COUNT DOWN!
The concrete wailed, screaming as it fell. A booming roar shook the walls and filled the night. The endless noise penetrated the bones, burning into the soul. Chet Kelly realized he now knew what the end of the world would sound like—its noise would fill his dreams. The silence following the collapse was deafening.
Chet lay in the darkness listening to his body with the smell of smoke, leather and dust filling his nostrils. He was face down on something yielding and rough. The surface beneath his face shifted. He realized his face was buried in Gage’s turnout. Cautiously, he lifted his head.
Dust shifted through the beam of Chet’s fallen flashlight and a thick layer of gray grit covered everything. In the gloom, the blanket of debris in front of his face moved, lifting upwards. Beneath the dust caked brim of his helmet appeared Johnny’s face. Blinking at the powder falling on his cheeks, Gage stared upwards into the darkness and studied the overlaying wreckage that was trapping them in the pit at the bottom of the elevator shaft.
"You Okay?" asked Chet, rising carefully to his knees. Johnny nodded. "Gage, you are a disaster magnet!" accused Kelly. Chet stood up, removed his helmet, and grabbed his flashlight. He dusted his knees as he walked over to the opposite wall. Shining the light up into the darkness, he saw nothing but debris. He dropped his arm down to his side and laid his head against the wall. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, dropping his helmet to the dusty ground. Johnny sat up, set his helmet next to him, and ran his hand through his hair. He dropped his hands to his dusty thighs, creating a plume of dust.
"Is that what you really think?" Hurt resounded in his voice.
"No," Chet responded, "I’m aggravated at the situation, that’s all."
"I didn’t do this on purpose, you know!" Johnny stated. "It’s not my fault. You happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Chet’s mouth dropped open, and he turned the flashlight beam on the seated man.
"What?" Chet asked, astonished.
"If you hadn’t stepped back, I wouldn’t have had to grab you now, would I?"
"Oh, so now this is my fault?" Chet stepped over to him, shining the light into his face.
"Well…," Johnny started.
"Well, nothing Gage. If you hadn’t barged in like a bull in a china shop I wouldn’t have had to step back."
"Get that light out of my eyes!" Johnny demanded, swatting at the flashlight. He stood up, dusted off, put his hands on his hips and looked up into the darkness. "So, how are we going to get out of this, Chester B.?"
"You got us down here, now you get us out!" Chet informed Johnny, folding his arms. Johnny turned. He vaguely saw Chet’s outline in the dark, the flashlight shining off into the corner.
"I can’t believe you," Johnny stated.
"What? You can’t believe me? I can’t believe you! You’re the one who’s always getting hurt!" Chet replied. "Or falling into elevator shafts." He replied, as an after thought.
"Excuse me!?" Johnny questioned, stepping forward.
"You’ve got bad karma, that’s all."
"Where did that come from?" Johnny asked.
"What goes around, comes around."
"What have you been reading?"
"Nothing," Chet tried to change the subject quickly.
"You’ve been reading something, what is it?"
"It’s none of your business!" Chet told him, turning his back on the taller man.
Johnny saw he was getting nowhere fast. If they were going to have to be down here for any length of time, they were going to have to get along. He squatted down, sitting cross-legged on the ground. He put his hands in his lap, and listened to the noises of the elevator shaft. He could hear the plaster and cement, falling like little pebbles rolling down the walls of the shaft. Their breathing was almost in a synchronous pattern. That’s odd, he thought, we never do anything together. He smiled, keeping that to himself. The leather turnout gear creaked with every move they made. Chet had begun to pace the small area, and his turnout trousers were making a swishing noise where his legs rubbed together. There was a squishing sound coming from Chet’s boots, and he wondered how does he get water in there?
"Is there anything you want to talk about, Chet?" he asked to break the silence.
"Not with you," Chet answered, staring up into the darkness. He turned off his flashlight to conserve the batteries. Taking a deep breath, he sighed and slid down the shaft wall, resting his arms on his knees. Both men’s eyes were starting to adjust, and they could see each other from where they sat in the darkness. The silence permeated the air between them. They looked at each other.
"Why do you do it?" Johnny finally asked.
"Do what?" Chet questioned back.
"Why do you antagonize me?" Johnny queried. "I’ve never done anything to provoke you in any way, shape, or form, that I know of, so why do you do it?" Chet looked down at his lap.
"If you tell Mike or Marco this, I will deny it, and then you will pay."
"My lips are sealed," Johnny responded.
"You know my sister. She’s the only sibling that I ever had. We were, and still are, best friends, but I never had," he paused a moment before going on, "a little brother to pick on." Johnny sat up straight.
"You think of me as your little brother?" he couldn’t believe his ears.
"I swear, if anyone else finds this out, you will need a paramedic."
"Are you kidding? I wouldn’t want anyone to know that you think of me as your ‘little brother’. Can you imagine what the annual picnics would be like if the fellas heard about this?"
"Please, I don’t want to think about it," Chet commented, shivers running up and down his spine.
"Wow," was all Johnny could think to say, "I’m really honored, Chet, that you would think of me as being part of your family."
"Now, wait, that’s not what I said," Chet replied.
"Wouldn’t a little brother be part of your family?" Johnny asked.
"Sure, but…," Chet stuttered. Oh no, what have I done? He thought. "I really shouldn’t have said anything," he told Johnny flatly.
"That’s okay," Johnny smiled through the darkness, his white teeth almost glowing, "I really am honored that you think of me like that."
"Well, don’t let it go to your head, Gage," Chet instructed him.
"Are you kidding? This isn’t going to my head, this is going to my heart, Chester B. I really don’t know what to say."
