Holy cow you guys love this story! I NEVER expected the response I got. BTW, what happens to Clary is based off what happened to a man who had the plane crash through his office I am also SO sorry for not updating! Darn exams and projects and UGH! Sometimes I hate you high school… Here is chapter 3!
September, 11, 2001
South Tower 9:03 am
17 minutes after impact on North Tower
1 second before impact on South Tower
Isabelle, Simon and Magnus were making their way down one of the main stairwells in the South Tower when the building shook violently with an enormous explosion. It felt as if the building had moved a good four feet in all directions.
Simon had been stepping towards the bottom step before the landing on the 61st floor when the explosion happened, causing him to tumble forwards and land on the landing with a thud. Isabelle and Magnus were right behind him, Magnus holding the railing and Isabelle stepping forward just ahead of him, causing Magnus to slip backwards whilst still holding the railing and Isabelle to fall forwards, landing half on Simon and half on the floor.
When the shaking stopped after a few seconds they each let out a pained groan from their tumbles to the floor.
"What the hell was that!?" Magnus said, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head where it had made contact with the stairs.
Isabelle pushed herself off of Simon and sat on the floor next to him. "You okay?" she asked quietly.
Simon sat up with a groan and nodded. "Yeah…" he trailed off, wincing as his wrist bent to feel his chin that had a bruise forming on it.
"Do you think it came from the other tower?" Isabelle asked, looking up at Magnus before standing up.
Magnus shook his head. "It sounded like it came from out building. It felt too close to be from the North Tower."
"Well whatever it was," Simon said, using his good wrist on the railing to push himself into a standing position (with Isabelle's help, of course). "It can't be good. We need to keep moving."
Magnus looked back up the stairwell where the hurried shuffling of shoes and heels mixed with worried murmurs began to flood their hearing. "What about Clary and Maia?" he asked.
Isabelle looked up as well, hearing many people making their way down. "They'll be fine. They should already be on their way." She took a breath, nodding to herself. "They'll be fine." she said. Hopefully.
September, 11, 2001
77th floor South Tower 9:03 am
17 minutes after impact on North Tower
1 seconds until impact on South Tower
Clary dropped the phone in shock. She stood frozen. Without even thinking, she got to the ground and crawled under her desk just as the wing of the plane crashed through her office.
She screamed as the building shook violently. Hot air spread throughout the room and smoke clouded in. The noise was something else.
Metal against metal creaked and the loud banging of the explosion was like 500 fireworks going off at once. Then there were the screams. Not her own, but of the people in the building below her. Any screams from above were cut off abruptly.
They were dead.
She sat there for a minute. And another. And another. Until finally, she opened her clenched eyes. They stung as smoke brushed them, causing her to shut them again and she choked on the air as it had smoke piling in.
She looked out from around her desk at where the plane wing had made contact and saw a hole in the floor. A long, uneven slit to be exact. She backed away from it, worried that the floor would crumble under her weight.
She took a shaky breath before coughing from the smoke. She's been staring at the floor and didn't notice the inferno above her in the upper floors. When she looked up she knew that everyone up there was dead.
And she should be too.
I've got to be dreaming! I'm dead! There's no way I'm still alive. Yet, there she is. Sitting in a slowly burning building where a plane crashed into it only 20 minutes after one crashed into the Tower.
She screamed for help, but heard nothing. She couldn't hear herself scream. She was temporarily deaf. But that didn't stop her. She screamed and cried hoping someone would hear and help her. She screamed a few more times before stopping to cough up more smoke. Looking around she saw the door out of the office was thankfully not blocked.
She shakily got to her feet, nearly falling a few times and having to use her desk for support, and made her way to the door. She was almost hypnotized by the muffled sounds of her footsteps towards the door. They didn't even sound real.
She reached the door and tried to pull it open. It jerked forward an inch before stopping and refusing to move. She slammed her fist against the door and leaned against it, trying to open it the other way. Sure enough, it opened. Just not when Clary expected it to.
The door flung open and Clary was flung face first onto the carpet floor. She elevated herself with her arms, looking around. She coughed and recoiled towards the door as she saw an even larger inferno a few feet to her left, roaring and crackling as it burned whatever had been in its place moments before.
That was when she realized she could hear again. The roaring flames next to her were growing faster and louder as the oxygen from her office came through the open door and fueling it more.
She took a breath, coughing lightly before using the doorframe to support herself as she attempted to stand. She was thankful for wearing flats instead of heels to work that morning. She began to walk towards the stairs on her right but stumbled as she found her legs shaking out of shock. She took a few deep breaths, coughing at the smoke she inhaled and walked swiftly to the door, grasping the handle tightly.
She yanked on the door, using all her strength, and the door refused to move. That was when she realized that the ceiling had lowered itself about 4 inches, blocking the door. She knew she couldn't pull the door open with the ceiling blocking it, so she grasped the handle again and pushed her body against the door.
