The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 9 - Highrise

“Ah, good timing,” Carlos said as Nicole and Grace arrived.  The other firefighters goggled a bit at the sight of two Rangers.  “As you can see, we have two Rangers joining us.  Anyone who thinks they might have a hint at who these two are, lose them now.  Learning a Ranger’s identity can be dangerous, both for you and them.  As for why I know…” 

He brandished some strange device that looked a lot like a cell phone.  “Emergency Rescue!”  A flash of gold light followed and there stood one of the most well known Rangers in the country.  “I have some experience in that matter.  My identity is public, theirs is not.  Respect that.”  

He got a few nods in response. 

His uniform bore a passing resemblance to a firefighter’s coat, and the helm looked like it had a rebreather built into it.  She knew from her own helmet that it was all for show, her own rogue styling had no functionality, they just bore a resemblance to the outfit she was wearing at the time of her first morph.

“Alright, first up is a CPR refresher for the lot of you,” he said confidently before looking over his shoulder at Nicole and Grace, “and what is likely a first course for the newest Rangers in town.” 

Nicole nodded, she hadn’t done a CPR course since her first year of high school and honestly didn’t remember much of anything from it.  It hadn’t been much of a priority for her, given she was barely a teenager and was more focused on her gymnastic career until it crashed quite spectacularly when she messed up her shot at the nationals. 

It was almost ironic that she could probably dance circles around the Olympic level athletes now that she was a Ranger.  The regular staff of the station stepped up to a couple of dummies and started the usual compressions, followed by rescue breaths.  Nicole frowned as she watched, realizing the problem right away. 

“We aren’t going to be able to practice that part,” she said. 

Gold hummed, tapping a finger on his crossed arms.  “Stick around after, I’ll walk you both through it with helmets off.” 

That problem was solved, she still paid attention when it was her turn.  Chest compressions were done, gently, because she had the strength to punch through the dummy, and the concrete, while morphed.  Even with that, she still cleared the airway properly, but the actual breath portion was skipped for the moment. 

“Alright, next up is emergency first aid,” he declared.  “We’re going to watch a short video on common injuries, then practice bandaging them as well as applying pressure to GSWs and other traumatic injuries.  I’d say this class isn’t for the squeamish, but all of you will likely see worse if you make it a year into this career.” 

That he didn’t make an exception for the two of them went without saying.  She had already seen worse at the Renfaire, and there was no doubt more blood in her future no matter how good she proved herself to be.  Just the thought of it sent a shiver of revulsion and dread down her spine. 

The video itself wasn’t tame.  It would give kids nightmares, but she had indeed seen far worse.  A few of the locals even paled when one of the shotgun wounds were shown.  Nicole wished she hadn’t seen worse, but automata slicing a man down the middle was hard to top on the gore scale. 

Then, the scene shifted to just that, the aftermath of some attack in New York playing back with dozens of dead littering the ground.  People were moving through the mess of gore, checking each corpse but Nicole knew that they were dead. 

“That was likely a familiar sight to the Rangers, am I mistaken?” 

Nicole shook her head.  “Saw worse at the Renfaire.” 

“I thought as much.” He said with a nod before returning to the presentation.  “As firefighters, you likely won’t see death on that level, but there is a chance all the same.  Such is the world that we live in, and it is better to be prepared all the same.  You are the front line, fire response often beats the EMTs by minutes.  Police don’t get hands on unless there are no other options.  Corrections Officers have more in common with you than the police, so keep that in mind.” 

So much of the presentation wouldn’t apply to them, but she still paid attention, because it was knowledge that might prove valuable in the future.  Things wound down, questions were asked and answers given. 

“I won’t be answering any questions about being a Ranger,” he said after one particularly invasive question.  “I am an open Ranger, which is rare among us.  I doubt your own local Rangers will be so candid.  I didn’t have the luxury of coming into my powers somewhere off camera.  There were dozens of witnesses and too many cameras besides.  I never had the choice.” 

“I’m sorry,” Grace said, drawing eyes to her.  “I know what it’s like to have unwanted attention, though not to that scale.  I’m sorry you have to deal with that.” 

