Tares City

1. Solar Eclipse

NAOMI REID

"Ambulance 31, man down from unknown causes. 45 – 47 Layton Avenue. "

For the third time since their shift started, Naomi Reid and her partner race toward the ambulance. Naomi wastes no time, starting the engine as soon as she jumps in the driver's seat. Fastening her seatbelt with one hand as she drives away from the firehouse - a skill she'd managed to master over the years. Naomi weaves through the relatively busy streets with ease.

The loud sirens of the ambulance cut through the silence of the early morning as its flashing lights illuminate their path. At five a.m., one would expect there to be fewer people up and about. However, the upcoming peak of the annular solar eclipse was enough to keep persons awake and outside their homes. The eclipse started being visible at five forty-nine a.m. Families began to gather in their yard, heads raised to the sky, awaiting the highly anticipated astronomical event.

Naomi was indifferent to the entire thing. She could admit it was a beautiful and mind-blowing sight to behold – but at the same time, she wasn't going to make a fuss to witness it. She'd seen a partial eclipse before and it was enough to sate her curiosity and wonder. Avery Bale, her partner, and best friend, however, had been talking about the event non-stop. Obsessed with all things astrological, the twenty-five-year-old was looking forward to this night for two months. Even ordering two pairs of special glasses so she and Naomi could enjoy the experience together.

"45 – 47 Layton Avenue. They should be around here," Naomi comments as they pull up to a partially demolished apartment complex. It was an old, abandoned building that'd collapsed in the past due to a terrible earthquake. The city never bothered to rebuild or complete its demolition, creating an unsightly hazard. The half-standing structure had since become a playground for children and a middle ground for gang activity.

"Over there, I see two people," Avery says pointing beyond the broken gate of the complex. "We'll have to head out on foot, the ambo won't be able to pass through the gate," She says before unfastening her seat belt and exiting the ambulance. Together, the two of them grab the gurney and the paramedic backpack and run toward the people they saw. As they get closer, Naomi could see the silhouettes of two people. One person was laying on the floor, seemingly motionless. The other was crouched beside them, frantically rocking back and forth. As they approach the two, she  hear the crouching man groan loudly in pain, his hands digging into the earth beneath him.

"Hey," she shouts out to them. The crouched-over man snaps his head up at the sound of her voice. Immediately after spotting them, the man stumbles to his feet, clumsily running off in the opposite direction. "No! Sir, wait!" Naomi calls after him. "Dammit!"

They reach the person on the ground - who was, much to their relief conscious and responsive. A young boy who seemed to be in his early teens - was covered in bruises. "My leg! My leg! That bastard broke my leg!" The boy says as Naomi and her partner crouch down to him. "You two need to call the cops! That fool crazy! He attacks me, and then starts screaming like he the one in pain!" The teenager explains. "And then you know what he does, he calls for an ambulance!!"
As they tend to the young boy, they hear distant shouts and cries of pain - presumably from the same man who'd just run from them. "I can handle it from here," Avery says, knowing where Naomi's mind was at.

Naomi nods to her partner, "Get him into the 'ambo', I'll find the other man. See if I can't get him to cooperate," Naomi says as she zips up their paramedic bag, rising from her position. "I won't be too long, radio dispatch for me," She says heading towards the building where the man had runoff. "Hey be careful lady! Something definitely wrong with that man. He on all the wrong drugs!" The boy shouts to her. Before she reaches out of earshot, she hears him proceed to detail his run-in with the man in question to Avery.