Part One - Welcome to hell, population you!

Finally, after months of classes, tests, practical hours, state exams and board questions he made it. Hector Gonzales, Firefighter can now save lives as a paramedic. "Holy shit I must be dreaming!" he thought this to himself as he is exiting the freeway. It is a beautiful late fall morning in southern California. A rare clear day where the jagged crests of the mountain sides and hills can be seen in great detail without the brown sack cloth of smog hindering the fantastic view. A gentle cool breeze blows and Hector has his windows down. He is slowly cruising to his assigned station. Hector Gonzales is a firefighter with the city of North Beach. North Beach is a medium sized city, about 43 square miles. This city is a mixed bag of topography, from gentle rolling hills to the west, beach to the east, and flat land in the middle. Its citizens and businesses are also a mixed bag, encompassing everything from extremely expensive beach side condos, nice middle class neighborhoods, nice lower class neighborhoods, to neighborhoods that better resemble battlefields. North Beach boasts a major league baseball team and a wide range of businesses. The North Beach Fire Department is tasked with providing fire, medical and emergency services to the citizens from ten fire station scattered through the city. Hector is a sworn protector for the citizens of North Beach. He is now tasked with not only being a firefighter, but a paramedic as well. The sheer thought of this makes Hector a very giddy soul. He hums along to an old El Chicano tape. Even though he's twenty nine, he has a deep love for older music. He is cruising down North Beach Avenue headed to the downtown area. Hector is currently assigned to station one, a two story older station that still boasts a pole. Station one is the second busiest station in the city, serving a residential and industrial area. A couple of mid-rise offices finish off the area. Hector's 1973 Cadillac bumps across some railroad tracks and sees the station approaching in view. In front of the station there is a traffic light. It warns motorists of fire apparatus leaving the station en route to an emergency. A red sign reading "Fire Station" hangs from the signals arm, swaying in the wind. The light turns from green to yellow. Hector stops his vehicle and watches the light turn red. He turns his attention to the closed door that covers the entrance to the apparatus bay. Hector says to himself, "Oh those C-shift bastards caught themselves a call at shift change. Sucks to be them!" The door slowly rolls open, and he sees feet scurrying to the middle. The door is fully open and he sees two men dressing in turnout gear. The early morning sun shines a dark orange hue on the two men on the right side of the truck. They place their armor of space age fabrics covered in reflective material, soot and water stains on their bodies. Hector can almost smell the smokey, mildew aroma turnout gear picks up after use. Its a smell that will ring true through your mind, he thought. "God, its good to be back! What the hell is takin' Engine Twenty One so long to go out the door?" he said to himself. Both men are now encapsulated in a warm, safe bubble inside the engine. The truck shakes after their door slams. Another man runs to the left side of the engine, climbs in, and slams the door. The truck shakes to life and the purr of a powerful diesel engine can now be heard. The warning lights come on, casting a powerful and commanding flashing light show that draws attention to the urgency of their travels. Red, clear, and yellow light cast shadows and awkward dances on all surfaces. The release of air brakes, the louder hum of acceleration brings Engine Twenty One into full view. Hector decides to give the men of responding engine a gift that only he could give. Hector honks his horn twice, throws his arm out the window, and presents the best one finger salute he can give. All three men of Engine Twenty One turn their attention to Hector's vehicle and observe his kind gesture. The men immediately recognize his vehicle and start to laugh. As engine Twenty One comes to a rolling stop, the air horn blasts two short blasts. The captain decides to return Hectors favor with a salute of his own, and the man in the rear seat sticks his head out of the window that has been rolled down and screams, "Welcome back asshole! WOOOOOOO!" Engine Twenty One turns left to head down the street, with the mechanical siren winding up and screaming. Hector sees the engine gaining speed as it heads to yet another emergency. The light turns green, Hector bangs a left at the next intersection, pulls into the back of the station and parks his prized possession.

