9.11 PART II

Miranda's heart was racing; she could feel it pounding in her head, beating the breath out of her lungs. Her vision blurred and her head felt uncomfortably light. Her legs gave out beneath her and she landed on the cool concrete floor with a slap, out cold.
She was inside of a small closet, peeking through a crack in the door. Her mouth hung open and her eyes welled with tears in the small sliver of light. She saw several men rummaging through her apartment. They were loud, throwing clothes and furniture across the room. Miranda did her best to back herself into a corner when they came near the closet door. She hid behind a rack of clothes, silently pulling garments from the floor on top of her body, in attempt to camouflage herself as a pile of laundry.
The scratch of hangers being moved at once along a metal railing screamed into her ears. Her wide blue eyes met dark, dangerous gray ones. A terrible grin spread across the man's face, she knew exactly what he was thinking. She stood quickly and tried to jump past him but he grabbed her with one arm and she landed to the floor with a thud.
"Look what I found" The man with gray eyes called out to his friend.
"Oh my, She is lovely" An older man said wickedly, his eyes black.
Miranda's hair was long, and a wavy dirty blonde. Her skin was tinted bronze from sun exposure over the summer. It was a dark contrast to the small white night gown that clung to her body. Under the gaze of these men she felt the need to cover herself, suddenly all too aware of the amount of flesh she exposed.
The old man took a step toward her and she took two steps back, giving her best 'fuck with me' face she could muster.
"She's feisty too… I like that" His voice low and predatory. He grinned and revealed a row of perfect, wet teeth. They looked like veneers; they seemed too large and too perfect for his mouth. His lips were thin, his entire face unnerving, something especially evil in his eyes. They were so dark he seemed to be without iris'.
"Don't you come any closer to me!" her voice was loud and threatening, hot tears pouring down her face. She imagined her-self as a small dog, barking madly at them while her little body danced around their feet, biting at their heels, knowing she was defenseless against them but not giving a shit.
She took in her surroundings. Her eyes wandered toward her bathroom, she thought of running for it and locking herself inside.
As if reading her mind, the men encircle her, like a weak animal surrounded by a terribly hungry pride. She considered the window, jumping through the double paned glass to escape these demons in her apartment. Anything to spare herself from what was about to happen. The old man pulled a knife from his pocket and it was at her throat within seconds. The other two men closed in behind him, eager to witness the assault.
"My buddies were looking for a good time" His voice raspy and playful at her ear. His hand pressed harder on the knife against her throat. They put their hands on her body, callused fingers slid over her torso. The sensation sent shivers of revulsion through her body.
"And since you don't have a god damn thing of value in this apartment, You're it." He shoved Miranda onto her own bed. The other men held her arms down at her sides, The old man made quick work of his zipper.
"No! No! You can't do this to me!" Miranda screamed, thrashing her body about the bed. The two men at her sides tightened their grip on her arms. Their throaty laughs made her blood boiling hot. These hideous, monstrous men were about to violate her in the worst way anyone ever could, she strained against their crushing grip but simply was not strong enough. They ripped her nightgown off of her. She let out a scream that tore through the night. The small man backhanded her across the cheek. He spoke close to her ear, his breath hot, reeking of smoke
"Make one more sound and I will cut your pretty little neck" his words were harsh, every syllable dripping with evil. She snapped her mouth shut, and looked at the ceiling; her eyes spilling with tears. She struggled to escape the moment. She closed her eyes to imagine anyone, anywhere, anything else.
Miranda felt warm water splash over her face, Kelly's voice calling her name. Another splash of water across her face, and her eyes snapped open, but she couldn't see a thing, everything was black. She felt hands on her body, startling her, bringing images of the three men flashing into reality. She let out a blood curdling scream that echoed up the dark stairwell.
"Miranda! It's okay, You're fine!" Kelly grabbed for Miranda's hands in the darkness, trying to calm the woman down from whatever it was that she thought was happening.
"It's going to be okay" Helena's voice said softly, her hand reaching out to assure the shaken woman.
She sat trembling with pain and fear on the concrete floor. A lump of emotion swelled in her throat remembering the incident that had crippled her for years and the stress that had caused her hair to grey before she turned thirty. She combed her fingers through her hair, breathing deeply, pulling all of the emotion back inside of her. She couldn't afford to lose it now.

The building groaned in the darkness. Her head throbbed from all of the loud noises and being knocked around.
"What do you think that terrible sound was?" Helena's asked.
Everyone was silent but breathing quickly.
"I'm not sure" John replied in a voice heavy with concern.
"I don't care what it was; I just want to get the fuck out of here!" William said in a voice thick with tears.
They could hear his feet shuffling nervously, and the scared little sounds he made trying to find the next step down in the stairwell.
The deafening sound that seemed to go on forever had shaken through their bodies, leaving them feeling panicky and weak on their legs. William was imagining all of the things that would fit that horrifying rumble, and they all involved a terrible, violent death. He knew this nightmare wasn't over yet, and he had lost the will to be strong.

John reached out and grabbed the whimpering boy in the darkness.

"Listen, Son. We're all scared but we have to keep it together" He yelled before he released him.

"You don't understand old man!" William barked, his words echoing down the stairwell.

