Honey and Glass

~9~

        "What's this dude's problem?" Hen asked into the radio.

"Seriously? He doesn't hear us?" Buck asked as we followed behind a garbage truck that a man had been stuck inside of. He somehow managed to get stuck in a dumpster and was trapped inside of the truck.

"We're gonna have to get in front of him," Bobby said. Buck pulled the truck over to the side and drove in front of the truck, cutting him off.

"What the hell, guys?" The truck driver asked getting out of his truck.

"You got a guy trapped inside the compactor," Bobby said to the man.

"That's impossible."

"He died 911 from inside."

"No, I mean that's not possible. We haven't picked up any garbage up yet," The man said.

"Wait, what?" Buck asked from next to me.

"You got the wrong truck, man. She's empty."

"What's going on?" Hen asked getting out of the ambulance and walking toward us.

"It's the wrong truck. Thank you. Carry on. You're doing a great job," Buck said before climbing back into the truck.

"Diapatch this is T-118. We are at Chandler and Allott. We have the wrong garbage truck. Do you have a location for the garbage truck?"

"This is 727-L-30, I got eyes on the truck. Corner of Ventura and Stern. Search and Rescue on the way," Athena said from the radio.

"That's like two blocks away," Buck said as we all threw our headsets on.

"Let's go."

We pulled up next to the truck and all climbed out. Athena was on the scene and the driver had already turned off the compactor.

"How was I supposed to know he was sleeping in one of the Dumpsters?" The driver defended.

"You're not in any trouble," Athena assured him.

"Did you run the compactor?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah."

"What kind of pressure does it operate under?"

"I don't know. 2000 PSI? Maybe more?" The driver said as Hen pulled down the ladder.

"That would crush a car," Buck said as Hen made her way up to get an overview of the compactor.

"Damn. Look at her go," The driver said as Hen got to the top. Chimney sent him a glare and me and Buck followed after her.

"Hello? Is anybody down there?" Hen asked. "Can you hear us?"

"Ooh, this stinks! People call us heroes?" Buck asked as Hen dropped into the trash. "Hen, hold up. It's gonna take forever by hand. Hey, Chim, can you grab shovels?" I dropped down into the trash and tried not to breathe out of my nose.

"What are you scared to get your hands dirty, Buck? Come on! Let's go!" Hen asked as Buck finally dropped into the trash. We threw trash bag after trash bag out of the truck, trying to find the man.

"I'm coming in," Chimney said as he and Bobby climbed into the trash.

"Wait, uh, so he was sleeping in a Dumpster but he has a cell phone?" Buck asked, throwing out another bag of trash.

"They give them to the homeless. It's part of the LifeLine program. Keeps them connected to family, if they have any," Chimney told him. I tossed bag after bag out of the truck one after the other.