Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I could give a fuck about what the Fire Bosses say, but its worrisome when they don’t say anything. No demand to know why the most valuable parts weren’t brought back, why no bodies. Nothing. We had only been back a couple of hours when we got word we would be rotating early. In almost twenty years of working this shit, I had never heard of a crew being rotated early. We were going back days before scheduled. The crew was ecstatic, not even caring they would miss chow. In a few minutes the transport bus would arrive to take them “home” for their week off. Teddy made eye contact with me, he didn’t like it either. “What do you think boss?” I thought it stunk of something. “When was the last time you got anything for free?” a grunt was his only response. I knew what Teddy was thinking, the Fire Bosses were getting us out of camp before the rest of the crews got back. It takes a lot of power to get drivers to do a night run and we would have to overnight it to the Oregon border. The only answer I could come up with was that the fire bosses thought we saw something they didn’t want shared. The image of the red fist painted on the back of the sign came instantly to my mind.

Rumors about Vida De Fuego, simply called VDF, weren’t anything new, in fact most people thought of them as an urban myth meant to scare the new guys. It seemed impossible for the Fire Bosses to be worried about that. Sit around any camp long enough and you’ll hear dozens of stories about them. No, whatever the reason was, it was clear the Bosses wanted the Second out of camp as soon as possible. Telling Teddy I would be back quickly, I made a beeline to the small circle of trailers at the back of camp, the crew thinking the itch had hit me. There was only one camp guard at the moment as the Second was the only crew in camp. “It’s a bit early, you know.” I ignored the guard, I still had money on me, I hadn't had time to stash, and the nice thing about cash was it worked anytime of the day. I found what I was looking for outside one of the doors built into the side of the trailer. The Fire Brides posted clip boards complete with time slots, allowing their prospective husband to sign up for a specific time to express their love. I was looking for one that already had names on it. Finding one with half a sheet worth, I knew this Bride had what I wanted. Knocking loudly on the door, it was thirty seconds before a voice sounded on the other side, “Your too early love, signup for later.” I knocked again, I could see the guard radio something in and begin moving my direction. The door swung open revealing a young woman with flowing black hair, or at least it would have been flowing if she hadn’t just woken up. “You got some balls love.” The lack of fear in her eyes spoke volumes. “This guy bothering you Maria lee?” The guard was now standing behind me at the bottom of the steps leading up to the trailer door. I pulled a wad of cash out of the concealed pocket of my field shirt, “I’m rotating out in an hour.”

The Fire Bride thought about it for a half second before dismissing the guard with a wave of her hand. The Fire Bosses might run the crews and camps but not this part. Marie Lee stepped aside to allow me in. Few took the risk of carrying cash on them when rotating. Too many ways to have it confiscated off you, non-residents weren’t supposed to be working. There were only a few options available to most crew members who wanted to avoid losing what little money that had scraped, and the Fire Brides knew they were at the top of the list of ways to spend it. The room was little more than an eight by eight space containing a single bed and small couch. A doorway led to Marie Lee’s living space. This was an area strictly off limits to her numerous husbands. “Well lover what will it be?” Wanting to get this unexpected early customer over with quickly, she had laid out on the bed. I sat on the couch and pulled a few bills out of the bundle I had shown her earlier. “I want to know what you’ve heard about the crew that wrecked yesterday.” Marie Lee had been slowly removing the baggy clothing she had been sleeping in but at my words, she covered herself up again, maybe this was going to be easier then she had thought. “What makes you think I heard anything?” She wasn’t sure how smart this guy was. He was wearing a crew boss field shirt, but then again most crew bosses were little more than thugs. “You have half the camp already signed up for tonight, including a couple of Fire Bosses.” My words were calm and matter of fact. I knew she was testing me to see how easily I might be separated from my money. I drew two more bills out and set them next to me. Fuck it, The chances I could get the cash past security in the Green Zone was about zero.

Chewing her lip in a decidedly unsexy way, Marie Lee made a decision, “Yeah I might have heard about that. Some outside crew was supposed to make camp last night but got caught in a slide.” This was the first mention of the missing crew being from “outside”. This meant the crew wasn’t assigned to the Battalion stationed in this sector. “How outside were they?” Marie Lee thought about it for a moment, “I don’t know, someone said something about down south but that’s all I remember.” Aside from their obvious attraction, the Fire Brides also tended to be the best source of information in any camp. For some dumb biological reason men felt the need to impress these women, maybe to assuage their hubris at having to pay them for sex. What this meant was they tried to show how important they were by sharing the more interesting parts of their jobs. No doubt some dumbass Fire Boss let slip to Marie Lee that a crew had been lost. What else might have they said? “Any idea what they were doing out there?” I regretted the question almost immediately as Marie Lee’s eyes shone bright for a second. “Oh, so you think they were making a run?” The term “making a run” meant a crew was smuggling something for the Fire Bosses. It was a fast way to make some cash but also damn risky. Crews making a run were fair game for anyone. It would make sense that the wrecks they had seen were making a run. Someone probably found out about it and ambushed the poor bastards. Marie Lee was already thinking about what my questions might mean for her. If one of the Fire Bosses in camp was running a network, that information could be worth a fortune, maybe even enough to set her up for a bit. I could see the gears turning in her head, I needed to change the subject, “Have you heard anything about Vida De Fuego lately?” It felt a little stupid to be asking this woman about the bogeyman but the red fist was still stuck in my mind. “You mean you haven’t heard?” The look of surprise on Marie Lee’s oval-shaped face was real, “They torched a ClimaX tree farm a couple of weeks ago.” She wasn’t sure if this Crew Boss was acting shocked or not, but he still had a fist full of bills. “For a couple of more, I’ll tell you what the Fire Bosses are saying about the VDF.” I pulled a couple of more bills out and set them on top of the others. “I’ve heard they have been hitting lots of ClimaX sites and even burned out a National Guard unit running security for that new Green Zone they are trying to open near Junction.” She could tell the shock was real this time. I hadn’t heard any of this, not even a whisper. They were always talking about opening new Green Zones, hell that was a major part of why ClimaX got the contracts for remediation, but this was the first time he had heard an actual new Green Zone was being built in central California. Marie Lee could see I was lost in thought but hadn’t put my money away, “You said you’re rotating out early?” She was leaning forward now allowing me a clear view of her ample breasts, “You going far?” Still feeling like I was waking up for a surreal dream, I mumble something about up north. “That’s a long trip, gets kind of lonely doesn’t it.” Her Hands were now on my knees. My hands had been resting in my lap still holding on to the cluster of bills I had pulled out earlier. She moved them out of her way, tossing the bills down next to the others. Fuck it.