All rights reserved to Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Columbia Pictures. This follows year nineteen (2001) of the Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline. Special recognition also goes to Rosey Collins and Fritz Baugh for their respective characters and creations. Gas Hunter is a registered trademark of Bacharach Inc.
Support the Twin Towers Fund and the NYPD FDNY Orphans and Widows fund.
"We must go on...."
Black Day at the Firehouse - Nightmare Awakening
Chapter One
Tuesday September 11th, 2001
8:48AM
New York City
Smoke, fire, sirens....
Egon blinked, the first real action he'd performed since seeing the flames and smoke pouring out of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center.
"My god..."
"What was it?"
"I think it was a plane."
Everyone in the conference had frozen when they'd first seen the scene which stood before them, for one reason or another the very top of the Northern tower was a mass of flames and smoke, intermitant with falling chuncks of debris. Egon couldn't be sure because a lot of the upper stories around the fire zone were now being obscurred by smoke, but it seemed that the fire was worst around the floros in the 93rd to 98th area. If it had been a plane then it had made a large impact. The people gathered at the conference were now coming out of the daze and for the first time Egon heard the siren which was blaring outside in the elevator lobby. He turned to see Samantha quickly walk up to the podium and grab the microphone from it's stand.
"Ladies and gentlemen can I have your attention...we are not sure of what has just happened but we will be evacuating the conference as quickly as possible. Please leave all of your bulky items behind until we are sure we can re-enter the building...please remain calm until we can begin the evacuation. I repeat...please remain calm." Even through she'd pleaded with the gathered conference members to remain calm it was evident on Samantha's face that she had been badly shaken. Egon, noting this walked over to her.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked as he got to the point, no time for formalities. She looked at him for a few seconds but relief filled her eyes.
"Yes...thank you Professor Spengler...if you could get everyone to line up together...and get Mark! He's got the ledger that has the name of everyone involved...once we get down to the lobby we can perform a name check and make sure nobody is left inside." Samantha explained.
"Understood." Egon nodded and walked over to the podium. "Ladies and Gentlemen...would you please form a line at the exit and give your name to..." He looked at Samantha who looked back at him and then nodded in understanding.
"Richards." She replied quickly.
"...Mr. Richards who will keep a record of who is here...we will then exit the building as quickly as possible and meet up in the plaza outside...we will try to evacuate using the elevators." Egon instructed, he then walked over to the man known as Mark Richards as a line began to form by the door. "How many people are here?" Egon asked.
"Only twenty nine...including ten technical staff...Samantha...myself...you and Dr. Basingham and a few conference employees." Mark replied. "There would've been nearly a hundred people when this thing was meant to begin."
"Understood...do you have everyone's names?" Egon asked.
"Most peoples'...I'm just gonna get the conference workers and make sure I have everyone who's here noted as being here." Mark replied as he got up from the table.
"Excellent...we should try to leave within five minutes." Egon moved towards the front of the group. "When we leave we will attempt to evacuate using the elevators...however if those turn out to be too crowded we will make use of the stairs." Egon informed the crowd, he turned and opened the door leading into the foyer, people were running about as an emergency siren sounded. Above the door to the staircase a set of emergency lighting had gone on even though the ceiling flourescents were still buzzing. While he watched someone tapped him on his shoulder, it was Samantha.
"Let's get going..." She spoke and Egon nodded. "Please follow Professor Spengler to the elevator..." Egon heard her voice drift off as he made his way to the bank of elevators, followed by the conference attendees and workers.
Ray and Eric simply stared, nearby the Firemen and film makers charged back to the engine and moments after that, it's siren began to wail as they pulled away from the curb and shot down the street. The loud wailing pulled Ray out of his shock and he shifted Ecto-1's gear into first gear and hit the gas pedal, he turned on the car's siren as a means to clear the road as quickly as possible. Either side of his peripheral Ray could make out shapes running in the same direction he was driving, people were running to the World Trade Center. He turned the car onto the corner of Fourth Avenue and Canal Street as he made a beeline for the Firehouse, however he had to slam down hard on the brakes in order to avoid hitting the back of a taxi.
"Damn." Ray swore as he was sent forward by the momentum and then caught by his seatbelt.
"Ray? Ray?! Can you hear me?" Ray snagged the CB radio handset, nearly dropping it.
"What is it Janine?" Ray asked, keeping watch of both the road and the growing column of black smoke which made it's way slowly across southern Manhattan.
"Did you just see what happened?" Janine asked, her voice was noticably unsteady even over the radio.
"Janine...I'm on my way back...I'll try get there as soon as I can...but Janine...the traffic's jamming up...I'm having a hard time...god only knows what's happening to the emergency services getting down there..." Ray continued. "Janine...Egon's going to be fine...I know he is..." Ray replied.
"I know what you're saying Ray...but I'm getting this horrible feeling something dreadful is going to happen..."
"I'd say it's already happening." Ray muttered darkly. "We'd better get some stuff set up...get the generator ready just in case we suffer a power outtage..."
"I'll get someone onto that...Ray...please be careful." Janine replied.
"I will." Ray replied strongly and placed the radio handset back into it's cradle. He then reached back into the rear passenger compartment, and with some mild discomfort released a few clasps on a large box and removed something from it...which turned out to be a bullhorn. Eric looked at the large red and white bullhorn which was in Ray's left hand. "Looks like we've found a use for this afterall." Ray replied with a slight smirk which seemed oddly hollow at that moment. His face then changed to that of grim determination as he leaned his head out of the window, put the bullhorn to his lips and began to speak. "Everyone get out of the way for the emergency services...let them through!" He instructed as a Fire Engine and two Police Cars edged their way past.
Janine placed the handset back in it's cradle and walked back upstairs as CNN blared from the TV, on screen there was some slight static as a shot, obviously from a video camera showed a shot of a plane smashing into Tower 1, the shot then changed to a live footage of the upper portion of Tower 1 in flames. On the floor the children had been corralled and had descended into an eeiry silence. Stood as close to the window facing downtown were Winston and Peter, the former of which was studying the scene through a pair of ex-military issue binoculars.
"...For our viewers who are just tuning in right now, you are looking at live picture of the World Trade Center tower, where, according to eyewitness Sean Murtagh -- he is the vice president of finance and eyewitness to what he describes as a twin-engine plane -- or possibly a 737 passenger jet -- flying into the World Trade Center. It appears to be still embedded inside the building...."
Chapter Two
8:51AM
Ray finally pulled Ecto-1 into the Firehouse garage, jumping out of the driver's seat as the garage doors slid closed behind them. He and Eric quickly moved towards the staircase and took it two steps at a time to get up to the rec room.
"Has there been anything new yet?" He asked.
