by Jamie Davis
Bill and Lynne were still technically on duty, and they were wrapping up their daily paperwork at the computers on the other side of the room. As Freddy shambled away, it left the two couples alone to talk together. There was an awkward silence. It was broken by James who looked at Dean and raised his glass of wine.
“I suppose, based on Ashley’s announcement of your relationship status, that I should welcome you to the club,” James said.
“The club?” Dean asked.
“There aren’t that many human-Unusual relationships out there,” James clarified. “We tend to keep to ourselves, or only have transient interactions with the humans around us. Ashley’s choice of you says something about you that I did not know before.”
“And what is that?” Dean asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
“That there is more to you than meets the eye, is all,” James said. “The Eldara are very discerning in their interactions with humans. If she chooses to associate herself so closely with you after all these years of living here in Elk City, I’m inclined to offer you a level of trust that I wouldn’t ordinarily give.” He held up a hand, palm forward. “I know we have not gotten along well in the past, but I’d like to offer a chance to start over fresh for both of us, if you’ll take it.”
“Okay,” Dean said, not sure where this was headed. “I guess we can do that.” He looked around meeting Brynne’s eyes, then looking at Ashely, who nodded. Dean reached out and took the cool hand in his again, and shook it firmly.
“Good,” Ashley announced to the two of them. “This had to happen, but it had to come from the two of you, without interference. There is something coming, a significant event that will require you two to work together. It’s important that you develop an understanding with each other.”
Brynne looked at Ashley in alarm. “What do you mean ‘something is coming?’ That sounds ominous, Ashley.”
“I don’t know, yet,” Ashley said. “It’s only a feeling right now. Kind of like an itch between your shoulder blades, where you can’t reach it. All I know is that Dean’s involved, integral to it. Tonight’s interaction confirmed that somehow he and James need to get together at some point to solve a problem.”
“Ah, typical Eldara cryptic pronouncements,” James said. “Just once, could you Eldara give us the information up front so we know what we’re supposed to do?”
“That interferes with free will, James,” She said.
“What’s free will got to do with it?” Brynne said. “If something is coming, that sounds like a prophecy of some sort. Doesn’t that mean that it’s already spelled out?”
“Free will is everything, Brynne,” the Eldara Sister explained. “Without it, the earthly creatures would just be pawns of the Gods. Toys with no true direction of their own. It all comes down to choice. The Gods might direct an action be taken, even urge it, coerce it in some way but the choice to act or respond in a certain way always lies in the individual. That is the basis of free will.”
“I can offer direction based on what is revealed to me,” Ashley continued. “But, the decision to do something with that direction or inspiration is still up to you. You have to decide what is the right thing to do.” The last sentence she seemed to direct at both James and Dean. “That is why it was important that the two of you get past the animosity you bear towards each other, or at least start to do so. I don’t know why, yet. I only know that it was an important step in the right direction to solving a future challenge. Free will means that you had to arrive at that choice to overcome your differences on your own, which you did, so it’s all good for now.”
“Well a brief handshake doesn’t make James and me instant friends,” Dean said looking at the vampire, who nodded in agreement.
“You don’t have to be friends, gentlemen,” Brynne said. “Ashley means that you have to get along and respect each other when you’re together. Be polite, at least. Right?”
“Exactly,” Ashley said. “The friendship will come later, I think.”
Dean wasn’t sure about that last statement, but he was willing to rethink his notions about James if that was what Ashley wanted. There were things about him he didn’t like, and he still didn’t trust him much, but Ashely and Brynne seemed to trust him. That would have to be enough for now, he supposed.
Freddy broke the tension of the moment announcing that dinner was served. The zombie chef had laid out all the items for dinner on the counter next to the stove so they could dish up their food buffet style. He stepped back to make room for his hungry friends. Dean and Ashley headed over instantly, Dean letting Ashley go first while he looked over the spread. There were fresh bread sticks, and the pasta was tossed with what looked like more scallops, shrimp, and fresh lump crabmeat in a creamy white sauce. There were also salad greens and a homemade vinaigrette.
