The guys were milling around the kitchen going over what needed to be done with the following shift. Tommy Doyle was busy putting some groceries away for his shift. Taylor and everyone else were finishing up breakfast and the dishes and getting ready to leave.
"Looks like it's going to be an awesome day out there." Jimmy said
"It is great out there right now. Blue skies. Perfect!" Tommy told him
"I think I may hit the links, play a round of golf this afternoon. Gonna be one of the last great chances I get till spring." Lt. Johnson said
"I think I'll join you." Walsh replied
"Sure." Lt. Johnson said
Lombardo had already headed down the stairs since it was nearly 9 AM. DK followed suit.
"You all have a good day would ya?" Walsh asked
"You coming Taylor?" Jimmy asked
"Give me a second." Taylor said
They heard a plane fly overhead.
"That's weird." Jimmy commented
"Yeah, it sounded low." Walsh added
Seconds later they heard an explosion and then the alarm sounded
"Squad 55, Ladder 100 respond for Box 8087." The alarm called out
"That's the Trade Center." Jimmy said a loud
They quickly dropped their things and followed the second shift to the truck. Walsh jumped in the cab with DK, Lt. Johnson climbed in as well. Lombardo, Taylor, and Jimmy got on the tailboard as the squad pulled off down the street.
They heard sirens all around them and could look up and see the black smoke rising from the first tower. They watched in horror as the second plane hit the second tower.
"Oh my God!" Taylor cried out
"This doesn't look good." Jimmy swallowed hard
That was the point at which they knew that terrorists were striking on American soil. There were all kinds of sirens now. They could see more fire apparatus, ambulances, and police cars behind them.
They pulled onto the scene and looked up to see the horror. There were jumpers already trying to escape the floors above. The command post was inside of Tower 1. They went in for their assignment.
"I need your unit to sweep the lower floors, get everyone out of this building." Chief Taylor explained
He saw his daughter there and smiled slightly. She returned the gesture as they prepared to search the floors. People were packing the stairwells already.
"Stay to the right. Fire department coming up." Lt. Johnson said
They began their search on the 20th floor, where they had been assigned to start and work their way down. They split up in groups of two so as to make the search faster and more efficient. When they cleared one floor they moved down to the next. Soon they were down to the 15th floor when they heard a rumble and could feel the building shake. They took cover and the radio traffic they heard chilled them to their bones.
"Tower 2 just collapsed! Tower 2 has fallen!" They heard the screams into the radio.
"Everyone evacuate the building! Evacuate Tower 1. All hands out of the building!" Came across the radio
Taylor, Walsh, Jimmy, and DK were all outside when the second tower began to collapse. They began to run for cover with everyone else. It was chaotic and the will to survive had to suppress the desire to help those trapped inside. The debris was falling everywhere and there really was no safety.
They kept running with the rest of the crowd. They had to run for their lives. The radio traffic was all scrambled and the noise of the falling debris was deafening. The four felt helpless as they slide behind a car parked down the street. It took what seemed like forever for the noise to quiet. The streets of New York became too quiet.
They stood up slowly and dusted themselves off.
"Everybody ok?" Jimmy asked
Walsh was looking up the street and all he could see was a cloud of dust.
"It fell." He said in disbelief.
"We gotta get back up there." Taylor said urgently
They all agreed and hurried up the street. It felt as if their feet weren't touching the ground. They couldn't move fast enough. Every thing was in slow motion. When they got close their hearts stopped. They weren't prepared for what they heard or saw. The sound of the PAS alarms was deafening to them. They were numb. But the realization of what they had to do was clear. They had to start searching, rescuing. Firefighters were already busy trying to extinguish the fires. Walsh turned and looked around.
"The Squad's gone." He said looking at where their truck was parked
"What?" Taylor asked
"The Squad was sitting right there and now it's not there." He was in shock.
Jimmy, DK, and Taylor all looked over. Their hearts sank.
"We gotta find Lieu, Tommy, and the rest of the guys." Jimmy urged.
