Chapter Five
Thursday Night - 2145 C Shift
Klondike Engine 5 was only stood down for an hour and a half. They were ordered to go to the south end, about a twenty-five minute drive, to support a crew digging a fire break. Hank and Mike lit up when they realized the name of the group they were giving backup to, the 'Lopez Crew'.
"Right up here Stokes." Hank said, pointing out the dirt road. Mike frowned and made the turn. "They should only be a couple hundred feet ahead." Hank added, catching his friend's frown.
"Are those lights?" Sam asked from the back. Sure enough, two tail red lights could be seen.
"Nice eye Sam." Hank praised before marking them on scene. Hank slid out of his seat, his goal was to find 'Commander Lopez' and figure out what kind of support they needed. "Sam, come with me. Steve, stay with Mike. And can we get some lights up?" he asked. Hank didn't wait for nods, sure Mike would make it happen. Further off in the woods, Hank saw three headlamps. "Lopez!" he yelled. A headlamp turned at Hank's yell, and started making it's way over.
"Cap!" Marco said, genuinely happy to see his Captain. Hank was taken aback, Marco was pale, there were bandages sticking out from under his gloves, and there were dark circles underneath his eyes.
"You alright pal?" he asked, suddenly concerned, the scene be damned. He did a quick calculation in his head. It was just shy of 2200, which meant Marco had been there 20 hours.
"I'm fine." Marco said, not following his Captain's thought process. "There's a yellow glow in the distance." he said with a yawn.
"What?" Hank said, only half listening.
"There's a glow up ahead." Marco repeated. Hank looked in the direction Marco indicated. "Fire line's moving." Hank cursed.
"Steve!" Hank hollered the thirty feet back to the engine, "Pull the 400 foot, we got flames back here!" He turned to Sam who had just reached them, "Sorry, go back and help him." Sam jogged back to the engine without complaint. "Let's go see." Hank said, turning on the spot. He expected Marco to be right behind him, but heard a stumble instead of footsteps. "Marco?" Marco's forearm was resting on a tree and he was rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, a wince on his face. "You okay pal?"
"Just tired, want Clay and David?" he asked. "They're new, but, uh, bueno." he finished in Spanish, his exhausted brain not able to remember the common English word.
"No, what I want is for all of you to sit down." Hank said roughly, now looking around for Marco's men. If Marco was this tired, he couldn't imagine how the two rookies were still standing. He updated Brush Fire Command on the new fire line while walking towards shoveling sounds. Clay and David were still stubbornly digging. "That's it men." Hank ordered, "You're not gonna make a difference at this point." The two rookies looked up, their helmet lights illuminating the white stripe on Hank's own helmet. They stopped shoveling and nearly stood at attention. Hank studied them, "Just like Marco." He would've killed for a squad. There was rustling from behind, he knew Sam and Steve had pulled the line down and were about to open it up. He said to the two tired boots, "Go back to your truck, sit down, and drink some water." They nodded and trudged up the hill, their feet dragging behind them. Hank turned in his spot, there was a sudden thud where he left Marco standing against a tree. Hank looked at the ground, the light on his helmet following his gaze. "Shit." Hank said, seeing a prone form lying on the ground. The name 'Lopez' on the turnout coat. "Dammit, Marco!" he called out. He picked up his radio while making his way to back Marco. "Klondike Engine 5 to command. We have a Code-I at our location, requesting a squad."
"Hey!" Hank shouted at Marco's retreating men, "I need some help." they came trundeling back and gasped. Hank had turned Marco over, "Get him up top." Hank ordered them, hoping that wouldn't cause them to pass out.
"Command to Klondike 5, there are no squads available at this time. We have an additional engine and tanker en route to your location to control the fire line, return Lopez Crew with the Code-I." the seemingly cold radio voice replied.
Hank copied and ran to his temporary linemen, "Keep it at bay as long as the tank holds." he said. After they nodded, he jogged back towards the engine, making sure the two rookies were still standing. They were, but it was slow going. "Let me take him." Hank ordered. Clay looked up, he didn't want a Captain to waste his energy. "Give him to me." Hank barked. David and Clay didn't argue with Stanley's tone of voice.
"Hank?" Mike said, the rank slipping in the commotion and worry. "What the hell happened?" Mike said when the four of them made it back to the parked apparatus, he had heard the radio update and saw Hank carrying someone.
Hank countered with a question of his own, still holding Marco in a firefighter's carry, "What's our tank at?" Hank hoped it was low enough to justify leaving. It held 500 gallons and they could only leave when it was at half, or below.
