But Who's Going to Save You
Chapter 7: Between a Rock and Hard Place
Lara stared up at the sky, smiling softly. Somehow, despite weather being miserable all week, it had turned out to be a beautiful day and it was only now, as they were packing up, that the grey clouds started to fill the sky. On top of that, regardless of who won the bet, somehow they had raised enough money. Her stomach grumbled loudly – a side effect of the last of the burgers she could smell cooking on the barbeque.
As if someone read her mind, a burger appeared in front of her. "You looked hungry," Dean told her.
Lara snatched it off him and took a bite, emitting a blissful sigh. "I needed that," she agreed, swallowing noisily.
"I know," Dean nodded. "I heard your stomach all the way over there," he said, vaguely gesturing in the direction of the barbeque.
"Liar," Lara grinned, swiping at his chest.
Dean laughed, reaching past her to grab his t-shirt from the back of the car. "I still can't believe you resorted to a bikini," he said, flicking the string against her back, before pulling his own t-shirt on.
Lara snorted in disbelief. "You're the one that took your top off first."
"Either way, I think we can both be proud we raised the money," Dean shrugged.
What was left of Lara's burger hovered near her mouth. "Is that you trying to back out of our bet?" she asked.
Dean gave her a sarcastic laugh. "Keep dreaming, Lara. You're not getting out of this bet that easily."
"Really?" Lara asked. "Because I could have sworn it was you who..." she trailed off, her attention caught by the 16-wheeler bearing down on the fire station. "That's not going to stop," she realised.
Dean followed her stare in time to see the truck bounce up over the curb. "Shit!" he exclaimed, unable to do anything other than watch it barge through a crowd of people until quickly coming to an abrupt halt when it hit the side of the station. Without needing to look at Lara, he knew she was already on the same wavelength as him. She grabbed a spare Rescue shirt from the boot and threw it on. Together, they picked up a kit. "I'll take the driver," he told her. "You start on that," he nodded at the people strewn across the ground.
"Felicity?" Chase cried, shaking the woman in question. She was staring, mouth slightly open, at the truck which had crashed into the fire station. "Are you alright?" He pulled himself off her and sat her upright, crouching next to her to give her the once over. He couldn't help but wince when he realised that in throwing her to the ground she had grazed her left side, the majority of her left arm, both hands, and her knees.
"Vince," Felicity muttered, getting to her feet, obviously unaware of her injuries.
Chase rose after her. "No, it's Chase," he told her, reaching to brush her hair back to check her head.
Felicity flicked his hand away. "No, Chase. Vince was behind that lorry!"
Confused, Chase looked around, scanning the area. Heidi and Lara were working on a woman who wasn't breathing. Jordan was busy with two fierys trying to control the panicked and mildly injured bystanders. Dean was already climbing up into the truck's cabin to assess the driver. And Vince and Michelle were nowhere in sight.
"You should stay here," he told Felicity.
"Like that's going to happen," Felicity retorted, chasing after him as he ran around the truck.
"Flick, Chase, the driver's had a heart attack, I need some help," Dean called from the truck.
"We're missing Vince and Michelle," Felicity told him. "They were in front of that truck."
Dean glanced at the driver, and then at Chase and Felicity, before finally checking the area in front of him. He closed his eyes and took a breath. "Chase, help me with this driver," he ordered. "Flick, get some help over here. Use the fierys to look after the least injured to free up the team. Whilst you're at it, grab me a de-fib from the car."
Felicity nodded, charging back to the rescue car, grabbing as much of the kit as she could carry, before running over to Jordan and Jake. "Jordan, I need you. Jake, this lot are all yours."
Jake nodded and began barking orders to the other fireman. Leaving the woman he was treating with another fiery, Jordan took off to the car, pulling out another kit, before running after Felicity. "Here," she said, handing the stuff up to Dean.
"Find Michelle and Vince," Dean told her as Jordan arrived.
"What the hell happened?" Jordan asked, looking around at the carnage.
"I don't know," Felicity replied. "But the last time I checked, Vince and Michelle were where that lorry cabin is."
"Hey!" Cole yelled, "Felicity, over here!" Felicity ran over, Jordan right behind her, into the station, to find Michelle in the recovery position, Lucinda and Cole hovering over her. "She was outside, unconscious," Cole explained. "I did exactly what you taught me and checked her out. She hasn't woken up, and I think that her wrist is broken."
"What about you two?" Felicity asked while Jordan ran his own assessment on the Station Manager.
"We're fine," Cole assured her. "We were inside. We came out as soon as we heard the noise."
"Jordan?" Felicity questioned, biting her lip.
"Cole's right. Looks like a broken wrist and a concussion. Cole, we need to find Vince," he added. "I need you to stay with Michelle and watch her. If anything changes, you come and get us."
Cole nodded. "No problem." With one look at Felicity, he pulled his shirt off, over his head, and handed it to her. "You are going to need some form of protection if you're going back out there."
Felicity shook her head, taking the shirt. "Wait," she said, aware they were losing precious minutes. "Lucinda, you stay with Michelle. Dial triple zero and make sure they have ambulances on the way, okay? Cole, I need you to go to our patrol car. In there should be some portable radios. You remember who's in Rescue, don't you?" At his nod, she continued. "Hand them out. Then be prepared to help."
"Good thinking," Jordan told Felicity, as she slipped Cole's shirt on. "But we need to find Vince."
"Okay," Felicity muttered, thinking aloud. "The lorry is half in this building."
Jordan quickly nodded. "I'll head inside. You check outside. You'll be able to fit under the truck easier than me."
Felicity didn't even wait to see him go. She dashed back outside, over to the cabin, partially registering that Dean and Chase had gotten the driver out of the cabin and were desperately trying to revive him. She dropped to her knees and crawled under the cabin, behind the wheels.
