𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥
"𝖠𝖢𝖳 𝖮𝖥 𝖦𝖮𝖣"
𝗧here was a news broadcast talking about severe weather warnings in the area of Austin, Texas. Adrienne groans knowing that tonight's shift was going to be incredibly long.
"Oh, boy, it's gonna be a long shift today," TK sighed. He passed through the kitchen where Paul was cooking food on the stove.
"That is why we are kicking things off with Paul's world-famous spicy sausage rigatoni," Paul says.
"Sausage? Really, dude?" Marjan questioned as she walked into the kitchen.
"Chill. It's turkey," Paul reassured. Adrienne was busy helping Judd set up the table.
"Hey! How spicy are we talking?" Judd asked, "'Cause my Scotch-Irish constitution rejects any and all things cayenne."
After setting down plates in front of each seat, Adrienne strides over to Paul and sticks out a hand. She was Paul's designated taste tester when it came to his cooking. Adrienne gave Paul her nod of approve after tasting the pasta and sausage.
"Hey, go take down the colors, cause we don't fly the flags in rough weather," Judd ordered, pointing at Mateo.
"Well, why me? I got the salad?" Mateo questioned.
"Cause you're the probie," The others informed him.
⁂
When they finally sat down to eat, Captain Strand finally made it downstairs into the kitchen. He inspects the pot on the stove before walking over to the table.
"Impeccable timing, Cap. You want me to fox you a plate?" Judd asked.
"Oh, no, no. I'm good," Owen replied, taking a seat at the head of the table.
"Aw, hell, no, Cap. You're not about to do my rigatoni like that. Man, it is halal, gluten-free, nitrate-free, because y'all are the hardest bunch of people to cook for," Paul complained.
"That's okay. I got a burger in the way in," Cap replied.
"You eat burgers?" Marjan asked. TK passes the salad bowl over to Adrienne.
"Seriously, I haven't seen you eat a burger since Derek Jeter retired," TK commented.
"Yeah, I passed a place, and it looked good so I went in," Owen replied.
"What place?" TK asked. It took Owen a minute to answer. Adrienne could tell he was lying.
Judd cuts in, "Addison. It's that place I told you about. King's Broiler."
"Grace says it's the best veggie burger in town. Did you do the whole, uh the lettuce bun thing?" Judd asked.
"I did. It was delicious," Owen replied.
"Thanks for the invite," TK says. Thunder cracked outside and there was a clang of metal before a loud scream.
"Help!" Mateo shouts, "Some help out here!"
The team rushes out to find Mateo clinging for life on the flag. They form a small circle around Mateo and catches him as he falls.
"You got the colors, probie?" Marjan asked. Mateo flashes the flags he had hidden in his jacket pockets. Adrienne looked up at the sky as the wind started to pick up.
"Holy crap, are those..." She says, trailing off.
"Tornadoes! Judd, you must have some experience with this," Cap says, "What's the protocol?"
"First step is OPCON 1. We don't get our asses killed so we can save everybody's ass later," Judd replied.
"You heard the man. Let's get inside," Owen shouts.
⁂
The 126 were on their first call of the night. A woman was trapped in her car sandwiched high between two buildings. Beside the baby trapped in a tree, this was the second oddest thing Adrienne has seen.
The Stricklands harnessed themselves up to drop down on the car. Mateo was with them, and worked together with Paul to lower Adrienne into the car.
"Hey there. Don't move, okay?" Adrienne instructed the woman. The woman nodded in response. Adrienne climbed carefully into the car.
"I'm Adrienne," Adrienne introduced.
"Nancy. Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere," The woman replied, "Every time I move..."
The car creaked a little before Nancy could finish talking.
"Does anything hurt, Nancy?" Adrienne asked.
"I'm okay. I'm just afraid of heights. Does insurance cover this?" Nancy replies.
"Let's just focus on holding still," Adrienne says. The car creaks even more and starts to move. Adrienne was afraid to admit that she was a little scared.
"Paul, get her out of there now," Owen's voice said over the radio.
"It's not working, Cap. I think the rope is stuck on something."
"Adrienne."
Adrienne spoke into her radio, "Tell me you have a new plan, Cap."
"I do, but you're not gonna like it. You see the rescue pad? Aim for the middle of it."
Adrienne cuts her cord as the car starts to creak even more. Nancy was panicking a little too much.