"Nothing yet." Janine replied. "They're still getting people out of the North Tower...more and more Policemen and Firemen have been heading down there..." She continued, Peter changed to the TV to NY1, a local news channel which had a reporter live at the scene.
"This has to be the biggest coalition of FDNY Firemen and NYPD Officers in recent history! The problem is that most of them are having trouble getting through the small stairwells up to the fire...but there seems to be another problem...a lot of the Firemen are finding it difficult to get up to the floors in the one-hundreth region...the power is out in a lot of the North Tower and most of the elevators which reach the ground floor are either stuck or locked down in the lobby...this has to be the most terrible case of fire in recent history, and destruction of property since the terrorist bombings of the World Trade Center in 1993..." He reporter paused for a bit to regain his breath. "Fire Chiefs are advising that civilians keep back at least three blocks from the World Trade Center site to avoid falling debris from the impact site at the top of Tower 1...what...what is that?" The reporter asked, indicating something off-screen. "Can you get your camera on that?" The camera whipped around to show the top of Tower 1 and it zoomed in to see something large and black falling, another thing like it fell a moment later. Once the camera had reached total zoom the people watching the televison could make out all to well what those large objects falling from Tower 1 were. "Oh...oh god...get the camera away!" The camera swung back to the reporter who looked a lot more pale. "Ladies and gentlemen...in the persuit of the truth of the news we are also shown it's graphic story in detail...people are jumping from the upper stories of Tower 1 to...to...to escape the...the flames..."
"Jesus." Winston quietly swore. The reporter appeared close to tears.
"I'm sorry..." He replied and pushed his way past the camera. Peter allowed himself to collapse onto the couch, his eyes were dark, a heavy contrast to his paling face.
8:51AM
Egon waited inside the elevator with ten other conference members including Samantha and Alfred Basingham, the total conference group had been split into three groups, the first with Egon and Samantha, the second with Mark and a Security Guard and the third led by one of Samantha's co-workers. They were scheduled to meed up on the Sky Lobby on the 77th Floor. As the elevator descended from the 110th floor to the 105th Egon listened to the sounds above and in front of them, at first he couldn't be sure if the talking was getting louder of if they'd finally turned off the alarm...much to Egon's dismay it was still blaring loudly. However he could hear a voice over the alarm.
"...This building is stable, I repeat this building is stable. We have been asked not to evacuate WTC2 by the emrgency service. They need the space on the plaza for the people being evacuated from WTC1, so please stand still, note whichever floor you're on and re-enter the building at the nearest entry point..." The voice was coming from a PA speaker placed in the roof of the elevator car.
"Crumbs." Egon muttered.
"Shouldn't we go back up?" Someone in the car asked.
"No." Egon replied sternly. "We will evacuate this building to ensure that there is no risk of any of you becoming injured in the unlikely event should the tower collapse and fall onto this one." Egon replied.
"The tower's gonna fall on us?" The man asked with a pale face.
"Don't be rediculous." A woman replied as she rolled her eyes.
"I won't lie that it isn't a possibility, but it is more important that we evacuate and meet up with the rest of the group." Egon narrowed his gaze at the man. "We will be leaving this building, all of us...now just remain calm, we'll be arriving at the Sky Lobby soon...then we can join up with the other conference members and leave the building." Egon replied.
"How long does it take to get out of this building?" Someone in the car asked.
"I've heard it's something like a half hour if you take one of the express elevators from the conference area...a little more if you take this elevator to the Sky Lobbies...and even longer on the stairs...it depends on which floor you're on." Samantha explained. Egon looked at the floor indicator, they were in the mid-90s.
Chapter Three
9:01AM
Peter and Ray stood on the roof of the Firehouse as they watched the scene from a better viewpoint then the rec room. Sat on the ledge of the roof was a radio that was blaring out the news reports that they already knew.
"I can't get over how unreal this is...it's like some action movie you'd see on Fox or something." Ray replied. In front of them stood the bulk of Tower 1, around Ray's neck hung the pair of binoculars that belonged to Winston. Peter looked over the edge of the building as a few Police Cars and a Fire Engine screamed by.
"I hate to say it..." Peter began. "But if someone was motivated enough they could do this...some people out there are just really sick puppies." He replied grimly.
"Yeah." Ray replied quietly and raised the binoculars to his eyes again. "Wait a minute..." Ray replied in a tone Peter didn't like.
"What's wrong?" He asked, his question was answered by a second explosion that erupted from the stainless steel cladding on Tower 2. "Shit!" He flinched.
"Hell!" Winston swore as the news caught a second explosion, this time in Tower 2, the South Tower. Janine, Slimer and the children just watched in shocked silence...one plane could've been accident...but two?
Egon and the other conference members braced themselves as the building suddenly shook, the lights above them flickered wildly as dust and light portions of debris fell from the ceiling as a deafening roar erupted from above.
"What the hell was that?" A man in a business suit asked. The lights continued to flicker as dust drifted past the windows of the Sky Lobby.
"Omigod...we've been hit!"
"Maybe the tower fell?"
"Carla, if you can hear me, I love you, tell Lucy and Sandra that..."
"...oh God. Mary, mother of grace..."
"We're getting out of here...now!" Egon instructed as he led people to the staircase as the elevators began to be swamped by the people in the Sky Lobby.
Chapter Four
9:03AM
Peter and Ray watched in stunned silence.
"That...was that a second plane?" Peter asked.
"It was." Ray replied darkly as he stiffled back a sniff.
The TV continued to broadcast, but Winston wasn't concentrating on the TV, he had the uncontrollable urge to get off the couch and get down to the World Trade Center...but he couldn't just leave Janine there. Janine, on the other hand who had remained mostly quiet since the first plane had hit, was wiping away a set of tears that had streaked down her cheek.
Peter looked back, blinking furiously to keep back the tears which were trying to force their way out of him, flying above the scene he could make out a helicopter.
"...I repeat a second plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. NYPD and FDNY officials are at present working from an emergency center based in the lobby of one ot the towers, they intend to move onto a second emergency center set up at 75 Barclay Street. Mayor McShayne is also there with the Dupty Mayor and Police Chief..." The radio continued to speak.
"Ray...do we know which tower Egon is in?" Peter asked.
"No idea Pete..." Ray then suddenly looked at Peter. "Peter...where are Dana, Oscar and Jessica?"
"Goddamn!" Peter flinched at the mention of his family. "They're out sightseeing...Dana said they might be going to the World Trade Center!" Peter pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and dialled the number he knew for Dana's phone.
"...I'm sorry...all circuits are currently busy...please try again later..."
"Shit." Peter replied and closed the phone. "Two-hundred dollar cell phone and the piece of junk doesn't work worth a damn." Peter replied in disgust.
