𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗢
"𝖸𝖤𝖤𝖧𝖠𝖶"
"𝗛ey, this don't make no sense, because that glass should be tempered for hurricanes," Judd says.
The 126 were on a call for a woman in an office building who jumped out of the window. Employees of the office were standing around scaredly.
"Oh, I've seen this back in the city. When people are committed, they'll find a way," Owen explained. The team arrived to where the woman landed. Michelle was feeling around her beck for a pulse.
"She's gone," The paramedic captain informed. Adrienne looked up at the window the woman jumped from, then glanced over at her older brother.
"Cap, I'm gonna head up there. They might need some help," Adrienne says. Owen nods and radioes that one of his members were going to assist them.
Adrienne sprints upstairs to find Nancy, Carlos, and Tim crowded around a young man.
"I-I could tell Liza was nervous about the pitch tomorrow, but one minute, she was fine. The next, she was like somebody from Bird Box," The young man explained. His voice was shaky like he was on something.
"Bird Box?" Carlos asked.
"Netflix?" Tim questioned.
"Sandra Bullock?" Nancy asked. Carlos gave each of them a questioning look. Adrienne made herself a mental note to invite Carlos over so that they could watch it together.
"JT, to your knowledge, was Liza on any substances?" Carlos asked him.
"No, she was two years sober. She knew better than that," JT replied. Adrienne looked over her shoulder to see a man reaching for a weapon. She taps Tim's shoulder so he could see for himself.
"Uh, Officer..." Tim says. Carlos ignores him, and the man starts to stab himself.
"Officer!" Someone shouts. The situation escalated quickly, the man stabbed himself receptively in the chest. Carlos was quick to rush over to him.
"Put the weapon down right now!" Carlos shouts. He got there just before the man also tried to jump out of the window.
Carlos pins him to the ground as a female employee stands and walks over to the window. Adrienne runs over and pins her down.
It was chaos. More employees stood up and walked over to the window. There were so many that the officers and Adrienne were unable to apprehend them. Some were successful in jumping out of the window.
"Dispatch, we're at a code six at 383 Highway. Send everyone you've got," Carlos spoke into his radio.
⁂
The rest of the 126 fire team arrived to help the situation die down. Adrienne handed off the woman she had pinned down to someone else. She watched as Paul broke off from the group and decides to join him.
The Stricklands circle around the messy meeting table. Adrienne found a sandwich that was bitten, one Liza must've eaten to cause her to jump.
"Ri, come here," Paul says. Adrienne walks over as Paul stands in front of a bowl of quinoa in Tupperware.
"Whose quinoa is this?" Adrienne asks asked with a slightly raised voice. A blonde woman raises her hand.
Adrienne smelt it just for some extra measure. She follows Paul as he looks for other items on the table. Carlos looks straight at them and leans his head to whisper at TK.
"Why do I feel like they're doing a thing?" Carlos asked.
"They're totally doing a thing," TK replied. Adrienne picks up a bottle of juice and hands it Paul.
"Whose juice is this?" Paul asked. JT raises his hand.
"I'm on a cleanse. Why?" JT questioned.
The Strickland siblings nodded to each other and walks over to the cubicle JT and another employee were sitting in. Paul took the employee by the hand and Adrienne flashes a light in his eyes.
"What'd you have for lunch?" Paul asked.
"Skipped it— big breakfast," The employee replied. Adrienne looked over at Carlos.
"We know who did this," She informed. Paul motions for Carlos to follow them.
The Stricklands and Carlos walk over to a table where there was a large spread of food. Each sibling picked up a sandwich to reveal a large amount of a silver liquid substance.
"Mercury," Paul says.
⁂
The person responsible for the laced food was the delivery guy. The Strickland siblings were now waiting outside of the office building for the delivery guy. A red car eventually pulls up and a man steps outside.
"I'm looking for, uh, Ladder 126. Someone ordered delivery," The man said, and the Strickland siblings approach.
"That'd be us, boss," Paul replied, "Heard you guys had the best cookies in town."
"Yeah, that's right," The man states.
"Other than the ones you laced with mercury?" Adrienne questioned. The man attempted to run, but was stopped by Carlos and two other officers.
"Put your hands up! Right now! Puts your hands up! On your knees!" Carlos shouted. The other officers got the man in handcuffs. Carlos goes to investigate the vehicle and found a vial of mercury.
"Why?" Carlos asked the man.
"They never tip. Years, treat me like I'm invisible, like I'm a nonperson. Well, they'll remember me now," The man said.
