Emergency!- Why Do It? #Wattys2017

Roy

Johnny raced out the front door behind Marco and Chet as fast as they could. Suddenly the house exploded, throwing them to the ground.

Johnny's heart raced. He yelled, "Roy! This can't be happening! Come on, Roy, run out now!"

Captain Stanley, Marco, Chet, Mike, and Johnny all froze.

It didn't seem real.

It all seemed like a horrible nightmare. He wished it was all a bad dream, but he knew it wasn't.

This was real life.

Tears welled in all of their eyes. They couldn't imagine life without Roy. Johnny's thoughts flew through his mind, What if Roy didn't hear me? What if I could have yelled sooner and louder?

Whatever he could have done, he couldn't change what had already happened. Even though sometimes he wished he could, he couldn't travel back in time. The thoughts of 'I will never see my best friend ever again,' echoed in his mind repetitively.

Johnny thought about all the fun times they had together. They'd gone through their share of laughter and heartache. Sometimes they had disagreements and bad days, but they'd always been buddies.

Sometimes they pulled pranks and joked around at the station, but whenever the tones went off, they always changed their state of mind. They would always drop whatever they were doing at the time and run to the little red squad to assist whoever had called for help.

Each firefighter at the station knew every call they responded to might be their last. It was scary to think and talk about, but it happened. They'd had their share of close calls. He walked out the burning buildings with them, but this time didn't. This time it was different. Roy was still in there and for Johnny it was the most terrible feeling in the world.

Firefighter Gage's memory dragged him back to the first time he met Roy. Johnny hadn't been sure about even signing up. He almost hadn't. If the bill for the paramedics had passed right then, they would have had only six paramedics for six and a half million people.

Of course Johnny had wanted to help people, but he wanted to stay a rescue man; he didn't want to become an ambulance attendant. Roy had talked him into joining the paramedic program, which literally changed Johnny's entire life for the better. He couldn't thank him enough for that, but now it was too late to thank him.

Suddenly Johnny thought he saw Roy run around the corner. He thought, Oh! I'm just seeing things. It's just my imagination. It can't be real.

As he turned towards the squad, Marco yelled, "Look! There's Roy!"

Johnny's heart skipped a beat and a sense of relief washed over him. It was real! Without speaking a word, Johnny bolted across the yard and flung his arms around his best friend. Both smiled from ear to ear like lunatics.

The paramedics strolled towards the rest of the crew, a little blue car pulled up next to the engine. A young couple jumped out and the lady screamed, "Billy! Carrie!" Everyone's relieved smiles quickly faded.

Roy could see the pure panic in their eyes. They ran up to Captain Stanley and the man desperately asked, "Did you get them out?"

"I'm... I'm sorry. I sent my men in to search, but there was an explosion. Like I said, I'm really sorry. I understand how you must be feeling."

"Why didn't you get them out? Why did you leave them in there?" The lady screamed at the firefighters.

The parents had pulled up to find the house engulfed in flames and their kids still inside. Roy had just missed two kids and they were most likely in his end of the house.

Then he thought about his own kids. What if it had happened to them? I certainly can't blame her, because I would feel the same. Why couldn't I just start searching fast from the beginning? I might have found them in time. Why did it have to end this way? It could have had a good ending, but not every ending is a happily ever after, he thought.