They had gotten separated when the evacuation order was given. Now they were desperately trying to find them. Walsh turned around a few times, looking through the dust to see if he could see them. The only logical thing left for them to do was dig. And so they started, trying to find people who were buried in that hell.
The task wore on throughout the day. Gradually they were able to free trapped survivors and send them on their way to the hospitals. It was a daunting task, and they didn't really talk much. They just concentrated on the sounds of the PAS alarms. It seemed like a miracle with each survivor they freed- especially to Walsh.
"I found Lieu!" He yelled over as he helped their superior out of the rubble
"I knew you'd get to me." Lt. Johnson said
"I wasn't giving up on you." Walsh replied
"Where's everyone else?" Lt. Johnson asked as Taylor quickly checked him over
"We're still looking for Joe and Tommy." Jimmy said
"The truck's gone." DK told him
The medics arrived for Lt. Johnson who attempted to refuse care. But, Taylor urged him to at least go and get checked since he had been covered for nearly 3 hours. He reluctantly agreed.
With each passing hour they knew that their hopes of finding survivors grew dimmer. As night settled over the scene of the horrific tragedy they fought back the tiredness they were experiencing. Their brothers were trapped in that monster and they were going to get them out. Word had passed to them that Lombardo had been found and was at Mercy getting looked over, but he seemed fine. It seemed like every firefighter, medic, and police officer in the city was there searching. Hoping for the best, and fearing the worst.
Hours drew on before they were finally forced from "The Pile."
"Go home, get some rest, be with your families." Chief Dixon said
Taylor had been scanning the scene all day, hoping to see her father walking around. No one had said a word to her, and she knew that he was missing. Walsh pulled her away.
"Come on, we'll come back later on to help. Dixon's right, we need to get a little rest and some food." Walsh urged her
Taylor reluctantly agreed to go. A bus took them back to the firehouse. They sat silently in the kitchen; it was just the four of them. They refused to turn on the television. They didn't need to see the horror on there.
Jimmy called his parents to let them know that he was okay. Kim had called his cell phone at least a hundred times and so he finally called her back.
"I should call my mother, let her know I'm okay." Taylor said
"You going to tell her about your father?" Walsh asked
"She'll know." Taylor frowned.
Walsh thought about calling his sister, he knew she'd worry about him.
"Ashley?" He said into the phone, "Yeah, I'm okay. But there are still a lot of people who are missing." He looked out the window and watched as people were approaching the firehouse. "I gotta go. I'll call you later. I love you."
He turned around, "Hey guys, come take a look at this." He pointed out the window
DK, Jimmy, and Taylor joined him at the window.
"What should we do?" DK asked
"Go down and thank them I guess." Jimmy said
They all walked downstairs to the make shift memorial that was building in front of their house. Daylight was approaching; it would be the first time the sun would come up without the Towers in the city skyline.
It was 21 days later that Lt. Johnson would receive the phone call. He walked into the kitchen where everyone was preparing to cook dinner. It was the first time in 3 weeks that they had done so.
"They found Tommy Doyle," He said, "They're waiting for us to come down and carry him out."
Everyone filed down the stairs and grabbed their gear. Medics and Firefighters alike, they all rode together as one family to carry him out. They returned to the house to find the whole neighborhood standing there with candles. Lt. Johnson and Lombardo hung the flag in the bay where the fire pole was.
"How you holding up?" Walsh asked Taylor when they had a moment alone
"I'm hanging in there you know?" She replied
"I know. You're a strong woman." He said
"They'll find him." Taylor said
Walsh just put his head down, he knew they would find him- only they wouldn't be laughing and celebrating with him. There would be a Memorial service and a funeral. It seemed like there were far too many services to attend. Sometimes there would be so many in the same day that it was impossible to attend them all.
Two hundred thirty-three days later they did find Taylor's father.
On May 30, 2002 all operations at the World Trade Center site were wrapped up. After
8 ½ months (261 days) of work, the pieces were picked up and taken away. 343 firefighters, Tommy Foley were killed that day. There were also 37 EMTs/ Paramedics, 23 NYPD officers, and 37 Port Authority Police officers killed. They are not forgotten.