Chapter 14

10:28 a.m. New York

There was a sudden rumbling. Maria had a feeling of absolute dread. She looked up and sure enough, Tower 1 was now crumbling to the ground in a cloud of smoke. Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her. Turning, Maria noticed that it was a young, African American firefighter. Maria allowed herself to be pulled, but she was too close to the scene this time and knew that she wouldn’t be able to outrun the dust cloud that was already bearing down on them.

The firefighter pushed her to the ground and got on top of her as a whoosh of air suddenly overcame them. Maria felt like she was in a vacuum. She closed her eyes and mouth as dust and debris threatened to bury her. The firefighter kept her covered, taking the worst of it. After a few minutes, he managed to drag her up and pull her into a nearby, badly damaged hotel.

"Shit!" he yelled as the windows started to shatter all around them from the force of the collapse. He pulled Maria to the safest place that he could see: the elevator. They huddled there as the tower continued to collapse in on itself just outside of the hotel. It felt like an earthquake. Maria put her hands over her ears so that she wouldn’t have to hear the destruction that was taking place. She closed her eyes tightly and for the first time in a long time, she prayed. She prayed that she’d live. She prayed that she’d get to see her mother and father again. She prayed that she’d get to see Sarah, Joey and her new stepbrother or stepsister. She prayed that she’d get to see Jacob again.

She prayed for peace.

New Jersey

Jacob turned from the window as Mike C. came into the room. "New York is shut down. About an hour ago, the Pentagon was hit, too. A hijacked plane also crashed in Pennsylvania. It was supposedly headed for another target, but something went wrong."

"We know, Mike. We’re watching CNN. What about Maria and the girls? How can we find out about them?" Trevor asked. He was nervous. If Maria had been there, she could be hurt…or dead. When the towers had collapsed, there had been numerous reports of people on the ground being unable to get safely out of the way.

Mike shook his head sadly, "All airports have been closed. All nonmilitary planes have been grounded and all U.S. flights have been cancelled. There’s no way in or out of the city right now. Cell phone services have also been suspended. We are unable to communicate with them," he said. Jacob turned back to the window.

"There’s nothing we can do?" Ashley asked. Mike shook his head again.

"Not right now. All we can do is wait. Mike and I will continue to try and get through to the hotel, but that’s all we can do is try," he said and left the room again. The guys returned their attention to the TV screen. Smoke still billowed from the site of the collapsed towers. They watched in disbelief.

New York

Sarah was crying uncontrollably. Alex had finally gotten herself under control and Emily was pacing back and forth, trying desperately to think of how they could possibly find out if Maria was okay or not.

"If she was alive, she would’ve come back by now!" Sarah sobbed. Alex hugged her tightly.

"She’s probably helping out. They most likely need volunteers. People are giving blood, too. Maria’s probably among them," she said, hoping to ease the girl’s worry.

"Alex is right. I’m sure that Maria took pictures of the towers. That means that she wasn’t inside and I’m sure that she was able to get to safety," Emily said. Sarah nodded, but kept crying. "I wish the phones worked. How long do you think they’ll be out?" Emily asked Alex, who shrugged.

"Who knows? All we can do is wait," she told her. Emily sighed. Waiting had never been easy for her…and it wasn’t now.

Maria raised her head slowly. Dust fell from her head and she coughed. There was dust in her eyes, her nose and her mouth. She turned and spit, trying to get some of it out, but she needed water badly right now. She heard a moan and turned to see the firefighter next to her. He had been injured, but not too badly. He was also covered in dust and dirt. His face was scratched, but luckily his heavy fireman’s coat had kept his body covered.

"Are you okay?" Maria asked, her voice sounding loud in the small space. The guy moaned again and opened his eyes. He looked at Maria.

"Are you?" he asked. She nodded.

"I think so. Thank you for what you did for me. You saved my life." He smiled slightly and then winced when tried to sit up a little.

"Girl, what were you doing there? When a building collapses, you get the hell out of there, you don’t go takin’ no damn pictures!" he exclaimed.

"It was like I was frozen and couldn’t move. It’s so unbelievable," Maria said.

"Yeah, well, believe it. The Twin Towers are gone. All of those firemen and rescue guys are gone. Damn. If this wasn’t the work of the devil, I don’t know what it was," he said. Maria nodded. "What’s your name?" he then asked her.

"Maria." He actually laughed.

"As in ‘Mary, the mother of God?’ Well, I got lucky, huh? Are you my angel?" he asked. Maria shook her head.

"I’m no angel. I just picked a bad day and time to go sightseeing at the Twin Towers," she said.