Nicole wondered what that was about, wishing she knew more about her newest friend.  They hadn’t talked nearly as much as she would have liked, and Nicole wanted to change that.  She didn’t have many people in her life, and if they were going to be Rangers together, then why not get to know her teammates before she lost her life in the line of duty? 

Gold turned back to address the firefighters when a shrill ringing sounded across the building.  “Don’t just stand there!  Gear up!”  There was a shared look among them before Gold began snapping off orders lightning quick.  After a moment, he turned, addressing Nicole and Grace.  “You feel like getting more hands-on experience?” 

Nicole almost replied, her excitement bubbling just below the surface, but she remembered she wasn’t alone and wasn’t just speaking for herself.  “Want to go be a hero?” 

Grace turned, and not for the first time Nicole found herself lamenting that the Ranger uniforms hid her friend’s face.  It was so hard to read people without facial expressions to go off of.  Still, she could imagine her friend watching her with eyes that were all too knowing. 

“Yeah,” Grace said, her helmet nodding.  “Let’s go!” 

Nicole turned back to Gold.  “Rangers lead the way.”

“Damn right we do,” he answered, then literal lights began flashing on his helmet.  Huh, she had thought those were just for show.  “I’ve got the address, let’s show them the meaning of haste.” 

Nicole grinned, because she sure as hell could appreciate a good reference.  Better yet, she could throw one right back at him. 

***

They ran ahead of the engine, smoke already billowing across the horizon.  She was easily blowing past traffic, the speed that her legs carried her defying explanation.  No human should be able to move like a Ranger could, further reinforcing the otherworldly nature of their abilities. 

Nobody actually knew the origin of Ranger powers, there was speculation that some conquered civilization had developed them and somehow followed the invaders to their next target to help seed a resistance, that was the leading theory.  There were other crackpot theories of course, like the Ranger abilities being from some multi-dimensional entity that was using human imagination and ingenuity to test something, but that came across as more cosmic horror than she wanted to entertain. 

Plus, she was fairly certain she read that book once. 

The fire was visible now, flames rising from downtown.  A skyscraper, at least four floors were ablaze, and it was spreading.  Her stomach sank when she saw the people in the windows, then her heart stopped when someone jumped.  She was forced to watch, her enhanced vision showing everything in startling clarity as the woman fell, her clothes smoldering with small flames burning.  Her hair was almost burned away completely, and her face was a splotchy red of burnt skin. 

She vanished behind a nearby building, but Nicole didn’t need to see it to know that she was dead.  Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself, pulling ahead of the Gold Ranger and jumped five stories in a single bound, landing atop one building in a roll before shifting to her shade state to pass through an AC unit.  Once she was back upright she changed back, keeping her momentum going as she ran forward, aiming for the building itself. 

She jumped, then shifted at the apex of her leap, and sailed the two remaining blocks and through the wall of the burning sky scraper.  Inside was a hellscape, cubicles all crumbling in the heat, office furniture melted into puddles.  The occasional body… 

It was sickening, but she had to press on, to save those she could.  She jumped straight up, phasing through the floor as she did, she passed all the way up to the first floor that wasn’t already burning.  People were still at their desks, working.  She couldn’t help but stop and just gawk.  Why weren’t these people trying to evacuate?  What about those that were escaping the flames below? 

Were the stairwells clear and these people just didn’t know the alarms were real? 

“Attention dumbasses!” she yelled, startling many of them.  “In case you weren’t aware.”  She pointed back to the windows behind her.  “The building is on fucking fire!  So get up before you turn to charcoal like the last three corpses I passed on my way here.” 

Okay, that was probably a bit much, but she had zero patience for whatever stupidity she was witnessing.  Worse, some middle management looking sleazeball was marching right up to her like she was the manager to his Karen.  

“Excuse me, you’re disrupting the company’s workflow,” he said in that tone that was meant to intimidate but was only ever successful if they actually had authority over you.  “I’m going to have to ask you to vacate the premises or I’ll be calling security to remove you.” 

Too bad she had to be heroic and couldn’t just throw him out the window. 