“Freddy,” Dean said, taking it all in. “You’ve outdone yourself again.”
“Thank you, Dean,” Freddy rasped in response. “It always feels good to cook again, and you guys are the only ones who will eat my food.”
Bill came over to get in line behind Dean. “I’ll keep eating it as long as we do a check to make sure you’re not missing any fingers or a random ear or something.”
They all laughed at that as Freddy bowed at the comment. “Everything is accounted for paramedic Bill. I checked.”
Things quieted down, and everyone made small talk while they ate, or in James’ case, drank. Dean focused on eating his fill since he and Brynne were on shift soon. The rest of them could take their time. It was as good as it looked and smelled. He listened to Ashley share some humorous nursing stories from the ER as everyone laughed along. He watched her closely, from where he sat next to her. He’d had girlfriends before. This felt different, though. It was closer somehow. It was intimate already, even though they hadn’t slept together yet, well at least not that way. She offered him support in a way that he couldn’t define. She had come to his rescue twice now when he had needed it. Oh yeah, and she was freaking hot. He smiled to himself, and she looked his way and winked as if she knew what he was thinking. Maybe she did. He decided he didn’t care all that much. Maybe he was joining a new sort of club after all, as James had said.
The cleanup from these meals traditionally fell to the crew coming on shift, and that meant Dean and Brynne, so as everyone was finishing up, they started gathering up the leftovers and putting them in containers so that people could take some home. Freddy had made enough for an army, and there was plenty for all of them to take home a meal for the next day. It was getting close to six, and Bill and Lynne were packing up their gear. Bill offered to give Freddy a ride home, and they all headed out to the parking lot, James walking very quickly to his car and getting behind the tinted windows in the weak evening light of sunset. As old as he was, more than a millennium, James was able to stand short periods of sunlight, if only for a few minutes, though it was painful. Brynne followed him over to his Lexus and leaned in at the driver’s window to say goodbye.
Dean walked Ashley out to her car as well. She threw her arms around him and planted a solid kiss on his lips. “I’m proud of you, Dean,” She said. “I know it was hard for you to make peace with James.” The softness of her lips on his lingered in his mind as she pulled away and climbed into her little classic sports car. “Can I see you after work? I’ll bring something for breakfast by your apartment.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Dean said. He wanted to see her alone again. He longed for another opportunity to be close to her.
“Great, I’ll see you tomorrow and maybe tonight if you bring any patients in to see us in the ER.” She started her car and backed out of her spot, driving off with a wave of one hand above the convertible’s windshield.
Freddy came out then with Bill. Dean thanked the chef again for his excellent meal. The older paramedic helped the fragile zombie open the door to his SUV and climb inside. Dean watched as they pulled away from the station, and then he went back ins
ide. Brynne followed close behind him. Neither of them saw the black SUV pull out from the street and follow Bill’s Ford out of the industrial park.
CHAPTER TEN
Dean and Brynne had a slow start to the shift. That was good since they had the clean up to do from Freddy’s dinner. Afterward, they spent an hour or so doing the regular start-of-shift chores before settling in for the night in the squad room. Brynne was scrolling through her email across the room at her desk, and Dean sat on the couch reading a book on mythological creatures when his phone chirped. He glanced at the screen and saw a number he didn’t recognize. Whoever it was had sent him a text. He opened the phone screen with a swipe of his thumb and froze.
“Your zombie friend pays the price for your failure to join us. The Cause.”
He was about to go over and show Brynne the message when the alert tones sounded on the overhead speaker. It was followed by the voice of the Dispatcher.
“U-One-Nine-One, respond with the fire department for working house trailer fire. Bystanders report residents trapped inside.”
“That’s not good,” Brynne said getting up and heading to the ambulance bay, she grabbed the printout as it came out of the printer on the way to the ambulance. “Hey, this looks like it’s near Freddy’s place in the Barrens.”
“I was afraid of that,” Dean said coming over to meet her at the door. He showed his phone screen.
