Slow Burn, Chapter 17/21

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

In the quiet of the captain’s office, a pair of blue-gray eyes flew open.  Alright, they’re gone. Move it, Reed.

Dina’s ruse had worked – the blow from Grady had hurt, but hadn’t been nearly enough to knock her out.  But she’d formed her final, desperate plan in the following moments.  Having heard the intruders’ plot, she’d made sure her mouth and nose were pressed against the cushions of the divan.  They had provided decent filtration against the spread of the insidious gas.

Have to thank the bastards for untying me.  Dina had been in tight spots before, and she was confident in her ability to escape from any restraints, if she had long enough to do so.  But today that would have taken time she didn’t have.  None of the women at Paradiso had that kind of time.

Dina reached down into her bag, groping blindly until she laid hold of a handkerchief.  She pulled it out, then pressed it over her nose and lips.  Thus equipped, she stood and surveyed the room.

It was already slightly hazy up near the ceiling.  Clearly that was due to the fire in the boiler room, but it also served as a reminder of the invisible carbon monoxide which was creeping through the station.  Dina stepped carefully over to the overturned chair, where Captain Hawkins lay.  Please don’t be dead…

The captain lay on her back in the chair, legs and skirt askew above her.  Her arms splayed out to either side, where they had fallen after Pullman removed the ropes.  The bullet had missed her heart, but punched a deep hole deep between Lorelei’s chest and her left shoulder; blood trickled down onto the hard floor.  The woman’s head was turned to the side, her lips parted; after watching them for a moment, Dina saw the sign of faint breaths.  Good.

Dina’s first instinct was to tend to the captain, or get her out of here.  But she knew it was in the best interest of everyone that she shut off the carbon monoxide and – with luck – extinguish the fire before it spread.  As a stopgap measure, she retrieved a cashmere scarf from the bag and secured it over Lorelei’s airways.  Then she ventured out into the hallway, quickly re-doing a few key buttons on her untucked blouse as she did so.

The haze was more noticeable out here.  She’d been worried that she would have trouble finding the boiler room, but thankfully the loud clanking of the sabotaged generator led her straight to it.  She rounded the corner into the room – and it felt like she’d walked into a furnace.  My God…

The walls of the room were wreathed in flame, and a few of the fire’s tendrils were already licking at the ceiling.  Of all the women in the building, Dina knew she was the least qualified to evaluate the fire situation.  But even she could tell that the blaze was already well beyond the control of one woman with a fire extinguisher – if she’d even been able to find one.

Dina decided to concentrate her efforts on stopping the flood of carbon monoxide.  Then maybe we can all live long enough to get out of here.  Her eyes came to rest on the malfunctioning generator, whose clanking was still quite audible above the crackling of the flames.

The housing of the generator had been cracked open, and several vents had been jammed with small hand tools.  Dina squinted through the smoke, trying to see the controls.  Finally, she glimpsed the panel and the large toggle button.  She advanced into the heat, still covering her mouth, groping forward with her free hand.

Finally, she managed to hit the toggle button, and the generator rumbled to a halt.  She couldn’t do anything about the carbon monoxide already in the air – but at least there wouldn’t be any more.

As Dina reemerged into the hallway, she noticed the path leading to the kitchenette.  According to what she’d overheard, that was where the other prisoners had been kept.  She decided to assess their condition.  And check on Nick.

Even aside from the gathering smoke, the kitchenette was worlds away from the place she’d conducted interviews only hours before.  The center of the room sported a sizable bloodstain, and the furniture was broken or overturned.  The bodies of four girls were scattered amidst the debris, sprawled languidly wherever they had fallen or been tossed.  A fifth – Virginia, the high schooler – lay in the doorway to an adjoining room.

Each of the girls stirred slightly at Dina’s investigation, but none seemed close to consciousness.  I might as well be alone.  It was a frightening thought.  With trepidation, she stepped over Virginia into the next room.  Three more bodies were stretched on the cots inside; one of them was Nick’s.

With an anguished cry Dina rushed to his side.  She anxiously checked him over.  His breathing actually seemed a little better than when she’d seen him last; she thanked the unconscious Virginia for that.  But it was still far worse than normal – and the increasing smoke surely wasn’t helping.  She tenderly draped her handkerchief over his face.  “Nick…”

A faint feminine voice rose behind her.  “Good to see you, Miss Reed.”  The reporter turned to see Marigold Thompson propped up on one elbow, speaking around a mask connected to an oxygen bottle.  The middle portion of her exposed stomach was heavily bandaged; the paleness of her face matched that of her blonde hair.  She’d clearly lost a substantial amount of blood.

Dina was astonished.  “Lieutenant!  The way they talked, I thought you were dead!”

“Nope,” Mare murmured.  “Not yet, at any rate.  What’s going on?  I was fading in and out from the pain.  Next thing I know, I wake up with this thing on me, and Ginny’s passed out in the doorway.  She must have put it on before…”

As quickly as she could, Dina filled the lieutenant in on the essential details.  The blonde received the news grimly, but she didn’t skip a beat.  “Alright, Miss Reed, here’s what I need you to do.  Take this oxygen bottle – I won’t be needing it – and help Ford breathe into it for a bit.  That’ll help her come to, get some of that carbon monoxide out of her system.  Use some water too, if it helps.  Once she’s waking up, do Boyd next.  And as soon as they’re able, have them put their damned clothes back on.”

Dina took the bottle assembly, then cast an anxious look at Nick’s rasping form.

“I know you’re worried about him,” Mare said with urgent firmness.  “But he has to wait.  I’m going to do my best to get everyone out of here.  To do that, I’m going to need the able-bodied people first.  Understand?”

Dina swallowed, nodded, and hurried to comply.

Before long, both Antonia and Becky were sitting up, clearing their heads.  The smoke was thicker now; it was getting a little hard to breathe without coughing.  Dina glanced out into the hallway, and noticed that much of the smoke seemed to be coming from the direction of the offices.  The captain’s still out there…

She crawled over to Antonia, who had been awake the longest.  “Can you handle this?” she asked, offering the oxygen bottle and mask.  The tall girl coughed and nodded, taking the items.  “Good.  Get her up,” Dina said, tapping Virginia’s inert form.  The lieutenant had slated her next.  “I’m going after the captain.”  Then she rose, tied a rag around her face, and charged off into the smoke.


* * *


Grady was hurrying down the sidewalk when he noticed a reporter and cameraman approaching from the opposite direction.  Shit!  He tried to hide his face and pass quickly.

His years in the spotlight told, however.  The CNN reporter recognized him immediately.  “John Grady!  I didn’t know you were back in town!”

Grady smiled awkwardly and tried to push past, but the man persisted.  “We’re just on our way to this Women’s Battalion thing over at Paradiso.  Care to come along?  Record some past, present, future stuff?”

Grady protested.  “I really can’t.”

“Come on!  Chance to show you’ve got no hard feelings.  People will eat it up!”

Meanwhile, several other press members converging on the pavilion had noticed Grady as well.  With little other activity as yet, the ex-chief was fast becoming the center of attention.

Grady was sweating profusely.  Keep it together, John.  Don’t let them suspect anything.  Don’t act guilty.  Give them a little nibble, then get the hell out of here.

“Fine.  Two minutes,” he said, gritting his teeth.  He glanced anxiously across the street to Paradiso Fire Station, where his practiced eye noticed a tiny wisp of smoke.