Knight wrote down everyone’s maximum heart rate, how low their pulse ox dropped, and their time on the whiteboard. Everyone took turns in pairs except Hudgens, who went by herself.
The team took bets on how long Hudgens could stay underwater. Noah tried not to ogle her firm, well-muscled body. She wasn’t wearing much more than she did at yoga class, and he gave himself a pep talk to remind him of his responsibility as fire chief. It didn’t matter how sexy his subordinates were. Or how willing they appeared this morning in the gym.
Especially since right now… when she was about to drown herself.
“Here I go.” Hudgens saluted her team and dropped under the water. This time, Rodriguez started singing into the microphone.
Fortunately for Luna Rodriguez, singing was not part of the civil service exam for promotion. Her rendition of theWheels on the Bus Go Round and Roundcould have made someone’s ears bleed. He tried to control his expression because he was dying for the second time in one day. This time, his death would come from laughter though because Rodriguez was fully committed to her task. “She sings?”
“Only to see if Erin will pull her head out sooner, because Luna stops when you quit. You should hear her version ofI’m a Little Teapot. Or worse -Pop goes the Weasel,” Clarke said.
Hudgens was not deterred by the quality of the musical accompaniment. He watched the timer reach three minutes, and her pulse ox remained approximately 90 percent. Her heart rate had barely reached above 100. Rodriguez repeated the song four times.
The seconds ticked by, passing the four-minute mark, and Noah kept telling himself to ignore her possible asphyxiation. Her team seemed surprised also with how long it was going. Maybe he should exercise some of his authority and stop this before she got hurt proving a point.
“She usually lasts four minutes,” Jones commented. “She’ll take everybody’s money this time.”
Jefferson added, “If she breaks five minutes, she wins. She always bets five minutes.”
“Maybe we should have her escape from a pair of handcuffs or something. You know Copperfield style. Or Criss Angel,” Jones suggested.
At five minutes and five seconds, Hudgens heaved herself out of the tank, not dead, with near-normal oxygen saturation and a very minimal increase in her breathing rate. High fives were given all around.
“Okay, meditation time. We’ll spend five minutes regulating our breathing and reviewing the Rules again,” Rodriguez instructed.
Once everyone had dried off, Carver was sent upstairs to throw the towels in the laundry because he was the ultimate loser, and the rest of the group finished preparing the obstacle course while they waited.
The team sat in a circle when Carver returned, and Clarke tentatively asked, “Did you want to join us? I’m sure you know the rules.” The Rules of Engagement for Firefighter Survival were displayed prominently throughout every firehouse. Noah focused on the Rules of Incident Commander lately, but he was captain for one more day.
“I could use a refresher. It’s been six years since I led anyone into a live fire.” He sat cross-legged and imitated them by closing his eyes. There was silence, and he realized they were waiting for him to go first. “Rule number one: size up your tactical area of operations.”
Jefferson recited, “Determine the occupants’ survival profile.” The rest of the team breezed through the next five.
Carver remembered the last four with ease, but then Clarke made it more challenging.
“What’s on the lunch menu?”
“What?” Carver asked. “The lunch menu?”
“Yes, what’s on the lunch menu?” Clarke repeated. “We read it three times during the test and once right after you were out of the water. Are you situationally unaware?”
“I’m not sure that’s fair,” Jones spoke up. “I can’t tell you what’s on the lunch menu. My brain can’t hold all that information at the same time while torturing the probie.”
“That’s interesting, since you’re the cook today,” Clarke drawled. “He’s got to learn more situational awareness, or he’s going to get himself killed.”
“Or he’s filtering out unnecessary information. You have to do that, too,” Rodriguez snapped back.
“He’s not at that stage yet.” Clarke’s voice got louder. “When he has a couple of years under his belt, he can tell me what it is and isn’t important. If I say knowing lunch was important, then it’s important.”
Noah waited, choosing to observe instead. The officers should be able to sort this out before he intervened.
“Who got second place?” Erin changed the subject, successfully diverting the attention onto herself, thus avoiding a continued battle between her officers. “I’ve already forgotten. Was it you, Clarke?”
“No, it was Rodriguez.” Clarke shifted gears.
Rodriguez got to her feet. “Since I’m second place, I’m team captain for Team One, and Kevin is team captain for Team Two.”
The team immediately separated into men versus women.
