Against the Flames Part III

Frank was so tired the next day, he fell asleep at the firehouse. Howie cam and woke him up by throwing cold water at him.1

"Whoa!" Frank screamed rising from his deep sleep now cold and wet. "What the hell are you doin' man!"2

Howie started laughing. "Captain wants you to take the trash out to the dumpster." Howie said with a grin on his face.3

"Why the hell do I have to do it?!" Frank responded. "That's the rookie's job."4

"Well, rookie ain't here. So captain wants you to do it."5

Frank sighed and walked off. Howie laughed as he walked away soaking wet. As Howie went to set the bucket back in the storage room, Frank slowly made his way to all of the garbage cans placed around the station. 6

After Frank gathered all of the garbage, he made his way out to the dumpster. While he was there he ran into Jack Cliffson. Jack was the oldest man working at the firehouse. He was sixty-one years old and was getting closer to retirement. He has been talking of retiring for five years now and changed his mind every year. Jack was a very tall man. His gray hair hung below his knees. He had also been talking about getting a haircut for awhile, but like the retirement, it just hasn't happened. 7

"Hey Jack." Frank said8

"Well hey there Franky boy!" Jack yelled excitedly. "What's going on? Heard about that fire yesterday. Sounded like a close one. Wish I could have been there to help out."9

Frank looked into Jack's eyes. They were old eyes. Frank could tell they have seen a lot. His eyes had a weird kind of grey color to them.  10

"Yea Jack, that fire was pretty bad. But I got out, and brought someone with me. So that felt great. As always." 11

Frank and Jack talked for a moment more, then they both returned inside. Jack went off somewhere, while Frank walked over to where Howie was standing. 12

Howie turned around and laughed. "Man, you're still wet!" 13

Frank just glared at his friend and gave out a sarcastic laugh. "Why did you have to poor cold water on me anyway!? You could have just shaken me awake."14

"What?!" Howie said. "That would have taken all the fun out of it. You should have seen your-"15

Just then the fire alarm sounded. Howie and Frank both ran off to put on their gear. 16

When Howie asked where the fire was, the captain told him it was at 46 Hampton Lane. That was Frank's house.17