Sofska: Modern City in Another World

Prologue

Everybody ran to the trucks as the fire alarm rang. This is the second emergency in just two days, and at the exact same place. Apparently, the factory has some serious security flaws. First the unexploded rocket found inside one of the depots, and now this? Like seriously, when are they going to get some rest? Well, there's no point complaining. After all, this is their job. If it weren't for them, the entire city would have burned by now.

With the door opening, the trucks and turntable ladder trucks drive out of the hangar and make a right turn.

-'Careful with the fire truck Zoran', says Nikola, the commander of the station, who is following in his Toyota Hilux fire chief car. 'I don't want to have to pick you up in a casket'.

-'Oh come on, lighten up a little', says Vanja, the driver of the Toyota. 'You know Zoran, he always drives like a maniac'.

-'Yeah, that's my problem, because I know he drives like a maniac', replies Nikola. In situations like this, there's no room for jokes, at least from his point of view. Anyone who jokes at times like this, isn't taking their work seriously. This isn't any type of job. Human lives depend on them. You can't expect to have fun while a regular civilian could be on the brink of death. You need to focus on your mission very carefully.

-'You know we haven't had a crash for the last ten years', continues Vanja.

-'Even so, I'm not willing to go through anything like that again', replies Nikola back as he shapes his green beret, making sure that its emblem is oriented between the center and the right side.

He still remembers the accident from over ten years ago. It was back during the early stages of the Bosnian/Serbian conflict between the two political entities of Bosnia-Herzegovina and a year after the people of Sofska decided to secede and start a whole new country just because they did not want to be part of this new civil war. 

To them, memories of the previous war of 1995 were still fresh in their minds, they did not want to go through anything like that ever again. Can anyone blame them? They wanted peace when their government decided this would be out of the question. No wonder the independence referendum was passed with a ninty seven percent voting for. 

However, there were some who were willing to undermine the people's opinion and turn them against each other, hoping that the city would return to where it once belonged. It's why they started bombarding the city with artillery rockets and terrorist attacks and tried to frame the minority who voted against. What they achieved though was unite the people against both sides. 

Not only did their attacks not work, but they caused the increase and tightening in security measures. Any groups or militias from either side attempting to enter or attack the city was pushed back by the border security forces. Nobody could get in or out without having to go through them.

It was during the early days of independence. They had received a call like many others. A rocket fired from outside the border had exploded near a fuel depot and had caused a massive fire. Judging by the location it was fired from, it seemed like the fuel depots were deliberately targeted. Apparently the militia that attacked, thought that by crippling the Sofskan fuel supplies, they would make the local government surrender much faster.

Everything was going smoothly for the first few minutes after they scrambled out of the station. However, what the firefighters had forgotten was that there were still unexploded mines close to the area. Apparently, the UN had decided to abandon its mine clearance mission years ago, marking the city a 'Grey Zone'.

What happened was that, one of the fire trucks drove right above an anti-tank mine, causing it to explode. Thankfully, there weren't any casualties, and the fires were extinguished using a water truck and the Civil Defence helicopters. Nevertheless, this taught Nikola a very important lesson, or rather, it was a wake up call. Ever since, he's not allowed himself or anybody else to be as reckless as he was.