"Don’t say anything, okay? Its bad enough I have to worry about you when you get hurt. I don’t want to have to explain myself to the whole department," Chet commented.
"You really worry about me?" Johnny asked, not really believing his ears.
"Yes, Johnny, I worry about you," Chet replied, "I don’t know why I do, but I do."
"Do you worry more than Roy?" Johnny saw Chet shake his head no in the darkness.
"Can’t we talk about something else?" Chet wanted desperately to get the conversation off of him. "The really scary thing is…," Chet continued, softly, "I don’t know what I would do if you ever …," he didn’t say what he was thinking.
"Died?" Johnny finished for him. Johnny saw his head nod. "You don’t ever have to worry about that, Chester B," he remarked, trying to lighten the mood a little, "I could never leave the single women of Los Angeles to you. They would be so love starved I’d have to come back from the dead just to make them happy," he smiled at him. Chet smiled back and started to snicker.
"Only in your dreams, Gage," Chet commented, his voice went soft. "I always know you’ll be there for me," Chet whispered into the darkness. "I know that I can depend on you."
"I’ll always be there for you, Chet. Just like I know you’ll always be there for me," Johnny replied. The silence returned. Both men looked at their laps, a little uncomfortable with the open conversation. Johnny took a deep breath and looked up again. "So, when do you think they’ll come looking for us?"
"I don’t know. I hope it’s soon, this conversation is getting boring."
"Sorry, I wasn’t the one who matched us up."
"Yeah, why did Cap do that to me?"
"To you? What about me? I’d much rather be up there than down here." Johnny paused, thinking. "I knew this was going to be a bad day," Johnny remarked, dryly.
"JOHNNY! CHET!" Roy’s voice filtered through the debris covering the shaft. Chet and Johnny both stood up, dusted off, and yelled back.
"Yeah, we’re here," they both looked at each other, surprised by their joint response.
"Hey Cap, I found ‘em!" Roy’s voice sounded relieved. "You two okay? No injuries, down there, I hope."
"No, we’re both fine. When are you guys going to get us out of here?" Johnny answered back. There was a long pause. The two men turned as one, to look at each other when there was no response from Roy. "Roy?" Johnny yelled. They looked up at the darkness.
"Just a second, guys," Roy yelled back.
"I wonder what’s going on." Johnny looked over at Chet with a worried expression playing across his face.
"Not to worry. Cap’ll know what to do." Chet commented, not to confidently.
"You’re sure you aren’t hurt?" Roy asked the question again.
"Positive. Hey Roy, what’s going on?" Johnny asked.
"Well, we’ve got some problems up here that are, well, rather urgent. And if you two aren’t hurt," Roy hesitated a moment, "you’ll have to wait until we can get to you."
"How long?" Chet yelled up at Roy.
"Um," Roy didn’t want to give his friends the answer that he had to give them. "Well, just a little while."
"How long is, ‘a little while’?" Johnny questioned.
"Just a little while," Roy replied. He really didn’t want to tell them.
"ROY!" Johnny and Chet yelled his name together.
"Twenty four hours." Roy closed his eyes and waited for the explosion.
"WHAT?!" Johnny screamed.
"Twenty four hours down in this hole, with Johnny Gage? I refuse! I want out of here, NOW!" Chet stated, vehemently. "If you don’t get me out of here now, Roy, you will have to be working with Brice for the rest of your employment with the department!"
"You will contact Chet’s parents, won’t you Roy?" Johnny calmly requested. Chet looked over at Johnny.
"Why?" Roy asked, not sure of the request. "If neither of you are injured, why do I need to get a hold of his parents?"
"I’m gonna kill him." Johnny stated. "I can’t be down in this hole with him for twenty four hours. At least when we’re at the station I can leave the room." As Johnny spoke, the voice of authority yelled down into the pit.
"You twits had better cut it out. We’ve got some serious stuff going on up here, and you two are the least of our worries, if you aren’t hurt! Don’t argue with Roy, this is my decision, not his. Settle in and get comfortable, you two, because you’re going to be there for a while!"
"Sorry, Cap," Johnny sulked.
"I’m sorry, too, Cap. We’ll behave, sir," Chet replied.
"That’s better. Now, we’ll get to you as soon as things calm down up here, but until that time you have to be patient with us." their Captain’s voice sounded stressed, and they knew if they weren’t careful, he’d leave them down there for eternity. "You’re sure that you’re not hurt?" he asked one last time.
"No, we’re not hurt." Johnny told him.
"We’ll get to you as soon as we can, just relax, and enjoy the vacation, boys."
"Vacation in hell," Chet commented, quietly.
"I heard that, Kelly!" his Captain voiced.
"Sorry, Cap." Chet swore that Cap’s hearing was better than his mother’s. Chet shook his head. He went over and sat down against the wall. He placed his hands over his face. "Twenty four hours," he whispered to himself. "God, that’s a long time to be trapped with you." He looked over at Johnny. Johnny looked at him, and gave Chet a big smile. He walked over and sat down next to his fellow firefighter. He placed his arm around Chet’s shoulders and pulled him close.
"That’s okay, we can get to know each other better, big brother!" Chet stared at Johnny in shock, and pushed him away. Chet stood up and went to the other side of the shaft.
"This is going to be the LONGEST twenty four hours of my life!" Chet uttered, shaking his head.
THE END
Editor’s note – One of the best things about editing this web page has been watching different writers grow and improve. Katy has continually amazed me – she gets better with every story. After her last submission, I challenged her to write a story without using the term ‘he said’ even once, and this is what she came up with. I’m sure all of you will be as delighted with the result as I am! Great job, Katy! - M. Morris
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Guest Dispatchers Stories by Katy Sundberg