Chapter Five
9:05AM
Egon led the group down the stairwell as quickly as they could, at present the staircase was fairly clear, but Egon didn't believe it would stay that way for long, at present they were passing the 75th Floor, he was hoping they could get out of the building before anything else happened, he didn't know how bad the damage was likely to be in Tower 1 and presumably Tower 2, but if there was even the slightest chance that there was structural damage to Tower 2 then they'd better get out as quickly as possible.
"Professor Spengler..." It was Samantha. "Do you think we'll be able to get out of this building?" She asked.
"I am positive we can evacuate within the hour..."
"We're not going to make it? Don't you understand!" Egon turned to see Alfred Basingham, petrified and his eyes full of terror.
"Keep going!" Egon instructed, Samantha nodded and they continued down. Egon then raised a hand and slapped Basingham across the face with the back of his hand. "Please remain quiet you fool or I will be forced to drop my obligation to follow the Hipacratic Oath, do you understand?" Egon asked.
"Ye...yes." Basingham replied as he held his face, shocked that he'd been struck.
"Excellent...now follow the others down the staircase." Egon instructed and Basingham obliged. Egon then made his way back to the front of the group and joined Samantha's side.
"There a problem?" Samantha asked.
"Nothing a small amount of force couldn't resolve." Egon replied as they climbed down to the 70th Floor.
Winston looked over the railing and into the garage below, Kylie, Garrett and Eduardo had arrived, minutes later Roland also arrived at the Firehouse as they made their way upstairs, Kylie, Eduardo and Roland taking the stairs while Garrett took the wheelchair elevator.
"You see this stuff on the news? It's totally whacked!" Eduardo replied as he gestured at the TV, Kylie elbowed him in the ribs.
"Would you shut up for a minute?" She hissed, she then turned her attention to the other occupants of the rec room as Eduardo nursed his bruised side. "Has there been any word from Professor Spengler? Or Dr. Venkman's family?" She asked.
"Damn!" Winston cursed. "Peter's family's out there as well!" He then looked at Kylie. "There's no word yet from Egon...we're hoping he's gotten out...but we haven't tried his cell phone yet."
"I'll do that." Kylie replied as she walked over to the entrance to the kitchen and studied the numbers scrawlled behind the plastic, including Egon's. She punched in the number and waited a few minutes before hanging up with a snort of disgust. "Circuits are jammed...everyone in the city must be calling the Towers."
"Where are Dr. Venkman and Dr. Stantz?" Roland asked.
"Up on the roof." Winston replied. "Somebody better go up there and tell them what's happening with Egon."
"I'll go." Roland replied and he vanished off in the direction of the spiral staircase to the third floor. Winston then looked at Eduardo.
"Any word from your brother?"
"Nah...he was at the station when all this went down...don't know if they'll send his precinct down there..." Eduardo replied as he flopped down on the couch. "Some loco people out there..."
"Yeah." Winston agreed, Kylie sat down next to Janine.
"Your husband's going to be fine...those Policemen and Firemen are the best in the country..." Kylie replied with a hesistant smile.
"Thanks." Janine replied even with tears in her eyes. "But I just don't want to think about losing him again after we got back together." She replied and was then given a reassuring hug from Kylie.
"We've tried to phone Professor Spengler...Kylie couldn't get though." Roland reported.
"Same here..." Peter replied as he indicated his cell phone which lay next to the radio. "Eveything's jammed."
"Will you be coming back inside?" Roland asked.
"In a few minutes..." Ray replied. "Does Eduardo...I'm assuming he's here now...does he know anything about his brother?"
"If Carl is heading down there then Eduardo doesn't know." Roland replied as he walked back to the entrance to the roof.
9:09AM
Egon looked up and they were passing 72nd Floor, he didn't know if travelling down three floors in four minutes was good or bad, but he hoped they could get out of the tower in case it did decide to collapse.
The gathered group of Ghostbusters simply sat in the rec room in the Second Floor of the Firehouse, watching as more smoke billowed out of the two towers.
Chapter Six
9:56AM
Beep Beep. Beep Beep.
Peter lurched and grabbed his cell phone.
"Hello? Hello?!" Peter asked wildly.
"Peter? I can barely hear you!" It was Dana, her voice was quiet and static buzzed in the background.
"Dana...are you and the kids okay?" Peter asked, holding a hand against his left ear so the ambient noise of the rec room couldn't block out the sound of Dana's voice.
"We're okay...we were in Battery Park City walking to the Twin Towers when it happened...we've been trying to get onto the Subway but the Police aren't letting anyone into the station..."
"Dana...can you get a cab up here...or a bus?" Peter asked.
"There's nothing moving on the streets...we're going to try walk back to the Firehouse..."
"Dana...keep on this line...I'm gonna try head down there...take Sixth Avenue if you can..." Peter instructed as he grabbed a coat and made his way to the staircase. Suddenly there was a loud boom in the background static.
"Peter!" Dana shouted before being cut off.
"Dana? Dana!" Peter shouted into the phone.
"Shit!" Garrett swore, Peter turned to see what had provoked the teen to swear. The top of the South Tower of the World Trade Center was vanishing in a huge ploom of smoke as the tower collapsed. Peter felt weak in the knees, his legs turning to jelly as he grabbed onto the railing and sat on the floor, dropping the cell phone which droned the dial tone.
9:53AM
He wasn't sure how they'd made it, but Egon was greatly relieved when he and the conference workers stumbled out of the stairwell and into the bright light of the Lobby of Tower 2.
"Everyone out! NOW!" Egon instructed and they made their way to the doors out of the building, passing Policemen, Firemen, EMT workers and injured people as they went, all around them swarmed logos and insignia belonging to the NYPD and FDNY. As he looked up he could see the large, two-story arched windows which let light into the Lobby, several of them were completely broken, their glass was spread like a carpet in the Lobby floor, reflecting the light from the ceiling lights above. Outside, paper and firey debris rained down from above as they approached the doors to the Plaza outside, the doors themselves were completely swamped, the process of evacuating was being hampered both by the bottle-neck action of the evacuation through the doors and the smoke which was plooming out of several open elevator shafts. As Egon moved slowly with the crowd he noticed other signs of damage, several large slabs of marble which were on the walls had shattered, presumably from the impact.
"Is everyone out of Cantor Fitzgerald?" A man in a dusty, bloodied business suit asked an equally dirty man in a Security Guard's uniform.
"Get out of the building sir!" The Guard replied. "We will try to find out who's still in the building once the floors below the impacts have been cleared!". The Security Guard then raised the radio to his mouth as he tried to contact somebody over the jammed airwaves. The velvet ropes which had marked out the line that Egon had stood in when entering the building lay on the floor, discarded as the Firemen had entered the building.
"Sir! Could your group follow me please? We're trying to evacuate people through Tower 1's Lobby!" A Security Guard shouted.