"No shit. I’m Ray and it was lucky that I pulled you out of there or you’d be dead right now, girlfriend. I got to get you out of here," he said as he struggled to stand up. Maria looked around her. They were still in the elevator. The doors were opened, but debris littered the opening. Ray got to his feet and began moving the debris aside. Maria also stood up. It was a miracle, but her camera was still around her neck and it was intact, although it was pretty banged up. She was also out of film.

"Are we stuck?" she asked. Ray shook his head.

"Nope. I just got to pull this one beam out of the way," he said as he pulled and the beam fell with a ‘clang’ onto the floor. Ray took Maria’s hand and they stepped over the beam into the lobby of the now destroyed hotel. Glass was everywhere. Looking up, Maria noticed that, amazingly enough, a crystal chandelier still hung on the ceiling, only slightly broken by the force of the towers collapsing.

Ray carefully led Maria to the front doors. She looked outside. It was black. Pitch black. Ash was everywhere. Dust was everywhere. Maria could barely see in front of her.

"My God," she said softly. Ray opened the door that no longer had glass in it and they went out into the blackness. Some of the dust was lifting. Looking down, Maria noticed that she was standing in at least two inches of it. Her black sandals were no longer black. Her feet were covered in ash and dust. As was the rest of her, she was sure. She walked with Ray towards the site of the collapse. Sirens could still be heard, but here, there was no one. Everyone had fled. Some men with clothing and surgical masks covering their faces walked slowly out of the dust. They looked shocked and dazed.

"Come on," Ray said as he started walking. Maria followed him. They saw some life in a small deli. Firefighters and EMS workers had taken refuge there. One of them handed Ray and Maria water bottles as soon as they entered the deli. Maria took a drink and spit it out, then took a long drink.

"Ray!" A big, burly firefighter came forward and hugged the younger man.

"Tim, man, I knew you’d get out. I got separated and just got the hell out of there," Ray said. Tim shook his head as tears ran down his cheeks.

"I was in there, man. I was coming down the stairs and I had this lady with me. She was burned badly. She couldn’t keep up. I ended up carrying her and ran through the debris as the goddamn thing fell. I barely made it," he said. "The woman, I don’t know. I just handed her to a paramedic. She was burned to the bone." Maria frowned.

"Excuse me, miss, but you’re bleeding." Maria turned to see a young Asian man looking at her. "I’m an intern at a local hospital. I can clean that up for you." Maria nodded stiffly as the intern led her to a table in the corner of the deli. He had a medical kit with him. He took Maria’s arm and placed it on the table. Taking a water bottle, he poured water over her wound. "My name is Johnny. I was on my way to the towers when Tower 1 went down. I ran in here because there was no place else to go. Do you work for a magazine?" he asked, noticing the camera hanging around her neck.

"Yeah, I do, but I wasn’t there working. I just happened to be there when the planes…came," Maria answered. Johnny nodded and got some antiseptic out of his kit.

"This might hurt," he said. Maria didn’t even flinch as he rubbed her cut with the antiseptic. He then applied an ointment and wrapped a bandage on her arm. "I just want to wash out your eyes." Maria nodded and cooperated as he rinsed her eyes out. "You have amazing eyes. Can you see better now?" Johnny asked. Maria nodded as she sat there blinking, trying to see clearly again. She looked around her. A fireman had come in and was getting sick in a garbage can by the door. Other firefighters sat around the deli. Some dazed. Some confused. Some crying.

Ray came over to Maria. "Do you want to help me bring some supplies to ground zero?" he asked. Ground zero? She guessed that he meant the former site of the Twin Towers. Maria sighed and nodded. Johnny grabbed his med kit and followed them. Ray handed Maria a box of water bottles. He carried another box and the three of them left the deli, headed for the newly named ‘ground zero.’

12:15 p.m. New Jersey

"No one’s allowed in or out of the city. With threats of further terrorist attacks, no one is taking any chances," Mike M. told the guys. Jacob had been quiet. He sighed. Dan walked over and put his arm around him.

"She’s fine, Jake," he said.

"How do you know that? You don’t. God, I feel so helpless. Why? Why today? Why now?" Jacob asked, incredulously. No one had an answer. Jacob went into the bathroom and shut the door. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. He saw a scared, worried boy there. Maria could be dead for all he knew. He thought that he didn’t really have deep feelings for her, but now he knew better. His feelings for Maria were deeper than he had thought. And now, she might be lost to him forever. Gripping the edge of the counter, Jacob closed his eyes tightly. He rarely cried. He wasn’t that kind of emotional person, like Trevor was. But, right now, he felt like crying.

"I guess he cares more for Maria than we thought," Erik said softly as they all watched Jacob disappear into the bathroom.

"She’s gotta be okay," Trevor said, wiping his eyes. He couldn’t stop crying. The whole disaster was truly horrible. And if Maria had been there…Trevor didn’t want to think about it, but he couldn’t help it.

