Chapter Text
Click.
Maddie sighed and removed the earpiece from her ear, “They never hesitate to hang up the moment help arrives.”
“Yeah,” Right across from Maddie’s desk sat Josh who nodded, “You never get used to the not knowing what happens after. Although, sometimes I forget it by the next call. Depending on the level of traumatizing.” He took a sip out of his coffee mug that just had ’Shhhh’ written on it in a large font.
Her eyes began to water, as they so often do. “It’s just that I’ve been here nearly seven years. I just expected it to get easier.”
“Ooh, yeah, no. It never does. Hey, take a break if you need. With Linda back, we have enough people to cover the floor. Can you believe that she took over a year off for her honeymoon? Do you think Sue would’ve let you do that? Or Bobby let—” Josh stopped himself as he realized. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I don’t need a break,” She bit her lip and let out a small laugh, “Chim and I haven’t really talked about our honeymoon. I think with Athena and Bobby’s honeymoon disaster we just wanted to stay home with Jee and now with her brother on the way…” Maddie shrugged.
“Okay, well just let me know.” Josh smiled. Click. “9-1–1, what’s your emergency?”
Maddie took a deep breath and reached for her earpiece, noticing her cell phone ringing beside it. She read the contact name. Then she read it again. Then she blinked a few times and read it a third time:
CAPT. BOBBY NASH
Maddie’s eyes went so wide it looked like her big wet eyes were going to pop out of her head, “Maybe I do need that break…” She fumbled to grab her phone and slid the answer button, “Hello? Bobby?”
…
“Hello?”
…
“Is somebody there?”
…
Reality quickly struck Maddie as she remembered that the fire captain was dead and has been for three weeks. Her hopeful expression dropped into annoyance, “Calling on a dead guy’s phone. Cute. Who the hell is this?”
…
Maddie rolled her eyes and grunted angrily and went to press the button to end the call, but then there was a distorted voice in between the static coming from the other line.
“Mad… Help… Buried… Lab… Gov—”
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
The call ended.
Maddie looked up at Josh who looked just as disturbed and confused as she did. “What the hell?” The two said in unison.
Josh stood up and slowly took his earpiece out. “Were you just called by a ghost?”
“I-I don’t know.” Maddie frantically redialed the number.
Riiiiing. Riiiiiing.
…
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
The call was declined.
Josh came over to Maddie and looked at the phone from over her shoulder, “Someone definitely has that phone.”
Maddie called the number again and was immediately hit with ‘CALL FAILED’. “Is there some kid with his phone trying to be funny or…” Maddie wasn’t sure how to even say the words.
“Do you think he’s… alive somehow?”
“I mean, I was at his funeral and he was buried in Minnesota. If he was buried alive there’s no way he’s still alive now it’s been two weeks since the funeral and four weeks since he was declared dead.” Maddie shook her head to attempt to get the wild theory off of her brain, but this was a very odd situation.
“What if he wasn’t even buried?” Josh spitballed. “No one’s seen the body, right?”
“Oh, God, we’re spiraling.”
“A little bit.”
Maddie pushed her chair in and headed towards the break room, “Um, I’m going to make a few calls. I’m gonna get to the bottom of this and make sure I’m not being haunted by my brother and my husband’s dead boss.”