"Yes..." Egon nodded. He then indicated to Samantha who in turn indicated to Dr. Basingham and several other conference workers what was happening and they soon followed, walking towards a set of escalators which stood beneath a set of red banners which proclaimed: "Shop the World". The group descended the stopped escalators and made their way through the below ground Shopping Mall, just as a low rumbling and roar began to build, sending dust floating down from the ceiling.
"What's that?" Samantha asked as the lights began to flicker. The marble slabs bolted to the walls which hadn't broken began to vibrate as the rumbling grew steadily louder, several glass lamp cases and display cabinets crashed to the floor as the rumble and noise grew louder and stronger.
"Into the lower Mall!" The Guard shouted and they charged into the lower portion of the Mall, passing surprised people as they went, they ran into the entrance to a Subway Station just as something crashed down behind them, the lights flickered and went out as the group, led by Egon and the Security Guard crashed into something which might have been a person as they stumbled through the dark into a small hallway leading to the Subway Station, just as the last conference member entered the hallway the entrance fell apart, raining dust, concrete and broken glass down on them.
"It...it collapsed." Ray stifled, his face had gone deathly pale, the television screen broke into static for a few minutes but cleared up again once the rumbling had finished, leaving everyone in a startled silence.
"If Egon was in there..." Winston didn't finish.
"He'd be toast." Eduardo replied before receiving a very painful blow to his ribs again.
"Shut up knuckle-head!" Kylie hissed. "Are you the most insensitive man alive?" She gestured at Janine who seemed to be just holding back a waterfall of tears, she was breathing deeping and blinking furiously.
"Geez...sorry...I didn't think, okay?" Eduardo replied irritably but let the argument drop.
"Dr. Venkman?" Roland asked, he himself was straining to stop crying but he could see Peter slumped on the floor, looking dumbly at his cell phone.
"The line cut off...right when that building went down." Peter replied distantly.
"Dr. Venkman...is your family okay?" Roland asked, prompting Winston to look over at Peter.
"I...I have no idea..." Peter looked up at Roland, a lost expression on his face. "I may've lost four people I care about in one day." He then slumped back against the wall.
"How many people must've been working in that building at this hour?" Kylie asked.
"Too many to get out in time." Winston replied grimly. Slimer was now sniffeling loudly as he tried his best not to break into tears, he wasn't succeeding. Most of the group returned to watching the live broadcast of the remaining tower, Tower 1. The view then switched to a static-filled helicopter camera, depicting the roof and upper floors of Tower 1, the helicoptor pilot's voice was filled with shocked disbelief as he commented on the carnage he'd witnessed below.
"...holy crap...the tower's down...holy god...the second tower's down..."
Chapter Seven
The rumbling in the darkness died down and finally subsided, leaving in it's wake an eeiry silence. In the subway station the people had been jostled as if there'd been an earthquake. Dust drifted down and hung in the air as the lighting flickered back on, half the lights had been broken by, from the noise which the survivors were begining to piece together as a collapse.
"Is it over?" A business woman, hidden under a table in a nearby bar asked, a small chunk of debris startled her as it smashed into the table-top.
"I think so." A man in a dust-covered golf shirt stood up from under a news stand counter, several of his wares were on the tiled floor covered in dust and concrete. as they climbed out of their hiding places the survivors studied the collapsed entrance to the hallway.
"We're trapped!" A teen girl shouted as she tried to pry a chunk of concrete with metal poking from it out of the mass of rubble blocking the doorway, her attempt didn't succeed.
"What if this place collapses?" Basingham asked as he clutched to a table for dear life.
"I doubt it, this hallway and the station are built several hundred feet below the main plaza..." The Security Guard replied as he tugged at his tie, loosening the knot. "We should be safe down here until we can find a way out..."
"It would seem that the staircase back up to the shopping center is no longer an option." Egon agreed as he dusted off his suit as best he could. He inspected his glasses and found that the left lense of the wire rim spectacles had been cracked during the escape. "Darn." He muttered. Samantha walked towards the staircase with the Security Guard.
"Could I have your attention for a few minutes?" Samantha asked, the group then fell into silence. "At present one of the ways out has been blocked...however I doubt we are not the only people down here so we should see if anyone else was down here when...whatever happened, happened...would you please follow the instructions of..." She studied the Security Guard's nametag. "Mr. Stokes here and Professor Spengler...we will try to get out of here as soon as possible...but please be patient." She then guided the Security Guard over to Egon. "Until we've looked everywhere else...you two are the most senior people...I think we should stick together..."
"Yeah." The Security Guard replied.
"Agreed." Egon replied.
"Where should we look first?" The Security Guard asked.
"I'd suggest the subway station first, then make our way back here, checking each door and room as we go along." Egon suggested.
"Sounds good, let's go." The Security Guard replied and the moved off. "Oh...by the way, name's Andrew Stokes." The Security Guard offered a hand, Egon shook it.
"Egon Spengler, I wish the circumstances of our meeting could've been better." Egon replied as he shook the Security Guard's hand.
"Don't sweat it, had this thing not happened we may never have met." Andrew replied.
"A reasonable assumption." Egon agreed, the followed signs which indicated the way to the subway station, they leapt over a set of turnstiles to the sounds of on and you'll hit the underground mall." A voice explained.
"If you get topside, send some people down here...we may need help clearing people out in the Lobby." Egon and Andrew turned a corner and nearly barrelled into three civilians, a woman in a business suit, a woman in jeans and a T-shirt and a man in a subway worker's uniform.
"Woah!" The subway worker shouted in surprise.
"Watch where you're going." Egon replied sternly.
"Sorry, I didn't think anyone'd be going back this way." The Subway worker replied honestly.
"There isn't much point going that way," Stokes replied. "The mall's collapsed, no way out through the exit."
"So we're stuck?" The woman in the business suit asked.
"We don't know yet, however we need to find out how many people are down here before we can start planning anything..." Egon explained.
"Continue on through there," Andrew pointed back towards the people he and Egon had left. "There's a group of people through there who need help."
"Thanks." The younger woman in jeans replied as they continued on through the dusty passage as Egon and Andrew approached the station.
Chapter Eight
Egon and Andrew turned the corner, only to be confronted by a Policenman and a Fireman who were trying to pry a door out of it's frame.
"C'mon...it's almost there..." The Fireman grunted, then moments later the door popped out of it's frame.
"Anyone in here?!" The Policeman shouted as he shon his flashlight into the darkened room, nobody inside.
"Hey!" Andrew shouted, grabbing the pair's attention. The Fireman turned out to be a woman, around 30 years old with red hair tucked under her helmet, the Policeman was in his mid 20s with dark skin which betrayed his african origins.
"What are you doing coming back this way?" The cop asked. "Get out!"
"Can't, the entrance collapsed when the tower came down." Andrew replied.
