic air horn. “Where the hell does he think he’s going?”

The car stopped dead in its tracks. Tony veered around it as the driver tried to rejoin the traffic lane. Red and blue lights lit the scene as the accident came into view.

“There’s the cops,” Kyle said.

Tony stopped next to a state police trooper who waved him to a parking spot behind a tractor-trailer.

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