November 16, 2021
"Fuck this place," said a soldier as he talked to Ruby at an air base in Menagerie. "The White Fang are hard as hell to kill. Every time you shoot one, five more pop up. Granted, you also get two more irregulars who are fighting them as well, but still."
Ruby began to notice that he seemed very zoned out as he said that, as if something had happened. "Hey, soldier, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, ma'am," he replied. He then shook his head. "It's just... Man, fuck this place, so much. I'm glad at least you're here taking the heat with us, unlike some of the rich folk back home."
Ruby, pondering how to reply back to such a statement, paused for a few seconds. She then told him, "Did something happen out there?"
"Oh, just the usual," he replied as he himself snapped back to reality after zoning out. "It was nothing, just another ambush."
Ruby, realizing she probably should not push him any further about what was most likely a very traumatic experience for the fresh new soldier, replied, "I see. That's all I gotta know." She still thought constantly about that day her own spotter was shot right next to her, not to mention the trauma of the Beacon Attacks in 2015 and the Union Square Center Attacks in August, and could relate to him. "Something fucked up happened to this kid," she thought. "Something real fucked up."
Back in Vale, Penny stumbled around the firehouse bar. She drank with Lieutenant Ross Key around 11 at night. The two had earlier discussed Penny getting driver training on the rigs starting the following day, and afterwards shared a drink, which then became two, and then three, and now four. After their fourth one, Penny said to Ross in slurred speech, "I... I haven't had a good fucking drink in a while, LT. That hit the damn spot."
"I can tell," Ross replied as he laughed. "Say, how old are you supposed to be anyway? I don't want an underage drinker here, after all."
"I was built and made in 2013," Penny replied before she burped. "Ah, excuse me." She then laughed. "Wow, okay... So, though I was made in 2013, I was built to start off with an age of 15, so technically, I'm mentally 22 years old. Over the years, my body has slightly grown due to both internal repairs and expansions as well as external ones done by a bunch of smart ass lab techs in Atlas, which won't be happening anymore since I'm here." She then yawned. "Yeah, most of them thought they were God or some shit, but they really weren't. Anyway, I'm probably gonna keep running until my systems die in God knows how long, and I'll age much slower than a regular person. I know, it's weird as hell, but that's the way it is, Ross."
"That really is," Ross replied as he poured himself a glass of ice water. "4 drinks is it for me. How about you?"
"Same," Penny replied before she drank some water of her own.
"Does everything down there between your legs work, by the way?"
Penny immediately spit her drink back into the cup in surprise before pouring it out and refilling it as she laughed. "Yes, everything is. I can do everything a real girl can down there, even have a kid. I used to not be able to, but I had my father implant such abilities due to some issues I had with not having those abilities. Hell, I even have DNA I can pass onto a kid thanks to the tech that went behind making me into what I am today." She then smiled at him. "Why do you ask?"
"I'm just interested," the dirty blond replied. "That's all."
"I mean," Penny retorted. "It is a biiiiiiit personal. Are you sure you don't have any other motives behind asking me that?"
"I knew this would go there," Ross replied. "I knew it."
"You know, I've never actually put what's down there to use with someone else before." Penny leaned into Ross' face and stared at him. "Just telling you that right now."
"Oh boy," Ross replied, now knowing what Penny was implying. "Here we go with this."
Penny moaned as she rolled off of Ross in his bed at his apartment about an hour later. "Wow... Ah... That was..."
"Fun?" Ross replied as he caught his breath as well. He then got up out of bed as he said, "Yeah, I thought so."
"Exactly," Penny replied as she yawned and began to tie her hair back up. "Say, mind if I crash here tonight?"
"Sure," Ross replied as he threw a condom away in a trash bin in a bathroom. "I don't mind." He then yawned as well as he got back into bed. "So, ready to go to bed?"
"I am." Penny then rolled over as Ross got into bed and closed his eyes.
About two hours into their sleep, they were interrupted by the sound of the fire siren outside. "Fucking hell." They both then jumped out and got dressed quickly before Ross turned his pager on to hear what the call was. They then both ran out of the apartment and down the stairs to the first floor. When they ran outside, they both hopped onto Ross' motorcycle, which had a small blue light on it that he turned on to signal that he was responding to the firehouse.
Within three minutes of the call, both of them ran into the firehouse as Engine 201 was getting ready. They both ripped their shoes off when they got to their lockers and quickly put their boots and helmets on. Neither of them even put their coats on, only grabbing them with their masks, as they then ran for the engine. Ross ran up to the front of the engine and jumped into the front seat as the firefighter who was previously sitting there hopped out and ran to get the last seat in the back. Penny hopped aboard the rear step of the engine and held onto the bar for dear life as the engine took off with a full crew.
Penny was held by another firefighter with her as she put her coat on. Once she did, she then took her helmet off to put her mask on, followed by her gloves. All the while, the engine sped down the city streets. As soon as she was all set, the engine pulled up to a fully-involved first-floor apartment fire. Weiss stood outside and waved to them as the crew from Ambulance 201 looked on at the fire carrying hand tools and a water can extinguisher.
She and the other two firefighters jumped off the engine, pulling a 5-inch supply line and a hydrant kit bag with them. As the other two wrapped the hose around the hydrant, Penny opened a compartment and took an SCBA out before quickly shutting it. As the engine then advanced towards the building, Penny put the SCBA on and turned it on. She said yo the two guys making the hydrant, "I'm going up with the crew in the cab!"
She then assisted Ren with pulling a 2 1/2-inch line off the engine, as two of the four 1 3/4-inch lines had already been pulled. After she flaked the hose out, she hooked her mask into her SCBA and joined Ren as he radioed, "Engine 201, charge the 2 1/2!" He and Penny then moved up towards the building as the line was charged with water before opening up on the roaring fire ahead of them. As they moved in, the other two lines also opened up on the fire.
