Sarah leaned forward sharply as her sister hit the brakes and the car skidded to an abrupt hault. Amata and Chloe were out quick, Sarah was a little slow to get out and once out, made a mocking heaving noise as she bent over the spoiler on the back. Amata scowled and tucked the keys into her purse.. "<strong>I'm just kidding Am, you did great. I'm sure old Miss Harper hasn't seen something leave that quick since her sanity took off a couple of years ago.</strong>" Sarah hugged her sister, who chuckled at the thought of their next door neighbor. Sarah didn't mean any disrespect to their neighbor, she'd always been a helping hand even in her mid 80's but she'd been batshit insane for almost 2 years.<br/><br/>Chloe approached the driver side as Amata picked up her bag and left, swinging her hands from side to side with that same jump in her walk. Sarah watched for a second as Chloe hugged her. "<strong>What is she so happy about?</strong>" Sarah asked as Chloe shouldered her bag, shrugging her shoulders in response, waving goodbye and approaching the school.<br/><br/>Sarah could only stare and watch her sisters enter the school, smiling a little to herself on how much they didn't need her. It struck her, she felt useless in their lives, despite the fact they were all she had, she felt so distant sometimes. It bugged her, wondering how her mother had done it, knowing Sarah's every tear and what it meant, what caused it and how to help fix it. Sighing, Sarah turned to leave and was stopped as a man approached her, waving to someone and easily standing a foot or more above her. "<strong>Morning Dustin, work last night?</strong>" Sarah asked, leaning on her car as she could see Dustin's son entering the school. She met him at a department picnic a few weeks ago.<br/><br/>"<em>Yeap, worked rescue 3 with Rahm and FAST 1 for a conveniance store fire last night, Corey Dennis was burned pretty bad.</em>"<br/><br/>Sarah looked at him, then at the ground. "<strong>He gonna be okay?</strong>" She asked, crossing her arms with a slight frown on her face.<br/><br/>He nodded. "<em>Yeah, it was only a block to the hospital and, well, Corey is a tough bastard. But he's pretty mangled up, he was partnered with Kevin. I'd wager Kev feels worse than Corey about now.</em>"<br/><br/>Sarah bit her lip and nodded slowly. "<strong>Yeah... Corey ... I, wow. I can't believe it... out of everyone, I figured he'd be the last...</strong>"<br/><br/>"<em>Kerosene. Guy who owned the place, said he spilt kerosene on the floor... whole 2nd floor was a disaster, second we opened the doors the gasses trapped in the middle boards between the first and second floors, pulled the ceiling right out and created a backdraft, knocked Corey back a good 10 feet, ripped the door clean off its hinges. Fire was pent up for a few hours before we got there with a hose truck. Funny thing, there was still a fire spoofing the front entry area, no signs of a flash or anything.</em>" Dustin sighed. "<em>Anyway, I'm sleeping at the station, I'll walk you over. I doubt I get a day off.</em>"<br/><br/>She smiled and pointed to the small diner across the street. "<strong>Get a coffee and some treats for the boys, and thanks, Dustin.</strong>"<br/><br/>After crossing the street and buying a few boxes of sweets and a few cans of high quality coffee, Sarah followed Dustin the few blocks to the fire station. She'd known Corey for almost 20 years, most of her life, and it honestly shocked her he would get caught by a flash fire. He had twice the service time of almost everyone else in the entire state, only topped by the chief here, and the state fire inspector. Normally she'd go to see him, but knew Corey well enough he'd get pissed at her for being there instead of at work. Still, she'd been doing this job for a few years now, and even the old guys said the same thing every time they went out; you don't know squat about a fire until you've seen it. And even then, you've never seen it all. She'd seen backdrafts rip the roof of a 3 story building, a crack the size of an acorn spark an entire apartment complex to just burst into flames, flashovers that come from literally nowhere and go straight over her head like it had a mission.<br/><br/>The walk to the station was uneventful, Sarah was filled in by Dustin on the inner workings of the Rockford High School daily life, and how little she was supposed to actually know. Sarah was occupied by her thoughts, but found the time to laugh at Dustin's jokes. As they reached the department and saw a ladder truck speeding out, Sarah sighed and figured today would be one of those days. A dozen building fires, and she'd get to sit on her ass all day. Upon actually getting inside, saying her hello and goodbyes to comers and goers, respectively, Sarah was informed she was to be in turnout bottom gear, and today was a busy one. She slipped into her turnout trousers and the boots, strapping them on and leaving the heavy coat where it was. She checked the duty board, and sighed. Of a dozen open spots, her name filled each one. 8 trucks, 4 of them ladder, 3 hose and 1 special purpose for everything else, bombs, chemicals, biologicals, nuclear... burning butter on a stove. Everything under the sun that may or may not decide to explode was a preparation made by the SP truck, or the 'toy truck', as everyone called it. Rescue on every truck, except one, where she was FAST 1. Sarah couldn't hide the exhaustion already creeping in her mind, but the joyful jeers and cheers as the remaining firefighters in the station took notice of her purchase had to make her smile.<br/><br/>The cook, also the toy truck driver, whipped up some coffee and the sweets were taken to quickly. Sarah sat down next to Kevin Ryman, her FAST partner and a guy she'd known since birth. He was slouched over on the couch, a half eaten club sandwhich sitting on his lap and his eyes blankly attached to the floor in no particular region. Sarah ninja'd a piece of his sandwhich and ate it whole, Kevin glancing at her and chuckling. Sarah coughed and sat forward, gagging on whatever the hell was in that sandwhich, and taking a quick drink of water from a half empty bottle sitting on the table. "<strong>What in the name of hell, is in that piece of shit?</strong>" Sarah coughed.<br/><br/>"<em>That would be, a veggie sushi delux sandwhich. I made it myself.</em>" Kevin replied with no intent of hiding his amusement.<br/><br/>Sarah looked at him sharpy, eyes wide and mouth agape. "<strong>You tricked me! You knew I couldn't resist.... oooh, thats dirty Kevin. Thats low. I'll remember this.</strong>" Sarah threw her hands in the air and leaned back.<br/><br/>A claxon alarm sounded in the station, and both on the couch sat up. The small talk from every corner of the break room went silent as the truck numbers were called for a car fire, Sarah sighed and leaned back into her seat, taking a small drink from her steaming cup of coffee, likely to be her first of a long day.