The Boot

Chapter Thirty Six

By GCS

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. This story is only written for entertainment. No financial gain is being realized from it. The story, itself, is the property of the author.

Moving methodically while sweeping the stream from the hose from side to side and in circular motions to get the best coverage, Johnny and Kirk inched their way into the dark smoky haze. The interior of the warehouse was much like a maze with rows of shelving opening up to cross paths lined with even more shelves. The fire snaked from one boxed toy to the next as though it was following them, inching along, skipping from one charred box to lap at the brightly colored wrappings of the next; leaving a trail of black. Moving through the rows with a fully charged fire hose while hunkered low to get below the blanket of smoke was no easy task, and fatigue could catch up with a fireman quickly. Johnny tugged on the hose; they moved further into the labyrinth.

Johnny saw Tim and Charlie turn down another row; he and Kirk dutifully followed. He watched as Tim tapped Charlie on the shoulder and pointed. The two quickened their pace.

Seeing the rescue men move with even more expediency the two linemen followed suit. As he moved down the row sweeping from side to side Johnny noticed the toys lining the shelves were dolls much like the one lying in the floor at the house fire the other day, their smiling faces and glassy eyes drooping in the extreme heat. The pristine clothes and untouched curls that children usually took off and mussed up fell victim to the blistering hand of destruction instead of the loving touch of the little girls that would cry for them at bed time. The cellophane windows of the boxes shriveled and fused with the changing faces of the dolls meant to make little girls happy. Johnny felt hurt at the loss that fire caused. He found a new resolve to fight the beast with all he had.

Turning away from the ruin Johnny saw Tim pull the missing guard over his shoulder in a fireman's carry with Charlie following closely behind keeping a steadying hand on his shoulder. He sensed an urgent need to move from their current position.

As Tim and Charlie came up beside the linemen the shelving began to succumb to the intense heat with a screeching wail. Boxes tumbled off the upper shelves and rained down on the retreating men.

Following the hose they tried desperately to re-trace their path. Embers and ash mixed with heated air and encircled the exhausted men as they forged on toward safety. The world seemed to collapse around them.

They didn't move fast enough.

The labyrinth disintegrated around them knocking the five men to the water soaked concrete warehouse floor.

When the onslaught of debris finally quieted Johnny vaguely knew he had to move. The weight of the rubble pressed heavily on his back, but the shifting fabric beneath him made him aware that he had landed at least partially on top of one of his crew mates. Whether intentional or beyond his control, hurting another individual was not in Johnny's nature. He pushed up against the pile. His arms, already fatigued from hauling a fully charged hose, shook from the effort, but he pressed on. Pain radiated from his right wrist, 'probably sprained', he thought, but that didn't slow his efforts. Something inside him willed him on. He knew he had to get up first. He had to do whatever he could to help get everyone out. If he had to carry each one to safety then that is what he would do… but he hoped help was already on its way to them, because in truth he felt a bit off kilter.

Somehow in the melee Johnny had lost his protective helmet. 'Why does that always happen to me?' he wondered as he shook the dust from his hair which caused his hazy surroundings to swim uncomfortably. He blinked away the fog and somehow managed to rise up on his knees. "Hey Kirk…you alright?"

The shadowy figure before him moved and groaned, "Man you're heavier than you look."

With his SCBA's constant hiss and Kirk's facemask blocking his words, Johnny struggled a bit to understand the lineman's muffled response.

Kirk pushed up to a sitting position and saw that Johnny had lost his helmet. He scanned the area nearby finding it a few feet away. He bent to retrieve it and felt a definite pain in his ribcage. "Ah.."

"What's wrong?" Johnny asked him with alarm.

"Nothin'…probably busted a rib. Here." He handed Johnny his helmet.

Tim scrambled to his feet and turned to his partner who did not appear to be moving. He shifted his gaze to the security guard and back. He turned to the guard and pulled him back over his shoulder. Tim swayed slightly from the weight. "Gage!"

Johnny heard his name from what seemed like miles away, but in fact was only a few feet. He looked up to find the source.

"Get Charlie!" Tim turned and continued his trek along the length of hose to the exit.

Johnny briefly wondered how Tim could leave his partner unconscious on the floor of a burning building but didn't have time to dwell on that thought. He felt a new sense of adrenalin. A member of his crew was down and needed his help. Shaking off his own discomforts he pulled himself to a standing position and limped over to the fallen comrade while Kirk checked the surrounding area for fire. The collapsed shelving had snuffed out most of the flames, but experience told the men that the smoldering embers could ignite again given the opportunity to find a source to fuel its hunger.