⁂
The next day, back at the station, Adrienne made herself a sandwich in the kitchen. Paul sneaks up behind her and snatched it out of her hand. He already took a large bite out of it before she could stop him.
"Paul, no! I was gonna eat that!" Adrienne shouts. Paul chuckled before handing the bitten sandwich back to his younger sister.
"I'm so gonna get you later!" Adrienne scolds, taking the few bites of the sandwich that was left.
"Older sibling privilege. Sorry, little sister," Paul says. Adrienne had an expression of anger all ridden across her face. Paul's face dropped in fear.
"I'm going to get you!" Adrienne shouts. Adrienne ended up chasing Paul around the entire station.
Marjan, Mateo, and TK watched them from a distance. Things weren't going good for Paul since Adrienne had him pinned to the ground.
"Should we...?" Mateo questioned.
"Not yet. This is hella entertaining," Marjan says. Their moment of entertainment was soon shut down when the alarm went off. Adrienne finally released Paul from her grasp.
"Since when did you pack such strength?" Paul asked.
"Took self defense classes in California," Adrienne replied.
⁂
The 126 arrive at the scene of a call for a house fire. Well, there wasn't much of a fire to even begin with. A woman rushes out of her house.
"Oh, bless your hearts for getting here so quick. I'm Ellen. Oh, bless your hearts," She ran to shake their hands, but skips Marjan and Adrienne. Ellen went straight for Captain Strand.
"Oh, well, the good Lord sure took his sweet time with you, didn't he?" Ellen said.
"You called in a fire, ma'am?" Owen asked.
"It's right over here," Ellen replied. The old woman lead the team out to her backyard where smoke was coming from underground.
"There, see? I told ya. They're putting the whole darn community at risk," Ellen said.
"What is that, septic?" TK asked. It sure didn't smell like fire at all. Why did the fire smell so good?
"Hell, septic never smelled so good. That's barbacoa," Judd said, climbing over Ellen's fence.
"What the hell's barbacoa?" Owen asked.
"It's a steak that you cook underground," Judd explained. Adrienne decided to make her way over and help Judd move the cover above the ground. The satisfying smelled was even better up close.
"You cook meat in the dirt here? That's a thing?" Owen asked.
"Yeah. That's a thing, Mr. Open-minded."
Suddenly, a man walks out with an angry look on his face.
"Aw, hell no, Ellen. Who'd you call this time you crazy lady?" The man shouted.
"Ooh, you better call the police. That man is unstable," Ellen says, hooking her arm around Owen. Adrienne could tell by the look in his face that he was pleading for help.
"I'm unstable? You're unstable," The man argued.
"Whoa, whoa, I think we have a misunderstanding here," Owen says, trying to calm the man down.
"No, I don't misunderstand anything. She may look like a sweet old lady, but she's an evil racist," The man says.
"Who you calling old?" Ellen shouts.
"Really? That's the part that upset you?"
"I am not a racist. My gardener is Spanish."
"She called the cops on us last week at my daughter's tenth birthday," The man scoffed.
"They were waving around a bat," Ellen yelled.
"At a piñata, you twisted vieja," He yelled back.
"Yes, I called the police, and I'm gonna keep calling till somebody does something," Ellen says. Owen sighs and places a hand on Ellen's shoulder.
"You know what? You don't have to call the police anymore 'cause I'm making a citizen's arrest," Owen says to her, "Put your hands behind your back."
"What? Me?" Ellen asked, confused.
"TK, get the cuffs," Owen says.
"We don't have any cuffs, Cap," TK replied.
"Oh, I'm sure we could, uh, find some zip ties," Marjan says, walking over to stand in front of her. She motions for Mateo to go look for some zip ties.
Ellen looks around confused. Obviously, a woman like her played the "American citizen" card to try to plead her case. It wasn't until Cap told Paul to call APD that Ellen started to hold on to her chest and fell to the ground.
"Marjan, take her BP. Maybe give her some mouth to mouth," Owen says. Before Marjan could reach her, Ellen gasped.
"No! Not her!" Ellen shouts. Marjan crouches down to her level.
"So maybe you're not having a heart attack?" Marjan asked.
"I am! I definitely am!" Ellen shouts.
"Can't you do it?" She asked Owen.
"Not certified."
Ellen pointed at TK, "How about him?"
"Sure, ma'am, but just so you know, I am a homosexual," TK replied. Ellen pointed at Judd.
"No," Judd replied without a second thought. Ellen pointed at Adrienne.
"Sure, but I had sex outside of marriage and now I'm a mother to a beautiful 4 month old daughter," Adrienne replied. Ellen looked and pointed at Paul.