"Ah, home sweet home!", Hector says to himself as he walks toward the rear apparatus doors of the station. All three are open. Three pieces of apparatus are assigned to station one; Engine One is the paramedic unit and first response engine. Engine Twenty One is the secondary engine, providing an extra manpower resource in the battalion. Engine Twenty One responds to nuisance fires in their response area to help keep Engine One free for medical responses. They also respond to most fires outside of their response area to keep more paramedic engines free. Truck One is the ladder truck assigned to this station and rounds out the equipment assigned. To the right of the apparatus bays are the lockers that store turnout gear for all the crews assigned. Another room contains extra oxygen bottles for medical responses and SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus) equipment. Hector walks to the stairway, but gets stopped by a voice. "Gonzo!" He turns and is greeted by Battalion Chief Semonell. He is assigned as a battalion chief to the first battalion on A-Shift. He is the shift supervisor for his battalion and oversees five stations. Battalion two covers the other five stations in North Beach. Hector sticks his hand out to shake his. "Chief! Good to see you! Its been way too long!" Chief Semonell greets his. "It certainly has! Congratulations on passing paramedic school. I was stupid and let my certification pass. Well, after supervising you animals I certainly have lost zest for the human spirit and gave up long ago!" Both share a laugh over this. Chief Semonell is known for being a real down to earth chief and is known for standing behind his men. He hasn't forgotten where he came from at all. He continues, "Anyway, I do need to speak with you and the captain. Go get yourself changed and get yourself a cup of coffee. Ill see ya in twenty. Go say hi to all those miserable pricks that missed you!" Hector lets out a belly laugh and says, " You got it chief! You and the cap still like you coffee like your women, black and strong right?" Chief Semonell halfway up the stairs lets out a laugh an says, "Oh you know it son!" Hector shakes his head and heads to the upstairs locker room. He decides to ham it up a little and jump into full uniform. He puts it on and heads to the kitchen. Shift change is in progress so the kitchen if full of people. As soon as he walks into the kitchen, the whole A Shift and a couple of C shift stragglers sans captains greet him with a rising "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Hector gets buried in hugs, glad handing and a ridiculous amounts of questions. Hector answers them all. "Its good to be back guys! The crew is back and in full swing bitches! Its on!" Everyone starts to laugh. "Ill be back guys, I have to have a chat with the big dogs" One of the A shift engineers, Steve Andrews decides to rib him. "Now remember, tickle the ball bag, don't get carried away with the shaft stroke and for god sakes, no teeth!" Hector again executes a great one finger salute to him as he walks to the kitchen to get some coffee. "Eat a dick Andrews, save your energy for that poor excuse for an engine you drive!" Hector walks down the hallway, past the tv room and the library, being careful not to spill a drop of some precious coffee. He comes to a door labeled "Captains Office". He taps the door with his foot. The door swings open and he is greeted by the battalion chief. All three captains for A shift are there. The captains are the commanding officers for each piece of equipment. They also share duty with managerial tasks around the station. Captain Shoebocker, the captain for Engine One greets him first. "Welcome back Gonzo. Fuck, we've missed your sorry ass! How was medic school?" Hector responds, "A royal pain in the ass!" Hector turns to greet Captain Riddick of Engine Twenty One and Captain Sanchez of Truck One. "Where did Engine Twenty One go?" Hector asked. "Oh that. Don't worry about those little guys. Those unfortunate bastards got a call on their side of shift change. They're dealing with a truck fire on the I-5 freeway. They should be back in time for lunch! Fuckin' C Shift strikes again!", states Captain Riddick with a chuckle. "C shift so bites!" states Captain Sanchez. "Well Gonzo, the chief and I have a bit of news for you. For god's sake, your gonna want to sit down for this!" says Captain Shoebocker with an evil grin. "Oh Sheeet el capitan! Am I in trouble essay?" says Hector as he throws on his best speedy gonzales accent. "Knock that shit off! Lets be serious, take a seat" says Captain Shoebocker. Hector sits down and faces both the captain and the chief. Chief Semonell speaks first. "First off, lemme tell you I fought tooth and nail over this with Division Chief Mazur. He says there is nothing that can be done." Hector looks at both his captain and chief in suspicion. Chief Semonell continues, "There was a mix up when it came to assignments. I know you put in to come back to Engine One. Firefighter Grady from station nine put in for your seat as well. I hate to say it, but your seat is lost. I tried to keep you in the battalion, but there is nothing open". The captain and the chief can both see heartbreak written all over his face. "Well, Grady has seven more months than you, so this is why it is a done deal, I'm really sorry Gonzo." says the chief. He pats him on the back and Captain Shoebocker continues where the chief left off. "Well your being assigned to the second battalion starting now. You will be taking a seat on Engine Six. They have two other senior paramedics and a rookie. You'll learn a lot there. But, I have pity on your soul my son!" Hector gives everyone in the room a puzzled look. "The hell are you talking about cap'? Ive heard stories but Ive never been that way." Everyone in the room chuckles. "Hey holmes, have you ever seen that movie, Event Horizon? The one with the fold in the universe which is like hell?" asked Captain Sanchez. Hector shakes his head in agreement with a very sad, lonesome look on his face. "That sums up station six! Welcome to hell, population you homeboooouuuaaayyy!" screams Captain Riddick. "Chin up mate! It wont be all that bad. Captain Presley is on Engine Six. I went to academy with him. Great guy and a great medic. Hes been a medic for nineteen years, so he knows his shit backward and forward. Their engineer is the biggest, hairiest son of a bitch you'll ever meet. They're hysterical. You'll fit in fine. Get your gear and be gone, they're waiting for you!" states Chief Semonell. A series of beeps can be heard over the intercom speakers in the office. All the men stop what they are doing to listen up. The speakers crackle to life:

