I'm heading into work, trying to hype myself up for whatever news I'm about to hear. Zoey sounded excited, so I guess I should be too?
I go into the Station and sign in. I am greeted by the guys on desk duty. Poor dudes.
I'm figuring Zoey would want to meet in her office so I go straight there. I look though the window and see the Fire Chief in there, now I'm nervous.
"Captain?" I call out through the door.
"Come in." she says.
"Lieutenant Rogerstone-Montgumery." the Fire Chief greeted.
"Chief Campbell." I reply, nervously, might I add.
"Do you know why you're here?" she questioned, to which I shook my head.
"Captain Rogerstone-Montgumery is being promoted to Battalion Chief."
"Congratulations, we're gonna miss you!" I say to Zoey. Zoey nodded her thanks.
"I hear you are quite the fire fighter, Lieutenant." Chief Campbell complemented. "And that's not just from your Captain. Your colleagues and even other stations are drooling over your skill out on the field and inside the Fire House. I've heard that 19 want you on their team."
"Thank you Chief, but I don't want to move." I say.
"I wasn't proposing a transfer."
"Then what were you proposing, ma'am?"
"Jordyn," Zoey started, "We want to promote you to Captain."
My eyes went wide and I feel my heart stop. Captain Jordyn Rogerstone-Montgumery. Wow. I am truly speechless.
"What do you say?" Zoey asked with a proud sister smile on her face. Chief Campbell looks at me expectantly.
"I accept." I finally say.
"You'll start next Monday. Give the team a chance to say goodbye and hello to old and new Captains." Chief Campbell explained.
"That's great. Thank you, Chief." I answer, shaking her hand.
"You deserve it. Congratulations, Batallion Chief Rogerstone-Montgumery. Congratulations, Captain Rogerstone-Montgumery." and she left the room.
"You're a Captain now." Zoey said, walking around her desk to swing an arm around my shoulder. "This week is for the transition. You'll pretty much have a lot of say, if not, all, in what your team does for the next calls and I'll be in charge of your team and other teams that might be there."
"So, say there was a call today. I would be in charge?" I ask.
"Yeah. The others don't know and they're gonna have a shock when I'm not there and you're bossing them around." Zoey laughed.
"Yeah, well, I'm their Captain now. They'll manage." I sigh. I'm nervous. Not about the sudden authority that I've been given but about those who don't like me. They won't want to listen, but then again, I would be in charge of disciplinary actions. It's not all that bad.
"You're going to have an orange helmet now. You might as well have mine, we do have the same last names after all." Zoey pointed out.
"I doubt the department will allow that."
"Fair enough."
The alarm went off, "Engine 14, Ladder 14 and Aid Car 14."
"Which one am I now?" I ask.
"Engine." Zoey said. "Good luck getting my butt groove out."
I laughed as I went to go slip into my turnouts. I got into the Captain's seat of Engine 14, which was the passenger seat. It felt weird but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
The driver, Vic, was hella confused but there was an emergency so we had to drive on. Lights and sirens on, of course.
"Dispatch to Engine 14, do you copy?"
"We copy."
"Restaurant, family business. Cause of fire, burnt food, civilians still inside. Numbers, unknown. Over."
"Copy." I put the communication device down.
"How come you're sat there?" Vic asked.
"I am Incedent Control Leader."
We arrive at the restaurant. This was a big one. The back smoke could be dangerous and tells me that this was more than burnt food.
I knew that we'd have trouble with this one because it was a family business. People grow attached to those kind of things. I would know.
I hop out before the Engine before it could even stop. It's something I saw Zoey do. I pop on my helmet and I don't bother doing my coat up, I won't be going inside.
"Alright, Vasquez and Miller. Hook up Engine 14 and Ladder 14 to that fire hydrant and that fire hydrant." I point to fire hydrants that are conveniently sat by the assigned vehicles.
"Hughes, Pierce, Gibson and Turner, you are on fire control. Bishop, Warren, Aquita and Andrews, evac. Matthews, you're up on the ladder with a hose and attacking from above. Johnson, Smith and Wilson, you guys are on Triage. Everyone clear?"
"Where is Captain Rogerstone-Montgumery?" Mike asked. I figured that Zoey might want to tell them herself so I decided to be vague.
"That doesn't matter. What does is that I'm in charge. Is very one clear on what they are to do?"
Everyone nodded and got to work. Thank God.
_______________________
It was about three hours later until we got everybody who was in the building looked at, taken to the hospital and saved as much of the building as we could before we could head back to the Station.
We parked all of the Fire Vehicles and cleaned all of the equipment we used today.
After we did that and put them all away, we saw Zoey waiting for us all in the lounge.
"Hey team. Come sit."
Everybody did, looking confused, anxious and skeptical. It's not often this happened, so I don't blame them.
"I bet you're wondering why I wasn't there today." she started, "I've been promoted to Battalion Chief." she announced.
There were a few cheers and claps in congratulations for Zoey.
"It was an honour to serve with you all. But, that would leave an opening for a Captain spot. While I did have some say in who it was going to be, I didn't have the final say. It was Chief Campbell's final decision, that Lieutenant Rogerstone-Montgumery, would be most suitable for the job. So she is your new Captain. So you listen and respect her."
Camilla and Vic looked at me with their fire-mom smiles and hands on their chests. I knew what was coming.
"Our baby!" they both cried and smothered me in hugs. I laughed as I here an assortment of, "We're so proud!" and "Our baby is growing up so fast."
They truly were my work moms.
I knew Turner wasn't too happy about this, but for all I care, he can fuck off.
I also knew that Chelsea would be happy about this. She always supports me. For some reason.