"It came down? Jesus." The Firewoman replied as she removed her helmet and whiped a gloved hand across her brow.
"Okay," The cop replied as he immitated the gesture by removing his own peaked cap. "How many people are actually down here?"
"Including those three and excluding ourselves, I'd hazard a guess that there were around twenty people at the entrance to the passageway." Egon replied as he indicated the general direction of the entrance of the area which led to the Subway Station.
"Right." The Firewoman replied.
"Look, we were just about to check the platforms before you two came along, we may need some extra hands if there's a train in the station." The cop explained.
"Sure." Andrew replied.
"Lead the way." Egon replied and the followed the Firewoman and Policeman past a set of broken ticket machines and through a flickering corridor to a junction marked by two signs mounted to the wall, one sign declared: Southbound Platform, the other declared: Northbound Platform.
"We'll check the Southbound Platform first, then the Northbound." The Firewoman instructed.
"If I may ask a question, why aren't you with backup?" Egon asked.
"We were send down from the task centre in the South Lobby, some departments have been stretched out so thin that people are having to go in without their partners..." The Policeman explained, they then made their way to the Southbound Platform, which; apart from some large portions of rubble, was completely deserted. The Firewomen and the Policeman gave the platform, obvious and not-so obvious hiding places a quick check.
"Southbound's clean, let's check the North." The Firewoman replied and the Policeman agreed, the group then made their way to the Northbound, there wasn't a train in the station, but what they found made their collective hearts skip a beat. A large section of the southern end of the station had completely collapsed, blocking the entrance to the tunnel, above them several of the flourescents were out, their glass tubes shattered. Scattered all over the platform and tracks were broken glass and concrete.
"Damn." The Policeman swore. A sudden crackling above them drew their attention as a loudspeaker, hanging from the wall on a wire, spluttered to life:
"Due to the events that are happening at the World Trade Center, all regular service has been suspended until further notice. Passengers taking the E Train on the Trans Hudson Communter Line will be disembarked at Chamber Street Subway Station and can take the A Train bound for Brooklyn, we apologise for the inconvienience this may cause."
"Last thing I'd want to be doing right now is be riding the Subway." Andrew muttered. The Firewoman and Policeman repeated the search process in the Northbound Platform, careful to check under large collections of rubble and areas where holes had appeared in the walls, however the station was devoid of any people.
"Either the train just left or it hadn't arrived yet...I'd have hated it if we'd had a train full of injured people...especially if we're trapped down here." The Firewoman replied, a hint of a gruff Brooklyn accent working it's way into her voice.
With the group of survivors gathered in front of the stairwell to the mall the Policeman called for their attention.
"Okay," He began. "I don't know what you've been through upstairs and I can't pretend to know, what I do know is that we don't have many options on how to get out of here, the stairwell, as you can see is no longer accessable and I'm not willing to try risk getting people out along the tunnel."
"So how are we getting out?" The Newsstand operator asked.
"I was coming to that." The Policeman replied, flattening out his hands and lowering them to calm down the crowd as it began to raise it's voices. "There's a bar down here and there's the stuff at that newsstand, I say we collect it up and split it up into rations and eat as little as we can until they're able to dig through that rubble and get us out of here. What's important is that they will have people here to dig us out and remove the rubble...but only when they're sure that the area is safe...we should all be expecting to spend at least an few hours here...so try to get comfortable...if anyone has a cell phone then I suggest you try call out of here...see if you can get a signal...that's all for now." The Policeman replied, he then stepped down and walked over to the small group that was made up of Egon, Andrew, Samantha and the Firewoman. "Okay, what's the story?"
"About half of the people down here are from a conference I was responsible for organising." Samantha began. "Most of them were scientists...though Professor Spengler here may be better trained for something like this then the average student of the paranormal." She indicated Egon.
"Spengler? As in the Ghostbuster?" The cop asked, for the first time Egon was able to read the small nametag which was displayed beneath a set of multi-coloured commendations above the Policeman's silver badge, it read: Edwards.
"That would be correct." Egon replied.
"What sort of training do you have?" Officer Edwards asked.
"I have training in First Aid and CPR...as well as some other techniques."
"Anyone else here you know? They have any special training?" The Firewoman asked. Egon pushed his glasses back up his nose, one of the rubber braces was coming loose and allowing the wire-rims to slide down like his old red-rimmed glasses.
"The only man here that I personally know is Dr. Basingham over there." Egon explained as he pointed at Basingham who was slowly rocking himself on the dust-covered floor. "I highly doubt he has any specific medical training."
"Right..." The Firewoman replied.
"Seeing as we're gonna work on a first name basis." Andy began. "You know our names, what're yours?"
"Officer Richard Edwards of the 4th Precinct." Officer Edwards replied.
"Fire Marshal Jen Scully." The Firewoman replied.
"Now that the introductions are outta the way...I think we'll be needing some people to take charge whenever Ms. Scully and I aren't around...seeing as you two brought them down here, and that you have some medical training Dr. Spengler," Egon ignored the slip, such mistakes in stature were beneath him, though not beneath one of his colleagues, "and you seem to know this place, I'm putting you two in charge when we're not around."
"Right." Andy replied.
"Understood." Egon agreed.
"Okay, Professor Spengler," The Firewoman replied, giving Officer Edwards a slight knowing look. "I want you to go check everyone, see if they have any injuries...make sure to ask if anyone else has medical training...we'll need as much help as we can get down here." Egon nodded in understanding. "I want you," She pointed at Andy, "to go through that bar and that newsstand, grab whatever food you can find and put it in a box...we can then sort out rations later...also grab whatever you can that people can read, we're gonna need stuff to occupy our time down here. Once you have that stuff, bring it back here and we'll start discussing ration tactics...when to give people food...that stuff."
"Got it." Andy replied.
"Then later on we can try see if we can try get people's attention from down here." Officer Edwards replied, with that finished Egon and Andy moved off on their given tasks.
Chapter Nine
10:00AM
An eeiry silence had descended upon New York after the last of the rumbling at the World Trade Center had stopped, all over the city people had been stunned into silence at the events, in Times Square, the theatrical centre and neon heart of the city, the pedestrians and tourists alike had stopped to watch the events unfolding on the giant television screens, however they had been left in the stunned silence in the incapability to completely grasp what had happened, a terrorist attack so great that it had caused a sensory overload...nothing like this had ever happened.
10:03AM
"...there are reports of a third air crash just outside of Pennsylvania..." The radio droned. Everybody in the rec room, excluding Peter had their eyes locked on the television as it switched to a view of Downtown, half of which was covered in a huge cloud of dust from the recent collapse. Winston rubbed a hand across his eyes, this was too much, even for him, his stonic expression having been faltered by the tears which he tried to wipe away, he took a quick look away from the screen and saw Peter, sitting on the floor beside the staircase. He moved over, knelt down and shook the Ghostbuster's shoulder.
