Page 1 of Hot Zone

Chapter 1

Samuel

Since I’d become the station chief at Station 69, I didn’t work a rotating shift like the others, but I did try to arrive before shift change each morning. That allowed me to be the one to set the tone for the day, and on this day, the tone was all about training.

I let the shift captain, Robert, run the morning meeting as always, but once he’d finished, I stepped forward.

“I have a meeting later this morning, but I want us to run through some training drills first. Things have been a little crazy around here lately, and I feel like everyone could use a little physical activity to destress.”

A collective groan came from the guys that stood around me. That was the thing about training. No one wanted to do it, but once we got started, they always enjoyed it.

“That’s enough,” Robert commanded. “Chief Sheridan’s right, and you know it.”

“Let’s start out back with some hose relays,” I said, clapping my hands.

The guys all made their way behind the station to our training ground. I stood at the edge of the field and watched as they stretched and yawned, preparing for the training exercises.

“Okay, guys, split into teams. I’ll be nice and let you choose. Just think of this as a good way to wake up.”

The relay race was a classic drill. The first guy had to grab a rolled hose off the wall, hook it up to the fake hydrant, and then run to the designated spot where their partner waited. Then, that person had to roll the hose up on and hang it back on the wall. It was good for building teamwork—and, let’s be real, a little bit of competitive trash-talking.

This shift had six members, so we had three teams. They lined up, with Ronda, Robert, and Andy on the first leg, each grippinga coiled hose as if it was their shot at Olympic gold. I raised my whistle. “Alright, try not to trip over yourselves like last time.”

“That was one time, and I was new!” Andy shouted, earning a few chuckles.

With a sharp blast of the whistle, they were off. Heavy boots pounded the dirt, kicking up small clouds as they charged across the field. The hoses snaked along behind them as they raced towards the fence where they would hand off the hose, and their partner would head back.

Kevin, Keith, and Ford were on the second leg, with Kevin just edging out the other two for a win. He did a little victory dance when he hung his hose up on the wall.

“Way to go, Kevin.” Ronda grinned. “You know how to handle a hose.”

“That’s what his husband says,” Ford teased, and everyone laughed.

“Okay, enough of that. Swap places, and let’s go again,” I said. I watched proudly as they went again. I liked all the people at Station 69, but I knew the ones on A shift the best. That was the shift I’d been on before our previous captain retired and I’d been promoted. I enjoyed the new job, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss being part of the crew.

We did a couple more relay rounds, and then I told them it was time to move on to ladder drills. These were my favorite. First,they had to put the ladder in place against the building and go up and back down as quickly as they could.

The teams lined up, and Ford reached down and rubbed the edge of the ladder. “Be good to me, baby, don’t drop me.”

“Dude, it’s a ladder, not your ex,” Kevin called out from the back of the line, earning a round of snickers.

Normally, I would’ve gotten on to them about clowning around. After all, these training drills were where we created the muscle memory necessary to do our jobs in stressful situations, but I let it go for today. Things had been a little bleak around here ever since one of our fellow firefighters, Cody, had his record store torched by an arsonist, so it was good to see them all laughing.

Even with all the teasing and joking around, they still managed to ascend and descend like pros, though not without a few colorful curses when Ronda’s boot got stuck on a rung.

“You cuss like a sailor, Poloski,” Ford called out.

“That’s because I was a sailor, jackwagon.” She punctuated her statement with two middle fingers, and everyone laughed.

I ran them through that drill a few times, and then when I felt like they were warmed up, it was time for the fun to start.

“Okay, last drill of the day. Follow me.” They all trailed behind me into the bay where we parked the trucks. “Simon, Becca, you guys come join us for this one.”

They were the A shift’s paramedics. They’d been getting their ambulance detailed while we trained, but this was right up their alley.

Our station was a two-story building, and the bay had a railed walkway that went around the top that had been installed for training purposes. I pointed to the far corner of the railing where I’d staged our rescue dummy, formally known as Bob. Bob was sitting slumped over to the side.

“Bob is up there on top. He’s unconscious, and he’s waiting for you to rescue him.”

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