"410," Mike answered, then asked abruptly without a break "Is that Marco?" Marco's face was in the light as Hank adjusted his grip. Hank nodded grimly and walked to the utility truck, gently laying Marco in the back seat.
"Either of you two up to driving?" Hank asked. He would've loved to take Marco up in the engine, but their water tank was too full yet. Clay nodded. "You go straight to the first aid tent." Hank watched as the utility truck drove away, kicking up dust behind them. He quickly updated command on the radio before going back to Mike. "This is a shit show." he said angrily. Mike couldn't help but agree.
Thursday Night - 2220 C Shift
Roy was finally relieved and was told to report to Brush Command. He was driving the car his replacement had driven up. Glancing at the clock, he quickly added how long he had been there, almost 13 hours, it was 2220. Arriving at Brush Command, he parked the red sedan and walked up to the tent outside of the mobile command unit. Signing his name, he looked up. McConnikie was sitting in the seat. "Sir." Roy said in greeting. McConnikie frowned.
"We need you at the first aid tent, we got a Code-I on the way in." The Battalion Chief said. "You'll get some help in the next few minutes, but you're on your own for now." McConnikie looked grim. Roy nodded and jogged to the tent, McConnikie never looked grim without a reason.
Inside, Roy was pleasantly surprised to find the box organized how he and Johnny preferred it. Roy immediately frowned, had Rable not replaced the medic in the tent after Johnny was reassigned? That was almost three hours ago. He sighed, that was neither here nor there and he had victims to prepare for. He didn't have to wait for long. A utility truck skidded to a stop outside the tent, and voices could be heard.
"Careful."
"Watch his head."
Roy stuck his head out and gasped. The man that was being carried in was none other than Marco Lopez. "Marco." he breathed, taking the unconscious man out of the two's hands. Laying him in the cot, Roy unclipped his coat. "You two sit down." he said, worried they would pass out next, they were shaky and just as pale. He grabbed the BP cuff and stethoscope, "Any injuries?" he asked the two young men as he pumped up the cuff.
"His hands." one of them replied. Roy looked down at the glove covered hands. He gently tugged the gloves off. The originally white bandages were brown and caked with mud. "What happened?" Roy asked, cutting the bandages off with his trauma shears, Marco groaned.
"Blisters popped." one replied, swaying in his chair.
"Oh no you don't." Roy said, startling the man awake. "You two lay down." Roy said, using his chin and pointing at the empty cots. He knew he was about to stand this entire crew down and start three IV's. He quickly took their vitals and walked to the table that held the biophone. "Klondike First Aid to Rampart." When they replied, Roy added, "Be advised I have three Code-I's at my location." "Johnny was right." he thought sourly.
Thursday Night - 2250 C Shift
Johnny finally, after a water drop pit stop, returned to Brush Fire Command in Chopper 6. He carried all of 19's gear out of the copter and ran off to the side, letting the helicopter take off again. He noticed Roy had been replaced and quickly wondered where he was. After catching a ride to Brush Fire Command, Johnny went to check in, letting Command know both of 19's medics were patients at the hospital. Squad 19 was out of service for manpower. "Report back to the first aid tent, there's a handful of people in there." the unknown man said sitting behind the table covered with clipboards. Johnny nodded, taking 19's gear with him. He knew the squad was parked somewhere nearby, but he didn't care enough to find it. There weren't enough medics to staff it anyway. Making his way back to the tent, he was surprised to see a utility truck parked outside. Curious, he moved the flap aside.
"What the…" he whispered, trailing off. Johnny recognized Marco's men from earlier laying in the cots, Marco himself, and another man in blue laying on the floor, his feet propped up on a chair. He stepped inside and put down the biophone and drug box, assessing Marco. There was an IV in his arm and fluid running wide open. The bandages he put on Marco's hands earlier were cut off, leaving the infected looking wounds exposed. He thought at first the first aid tent was empty, before he spotted Roy crouched in a corner, tearing through a box of extra equipment. "What happened?" he said. Roy looked up.
"Do you have a drip set?" Roy asked urgently, ignoring the question and asking one of his own.
Johnny held up the drugbox, "Just stocked up." Roy sighed in relief.
"Good, he needs fluids, now." Roy said, pointing at the man on the floor. Johnny nodded, easily falling into step with his partner. "You were right you know." Roy said, talking while he searched for a vein in the dehydrated patient. "Everyone's dropping like flies."
"Yeah." Johnny replied, wiping the same arm clean. "Both of 19's are out and 51 called in another Code-I while I was at Rampart." Johnny said. They didn't have long to think, another utility truck honked, announcing the arrival of new victims.
"We're gonna run outta supplies." Roy said, disbelief in his voice.