A Man in Uniform (A Narlie Story)

A

The microwave beeps letting me know my porridge is hot and ready to eat. I take the bowl out, add my chosen protein fruits, and mix it with my spoon.

"Nelson, come on- sit down and eat your porridge" The bell hasn't rung in 20 minutes.

"Coming cap" I pull out a chair and sit down placing the bowl down, Cas, Lowe, and Mack were sitting on either side of the table either eating a sandwich or some take-out.

"I treasure the moments I can eat hot food" Mack excitedly says grabbing a vegetable spring roll and practically shoving it down his throat. The rest of us laugh.

"Yeah, but let's not give us another job on a small break by possibly saving your ass from choking" Cas warns him. Everyone oohs, Mack stops eating for a second and swallows what he has already chewed.

"Nelson, how was that hottie last night?" Lowe, one of the best mechanics on the team asks. I sigh.

"Lowe, I've already told you--" He raises his hand, stopping me mid-sentence.

"I know, I know... you only went on the date because your mate Otis set it up" I nod, releasing yet another sigh.

"Maybe next time you'll find someone you like" Cocking my eyebrows, I looked at Lowe for a moment, almost warning him.

"Shutting up" he proceeds to shove the rest of his PB&J into his mouth. I shovel 2 of 3 big spoonfuls of my porridge with blueberries and bananas and swallow when the bell rings.

"TIME TO GO PEOPLE OFF 422" Cap shouts throwing his food into a plastic container and throwing it quickly into the fridge. I shovel a few more spoonfuls before throwing my bowl and spoon into the sink. We all slide down the middle poles in the warehouse, rush to our hooks and jump into our firefighter gear, zipping up and throwing our straps over our shoulders and throwing our arms into the sleeves of our heavy-duty double-layered non-flammable jackets and grabbing our helmets off the hooks that had our nicknames on them.

We all climbed into the firetruck, I climbed into the front with Cap and the rest piled into the back as we all clipped in and Cap drove the firetruck out of the warehouse. He tuned into the radio and listened to the situation.

"Right people, tune into this" We all flipped a little button on our helmets and heard the situation. It was a building, 6 stories high and the top 2 floors are completing in flames, the roof has collapsed and there was debris everywhere. It's 7 blocks away from Firestation 422.

I looked back to Mack, Lowe and Cas and we all nodded.

"Right guys, as soon as we get there. We look at the place and see if it's safe enough for the truck's ladder- we need to make sure we get to the top safely"

"YES CAPTAIN" We all shouted, Cap, nods and flicks the firetruck's siren to notify the road traffic and pedestrians. Not knowing the severity of the situation we can't have any delays.

***

Moments later, after soaring through 5 red lights and witnessing 8 people running past us at some speed-- we arrive at the location.

"Captain, the top of the building is a daycare place..." The same thought ran their all our minds, the kids.

We all exit the truck fast and the sceneck officer runs up to us.

"422, the building is very fragile but you can use the ladder to access the top of the building and access it through the window that was blown by the fire when this first started"

"Right, Cas, Nelson, you take the ladder and access the situation" We nod and get to the back of the truck and climb to the top.

"You press the button and I'll climb to the edge to get it started" I shout over the siren. Cas nods and presses it as I start moving up the ladder. Each step moves me further away from the truck and one step closer to the fire that is raging from the building. The heat is progressively getting hotter the closer I get to it.