Johnny didn't know exactly what to do other than get Charlie over his shoulder and out. He hoped that he wouldn't hurt him anymore than he already was. He reached down to pull Charlie up and over his shoulder when he felt pain in his wrist. He pulled anyway, but was relieved when Kirk came over and helped him lift the unconscious man. Johnny turned to follow the hose with Kirk's steadying hand on his back.

As they drew nearer the place where they first entered the building stress from exposure to intense heat combined with the aches and pains from being buried by debris began to take its toll on Johnny. He struggled with each step. Kirk continued to offer his support by moving his hands beneath Johnny's arms keeping him on his feet and edging him forward.

Everything around them seemed to be a blur. Johnny willed his feet to continue the slow progress out of the warehouse. The alarm on his air tank sounded adding one final blow to the already tense situation.

Kirk stumbled and went down leaving Johnny to maintain his hold on Charlie alone. "Go!" Kirk yelled. "I'll be right behind you."

Johnny had no choice but to continue alone, every step more difficult. Charlie outweighed him by at least twenty pounds, and right now, he was dead weight. Johnny's sight narrowed to a small perspective focused in on the door ahead. His ears began to ring. He knew he was close to passing out, but he took another step…and another.

Suddenly he felt lighter.

Hands took hold of his arms and pulled him out of the building just as his air completely ran out. Johnny stopped and pulled at his air mask.

"Hang on Gage. Let me give you a hand." Cap told him. Johnny's heavy arms fell back to his side. He knew when the mask left his face as air washed over him. He turned back to see Kirk being helped from the building by two firemen from a different station.

He blinked and looked around. He was lying on a yellow blanket with the oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and had no clue how he'd gotten there. He reached up and pulled at the mask. Someone pulled his hand away and pushed it back down on his chest.

"Leave it."

Johnny squinted up and saw the engineer Mike Stoker looking back at him. "Where's Charlie?"

Mike pointed over to another blanket. Johnny followed Mike's finger and saw Charlie lying on another blanket not far away. He moved to sit up and had to brush Mike's hand away from stopping him. "I'm alright. Let me up."

"Sounded like you were hacking up a lung." Mike said coolly.

Johnny grinned. "Well I'm alright now."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you say." He stood and walked back to the engine.

Johnny looked around to find Kirk. He found him sitting on the running board to the squad. He climbed to his feet and walked over beside him. "You okay?"

Kirk looked up at Johnny and smiled. "Yeah, you?"

Johnny smiled. "A little banged up, but ready to go again."

"I don't think either of you are 'going again'." Tim teased. "Cap wants to know which one of you thinks you can drive the squad over to Rampart."

"I can." They both said at the same time.

Tim cracked a smile. "Okay let's see. Gage, you have what looks like a sprained wrist and took in a lot of smoke, carried a guy almost twice your size from a burning building which left you so exhausted you passed out. And Kirk…you had to practically be carried out, and probably have some cracked ribs. Gage it is."

Johnny practically jumped with excitement. "Ha! Let's go." He grabbed the keys from Tim and slipped his hand under Kirk's arm to help him up.

"Don't get so excited Gage. Cap says you both need to be cleared by a doctor to return to duty."

"I'm alright." Johnny said with his hand splayed on his chest. "I feel better since my nap and this…it's just a sprain. An Ace Bandage and a little ice is all I need."

"And maybe a breathing treatment." Tim pointed at Johnny's chest. "Cap's orders."

Some of the initial excitement about driving the squad slipped away, but Johnny still helped Kirk around to the passenger side; then moved around to the driver's side and slipped behind the wheel.

Before starting the engine Johnny took a few minutes to just get the feel for the vehicle. He slid his hand across the dashboard and across the radio, checking to be sure the mike was hanging on the hook as it should. He moved his hand to the steering wheel and felt around the curve and down to the ignition. He turned the key and listened to the engine.

"Are you going to make love to it or drive us to Rampart?" Kirk's words broke the spell.

Johnny put the squad in gear and pulled away from the curb. Tim had gone in the ambulance with the security guard and Charlie. Johnny followed behind the ambulance.

"I think you are supposed to turn the globes on." Kirk teased him.

Johnny immediately flipped on the red flashing lights, but not the siren. The ambulance didn't have their siren on. At least not yet, so he left the siren off. Driving the squad made him both excited and nervous; something about it felt very right.