Cities In Dust

What's Your Emergency?

It was only five in the morning when a loud alarm rang throughout the spacious loft. White walls, white furniture, white sheets. Everything looked bare, plain, basic, unlived in, boring even. Blue eyes blinked open to slam a fist ontop of the alarm, effectively shutting it off. Zelda Marlow was not a morning person. With a grunt, she sat up, short blonde hair sticking to her face.

Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she decided that she definitely needed a shower. Getting out of bed to get her stuff, she ran through what she needed to do today in her head. She had so much to get done after taking over her father's insurance company. He had a heart attack earlier that year and was forced to step down. It's the only reason she was in Los Angeles. She couldn't say that she had uprooted her life for this, not really. She had never stayed anywhere for more than a year.

Being an heiress had its perks, and traveling was one of them. No one had expected her to step up though. They figured it would have been her older brother, as was tradition. He had never wanted that for himself, much to the surprise of others. Zelda had gone to college specifically for this. She had wanted this, worked for this, and her father had seen that.

"Huh. The floor feels warm." She mumbled to herself, not thinking much of it. She was probably still tired. Then she started smelling something burnt. Had she left the oven on? She went to the kitchen to check. No. What was that smell then? Turning her head, Zelda caught a glimpse of something out the windows. Smoke.

Going to look out the window, Zelda saw flames licking out of the window from the apartment below. Running to her phone, she hastily typed in 9-1-1. She held her breath nervously. The couldn't be happening. Not today. Not to her. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but was only a few seconds in reality, a voice at the end of the line answered.

"9-1-1. What's your emergency?"

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118 was loading up for another fire. That shift was full of fires and other emergencies. The whole team felt like they had barely gotten any sleep. They were all hoping that this would be the last call of the shift. They pulled up to a nice apartment building, seeing flames out the windows on the bottom few floors.

"All right! Let's get to work!" Bobby shouted out to everyone, trusting them to do their jobs. Buck and Eddie were on rescue duty, as usual. The two of them suited up, going into the building. Smoke filled their vision, feeling the heat in the air through their suits.

"Firefighters! Call out!" Eddie yelled as they started checking rooms. They went through the first floor without finding anyone. By the third door on the second floor they were beginning to think the apartments were empty. The fourth apartment proved them wrong when they found a small elderly lady laying on the floor. She was coughing heavily, an old handkerchief over her face.

The two men carefully helped her to her feet, checking to make sure she was okay. "Oh! I'm so glad you're here. I think it started on the floor above!" She coughed out, weezing a little. "Thank you for the information ma'am but let's get you to safety." Eddie smiled as the two of them ushered her out.

They were back into the burning building faster than the others could blink.

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"Firefighters! Call out!" Zelda heard the muffled call of the firefighters as they reached her floor. The top floor. The last floor to search. She was hunkered down on her stomach by the front door, her face covered by a dish towel. She quickly unlocked the door and let it swing open, grabbing the attention of the two firefighters.

They quickly headed her way, helping her out instantly. "It's sure good to see you guys." Zelda joked, not really believing her luck. Her first week in town and her apartment goes up in flames. She's lucky she still had all her important stuff in a storage locker. "Happy to help." Buck chuckled, helping her out as Eddie checked the other apartments real quick.

"Do you have any idea what started this?" She asked him as they finally reached outside. Buck guided her to the paramedics to get checked out before he answered. "Seems like it's most likely electrical. We'll know more once it's put out." He said, giving a very vague answer like he was trained to. Zelda nodded as an oxygen mask was pushed over her face.

She grabbed ahold of his arm as he turned to leave. Shoving the mas off for a second, her lungs struggled as she tried to talk. "Thanks." She finally managed to say. Buck only nodded. "No problem ma'am." He smiled, leaving her to be looked over. She watched him leave, trying to figure out a way to thank him. To thank all of them.

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The 118 was exhausted by the time they returned to the fire house. "I am more than ready for this shift to be over." Hen stated, getting out of the truck. "I think we all are." Chimney chimed in, running a hand down his face. "It has been a rough one." Bobby agreed, ready to go home to his family.

"At least Buck got to save a pretty girl!" Eddie chuckled, nudging Buck with his shoulder. "She was pretty cute, wasn't she?" He asked, thinking back to Zelda. The blonde had really caught his eye. "Did you get her name?" Chimney asked, not having seen them rescue Zelda.

Bucks face fell. They all started laughing, having realized that he infact, did not get her name. "Man!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up. He had been so tired and to flustered by her bright blue eyes to think properly. He could only hope he would see her again.