They were able to start moving into the building now as two firefighters raised a ladder to the second floor and began to climb up it to reach several people who were trapped on the third floor. Ren and Penny moved in and pushed the fire back as they entered the first floor apartment, with a line pulled from Engine 202 from the Goodwill Hose Company backing them up. Penny said to Ren, "The bulk of the fire's in the back now!"
"I know," Ren replied as they continued to advance and knock the fire down. As they did, they heard Truck 201's aerial begin to start up and rise to the third floor. As they moved into the bedroom area, they knocked the fire down and felt around, looking for objects. Then, Penny felt something when she moved her right foot and looked down.
Ren then heard a scream behind her as Penny recoiled and said, "What the fuck?!" She had bumped into a badly-burned body that laid next to the bed. "Ren, there's a fucking body here!"
"Got it," Ren replied before he radioed, "Firefighter Ren to Vigilant Command."
Weiss replied back, "Go ahead."
"We got a 10-45 Code 1 in the back bedroom of the first floor apartment! We're gonna bring them out!" Ren then said to Penny, "Grab 'em and start dragging their ass out to the front!" Ren then grabbed a hold of the shoulders as Penny grabbed the legs. As they dragged the body out of the room, Penny could see ashes and burnt skin from the body begin to stain her coat. Needless to say, both were really glad they had air packs on due to the fact that the body most likely smelled like a barbecue mixed with various bodily fluids.
As they brought him out front, two people went the other way back into the bedroom to pick their line up. Then, when they reached the front door, they handed the body off to two Fire Patrolmen who had a salvage tarp to cover the body. After handing him over, they checked the amount of air they had left on their bottles and walked out as they disconnected their masks from their SCBAs and ripped their helmets and masks off. After Penny did, she said to Yang, who had watched the scene from the pump panel of Engine 201, "What... What the actual fuck?" Yang was wearing only her pajamas and her hip boots.
"Yeah," Yang replied as she twisted a valve. "I imagine he was burnt to a crisp?"
Penny nodded. "Oh yeah... It was fucking disgusting. The body left stains on my coat." Penny then showed her the stains. "Look at this shit. Fucking ash marks and bits of their skin all over my God damn coat and even my hip boots."
Yang said to Penny, "You know, I don't think I've ever heard you swear so much in your life."
"Yeah, well, it's not every day you come up on that damn mess." Penny then took her gloves of and yawned. "How the hell are you not freezing in just your pajamas and boots?"
"The heat from the exhaust," Yang replied. "Besides, running the pumps makes you sweat, not as much as going in, but still quite a bit."
"Well, I'm gonna go get this shit rinsed off my coat." She then put her helmet back on and walked away.
Yang waved and replied, "Bye, Penny."
Ren then said to Penny as she walked over to him, "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you need your coat rinsed."
"Yeah," Penny replied.
Another volunteer from Vigilant then noticed her and grabbed a water can extinguisher from the ground. "Wanna get sprayed down?"
"Sure!" The other firefighter then sprayed Penny's coat and boots down, getting the ashes and bits of skin off of her gear. It also got the soot off of her gear. "Thanks, man."
"No problem, probie." The other firefighter then put the now-empty water can extinguisher back on the ground.
Denis then walked over to her and Ren with two fresh SCBA bottles. "Hey, guys."
"Hey, Denis," Ren replied. "A little late for you to be up, eh?"
"Yeah," Denis replied. "Alright, let's get those bottles changed." He then undid Penny's old bottle before sliding a new bottle in. "That's Penny." He then did the same for Ren. "And there's Ren. Alright, both of you are all set. All you need to do is turn 'em on."
November 18, 2021
Tonight, Penny and Ross went out to a local pub for a night out. As they waited for their food and watched a televised hockey game, Penny said to him, "You know, you're a good guy. I can see why you became a lieutenant so young."
"Thanks," Ross replied. "You know, you can just call me Ross when we're not at the firehouse. I mean, it would have been weird as fuck if you said lieutenant in bed with me." They both then laughed hard.
After Penny caught her breath, she replied, "Yeah, that's too weird even for me." She then wiped her eyes. "I know, I know, but it's a respect thing I learned in Atlas. That's one habit that will die hard." They then noticed that Vale City's team had just scored a goal. "Hell yeah!" The whole restaurant erupted in cheers and applause. "There we go!"
"That makes it 2-1 in the fourth quarter," Ross replied before he took a sip of some water. "They got this in the bag. The Apamea Centralites aren't gonna win this at all. I wonder if some of the guys at the firehouse are watching the same game."
"Probably," Penny replied. "At least the paid guys are."
Aaaaaand that's a wrap for Season 3!
This has been one hell of a ride, eh? I told you Season 3 was gonna be darker than the last two, just like the very show this fanfic is based off of (lol). Don't worry, Season 4 will be mostly a breather season. It won't be as dark as Season 3 by far. Also, apologies for the erratic uploading schedule. I have a life, y'know (duh), as well as other fanfics (duh) that also require my attention after all.
I'd like to dedicate this last chapter of Season 3 to Firefighters Ivan Flanscha and Zachary Anthony of the York Fire Department in Pennsylvania, Firefighter Michael Davidson of the Fire Department of New York City, Firefighter Larry Mariusk of the Ellinger Volunteer Fire Department in Texas, and Assistant Chief Michael Edwards and Lieutenant Thomas Craigo of the Pratt Volunteer Fire Department in West Virginia. All 6 were taken from us over the course of a very heartbreaking three days for the fire service between March 22 and March 24 of 2018. May they all rest in peace.