Further on Down the Road

by ThumperE23

Eleven years have passed since Keith said goodbye to Izzy in Brooke's garden. What has happened in the small city between the river and the sea since then? Who has gotten older? Who has grown up? Who has reached their dreams? Who has had dreams fail? Who has moved away? Who has returned? What happened during the annus horribilis?

821. Chapter 821: THFR HQ

Chapter 821: THFR HQ

Monday, April 3rd, Evening

The afternoon slowly faded into the early evening. It was still getting dark early around here, and with a twenty-four-hour shift, it didn't matter much. He sat behind the desk in the Rescue Company Office. There were two reliefs today at mid-shift, including a new person.

Lieutenant J.L. "Huck" Burke sat upright and looked at the new person's personnel file. The outgoing captain approved the transfer from Truck Twenty-Six to the Rescue. The firefighter was more than qualified, and as Rescue Company Policy was making the rounds across the four shifts, trying to find where they fit. With a sigh, Huck closed the file and shook his head.

"Brave new world," Huck said.

At this time, there was a knock on the door jamb. Huck looked up to see the new firefighter standing at the door. Huck nodded.

"Enter," Huck said.

The firefighter walked in and looked at Huck. "Iron Maiden or Huxley, Lieutenant?" the firefighter asked.

"Excuse me?" Huck asked.

"You said brave new world," the firefighter said.

"Oh, I prefer Huxley, but there are people that would rather the movie or the album," Huck said.

"Yes," the firefighter said. I'm sorry. I'm being rude, Firefighter Mackenzie Flores. I'm coming in for the night half."

"Flores," Huck said with a nod, "Okay, you'll be Can tonight and stick to me like glue."

"Okay, anything else I should know?" Flores asked.

"Nothing major, we'll take it as it comes. What do you like to be called?" Huck asked.

"Mackie or Flores is fine," Flores said.

"Very well," Huck said, "Flores."

"Lieutenant, a question," Flores said.

Huck nodded, "Go ahead," he said.

"Are you nervous because I'm non-binary?" Flores said.

Huck shook his head, "I want you to know Flores, the only personal pronoun tonight is firefighter," he said.

"Yes, Lieutenant," Flores said.

"Go find your bunk and find out what your responsibilities are for tonight," Huck said.

Flores nodded and left. Huck sighed and closed his eyes. Then, there was another knock on the door. Huck looked up to see Battalion Chief Simone Lowell standing at his door.

"Was that Flores?" Chief Lowell asked.

Huck nodded, "Yeah," he said.

"Whole different world than when we started," Chief Lowell said.

Huck nodded, "Yes, and it can be confusing as well," he said.

"I know when I started, I had to work so hard, twice as hard," Chief Lowell said.

"I guess I know I have four daughters, and I want them to succeed," Huck said.

"What I don't get is that I spent years trying to establish that she is equal to him. Now, do they want a third option?" Chief Lowell said.

"I don't know," Huck said and shrugged.

"One of your girls showed interest in the job," Chief Lowell asked.

Huck nodded, "Yeah, PJ, my oldest with Chase," he said.

"What do you think about it?" Chief Lowell asked.

"I try not to. She's eleven, and there's time," Huck said.

"But that time goes by fast," Chief Lowell said.

"That it does," Huck said.

The pager on the Battalion Chief's hip went off. She reached down and looked at it. Returning it to her hip, she sighed.

"EMS is requesting a truck and the rescue to the port to help remove a patient," Chief Lowell said.

"Joy," Huck said.

Chief Lowell nodded and started toward their vehicle. The in-house system opened, and an eerie silence fell across the station.

"Rescue call," the in-house speaker said, and the alarms started going off. "Rescue call, intermodal port facility, Car 20, Truck 26, and Rescue 27, time of the alarm 17:53 hours."

Huck shook his head and left his office. He got to the truck floor and found Rescue 27 sitting in her corner of the building. Huck kicked off his shoes, stepped into his boots, and pulled up the fire pants.

The rest of the crew showed up and started gearing up. Huck slipped on his firefighting coat and climbed into the cab and the Recuse Rig's officer seat. The driver pulled himself in and started the engine.

Huck looked at the rig's computer screen and shook his head. With a sigh, he turned to the driver.

"EMS is not relaying the pier," Huck said.

"So?" the driver asked, "Punt?"

"Punt," Huck said, "All set?"

The driver looked over his shoulder, "All set?"

"All set!" echoed from the backseat, a chorus of readiness and unity.

"Let's go!" Huck said, his voice filled with determination and responsibility.

As the rescue rig pulled out of the station, the anticipation of the upcoming mission was palpable. Huck sat in his seat, focused on his job. He reached for the radio microphone while keeping a vigilant eye on the traffic and the roads that connected from his side.

"Rescue 27 is responding to the intermodal port facility," Huck said on the radio.

"Roger, Rescue 27 is responding," the dispatcher replied.

The sky was an angry reddish orange as the sun was finishing going down. Soon, it would be the blue hour, and as they headed towards the port, it might be dark as they were getting this person or persons out of whatever situation they found themselves in.

"Alright, the game plan is that I will head in with the Chief and Truck and see what we need to do," Huck said.

"Do we know what ship or pier?" one of the firefighters asked.

"Unfortunately, EMS hasn't provided us the details," Huck said, the lack of information adding a layer of suspense to the unfolding events.

"SNAFU?" the firefighter asked.

"Of course," Huck said as the rescue drove off into the infant night.