"Pete? Pete...c'mon...snap outta it."
"Winston?" Peter looked up suddenly, almost groggily. "God Winston...they're dead...aren't they?"
"Shut up man, you know better then this...we don't know that they're not still alive...you may be wanting to go on the guilt trip, but if you have to at least do it in another room for Janine's sake...you're not the only one to have someone loved out there somewhere and not know what's going on...take a number and go to the end of the line, the whole city's in the same boat..." Peter looked directly at Winston. "But we must try do something to help...we can use the PKEs to detect people's signatures...we can try go down there and help pull people out of the rubble...we can look for your kids, Dana and Egon...but we're not gonna get anything useful done if we mope around on the floor feeling sorry for ourselves." Winston finished, and Peter grimaced, he then gave the big, black Ghostbuster a wry grin, which faltered, Winston released a shaky chuckle.
"You're right..." Peter replied and he allowed Winston to help him up.
"I'll try get talking with Ray and then maybe phone someone in the NYPD...our experience has to count for something and they'll need as many hands as they can get once it's safe to go digging down there...but for now I think someone else needs you, Peter." Winston replied and nodded towards Janine, Peter nodded in agreement and began to walk over to sit next to her, his limbs felt like concrete and his knees still felt like jelly, but like Winston said, it was better then moping on the floor feeling sorry for himself when other people needed his talents. Winston watched Peter moved over to the couch and then sit down next to Janine, he then looked back at where Peter had been sitting, stooped down and picked up the abandoned cell phone, he put it to his ear and all he could hear was a clicking sound, the phone had gone off the dial-tone. Winston closed the phone and set it down on the dining table, there'd be time for it later if there was some hope that Dana had survived and would try phone Peter. Ray got up silently and vanished from the room, prompting a frown from Winston.
"Honey? I'm just calling...yeah...with all this stuff on TV I worried...yeah...I know I do that a lot...it's just good to hear your voice...though...I wish I could say the same for Peter...Dana and the kids are out there...he doesn't know where they are...I'll let you know as soon as we know...yeah...I will...stay safe...bye." Ray hung up and turned, to see Winston leaning on the staircase rail with one arm, which seemed to be propping himself up with a comfortable ease.
"Calling the missus?" Winston asked, a slight note of sympathy in his voice.
"Yeah...I just...dunno...I guess I thought I'd feel a bit better if I heard her voice...knew she was okay...gosh...I hope Dana and the kids are okay...we know how bad Peter moped around the first few weeks after they broke up...it'll kill him if they've...they've..." Ray faltered as he exited the gust bedroom.
"They'll be fine...I'm sure of it." Winston replied reassuringly as he descended the rest of the staircase. "And so will Egon, only man I know to confront the Boogieman single-handedly and to be able to think himself out of a near-disaster with rational thinking all the way through..." Even though he'd said it, something inside Winston twisted, somehow he couldn't totally believe his own words...
"Thanks." Ray replied with a strained smile.
"look," Winston continued, "I'm gonna try call the police...see if we can get down there...if we can we can get out every PKE Meter we own...even get Kylie and the others in...we can go down there and help dig people out..."
"Yeah...it's better then doing nothing." Ray replied.
"Though, we got to be here for Janine until we can go down there...maybe Peter...I just wish Egon was here...I mean, I can knock sense into him when it's needed...but I can't get into his head like Egon."
"Yeah...we'd better go join the kids...I can only hope most of them won't even remember seeing this happen...that they'll only know it when they learn it in textbooks..." Ray replied as they moved back towards the staircase.
"We can only hope." Winston agreed.
Chapter Ten
10:06AM
Egon studied the ankle of one of the survivors in the station.
"I believe it is twisted, not too serious, but I'd recommend you don't put any weight on it until we can get you to an authorized doctor." He informed the businesswoman who'd hidden in the bar during the collapse.
"Thanks". She replied witha grateful smile, but winced when she moved her ankle slightly. Egon then looked up as Andrew walked out of the bar carrying a large cardboard box.
"I found all this stuff in there...there's chips, chocolate bars, peanuts, bar snacks...the works...plus cola, mineral water...I thought it best to leave the booze in the bar." He reported.
"Good idea." Officer Edwards replied. "We might be able to use some of that and the mineral water to clean out any cuts we have...was there anything else?"
"There was a bunch of candles and glass holders, must've been for things like Valentine's Day...I didn't know if we could use them down here..."
"We'll go around...see if there's any gas leaking..." Marshal Scully replied. "If there's isn't any apparant gas leak then it should be safe to use candles...though I'll give the area a quick sweep with my Gas Hunter."
"Sounds good." Officer Edwards agreed, he then turned back to face Andrew. "Did you find anything else?"
"Well, there's mostly candy and chocolate bars at the newstand...nothing really note worthy...though I found some big flashlights in a store room at the back of the bar...they should come in handy if they have to cut the power."
"Yeah." Marshall Scully agreed.
"I found these in one of the service rooms, they're plans of the station and some of the nearby tunnels." Officer Edwards replied, holding a set of rolled up plans and a cardboard tube which probably contained them.
"Those should be great if they can't dig out the station entrance." Marshall Scully agreed. She accepted the plans and laid them out on an appropriated table. "There's obviously the main tunnel...here." She indicated the subway tunnel running towards the North of the plans, and presumably, the North of the city. "Looks like there's a passageway about two-hundred yards down the tunnel which links up to the next station..."
10:10AM
Eduardo and Kylie stood on the roof of the Firehouse, watching over the smoke cloud which shrouded the financial district. Kylie was hugging herself while he had an arm over he shoulder, hugging her.
"You think this was something we'd never see..." Kylie spoke quietly after a while.
"World's a crummy place, chica." Eduardo replied solemnly.
"Yeah...but have things gotten so bad that other humans are willing to do this? And for what? Saying who should run the planet?" Kylie asked.
"Humans are great at destorying themselves." Eduardo added, causing Kylie to look up at him with a quizzical look which wouldn't be a stone's throw from the one usually seen on her black and white cat, Pagen.
"That's a little profound for you, isn't it?" She asked.
"Hey...it's like Peter...I act dumb some people don't second guess me." Eduardo replied.
"Yeah...but the secret is not to let the 'dumb' part get too realistic." She smiled despite herself. They remained in silence for several more minutes.
"You think we should go down there?" He asked.
"I don't know..." She frowned. "The people who should be down there are there. We'll just have to wait until this is over."
"You think...we're gonna have to go clean the place out...afterwards?" Eduardo asked. Kylie shivered at the thought.
"I hope not...that place is just going to feel...wrong." Kylie replied. "Eduardo...if I was ever caught up in something...like this...you'd tell Conchita...right?"