She read the screen. “Shit,” She cursed. “Let’s get over there.”
A minute later they were rolling out of the industrial park, headed toward the Barrens, the trailer park on the outskirts of town inhabited by many Unusuals, including their friend Freddy. The diesel engine whined as Brynne pushed it to it’s limits on the nighttime city streets. The lights were flashing, and the sirens were blaring from the roof of the ambulance cab to signal their passing. They listened to the radio as the first fire engine arrived on the scene to report the trailer was fully involved. In other words, it was engulfed in flames. The two paramedics looked at each other. If anyone were inside, there would be no rescue at that point. They knew the firefighters would just contain the blaze, keeping it from spreading to neighboring structures, fighting the fire from the outside.
Within ten minutes, they were approaching the area of the trailer park and could see the glow of the fire on the horizon in the darkness. The vents in the ambulance cab transmitted the smell of the smoke as they approached the scene. The flames leaped twenty to thirty feet in the air over the trailer. The fire had burned through the roof and could be seen in the broken windows and through the remains of the front doorway. Firefighters were surrounding the burning structure, using their firehoses and streams of water to control the blaze. Dean checked in with the fire officer in charge over the radio to alert them that the ambulance had arrived.
“Received, One-Nine-One,” The incident commander responded on the radio. “Stage away from fire ground. No survivors reported at this point.”
“Understood,” Dean said grimly. “U-One-Nine-One on location, staging.” He looked at Brynne as she put the gear lever in park leaving the ambulance about one hundred yards away from where the firefighting operations were taking place. “What do we do?”
“We get out and set up in case any firefighters need assistance, since we’re the only ambulance here,” She said. “We don’t know that Freddy was inside, and I’ll keep hoping until they find his body.”
Dean looked around and saw a familiar white van parked off to one side under some trees, also away from the action. “Hey, isn’t that Gibbie’s new van?”
“It might be,” Brynne said. “I wonder if he knows anything about what’s going on?” She looked at Dean. “Let’s check. Grab the portable radio. I’ll get the flashlights out of the utility compartment.”
The two paramedics got out of their ambulance and headed over to the white van. There was no one inside it, but it did look like it was Gibbie’s van. They walked around it and shined their flashlights in the windows. It was empty.
“You don’t think he went in and tried to save Freddy on his own, do you?” Dean asked.
“I sure hope not,” Brynne said looking at the fire engulfed trailer. A noise from the trees behind them caused them both to spin around and shine their lights into the darkness. A white-clad figure darted behind a tree there.
Brynne stepped forward, shining her light at the ground near her feet instead of into the trees. “Hello? We’re here to help out,” She said. “Do you know what happened to the man who was driving this van?”
A small voice came from the tree as they approached. A face peeked around the trunk. “Paramedic Brynne Garvey, is that you?” Dean recognized her. It was Anuja, the Fairy girl they met when her sister was struck by a car a week ago.
“Brynne, it’s…” Dean whispered.
“I see her,” Brynne said to her partner as she turned to answer the girl in the woods. “It’s me, Anuja,” Brynne said in a calm voice. “Do you know where the man from this van is?”
The girl stepped from behind the tree and pointed to a spot in the woods. “He was injured trying to get into the zombie’s trailer. I remembered he helped my sister, and I got some friends and we carried him to the woods away from the fire.”
“Show us,” Brynne said. “Dean, get the basic bag, oxygen and burn kit. I’ll shine the flashlight back toward you so you can follow the beam to me.”
“Got it,” Dean said. “Be careful.” Brynne headed off as Dean turned to get the gear from the ambulance. He loaded up with the bags and came back to the edge of the woods. He saw the light of his partner’s flashlight about twenty yards into the trees. He hurried over to where she knelt on the grass next to a large tree. Leaning up against the trunk, moaning in pain was Gibbie. His hands were severely burned, and he held them out in front of him while Brynne assessed them.
“I tried to get him, Brynne,” Gibbie cried. “I know he was your friend. I heard the call of a fire and when I got here, I tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge. I could hear him yelling inside, but I couldn’t get him.”