She coughed from smoke inhalation and continued to push on the door, using all her weight to open the door. She backed away, breathing heavy from the lack of clean air and kicked the door as hard as she could. The ball and heel of her foot stung when she put it back on the floor but she ignored it. She then went back to pushing on the door as hard as she could, and to her surprise it opened. But the sudden movement caught her off guard and she went tumbling down onto the stair landing.
When she landed, her arms didn't have enough time to prepare for her landing and they failed, causing her to land harshly on her chest, knocking the wind out of her. She lay there for a moment, breathing in the cleaner air and slowly rising to her feet. She gripped the stair landing tightly and slowly began to descend the stairs.
September, 11, 2001
Base of the Towers 9:06 am
20 minutes after impact on North Tower
3 minutes after impact on South Tower
Jace walked over to the Chief as the other members of his group prepared to climb the North Tower. He waited for the Chief to finish giving his ordered to a second group of men before speaking.
"Sir," he said. "I think they could use more assistance in the South Tower. I should be heading up there."
"Herondale, you are heading up the North Tower. It was hit first and requires more assistance." the Chief said, turning to the side and ordering a group of men towards the North and South Towers.
"Sir, I really think-"
"I gave you an order, Jonathan! I do not have time to argue with you! People are dying and I need you to get your ass up the North Tower before anything begins to collapse!" he yelled. "Now move out!" the Chief yelled, pointing behind him at the North Tower.
Jace was hesitant to speak but agreed. "Yes, sir."
The Chief nodded and walked off in the opposite direction. Jace turned towards the South Tower, where Jonathan and his group were preparing for their climb up the tower. Jonathan noticed Jace approaching hastily and walked over to meet him.
Jace took a breath. "Do you know what floor Clary's on?" he asked.
Jonathan shook his head. "No, she said she was gonna call me later today, but…" he trailed off, looking up at the smoke bellowing out of the tower.
Sighing, Jace continued. "She was on the 77th floor when I called. Either she's trapped up there, on her way down or…" he stopped, shaking his head. Don't think like that.
"I'll look for her. Go tell Sebastian to keep an eye out for her incase she makes it out." Jonathan said, starting to walk back to his group.
Jace gave him a nod. "Okay." he said quietly, slowly turning away towards the North Tower.
"Jace," Jonathan called, stopping Jace in his tracks as they faced each other. "We'll find her. She's smart. She'll be okay. Heck, she's probably half way down those stairs right now!" with the last line he smiled in reassurance.
Jace gratefully smiled back. "Good luck, man. And stay safe."
Jonathan nodded. "You too."
And that was the last time they saw each other.
September, 11, 2001
76th floor South Tower 9:06 am
20 minutes after impact on North Tower
3 minutes after impact on South Tower
Clary hurried down the stairs to the 76th floor of the South Tower, breathing heavily and stumbling every couple of steps. Her legs burned and shook as she descended, making her thankful she was going down the stairs and not up. She coughed slightly and stopped on the landing of the 76th floor for a breather. It was only one flight but due to the shock of the crash and smoke inhalation she was fairly weak. She leaned against the door and took deep breaths, thankful that the air in the stairwell was cleaner than the air in her office, not by much but it was better. She was beginning to breath clearly again.
Just as she was becoming more relaxed she felt a large thumb on the door, causing her eyes to fly wide and leap forward slightly before turning around. Behind her she saw a man, with a fairly large group of people trapped on that floor, some still walking in and out of their offices with fire extinguishers. At first Clary didn't know why, but she soon saw smoke and a faint orange glow coming from the far end of the office. She looked back to the man in front of the window, he was saying something but they were extremely muffled through the door and the fact that her hearing was still coming back.
"What?!" she asked, quite loudly. "I can't quite hear you!"
The man took a breath, coughing slightly. "Can you open the door?!" he yelled, it was just audible through the door.
Clary nodded, grabbing the handle and pulling as hard as she could. The door was stuck in place, even more so than hers. She pulled harder and harder and the door didn't budge.
"Push!" she yelled to the man, hoping that if he pushed the door might move.
They spent a few more minutes pushing and pulling on the door but if didn't move an inch. Clary stepped back, grasping the railing and taking deep breaths. The man was breathing heavy as well, coughing from the smoke in their office, there was so much Clary could see it coming out from under the slim gap under the door. The man looked at her, his eyes pleading for her to help took a breath, trying to think of a way to get them out. She then turned her attention back to the man and walked over to the door.
"I'm gonna go get help!" she yelled. "My brother works for the fire department! I know them! I'll go down and get some help!"
The man was saying something along the lines of 'yes!' and 'go!' while coughing into his elbow a few times. He nodded violently to her and gestured towards the stairs saying 'go!'.
Clary nodded to him and turned to the stairs. Before she placed her foot on the first step she turned back to face the man and his colleagues in the office and yelled "I'll be back!"
Yay new chapter! Haza! This took a while to write but it's out now so who cares!? Anyone reading Remains I will update soon! (Hopefully) And I just saw Kung Fu Panda 3 the other day and OMG IT WAS EPIC! Anyway, I'll try not to leave you guys hanging so much from now on! How does one chapter for each story a week sound? I'm gonna give it a shot! See ya when I see ya!
-TBBG