"What are you talking about?" Eduardo narrowed his eyes.
"If I was ever caught up something like this...and didn't come home...you'd tell Conchita, right? You wouldn't feed her something my mom might've fed me if Dad had left before she did..."
"Well...I...um..." He replied hestantly. "I don't know..." He added, scratching the back of his head.
"Promise me...if one day I don't come home...tell Conchita...I don't want my daughter thinking I could be coming back when I'm not."
After a while, Eduardo finally replied:
"I will."
They both looked back towards the remaining tower as a low rumble began to build.
10:28AM
Egon, Andrew, Officer Edwards and Marshal Scully looked up as the rumble grew louder and yet more dust trailed down, moments before they ducked for cover the room was plunged into darkness once again. Eventually the rumble and shaking subsided and they were able to pull themselves up, only to stand in perfect darkness, a darkness which was eventually shattered first by the pierce of a brilliant white light. Egon blinked several times and then looked at Officer Edwards, the brilliant white light had come from a Maglite which had been clipped to the Policeman's belt.
"Is everyone okay?" Officer Edwards shouted into the darkness. After a few moments he recieved replies from the other people in the immediate area, mercifully nobody had been injured during whatever had happened above. Just as Officer Edwards was disentangling himself from one of the people he'd been sheilding, a muted, dull light suddenly flared up, casting a dull glow over the room...
"The emergency lighting?" Andrew asked in surprise.
"There must've been a power outtage...whatever just happened up there must've knocked out the power..." The subway worker replied.
10:28AM
On TV, everyone present inside the Firehouse watched as the roof of Tower 1 suddenly caved in and the tower fell as if it were a house of cards, sending up an almighty cloud of dust which shrouded the southern tip of Manhattan. The World Trade Center had been totally destroyed.
"Egon..." Janine choked, it was all she could say as tears streamed down her cheeks, it was terrible enough to think that she may have lost her husband after they'd been so much, but it would break her heart to try explain it to her children that their father wouldn't be coming home...
The children.
Janine looked down at the Twins, they'd been sat on the floor in complete silence since the chain of events had begun, they hadn't uttered a single word since the first plane...did they know what was happening? Did they understand. As if sensing her thoughts, Johnathan Christopher turned to face his mother, a expression of sheer puzzlement mixed with sadness was on his face.
"Are those people gonna be okay?" He asked, and in that moment her heart skipped a beat, the children were all so naive...they had no idea they'd just witnessed what could be one of the biggest national disasters the world had seen...what can you say that will even begin to make them understand?
"I...I don't know Johnathan...I don't know if they would've had time to get everyone out of the buildings..." Janine began.
"Is Father still there?" Eden asked.
"I hope not...I really...hope he wasn't..." She then got up from the sofa and left the room, closely followed by Peter and Ray and Winston's gaze.
Janine quickly moved down the staircase and headed for her desk.
"Janine! Wait!" Peter shouted as he followed. A few moments after that Ray and Winston had appeared on the staircase in persuit. Peter, against better judgement grabbed the staircase railing and leapt over it before he reached the bottom, he hit the floor and staggered until he could grab the desk to steady himself. "Where are you going?"
"I don't know Peter...I just need to get out..."
"And just leave your kids here?" Peter asked.
"What can I do? Tell them their father's dead...that he died without the comfort of being with his friends and family?" Janine replied in anger, but it was an anger that was born out of the utter grief she was feeling, Peter noted, it must be.
"We have no idea that Egon's dead...for all we know he's alive...that his cab got stuck in traffic...or maybe the elevators broke down and they had to keep people out of the building..." Peter began.
"Save your psychoanalysis bullshit for some other time Venkman." Janine replied venomously. "Just leave me alone."
"No I won't," Peter replied as he grabbed her shoulder and span her around to face him. "You are not going out there while you're like this, I'm not having you wandering about when both my best friend, my wife and my kids are out there in god knows what..."
"Let go of me!" Janine persisted.
"I didn't want to do this..." Peter slapped her across the face with the back of his hand, hoping the shock would knock her out of the sudden irrationality. She held onto her face with an expression of horror. "Janine, I...I didn't mean it--" He was cut short as she sent a left hook across his jaw, the punch caught him off-guard and he tumbled to the floor.
"That's enough!" Winston charged into the scene. "As fun as it usually is to see you decking Peter this needs to stop. Now." Winston replied in a heavy tone. Janine just stood there, looking at the floor as she began to realise what she'd done.
"I just can't stand the thought of losing him again." She replied in a quiet voice, she then sat down and began to cry as her hold on her emotions finally broke. Peter, who'd only suffered a split lip wiped away the rest of the blood knelt down beside and placed a comforting arm across her shoulders, Ray and Winston also knelt down to face Janine.
"Janine...we know how much you and Egon have been through...God knows I'd made it my own vendetta against him because of what happened back in '96...I've had to witness everything you two went through from day one...from when we stopped Gozer...up to the Lotsabucks thing and the accident...we've all seen the best and worst of how things have happened...but it's not fair on Egon to just give him up for dead...I know the big guy's not gonna go down without a mighty fight...this guy hasn't beaten Gozer, the Boogieman and had one of the most long to start relationships simply to be killed in this thing..." Peter found himself talking, right now this was the real Peter Venkman, the professional who cared for the welfare of others above his own.
"But what if he's been killed by this thing...Peter? Don't kid yourself that you haven't thought about it...it's always possible that he's gone...and how do I tell Johnathan and Eden that their father won't be coming home? Do they even realise what's happening?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Peter replied.
"Gosh Janine...we're always here if you need us..." Ray added.
"Definately m'man." Winston agreed. "We've always been here for each other before, why stop now?"
"Will you be going outside?" Peter asked.
"No." Janine replied, despite the tears that she was trying to wipe away there was an edge in her voice which had understood what they'd said.
"Good...I'm gonna go try Egon and Dana's cell phones again...maybe the lines'll be a little bit less cluttered." Peter replied as he began to moved but led Ray along to the staircase and stopped short of dragging him up it. "Watch her...don't even let her put on lipstick...she starts acting weird...let me or Winston know."
"Sure, Peter." Ray replied, and Peter could see that Ray's eyes were turning red, it looked like he was about to break down himself. Peter gave the bearded ghostbuster a reasurring hug and then climbed back up the staircase. As he re-entered the room the younger generation of Ghostbusters turned to look at him, most of them wearing expressions of worry or concern, evidently they'd heard the shouting...not too hard with all the open spaces leading to the garage bay.