“The men who set the fire nailed the door shut,” Anuja said. “We were playing nearby in the woods when we heard shouts and banging. Two men held the door to the trailer closed while another hammered nails into it. Then they lit a bottle of something on fire and tossed it through a window. I used my cell phone to call the fire department, but they took so long to get here. The vampire arrived first and tried to enter.”
Dean noticed other white-clad forms in the trees around them. They must be Anuja’s friends. “You and your friends did the right thing helping Gibbie out and finding us, Anuja.”
“Gibbie, I’m going to pour some sterile water over your hands to cool them down. They are still warm from the burns,” Brynne said. Dean got out the liter bottle of sterile water from the burn kit, handed it to Brynne and then started opening some gauze and rolled bandages. He watched as Brynne poured the water over the vampire’s burned and tattered hands. They still had smoke rising from them in places until she poured the water over them. She used some of the gauze pads he handed to her to pat his hands dry and then some others to cover the burns, wrapping the gauze-covered wounds with the rolled bandages.
“Gibbie,” Dean said. “I’m going to give you something for your pain. It’s only a little morphine, but it should take the edge off of it.”
“Dean, it was awful,” Gibbie said, tears in his eyes, “I tried to help him. I could hear him yelling inside, and I tried as hard as I could.”
“I know you did,” Dean said. “Sometimes in our line of work you do your best, but it’s just not enough. It is not your fault; it’s just the way it is.”
Dean opted to give the first injection in Gibbie’s shoulder. They could start an IV once they got him back to the ambulance and on the way to the Burn Center. While Dean did that, Brynne keyed the mic on her shoulder from the portable radio.
“Ambulance U-One-Nine-One to command, we have a patient with bu
rns to his hands here. We are going to treat and transport.”
“Received One-Nine-One,” The fire incident commander said. “Do you need any manpower assistance over there?”
“Negative on manpower,” Brynne replied. “We will be able to transport on our own.”
She released the mic where it was clipped on her lapel. “Gibbie, can you stand on your own? Do you have any injuries other than to your hands?”
“I can stand up,” Gibbie said with a groan. “It’s just my hands.” The vampire started to stand and swayed on his feet.
“Whoa,” Dean said. “Take it easy. Let us help you.” He gripped the portly vampire under the arms and lifted with Brynne on the other side, steadying him. Gibbie stood up straight and stayed still for a moment, swaying a little in the arms of the two paramedics, then he steadied himself. He was wearing his uniform outfit they had first seen the other night when they encountered him on the roadside with Anuja’s sister, Jamilla.
“Dean, can you handle getting Gibbie back to the ambulance?” Brynne asked. “I want to talk to Anuja and her friends, and I think they’ll react better to just me.”
“Sure, Brynne,” Dean said. “I’ve got this.” He pulled one of Gibbie’s arms gently across his shoulders, careful of the bandaged hands. The two of them started back towards the ambulance parked about 50 yards away.
Dean had Gibbie settled in the stretcher in the back of the ambulance and an IV started by the time Brynne came back to the unit. He was able to get some more morphine on board before Brynne opened the rear doors to check on them.
“I’m good here, Brynne,” Dean said. “You can start on the road to the ECMC Burn Center.”
“Got it,” Brynne said closing the doors on the back of the unit. Dean heard her climb into the front seat and report them as en route to the hospital before she pulled away from the orange-lit fire scene. The flames were lower now that the firefighters had arrived and started to knock down the fire. Dean watched that glow recede into the distance as the ambulance sped off into the night. He turned his attention to his patient. Gibbie was just staring out the back of the ambulance. He was clearly upset, but Dean thought he was lucky to be alive. If the flames were that bad when he arrived at the trailer, he could have become trapped inside trying to rescue Freddy if the door had not been nailed shut. It was ironic that the efficiency of the members of the Cause, (that had to be who was responsible) kept them from catching and killing two Unusuals instead of just one. He still couldn’t believe that Freddy was dead.