"Man. Do you realize that those buildings each had, like, over one hundred floors?" Ashley asked, as he sat watching TV. "Plus the people on the planes. All of those people are dead. Jesus, all of those people."

Erik walked over to the bathroom and knocked lightly. He tried the door, which was unlocked, and walked in. Jacob was sitting on the floor, his head down, his hands folded in prayer. Erik sat in front of him. Jacob raised his head. He wasn’t crying, but Erik noticed that his eyes were watery. Erik put his hands on Jacob’s and they prayed together. "Our Father/ Who art in heaven/ Hallowed be thy name…"

Orlando

"Any luck?" Susan asked, running into Kyle’s office. He shook his head as he hung up his phone. He gave a frustrated sigh.

"No. There’s absolutely no communication. I can’t get in touch with Maria at all." Susan frowned and wearily, she sat down across from Kyle’s desk.

"I’m sure they’re fine. Where is the Hammerstein Ballroom in relation to the Twin Towers?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I don’t know exactly. I’m sure that they’re okay, though," Kyle assured her. "When Maria is able to, she’ll get in touch with us."

Kathleen knocked on the door to Kevin and Geoff’s apartment. Geoff opened the door. "Geoff, have you heard anything?" Kathleen asked as she ran in and went over to the TV that was on MSNBC.

"No. I doubt that I’d be the first one Maria would call anyway. Why don’t you ask that dread-headed asshole that she’s screwing?" he said. Kathleen wanted to slap him.

"Why do you have to be such a jerk? You’re right, Maria wouldn’t call you since she dumped you!" she said, angrily.

"That bastard is the reason that she’s even in New York. It’s his fault if anything happens to her!" Geoff said right before he stalked out of the apartment. Kathleen sighed as she sat on the couch. Leave it to Geoff to be looking for someone to blame. The front door opened a minute after Geoff had left and Kevin came in. Kathleen jumped up and ran to him. Kevin held her and kissed the top of her head.

"It’s okay, Kath. Maria will call when she is able to get through," he said. Kathleen nodded against his chest.

"I know. It’s the waiting that’s killing me. I just want to hear from her and I want to hear from her now."

5:45 p.m. New Jersey

Jacob was sleeping on the bed in the room where the guys had spent the day…mostly watching TV. Ashley, who was awake, was lying beside Jacob. He couldn’t sleep. Erik and Dan sat on the floor, their eyes glued to the TV screen. They couldn’t look away. Trevor was lying on the other bed, just staring straight ahead.

All of the guys’ nerves were shot. They wanted information, but none was forthcoming. The Mikes had been going in and out of the room, but they hadn’t gotten any more information regarding Maria, Sarah, their cousin, Emily, or Alex. A little while ago, building 7 of the World Trade Center had collapsed, but no one had been hurt since it had already been evacuated and had been expected to fall.

Mike M. came into the room and sighed. "Guys, why don’t you go out or do something else? Watching this is gonna make you crazy," he said.

"Any word?" Ashley asked. Mike shook his head.

"There probably won’t be any way to contact the girls until tomorrow night at the earliest. If we can’t get in touch with them, then I’m sure they’ll try calling you if the phones are put into service again. Try to relax. I see Jacob finally fell asleep." Mike said, looking at him on the bed. Erik nodded.

"Yeah, but he had to take a few pills first," he said, also looking at the bed. Jacob had been restless, but he was sleeping peacefully at the moment.

"I thought that their relationship wasn’t that serious," Mike said.

"I don’t think even Jacob realized how serious it was until he found out that Maria was at the World Trade Center when the towers collapsed," Dan told him. Mike nodded.

"Well, since there’s no concert tonight, you guys can hang out. And please, turn that thing off at some point," he said right before he left the room.

"Trev, are you okay?" Ashley said, going over and sitting on the bed beside him. Trevor had been very quiet. Tears fell from his eyes as he looked at Ashley.

"I don’t know. I just keep thinking about it. How could something like this happen? With all the security and everything, how can, like, four planes be hijacked in the same day and turned into freakin’ missiles?" he asked. Ashley shrugged.

"I don’t know. I was wondering that, too," he answered.

"I wonder where that plane that crashed into the field in Pennsylvania was going?" Erik asked.

"Probably the White House," Dan replied. "It’s scary, guys, I know, but we have to just be thankful that we’re okay and pray for everyone who died."

"That doesn’t include Maria," Trevor said, firmly.

Jacob had woken up and was listening to his band mates’ conversation. It was unimaginable that an attack so vicious had taken place…and Maria had been there. She was in New York because of him. He had invited her to see the concert. If Maria had been hurt or killed, Jacob would never forgive himself.