This Walk of Life

Chapter 1: Its a New Day

"Mayday, mayday please anyone!" a terrified firefighter yells into his silent radio while dashing through a large apartment building filled with flames. The fireman's jacket and pants are dotted with black from the heavy smoke and the bright flames that lashed out danced on his oxygen masks glass highlighting his freighted eyes. As he continued to run through the halls, his anxiety got worse and worse. To him he was running in circles because every hall looked the same. Trying the radio one more time he screamed in fear "For fuck sakes someone help me!!"

Brown eyes opened tiredly escaping the same nightmare that plagued the firefighter once a week. The fireman stared at the ceiling blankly, the morning sun just barely seeped into his bedroom because of the solar shades that covered his windows. Raising his left arm, he looked at his watch, the time was 8:35 in the morning.

Placing his arm on his forehead he sighed and tore himself away from his blanket that was extra soft this morning. Standing up he walked slowly to the closet and grabbed his uniform, exiting the bedroom of his home he felt a wave of sadness hit him, seeing his home empty. Entering the bathroom, he placed his uniform on the toilet and got undressed for his warm morning shower.

When the first droplet of water hit him, he smiled slightly loving the warm feeling. Showering quickly but enjoying his shower he dried up and started with his uniform. A dark blue button up shirt with Houston Fire Department patches on the shoulders and dark blue pants. The fireman tucked in his shirt then pulled the belt around his waist. Finally, the steel-toe boots.

Scanning himself in the mirror, he saw his uniform spotless as always. However, his curly black hair was looking wild, and he noticed the scars that stood out from the rest of his light brown skin.  Walking into the kitchen, he cooked himself some scrambled eggs with black pepper and poured himself a glass of milk. After he finished, he grabbed his trucks keys and walked out the front door into the warm fall morning. His eyes gazed at the sky; it was a very dark blue with the stars fading.

On the road, the roads were empty with some cars here and there on their way to work. The streetlight's yellow glow made the drive weirdly peaceful, switching on the radio the voice of the morning newscaster filled the quiet truck.

"Good morning, good morning, Houston. Today is gonna be a warm day as usual with a steady temperature of 60 degrees and will seem to be that way for the rest of the week-"

Switching the radio, he heard his favorite artist Elvis Presley singing All Shook Up on the radio. The drive became not just peaceful but upbeat as the song played, he found himself muttering the lyrics without him knowing. By the time the song was ending, the truck pulled into the fire station parking lot.

Stepping out he looked at the words above the door, "Fire Station 7". Sighing, he walked inside the station to hear the people he worked with laughing and talking loudly. Bracing himself he took a few deep breaths and walked into the garage that held the trucks. Figuring they were next to the second truck, he made his way around the first truck which was the one he rode in and was his favorite, it was a bright red Bradford Fire Apparatus 1996 Spartan with Houston Fire Department on the driver and passenger doors named Engine 1. She was old indeed, but they took great care of her. The next truck was a 1999 Spartan Gladiator LTI AH-75 Aerial Ladder Truck named Ladder 1. The distinctive feature of this truck was the red thin line flag and the Texas state flag hanging on the back of the truck.

Once on the opposite side of the garage, he saw his crew circle around laughing and talking loudly, "Morning guys" he said aloud, his captain turned around and gave him a wide smile, "Good morning, Nick Rhein!" Captain Norman said with glee. Norman was a tall guy easily 6'6 with muscles to tear a man apart but was the friendliest buff guy Nick has ever met, vanilla white skin, mud brown hair cut into a buzzcut, leaf green eyes, and a subtle beard growing rapidly. "Morning to you too captain" Nick replied back. Joining the circle, Nick saw the firehouse occupants in total there were 8 of them including Nick, he knew Norman, but he also knew Hiryu, Anthony, and Alli.