"He can do it! I told you I'm not a racist!" Ellen exclaimed. Paul crouched down to Ellen's level. The woman sighs and leans close to Paul.
"You're not a homosexual, are you?" Ellen asked.
"Oh, no, ma'am. But I am trans, though," Paul replied.
"Take me to jail."
⁂
Adrienne jolted awake in her bed. Looking around her, she spots her other team members beside Captain Strand, who seemed to be missing from his bed.
Adrienne felt thirsty and decided to head to the kitchen to grab a drink. Owen cleared his throat to catch her attention.
"What're you doing up so late?" Owen asked.
"I could ask the same about you, Cap. Bad dream?" Adrienne replied. She grabbed herself a bottle of water from the fridge, then takes a seat beside him.
"You could say that," Owen says. Adrienne held a look of worry when Owen started to cough.
"You good? Here, take my water," Adrienne says, handing her water bottle to him. Owen took it and had a few sips.
"Are you sick, Cap?" Adrienne asked. The look he had on his face was all the confirmation she needed.
"Now only you, Captain Blake, and Judd know about it," He explains.
"I promise I won't tell. I have a natural talent at keeping a secret," Adrienne replied.
⁂
"Methane's over 100,000 PPMs. We are sparks away from the biggest barbecue in Texas history," TK informed. The 126, along with another firehouse, arrived at an apartment complex after a report of a gas leak.
"Let's move fast. Get every apartment cleared out," Owen instructed. Marjan and Adrienne walked up to the second floor of the apartment building.
"Howard Dalton, are you in there?" Marjan asked, banging on the apartment door. Howard cracked his door open.
"Austin FD. There's a gas leak in your building. Everybody needs to leave," Adrienne says.
"Nice try," He says, then closes the door. Marjan knocked on the door again.
"Sir, this a mandatory evacuation," Marjan said.
"I told you to go away!" Howard yelled. He attempts to shut the door again, but Marjan forced herself through.
"Sir, I need you to listen to me. An air-conditioning unit so much as clicks on in this place, and we could all die," Marjan explained.
"The overlords sent you, didn't they? To stop the resistance," Howard was spewing out nonsense. Overlords... resistance? Was he on something?
Adrienne looked around and spots a bulletin board with crazy conspiracy theories posted on it. Marjan attempts to calm him down, only to have him point a gun at them both.
"I know what you're trying to do. You wanna lure me outside, huh? So the snipers can take me out!" He shouts.
"We're not with the overlords, sir," Adrienne says.
"Get out," He says, putting a finger around the trigger.
"Okay, getting out," Adrienne and Marjan say in unison. The two quickly back away from the man.
"Get out!" He shouts.
"Getting out! Getting out!" Marjan says. Adrienne and Marjan made their way down to find Captain Strand.
"The guy just refuses to leave, sir. The guy's a total wack job, Cap," Marjan informed.
"We can't just leave him in there," Owen replied.
"Did we mention the gun?" Marjan and Adrienne questioned, following Owen as he made his way towards the apartment. They passed by TK who started following them as well.
"Dad, you're not gonna pull him out of his paranoid, irrational fantasy," TK states. An idea sparks in his mind.
"So maybe we step inside with him," Owen replied.
⁂
Adrienne and Marjan waited by the truck with the rest of the 126 crew for the Strands to return with Howard. Adrienne pushed to go up there with them, but was shut down by Judd who said she would've gotten herself shot.
"Uh, that's a big 10-4. The overlords are looking the other way, Cap," Judd said into his mic. They watched as Howard tried to back into his apartment, but was pushed back by Owen. TK walks up close to his apartment door.
"Detecting overlord vibrations. They're coming from inside the apartment," He said, "Move! Move, move, move!"
TK, Howard, and Owen run away from the apartment building just as it started to explode. Once it settles, Howard turns to Owen.
"The resistance will be forever grateful for what you did today," He said.
⁂
Estelle was babbling nonsense while in her mother's arms. Adrienne had Carlos, Marjan, and Mateo over so they could watch "Bird Box" together.
"So, they can't look outside because they'd die instantly?" Carlos questioned.
"Yep. Think of it like A Quiet Place, but instead of not being able to make sound, it's being able to see," Adrienne explained. Carlos looked at her confused.
"Oh, please tell me you've watched that movie," Marjan sighed. Carlos remained silent. Adrienne walks over to Estelle's crib she brought into the living room and placed her inside.
"You know what? We're going to have another movie night. Next week work for you guys?" Adrienne asked. The others nodded in agreement.
Marjan took control of the remote and scrolls through all the streaming channels Adrienne had on her tv.