The Fire Talks
Chapter Two
by GCS and Hotshow
DISCLAIMER: "Emergency!" and its characters © Mark VII Productions, Inc. and Universal Studios. All rights reserved. No infringement of any copyrights or trademarks is intended or should be inferred. This is a work of fiction, and any similarity to actual persons or events is purely coincidental. This story is only written for entertainment. No financial gain is being realized from it. The story, itself, is the property of the author.
The crew of Station 51 along with Station 127's was called out on a trapped man call. When they arrived on the scene they discovered that the trapped man was a homeowner who had been working on his roof when his leg fell through. The firemen made short work of extracting the man from the hole in his roof. He declined treatment, so the crews were returning to their stations. "Johnny I'm going to swing by that bookstore on the way back to the station."
"Okay Roy I guess it's okay. Cap said we could as long as we stay available." Johnny stared out the passenger window. He didn't want anything to do with reading that book right now. He had too much on his mind anyway to bother reading something he had already experienced when he fought the fires described within.
"Let's see we need how many copies? One for Chet, Marco, Cap and me, that's four. Do you want one Johnny?"
"Ah no Roy I um I don't have the money this week for a book. Maybe I'll just borrow yours when you're done."
"Okay Junior." Roy wondered why Johnny was short on money this week. He made a quick run into the store for the books. When he got inside he was surprised to see a very nice display set up to showcase the book. He grabbed five copies. He would make Johnny's a gift. Smiling to himself he hurried over to the checkout.
The clerk looked at him kind of funny. "Are you in some kind of a book club?"
"No the guys and I down at Station 51 all wanted to read this book. Apparently it was written by a LA County fireman."
"Oh, I see." The clerk made quick work of bagging the five books and taking Roy's payment. "Thank you and have a nice night."
Roy and Johnny arrived back at the station just in time for dinner to be set on the table. Roy handed each of the guys their copy of the book and told them how much they each owed except for Johnny. He handed Johnny a copy of the book and said nothing.
"Uh Roy?"
"Don't worry about it Junior. I didn't want you to be left out."
"Oh Okay, Thanks." Johnny turned the book over and over in his hands and then placed it on the table beside his bowl of Marco's chili.
The group of firemen actually got to eat a whole meal without getting called out, but their luck did not last long. Just as they finished cleaning up after their meal they were called out on a house fire. When they left the dayroom there were six copies of "The Fire Talks" laying around the room. While the A-shift was out of the station Charlie Dwyer from B-shift stopped by to get something out of his locker. Stopping in the dayroom to check to see if there was any coffee he saw the books. Stopping by the table on his way to the coffee pot he picked one up wondering to himself why there were so many copies lying around. He first looked at the picture on the front cover. That was one of the department squads and engine on the front cover. Curiosity got the best of him and he sat down and proceeded to read the prologue and started the first chapter. He was several pages into it when he heard the vehicles backing into the bay. "Hey guys," he greeted them as they came into the room. "What's up with all of these books?"
"Well Mike here came in with a copy today and read us part of it. We all remembered the fire referenced at the beginning, and then we read the dedication and decided we all wanted to read it. Roy and Johnny stopped by the bookstore and got us all a copy," Chet was speaker for the group.
"I read the dedication. Who is this guy?" Charlie asked.
"What are you doing here Charlie?" Captain Stanley interrupted the paramedic from B-shift.
"Oh sorry Cap, I needed to get my checkbook out of my locker. I forgot it last shift. Guess I had better get going. See you guys in the morning at shift change. Have a safe night." He waved to them as he disappeared out the door.
The guys settled down for a quiet evening of reading hoping they would not get called out. Johnny left the room for a few minutes and returned carrying his notepad and pen. He sat down at the table and made a few notes on his pad. "Still working on that list of dating failures Gage?" Chet tormented Johnny.
"Go play on the freeway Chet," Johnny said without ever looking up.
They had a quiet night only getting called out to minor things like a trash fire and a child with an upset stomach.
By the next morning the B-shift started arriving and after several calls from Charlie the night before they too had copies of the book. As a matter of fact most of members of the entire LA County Fire department now had copies of the book. It was fast becoming a best seller.
Two days later the A-shift came back to the station for their next shift. By now they each had read a good bit of the book. Roy and Mike sat at the table drinking coffee and talking about several of the fires described inside and how they were similar to incidents they had worked. Chet and Marco sat on the couch and were discussing who the author might be. Johnny came in and went straight to the coffee pot. He again had his notepad in hand. Captain Stanley was the last to join the group. "Well guys I called and talked to headquarters. It seems we have a Jarred Bean working out of Station 68. My money is on him as the author Chris J. Bean."
"Really Cap? That's interesting. I wonder if Chris is his first name." Marco turned his book over and looked at the author's name.
"Hey I know that guy." Johnny spoke up. "I subbed over there a few weeks ago. He's a boot on the engine crew. I don't think he's been with the department long. He's a really nice guy. He'll make a good fireman someday, but he's got a lot to learn."
"A boot? If he's a boot then he couldn't have written this book. Some of the fires in here happened several years ago," Chet couldn't believe that a boot could have written the book.
"He could have done research Chet. The fires are all public knowledge. All he would have had to do is make a trip to the library and look up the newspaper articles." Johnny explained.
"Well I have to agree with Chet. I don't think some of these details would have been reported in the newspaper," Mike looked over at Chet and nodded his agreement.
"Well maybe not, but the guy's name is J. Bean," Johnny grew impatient with the conversation.
"Gentlemen I think since we are all here we'll do roll call right here. I don't have any departmental announcements. Roy you're cooking and kitchen today. Johnny you have the apparatus bay and dorm. Mike and Marco you guys are hanging the hoses. Chet you've got the latrine buddy."
"Aw Cap what did I do now?" Chet was clearly unhappy with his assignment. Cap simply shook his head, turned and left the room.
"Roy, can I talk to you for a minute before we do the equipment check and inventory?" Johnny asked his best friend.
"Sure Johnny what's up?"
"Uh in private please." Johnny looked over at Chet knowing if he talked to Roy in front of Chet he would live to regret it.
"Oh okay Johnny why don't we go outside a minute."
Johnny and Roy went outside, Johnny with his list and Roy with a cup of coffee. "Roy I uh need to talk to you about something." He laid his notepad on the station picnic table. "It's kind of important."
"Whatever it is you can talk to me Johnny. I won't discuss it with anyone. Tell me what's going on. Does it have anything to do with your notes there?"
"Yes Roy it does. I've been working on something, and I need your opinion."
"Opinion about what?"
"Well I have this list of ideas." Johnny paused not sure how to go on. He didn't usually keep things from his best friend. He hadn't meant to keep this from him either, but he had not bothered Roy with the details. "I um I've been working on this for a while."
"Johnny?"
"It's a list of possible things for um…" Johnny was kind of embarrassed now that he had decided to talk to Roy about his problem.
Just as Johnny was about to tell Roy about the secret he had been keeping the klaxons went off, and they were called out on their first run of the day. The secret would not be revealed right now. Roy wondered as he pulled the squad out of the station just exactly what could be on the list Johnny was so protective of.