"North Beach Truck One ... Assist North Beach Engine Twenty One on a vehicle fire ... Southbound I-5 freeway, one mile south of the North Beach Avenue on ramp ... District 1021 x-ray... North Beach Truck One respond on two foxtrot ..."

Another series of beeps are heard. "Motherfucker! Those sweaty bitches! They did that shit on purpose!" screams Captain Sanchez as he gets up to head out of the room. His desk chair slams against his desk, almost to mimic the disgust for the captain. He stops to shake Hectors hand. "Hasta luego papito!" He leaves the room and screams as he heads to the pole, "C Shift fuckin' bites!" A round of laughter and applause can be heard from the kitchen. Captain Riddick gets up, slaps Hector on the back, and heads to the kitchen. Captain Riddick is a man of few words, but his sentiment means a lot to Hector. Captain Shoebocker gets up to shake Hector's hand. "It was a great pleasure having you aboard. Good luck and send Presley my regards!" Hector shakes his hand and retorts "It was a pleasure Shoey! Fuck with Graves for me!" Captain Shoebocker strikes an evil grin on his face and says, "Oh don't worry. That Angels baseball lovin' freak has it coming. Im filling his locker full of Dodgers baseballs! What an asshole!" Everyone shares a laugh and Hector locks hands with Chief Semonell. "Good luck Gonzo, stay safe and for god sakes, tell Presley to at least take a promotion! I miss that man!" Hector laughs and responds, "I will sir. Check ya'll on the flip side!" Hector walks out of the room, down the hall and into the kitchen. The other men of A Shift look up at him and see his expression. The all say in unison, "Where are they sending you?" Hector looks at the ground for a second, then back up at the guys and says softly, "Six, on the engine." The room fills with obscene guffaws, bronx cheers, a few threats on Division Chief Mazur's life and another reference to the movie Event Horizon. He glad hands and hugs all his crew members, which is loud enough to drown out the piercing scream of the electric siren from Truck One departing the station. He gathers his items from his locker, heads downstairs into the parking lot. Hector places his items in his car, turns and heads back into the apparatus bay to get his turnouts. He stops to glance at Engine One. Engine One is a brand new engine with less than 500 miles on it, and barely 30 hours on the pump. He places his hand on a length of five inch supply hose that hangs a little off the the hose bed in back of the engine. "Fuck!" he screams, and heads back to his car. "This is fuckin' bullshit!' he mutters to himself as he places his turnouts in the trunk of his car. He carefully closes the trunk. He just got his baby painted, why take out his anger on his true love. He sits in the car, searches for a CD to place in the radio. Hell Awaits by Slayer is in his hand. How appropriate he thought. He slides the CD in, turns up his radio as loud as it goes and the introduction to "Hell Awaits" blares through the speakers. He stares at his steering wheel and mutters, "Welcome to hell, population you ..." He throws it in gear and heads toward the south end of North Beach.

















[Author's Note - Yea, it may seem a bit juvenile but this is the way things are in the fire service. Lots of bad language, teasing, jokes, and pranks. This is the way decompression from stress and tragedy takes place. I do warn you, this series will have some salty language and some savory characters. Don't worry, the action is coming soon!]