“Call them,” she said firmly.  “They’re probably a bit busy at the moment.” 

To prove a point, she summoned a dozen knives in her hands and flicked them to the window behind her blowing it out and a thick plume of black smoke blew in through the opening.  The manager paled rather quickly as he tried to maintain his imperious stare. 

He blinked first. 

She shoved him aside, uncaring that he fell on his ass, and marched over to the first row of desks. 

“The fires have reached the floor beneath your feet and are still spreading.  Check the emergency exits, follow your plans and MOVE YOUR FUCKING ASSES!” 

The office workers jumped and did as they were told, bolting towards the fire exits.  Nicole nodded, looking back at the simpering middle manager.  “Get the other floors moving before the fire spreads further.” 

She then phased herself, dropping through the floor.

The fire was spreading rapidly through the generic office spaces, and Nicole moved, searching for any people that might not have been able to get away from the advancing flames.  She made her way straight to the restrooms, phasing through the door as she did and found them devoid of flame, but filled with smoke.  She passed through the stalls, head on a swivel checking each room in a hurry. 

The floor plans were simple enough, keeping the plumbing centralized, she dropped to the next floor and repeated her search and found her first person.  He was unconscious but breathing so she moved him aside and finished the sweep.  He was the only one she found, so she slung him over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry and tried to think how best to get him out. 

She didn’t feel the flames, her suit protecting her from the worst of the blaze, but her charge wouldn’t last five seconds in that level of heat.  She needed a way to create an exit, and the only idea coming to mind was more than a little crazy, and would put others at risk. 

Time was her enemy here, and she couldn’t brainstorm every possibility, so she opted for the drastic.  She summoned one of her daggers, and cut through the inner wall.  It opened into the elevator shaft, which was free of flames, but quickly filling with smoke.  She adjusted her grip on him and hopped into the void. 

Nicole grabbed hold of the cable, the friction sending sparks as she used it to control her descent.  It didn’t take long to hit the bottom of the shaft, which was still halfway up the building.  At least from there she could find an exfil point that wasn’t engulfed in an inferno that would cook a man alive in mere seconds.

There was an emergency release for one of the doors nearby and soon she was moving through more cubicles towards the stairs.  She pushed into the stairwell and found it nearly packed with people moving to get out.  Those nearby froze at the sight of her, and she quickly realized there would be no getting out that way. 

Plan B.

She turned, running towards the window, and tossed more daggers, shattering the safety glass.  Nicole grit her teeth and jumped through, holding tight to her charge as she fell towards the street below.  Her feet hit the ground, the invisible field that protected her costume rippled from the impact as her legs flexed to bleed off as much of the force as they could. 

Asphalt splintered into spiderweb cracks from the impact, more than a few people jumped away from her arrival point.  She would have smiled sheepishly if things weren’t so dire at the moment.  

Grace arrived in a blur of red, her form as imposing as ever.  “Ambulances are set up this way, Rogue.” 

“Got it, Corsair,” she answered, moving to follow.  “Is Gold there or is he coordinating elsewhere?” 

“He’s not far,” she said.  “How bad is it up there?” 

Nicole glanced back up at the blaze, which was starting to get some water on it now that the trucks were in place.  “The floors on fire are cleared, a few bodies, unfortunately.  This guy wasn’t far behind them.”

They stopped at one of the ambulances and she handed him over to the paramedics who got him laid out.  Nodding, she stepped away, looking for the bright gold that would signify the man that no doubt had taken charge of the scene.  She found him a moment later, gesturing along with a bunch of others in fancy uniforms. 

“That maneuver was insane,” Grace said, elbowing her gently.  “Looked cool as fuck too.” 

Nicole’s cheeks heated as she actually thought about what she had done.  It probably did look pretty damn cool now that she thought about it.  Maybe she could catch it on the evening news once everything was done.

“Flatterer,” Nicole said with a grin. 

Grace shrugged, following along.  “Only speaking the truth.” 

She did nothing to prevent the smile that brought, not that anyone else could see it.  Still, she could bask in the praise of her teammate later.  There was still work to do, and she was determined to do everything in her power to do what she could to save as many people as possible.