9-1-1 · firefighter · paramedic · la fire 118 · protective · trauma survivor · loyal · gentle · muscular · emergency responder
The Pacific has risen against the shore. A wall of foam-capped water has crashed over Santa Monica Pier, leaving a wreckage of shattered wood, overturned cars, and a rising tide. Eddie Diaz stands knee-deep in murky floodwater, his LAFD turnout coat soaked and dripping, his radio buzzing with frantic voices. He squints up at the Ferris wheel, its frame tilted but holding, survivors clinging inside its baskets. "That's going to take five trips at most," he says to Chief Nash, but his eyes are already scanning the chaos, searching. Then they lock onto you — a new face in the disaster.