liked the Black Keys a lot, but from where he was being stationed, he wouldn’t be able to see or hear anything. There probably wouldn’t be a reason for the Fire Department anyway. However, since the pyrotechnic incident at the Remy Zero concert last year, the Mayor made sure that the Chief, if not on another call, had some of the guys keep a truck parked across the way, just in case.
He was sitting in the driver’s seat of Engine 14 with the air conditioner blowing. Damn, this suit was hot. He turned to see what the other guys were doing. Hank and Scott were playing some card game. He couldn’t tell what they were playing, he wasn’t even sure if they knew what game they were playing. Hank kept shouting something like “Bingo” or “Marco” and then Scott would throw cards at him. David chuckled.
His eyes roamed back over to the auditorium at Zilker where the concert was in full swing. He sighed. He wondered if Jenna was missing him as much as he was missing her.
*****
Jenna squealed as Dan Auerbach crooned out the lyrics to “Howlin’ For You.” He had a completely different presence on stage than what he had in her office in Dallas. The college dropout was quiet, unassuming and modest, but on stage he was alive. The music just poured out of him. He and Patrick Carney made the blues sound so sexy and riveting.
At first, Jenna thought that going to the concert alone was going to be hard. However, while she wiggled in her spot to the sound, it didn’t matter who else was around her. She just let the music wrap her up. The only sliver of her that was not enjoying herself was pining for David, but he was busy anyway. This was a pretty good consolation.
An explosion muted the bass and the crowd turned in tandem to the east. Flames could be seen tipping over the stands.
Another on the west side made its presence known. Without the music, it sounded so much heavier and deeper. It shook the ground beneath the concert-goers. Jenna could only hear the roar of the flames for a few seconds before the crowd began to scream and evacuate. From the top of the structure, it looked like sand pouring out of an hourglass. Security was trying to maintain the calm of those leaving, but to no avail.
Jenna felt panic creeping up her spine, but she stilled it. It wouldn’t help her to act foolish. She kept her cool and filed out with the rest of them. The fear, although muzzled, was still not silent. She worried, and she prayed. She thought of David and she hoped that a hero would save her.
*****
“Hank! Scott! Get the others! On the Engine, we have an explosion on the east side!”
David flipped the lights and sirens on and rocketed through the winding paths and parking lots to the location of the eruption.
BOOM!
Upon hearing the explosion on the west side, he radioed back to the station. “We need assistance. We have two fires, I repeat, two separate fires at the concert at Zilker. We need another engine or two ASAP. We are continuing to the fire on the east side of the auditorium, there is another on the west.”
BOOM!
“Make that three.”
*****
Jenna was able to break into a run once she got out of the front gate of the auditorium. She could not see the fires on the sides of the building, but the way the people scattered like dropped marbles, she knew they were there.
She ran toward her car.
BOOM
A car near to where she parked detonated. Its pieces flew up into the sky and an orange flash of light filled her vision. Her head met soft grass a little harder than she would have liked. She felt warm. And then everything went black.
*****
David parked engine 14 next to the flaming vehicle. The fire was completely isolated in the area of the explosion. There didn’t appear to be any bodies inside the vehicle. There was no trail of gasoline leading away from the car toward any populated area. Every sign pointed toward a complete accident.
The fire was extinguished quickly, and
He was sitting in the driver’s seat of Engine 14 with the air conditioner blowing. Damn, this suit was hot. He turned to see what the other guys were doing. Hank and Scott were playing some card game. He couldn’t tell what they were playing, he wasn’t even sure if they knew what game they were playing. Hank kept shouting something like “Bingo” or “Marco” and then Scott would throw cards at him. David chuckled.
His eyes roamed back over to the auditorium at Zilker where the concert was in full swing. He sighed. He wondered if Jenna was missing him as much as he was missing her.
*****
Jenna squealed as Dan Auerbach crooned out the lyrics to “Howlin’ For You.” He had a completely different presence on stage than what he had in her office in Dallas. The college dropout was quiet, unassuming and modest, but on stage he was alive. The music just poured out of him. He and Patrick Carney made the blues sound so sexy and riveting.
At first, Jenna thought that going to the concert alone was going to be hard. However, while she wiggled in her spot to the sound, it didn’t matter who else was around her. She just let the music wrap her up. The only sliver of her that was not enjoying herself was pining for David, but he was busy anyway. This was a pretty good consolation.
An explosion muted the bass and the crowd turned in tandem to the east. Flames could be seen tipping over the stands.
Another on the west side made its presence known. Without the music, it sounded so much heavier and deeper. It shook the ground beneath the concert-goers. Jenna could only hear the roar of the flames for a few seconds before the crowd began to scream and evacuate. From the top of the structure, it looked like sand pouring out of an hourglass. Security was trying to maintain the calm of those leaving, but to no avail.
Jenna felt panic creeping up her spine, but she stilled it. It wouldn’t help her to act foolish. She kept her cool and filed out with the rest of them. The fear, although muzzled, was still not silent. She worried, and she prayed. She thought of David and she hoped that a hero would save her.
*****
“Hank! Scott! Get the others! On the Engine, we have an explosion on the east side!”
David flipped the lights and sirens on and rocketed through the winding paths and parking lots to the location of the eruption.
BOOM!
Upon hearing the explosion on the west side, he radioed back to the station. “We need assistance. We have two fires, I repeat, two separate fires at the concert at Zilker. We need another engine or two ASAP. We are continuing to the fire on the east side of the auditorium, there is another on the west.”
BOOM!
“Make that three.”
*****
Jenna was able to break into a run once she got out of the front gate of the auditorium. She could not see the fires on the sides of the building, but the way the people scattered like dropped marbles, she knew they were there.
She ran toward her car.
BOOM
A car near to where she parked detonated. Its pieces flew up into the sky and an orange flash of light filled her vision. Her head met soft grass a little harder than she would have liked. She felt warm. And then everything went black.
*****
David parked engine 14 next to the flaming vehicle. The fire was completely isolated in the area of the explosion. There didn’t appear to be any bodies inside the vehicle. There was no trail of gasoline leading away from the car toward any populated area. Every sign pointed toward a complete accident.
The fire was extinguished quickly, and
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