"Everything's okay...for now." He replied, he then made his way to the iron spiral staircase which stood near the middle of the building but he paused in mid-stride, he could just see the cover of dust which was now filling the view from the window, the collapse of the World Trade Center had kicked up an enormous dust cloud. He eventually pulled himself out of simply watching the dust drift across the buildings and climbed the staircase to the third floor landing, he looked around and decided the Lab would be his best choice, there might be a phone in Egon and Janine's room, but it didn't feel right to be going in there, besides, the Lab would be private enough with the double doors closed and locked. He walked over to the Lab doors, opened one of them, slid inside and closed it behind him, careful to turn the lock beneath the handle to prevent anyone interrupting him by accident.
Chapter Eleven
10:39AM
The room and air were still hazy with the newly fallen dust, but it seemed that the rumbling had finished, the survivors in the subway station were now starting to set up anything they could find to make their stay a little more bareable until they could leave. Most of the furniture in the bar had been brought out, the tables and chairs were set up so that there were singles and doubles, in case anyone wanted to try get some sleep. All of the candles had been set up, after Marshal Scully had taken a quick check to see that there wasn't any leaking gas. Officer Edwards had watched over the ration selection, making sure that there wasn't any type of imbalance or too much getting put into that day's rations, they could be there for some time. Egon, on the other hand, with having checked everyone for injuries, was sat on the floor in a small huddle of survivors, some of which were crying, others who were shaking and a few who were trying to use their cell phones to call out into the world above, they were getting very few results.
"...I guess the funny side of this is..." The female business woman spoke up. "I wasn't even supposed to be in work today...they had a problem and called me in on my day off." Egon looked up at a businessman across the group from him, Basingham was sat beside him looking glum as ever, but something the businessman wore brought out Egon's interest.
"Excuse me sir, but I couldn't help noticing...those glasses...where did you get them?" Egon asked, the businessman looked up, frowned and fingered the red rimmed glasses with round lenses.
"These?" He asked, removing them for a bit. "I got them from Manheims Opticians on 33rd and Second Avenue...they've been producing a lot of sets which had been discontinued...these are one of them...why do you ask?"
"I used to have a pair like them, I had to change because they stopped producing the brand." Egon explained.
"Well, I guess once we get out of here, you'll be able to start getting them again." The businessman replied with a strained smile.
"Quite." Egon mused.
"Professor Spengler, a moment of your time, please." Officer Edwards asked.
"Of course." Egon nodded, he excused himself and followed the police officer, and was then quickly persued by Basingham.
"What about me? Can't I do something?"
"Can you?" Officer Edwards asked skeptically.
"Well...err...I can call on the spirits...evoke anchient deities..." Basingham replied.
"Sit down, and shut up." Officer Edwards replied irritably and Basingham obliged.
"What do you need me for?" Egon asked as they approached the table where the subway worker, Marshal Scully, Andrew and Samantha were gathered, they appeared to be discussing something of great importance when Officer Edwards arrived with Egon.
"We've been talking it over...and we've decided we're not gonna wait here more then a few days, it'll give them a chance to dig us out through the main entrance." The subway worker explained.
"If not, we can always go through the tunnels to the next station." Andrew added.
"Usually I wouldn't advise it." Marshal Scully intoned. "But if the main power is offline then it may be safe to walk through the tunnel, I don't like the idea of it, though."
"Nobody was expecting you to." Officer Edwards replied grimly. "Is there anything else we should expect?"
"Well, there's even if there isn't a train in the station, there might be one stuck in the tunnel...I don't really know." The subway worker shrugged. "There's also the third rail...sure, the power's off for now, but we don't know how long it will remain off." he took a moment to study the plans. "And then there's the problem of a possible collapse, part of that tunnel's come down...and those girders were sticking through solid concrete...if anything else collapses we could be in very serious trouble, and I'm not talking about getting crushed."
"Yeah..." Andrew took over, gesturing at a set of plans showing the subterrianian levels of the complex. "All this is built into a 'basin'...if it were damaged we'd be getting several hundred gallons of East River's finest flowing in here."
"Which means we have a very small window of time to work with." Marshal Scully agreed. "We leave too soon, we could be missed, or get lost...too late and we're either crushed or flooded."
"So we must remain here only for as few days as possible." Egon mused. "I'd hazard a guess of around three days or so, if the rubble can be dug out, that should be adequate time to allow any emergency workers to do so, if not, we can still leave via the Subway tunnel."
"Sounds good." Officer Edwards nodded. "We'd better start finding things to help people get to sleep, it's gonna be rough down here for the next few days."
Chapter Twelve
10:49AM
"...We are still not receiving any new word on the air crash in Shanksville, Pennslyvania. At this time authorities are investigating the incident but are not ruling out the possibility that the crash of United Airlines 93 is directly linked to the events which have been caused by possible terrorists on flights 11 and 175 in New York and 77 in Washington DC. The President, has been kept informed and has been in talks since the series of events began two hours ago..." The sobre-faced NY1 newscaster reported. An eeiry silence had filled every inch of the Firehouse once the collapse of Tower 1 had finished, Janine sat behind her children, her eyes were bloodshot but she was keeping a tight hold on her emotions, she needed to be strong. Peter dialled Dana's cell number on his own phone, muttering quietly when he couldn't get through.
"Signals are probably all screwed up with all the radio traffic and the damaged transmitters." Winston spoke quietly.
"Yeah..." Peter replied dully. "I just...I need to get down there...if they're okay then they're probably in the thick of it...I need to go find them, Winston." Peter near pleaded.
"The time'll come m'man." Winston added, give Peter a quick clap on the shoulder as he walked off.
"You'd better try phone Kaila...tell her you're all right." Peter returned.
"I'll go do that." Winston replied with a dry smile, he then turned and made his way to the spiral staircase. Peter shook his head and walked over to one of the sash windows set into the side of the building, he slid it open and peered out, leaning on the window sil. There was a light breeze blowing down the street and in the distance he could see that the street ended abruptly with a large, dirty-brown cloud. On the street people were running from and too the scene, along with emergency vehicles which still screamed by every now and then. Peter continued to watch, loosing track of time as he watched the emergency vehicles scream towards Downtown while people ran towards Uptown.
"...It has been officially announced that the New York 2001 Mayorial Primaries will be postponed until further notice, further more, the Government is ordering evacuations on the nation's tallest buildings while tourist attractions such as Seattle's Space Needle, the Liberty Bell, Walt Disney World and the Statue of liberty in New York harbour..." Peter turned and glanced at his watch, it was now eleven 'o' clock in the morning, so much had already gone on and it was only three hours into the working day. Peter turned and walked towards the staircase, he decided there was at least one thing he could do until the airwaves cleared or they were allowed down to the World Trade Center site.
"You've reached the Ghostbusters, all business is suspended until further notice, if you have a ghost which has a description matching anything bigger then a Class Seven...that's a demon, then please leave your details and a description...if you have any information on the whereabouts of either Egon Spengler, Dana, Oscar or Jessica Venkman, please leave a message after the beep." "Beep."
To Be Concluded...