"Most paramedics are just adolescents who learned their way around the who growing up thing." Medic 660, Clay County EMS

"Man, that was one really creepy movie, Roy," John Gage said to his partner. "Who picked that thing anyway?"

"Who do you think?" Roy DeSoto replied. He propped his feet up on the table in the dayroom and stretched.

Johnny sighed. "Chet. Why am I not surprised? And why do we let him pick the movies, anyway? We know he has terrible taste!" He got up and changed the channel as the closing credits rolled. "I mean, The Creeping Flesh? What was he thinking? Especially since they got called out right in the middle. He'll drive us nuts all night over missing the end."

"No one made you watch it, Johnny…"

The younger man shrugged. "What was I supposed to do? Go to the dorm and try to sleep listening to the screams?"

"The ones from the movie, or the ones from Chet?"

Johnny laughed. "That made the whole thing worth it! He came clean out of his chair. I didn't know Mike had it in him."

Roy chuckled. At a very suspenseful part of the movie, quiet, shy, Mike Stoker acted like he was going to the bathroom and instead doubled back and grabbed Chet from behind as he sat backward in the kitchen chair. Chet had squealed like a pig, and would have fallen out of the chair if Mike hadn't had a good hold on him. "Yeah, that was funny. Good to see someone get Chet for a change, huh?"

"You know it." He sat back down and looked at Roy. "You know what bugs me about movies like that? It seems like people are so stupid in them. I mean, they always want to go to the basement or the roof, and go back in after their dog or not check the backseat."

This could be interesting. Roy smiled. "So what would you do if someone…or something…was after you?"

"If I was in a horror movie?" Johnny asked. His partner nodded, so he considered it. "Well, the first thing I'd do is get a weapon…maybe a shotgun or a really big knife. Or if I was here at the station probably a spanner wrench. Then I would back myself into a corner so that I could see everywhere and nothing could sneak up on me."

Roy shook his head. " No, Johnny, that's not the way to survive a horror movie."

"Really? Okay, how do you do it?"

The older paramedic grinned Johnny was listening way too intently for this conversation. Like a little kid wanting to hear a story. So he would give his junior partner one. "Well, I guess if you're alone, that would be the best idea, but there's a major flaw in that. Besides the fact that most walls are just plaster and wallpaper and if whatever's after you is superhuman, it could just got through them, if you back into a wall or corner, you're trapped. I mean, what if it's something you can't fight? You don't have an escape route. If you start to lose the fight, you're in trouble."

Johnny considered the possibility, wide-eyed. "So what do you do?"

Roy shrugged. "Well, let's go with here at the station. If something attacks here, what do we do?" Johnny didn't answer, so he went on. "Okay, I'll tell you. You get the spanner wrench and I'll get an axe. We stand back to back in the center of the room. Between the two of us, we can cover every angle and still have an opening to escape."

A smile crossed Johnny's face. "So, I watch your back, you watch mine?"

"Of course," stated Roy. "Why would that be any different than any other time?"

"That's good. That's real good, Roy. What about the others?"

"The others?"

"Well, yeah. If something attacks here, what will the other guys do? Cap and Mike and Chet and Marco?"

In for a penny, in for a pound. Roy shook his head. "Well, Mike would crawl into the smallest hole or cabinet he could find and not make a sound. The monster would never find him. Marco would be in a corner somewhere praying. Chet would panic and run around in circles until he knocked himself out running into a wall, and the monster wouldn't see him as a threat anymore. And Cap would probably sacrifice himself to give the rest of us time to hide or arm ourselves."

"You don't think Cap would survive?" Johnny's forehead creased into a frown.

"Do you really think Cap would run and hide knowing his men were in trouble?"

John considered that, then shook his head. "You're right. But maybe we could get armed in time to save him?"

Roy nodded. "Okay. Maybe he just got wounded before we got armed."

"And after we kill the monster, we get to save him?"

Roy smiled in earnest. "Yeah, Johnny, we kill the monster and save Cap. We better hit the sack."

He headed for the dorm room, glancing at Johnny out of the corner of his eye. The younger medic was looking over his shoulder, and generally looking a little paranoid. He shook his head with a grin. As they were settling into their beds, he said, "John?"

"Yeah?" His partner answered sleepily.

"How are you going to explain to Cap why you have a spanner wrench beside your bed?"

Johnny turned toward the wall, already half asleep. "I'll tell him it's to save his life."