The driver's side wheel was wedged firmly in the wall. The passenger side wheel was still spinning, suspended in air. Felicity squinted, trying to see what going on through the dust that was still settling. It tickled her nose, causing her to sneeze. Only, when she inhaled a breath, she realised something. Repeatedly cursing under her breath, she wriggled back out.
"Flick, what's going on?" Dean asked her.
Felicity glanced up at him, frowning slightly as she realised they had called it a day on trying to revive the driver. "I smell diesel," she told him. "I think the fuel tank is leaking."
Dean whirled around, facing his brother. "Find me some sandbags. There should be some somewhere in that station." Chase nodded and took off running as Lucinda emerged from the station.
Felicity's eyes widened in alarm. "Michelle," she whispered, already moving to the PR woman.
"Michelle's phone rang, so I answered it," Lucinda told her, handing her Michelle's iPhone. "Then I realised I couldn't tell her husband what was going on."
Dean frowned, taking the phone from her, expecting to see Ian's name on the caller ID but was both surprised and relieved when it read Vince. "Vince!" he exclaimed, hitting the speaker button. "Where are you? Are you alright?"
"Been better, Deano," Vince's voice filtered through, weakly. "Wouldn't mind a couple of tinnies about now though." He started laughing at his own joke but had to stop because he was coughing.
"I tell you what," Dean said, looking relieved to hear the man. "You tell us where you are, and I'll be getting the first round in later. How's that?"
"I'm under this damn table," Vince informed them. "I can't really move though. I think it's buried under the station." There was a pause. "Deano, there's diesel leaking it's way in here."
"Shit," Dean muttered. "Anything else you're not telling me?"
"Plenty," Vince agreed. "But the only other thing you need to know is that my leg is trapped under the rubble. I can't move enough to know how bad it is. But Dean, I'm rather attached to my leg. Hang on a minute, Jordan?" he yelled. "I'm under here! Ahhh!"
"Vince!" Dean bellowed into the phone. He looked at Felicity. "Find Jordan and get him to stop whatever the hell he's doing before he kills Vince."
Felicity ran into the station. "Jordan!" she yelled. "Jordan!"
"In here," she heard him call back.
"Whatever you're doing, stop!" she cried, charging into the room, sliding to a stop. "Holy crap," she muttered in disbelief. From this angle it was easier to see what was happening. The truck had ploughed through the wall, sending the table Vince was trapped under, back with it, so that the engine was wedged on top of it. The remainder of the wall had collapsed down around it, and the ceiling – and the floor above it, was hanging precariously over the area Vince was buried under. To make matters worse, the room was evidently the same room that was used to home the entirety of the fire station's breathing apparatus – including dozens of oxygen tanks.
Jordan was frozen, a large brick in his hand. "I can hear Vince," he told her. "He's under there!"
Felicity nodded. "But whatever you're doing is doing something to hurt him."
"I'm not moving anything near it," Jordan told him. "I'm trying to clear some space so we can get some supports in here to hold the ceiling up. And we need to move these air tanks. I can smell diesel."
"The lorry is leaking it," she agreed. "It sounds like it's making its way through."
Jordan shook his head, glancing around at the state of the room. "Get Dean," he instructed her.
Felicity ran back outside to find that Lara and Heidi had appeared with Cole and Jake. Several ambulances had arrived and the ambos were helping to treat the injured. "We have a bit of a problem," Felicity told them.
It was Jake who worked it out. "I'll say," he agreed, staring at the building. "That truck has only gone and crashed into the room where we keep all our BAs and air tanks."
"Yeah, and it's compromised the structural integrity of the ceiling," Felicity added. "We need supports in there."
"And this diesel isn't going anywhere either," Vince added with a cough.
"Heidi, Lara, I need you to get some supports and get that ceiling propped up," Dean instructed. "Flick, go find out what's taking Chase so long and get that diesel drained from the fuel tank."
"What can I do?" Cole asked, handing Felicity a radio.
"You can help us clear the air tanks. You're going to need a hard hat," he added, looking at Jake.
Jake nodded at Cole. "Follow me."
Felicity hurried around to the passenger's side of the truck, nearly knocking into Chase as he dropped a bag of sand off his shoulder.. "I'm here to help. We need to drain the fuel."
"Dean, give me back that radio," Michelle's voice burst through Felicity's radio.
"You have just had a blow to your head," Dean responded. "You need to get to a hospital."
"Because that's going to happen! I'm staying here and monitoring the situation. Hand be back my phone." There was the sound of shuffling. "Rescue portables, this is Michelle. I'm taking control."
In other news, I had an interview today (which I think went well). I'm fairly certain I've got the job - assuming I pass the medical, but if anybody has a little bit of luck going spare that they could sent in my direction, it would be much appreciated?
Miss Deeds - I got the idea from my local fire station. They had a charity carwash, and while they were no Rescue, I will admit I may have gotten my already clean car washed, just so I could say I had semi-naked firemen clean my car. Yes, a little more Dean and Lara here for you!
SarahSoph - I hope I didn't keep you hanging too long! Yes, there was a little bit in here. I'll make sure to have a nice fluffy chapter when they eventually rescue Vince.
Asha331 - I will be honest... I too would be checking him out. :) You're on to something there - it is a tad fishy!
LOL, I'm just having a little giggle to myself. I used to watch Home & Away a zillion years ago - one of the last story lines I remember was a kid called Jack crashing a car and burning down Donald Fisher's house in a huge bush fire. By complete chance, searching to see if this week's episode was online yet, I've just discovered Jack was Daniel - his picture popped up and I followed a link. (I knew he was in H&A but I never but that together). That has amused me greatly - I had such a crush on Jack. (I was about 11 so it was allowed!)