"Nancy, I need you to cross your arms. And keep 'em hugged in real tight, okay?" Adrienne instructed. She moves Nancy's arms so she could have them crossed.
"I can't," Nancy cries.
"Oh, no, you can," Adrienne reassured. Adrienne waited for Cap's signal to get the clear okay. She smashes the top windshield and pushes Nancy through. Once the coast was clear for herself, Adrienne jumped down as well.
Paul runs up and hugs his sister.
"Thank goodness you're safe," Paul sighed.
⁂
The 126 were pulled into yet another call the next morning during the aftermath of the tornado. A man's house was destroyed with his children, a son and daughter, trapped inside. Adrienne stayed behind with Owen and TK while the others set up sensors to hear the kids.
Owen instructed for their father to call out to them.
"Nico! Ada! Can you hear me?" The father shouts.
"It's Dad! Say something, please!"
The soft whimpering of a child could be heard over the radio.
"That's Ada. That's my daughter!" He shouts.
"All right, we have signs of life on the north side. I'm gonna need jaws and all the cribbing we got. Let's go, people!" Owen shouted.
Adrienne, TK, and Owen made their way to where the rest of the crew were. Paul stops him before he could come any closer.
"We are this close to a secondary collapse," Paul informed. Owen paused for a bit, then turns to his son.
"TK, give me the use of your helmet," He says.
"What? Why?" TK questioned.
"I'm gonna go in," He replied.
"Dad. No, you're not. You're the Captain," TK says.
"Exactly."
⁂
The 126, minus Owen, stood by the truck watching Captain Strand on a monitor. The entire team could hear him coughing. TK was close to rushing in after his father, only to be stopped by Judd.
"TK, where am I going here?" Owen asked.
"Resevoir Dogs poster was in the dining room. The kids are in the bathroom, to the right," The children's father says.
"Ray says the kids should be in a room to the southwest," TK says into a mic. Just seconds later, after Owen finds the kids, the house creaks and comes crashing down. The signal shuts off moments later. TK calls out for his father through his mic, but received no response.
"Dad!" TK shouts. There was another moment of silence.
"It's okay. Nobody's hurt. We're coming out to you," He finally replied. TK lets out a sigh of relief.
Once Owen and the kids were safely out, TK rushes to his father and engulfs him in a hug. Ray, the children's father, walks over to Owen.
"Thank you guys so much. Captain Strand, I can't tell you—."
Ray suddenly collapses, and his eyes shut on impact with the ground. Owen calls over Captain Blake for assistance.
"He was trapped under the house before we got here," Owen says.
"Sir, can you hear me? Oh, man, blunt trauma. It feels like his spleen's ruptured, maybe his kidney's too," Michelle explained. It was too late for an attempt to save Ray... he was dead as soon as he hit the ground. The kids try to run to their father, but Adrienne pushes them back.
"Come on, to the truck," Adrienne instructed.
⁂
Adrienne called Grace to inform her that she would be in her way to pick up Estelle. After the incident with Ray and his kids... Adrienne didn't know how to feel. What if she was in his shoes and she died? Who would take care of Estelle if she's gone?
She was miles away from her mother, so she wouldn't be an option. Paul has his own life to live, and Adrienne didn't want to put raising a whole child on his list of things to do.
Adrienne soon arrived at the Ryder residence. It took Grace a minute to answer the door.
"Come in, Adri. Estelle's in her crib and I just made us some tea," Grace says, moving out of the way so Adrienne could enter. Grace hands Adrienne a cup and pours in tea from a kettle. Adrienne had an uneasy look on her face.
"You okay?" Grace asks.
"What? Yeah, I'm good," Adrienne replied. She kept her eyes set on Estelle.
"Judd told me about the call earlier. He mentioned how he saw you dealing with those kids," Grace says, "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Everyday when I'm on calls, I think to myself... am I going home to my daughter? If I die, who's going to look after Ellie?" Adrienne says. She kept her eyes on her daughter.
"You're daughter's loved, Adrienne," Grace explains, "And you thinking about her every single time you're out there is proof that you'll make it."
Estelle stirred in her crib and soon started to cry. Adrienne puts her cup down on a table and walks over to grab Estelle from her crib. Estelle calmed down as soon as she made contact with her mother.
"It's clear that Estelle missed you," Grace continued. Adrienne looked at her daughter who was now asleep in her arms.
"You just know what to say at the right time, huh?"
"You know I do."