New home

Posted on Sat Aug 15th, 2020 @ 2:37am by Level 3 Carmine Mannarino
Edited on on Sat Aug 15th, 2020 @ 4:48pm

Mission: It's... A Bus Station
Location: NCGB HQ
Timeline: May 7th 2020

“You sure?” Carmine asked, looking around the nearby area. “I can stay and keep you all safe.”

“Go, you big lunk. Get in and check in for both of us. This way I’ll go to the hotel and get us a room. Take Bella with you.”

Carmine headed to his motorcycle with his daughter Bella. She waited for him to start the bike and get on before she hopped on. She had her mother's helmet on and a cell phone in her pocket. They got on the highway and made their way into Raleigh. Carmine had put the directions to where they were going taped to the gas tank of his bike. They took another highway that led towards downtown, towards the bus station. The echo of his motorcycle was bouncing off the buildings that made up downtown. Sure they weren’t that high. This was no New York City. On the sidewalks, people were greeting each other as they passed. “Ain’t no New York.” He muttered to himself. One thing was for sure. He was getting a lot of attention.

“So green Papi. People seem friendly.” Bella said over mic in her helmet.

“Nothing but fast food.” Carmine stated.

“Bet they got no good pizza here.” His daughter replied. “Bet no New York style.”

“Nuthin beats Arthur ave.” Carmine stated a well known fact.

“Hey Papi! There it is.” Bella took one arm and tapped his shoulder.

“Damn. One way.” Carmine said to her.

As they pulled to a stop, Bella pulled out her phone and looked to the map. “Map says The next block. Turn right, then turn right, then turn right.”

“Right.” Carmine said with a chuckle.

The light turned green and Carmine started to move. Those in the flow with him were keeping clear of his bike. He made the first right turn, then a few moments later, the second right turn. “Spooky hotel.” Bella said as they made the second right turn.

He turned at the next right and held the right lane. He could see the end of the block so he slowed down with his turn signal going, also aware that Bella was doing the hand signal. Despite her disabilities, she wasn't totally retarded. In fact some areas, she was very smart.

Carmine pulled into the lot as a group of what looked to be raw recruits. One of the recruits looked to be slimed. They were headed into the spooky hotel next door. His trained eyes spotted Ford with the group. He knew Ford had been in Manhattan. He had met Ford a few times, as had his family.

“Dat’s bad.” Carmine said to himself as he brought the bike to a halt in the lot. With a practiced move, he flipped out the kickstand and leaned his bike to that side. He shut the bike off. His daughter slid off the backseat, giving him the chance to get off the front.

“What Papi?” Bella asked, as she slipped off her helmet.

“Looks like dey gots a ghost. I gotta help.” Carmine reached into the saddlebag and pulled out his uniform.

While he wasn’t high on the ranking, fourteen years of doing this job gave him the practice to quickly change into his uniform. He jogged into the station, aware his daughter was following him. He needed the armory. He didn’t see it on the first floor and he doubted it would be on the second floor. So he looked for basement access. "Stay up here. No going to the basement."

He found it quickly, but was shocked that the armory wasn’t locked up. He tossed off his riding jacket, and loosened his belt. His daughter began looking around as she got to the bottom of the stairs. For years she had gone to the Bronx station and knew it by heart. Now she had a new place to scope out. He looked over his shoulder and gave a short whistle. "Hey, you know the rules. Out of the basement."

"Aw." She began to complain, but he pointed to the stairs.

"Out, you know the rules." Carmine said to her. He half watched and half dressed as she made her way up the stairs.

A few moments later he was wearing his uniform. Complete with the Ghostbusters logo on his arm, below that was the seal of the State of New York and below that was the flag of the Bronx. He was swinging a proton pack on, in a move he had done many times in the past fourteen years.

Carmine took a P.K.E. meter and slid it onto a spot on his belt. He already had a couple of flashlights. One for his wrist, one that hung on his belt. He always had a knife on his belt, in case he needed to cut something. He grabbed a pair of paragoggles that helped him to see spirits. Then He picked up a trap, looped it onto a hook and his belt. He was ready to go.

“Lookin sharp, Papi!” Bella said as he came up the steps from the basement. He paused long enough to close the door and lock it, wondering why it had been open in the first place.

“Stay here. I mean it. First floor only.” He said, shutting the door to the armory and locking it. “No leavin the buildin.”

“Can I get into the food on the bike? We still got some pizza in there, right?”

Carmine thought about it, then nodded. “Yeah. Some. half of that New York style and a few cannolis. It’s with the freeze packs, so find a microwave. Your aunt has the rest.”

“Good.” Bella followed her father out and stopped at the Harley, as he headed for the hotel. Not too much time had passed. So he could catch up with the group in the hotel.