"I've seen things that I would never wish on my worst enemy. Two tours in Vietnam, I seen a lot of shit, lost a lot of men" John spoke heavily.
"I do understand. I know your father died in a fire, and that this is must be very difficult for you" John said softly
"We've come too far to break down now. When were out of this building, you can freak out all you want but until then, we fight every step of the way."
They heard someone ascending the staircase below them. A fireman rounded the corner with a flashlight. His dirty face looked weary. His mouth pressed against a radio transmitter yelling different commands. He stopped and reached into his pocket to give them a small flashlight.
"Sir! What was that last sound we heard? Do you know?" William asked the rescue worker in a hurry.

"Get out of here right now, and don't you stop for nothing" The sweaty fireman said, looking them all in their eyes, communicating quite clearly that he meant what he said. His body looked small in his large yellow and black protective gear, his helmet nearly too big for his head, cheeks were reddened from his ascent, and a dark mustache covered his upper lip as he panted for breath. He continued past them to hell at the top of the tower. They watched him climb, two stairs at a time before he disappeared into the darkness.

Kelly picked Miranda up off her feet again without warning.
"Sorry, Miss. You're too slow" he apologized when she squealed in surprise.
That small beam of light was there only salvation in the darkness. The sounds of their footsteps echoed down for what seemed like forever, not a word exchanged just the collective sense of imminent danger that propelled them faster down the stairs.
The air was getting cooler and easier to breathe as they approached the lower floors but they didn't slow down. Kelly was fighting the urge to collapse with the weight of the woman on his shoulders. Her body felt light eighty stories up, and now he felt like he might break under the weight, but he showed little distress and persevered.
They slowed at the last flight of stairs, a cloud of dust lingered in the air, rising from beneath the door. William shoved past the group, kicking open the door and disappearing behind it.
"William, stop!" Helena called out to the fleeing young man.
There was little light; their small beam of light illuminated all the flittering particles in the air. Everything was covered in a fine dust. Papers and debris scattered across the floor. They were absolutely alone. It was an odd contrast to the crowds of people they were all used to seeing flow in and out of this building.
They stepped lightly, kicking up dust in their wake. Kelly repositioned Miranda and wrapped her body around his front, holding her like a child. Miranda buried her face in his shoulder, trusting this young man to get her the hell out of here.
Several large windows were blown out, their glass as thick as three inches, had just been shattered. Large slabs of marble hung off the walls. It was clear that something had happened in the lobby. They were disoriented for a moment, nothing looked as it once had just hours ago. When they found an exit they ran through it out into the street.
The sunlight seemed to energize them like a shot of adrenaline to the heart. They all ran as far and as fast from the building as they could, running several blocks before they even considered stopping. They heard what sounded like gunshots behind them. Kelly slowed to a walk with Miranda still holding onto him as tightly as she could. He stopped in front of a small pizzeria before he set the woman down onto her foot.

In the daylight Miranda could see her ankle clearly. It was already blackening just looking at it sent a fresh wave of pain rolling over her body. Kelly pressed a finger to her neck and showed her the blood that had dripped from her ears.
"You must have had a pretty bad concussion" He said, looking over the rest of Miranda's body.
She had several small cuts in her clothing, some had broken the skin. Then he saw her ankle and cringed at the sight of it. The skin was tight from swelling and bruising a dark blue.
Miranda could not believe her eyes. Never had she seen her city like this before. Everything was covered in a fine powder, the streets, the buildings, the cars, and the people. Everyone passed them with the same defeated posture, the same look on their face. She wondered what the hell had happened; it looked like war had broken out in the streets. Kelly gasped when he looked up at the skyline that was once ruled by the world trade center and only saw one tower.
"It's gone!" Kelly said with wide eyes "The south tower is gone!"
She could not believe her eyes. The north tower stood alone beside a settling cloud of dust. She couldn't process it. The towers are made of steel and concrete, built to withstand these kinds of assaults, but the south tower had completely failed. The sound that had knocked her out in the stairwell, was the sound of that 110 story building raining down on the city.
Miranda clutched her chest; she felt a terrible pain shoot through her that had nothing to do with her ankle or her concussion. It spread like fire in her throat, forcing tears down her face. A woman jumped from one of the highest floors, every moment of her descent to earth like a dream, falling gracefully till the end. The sound of a gunshot identical to the ones they had heard moments earlier. It was not gunfire at all. It was the sound of a life ending.
It was a miracle they were able to get out. Before she could even finish her thought she felt and heard an explosion, followed by that terrible rumbling sound she heard inside of the stairwell. The building began to sink beneath the falling floors and a fountain of debris rained down on the city. The fall met no resistance, and occupied the entire sky like an atomic explosion in reverse.
"Holy shit!" Kelly bellowed watching the building disappear before his eyes.
A cloud of debris raced toward them in a fury, like a terrifying monster that multiplied and rolled through ever street on a murderous rampage. Kelly lunged at Miranda, shoving her into a small Pizzeria and laid his body across hers in a booth. John, Helena and Abby followed shortly after, piling in under the table on top of each other, bracing for the coming shit storm.
The cloud consumed them, shrouding the small restaurant in darkness. The dust invaded every crevice of their bodies, filling their mouths and noses, making it difficult to take a breath. They're eyes burned and all they wanted in that moment more than anything was this nightmare to be done, for it all just to be over.
The sound seemed to rumble through the streets forever. Miranda had not felt terror like this before, her mouth and her nose filled with microscopic concrete, steel, glass and god knew what else. It made her feel like she would suffocate before it ended. She was nearly never able to stay in her home alone after what had happened to her as a young woman, as traumatizing as it was, it did not compare to this panic. She was young then. Now she has a career and a family. She valued her life much more than she once had. This was pure terror, this wasn't the fear of dying, it was death. It was slow and torturous, a hell inside her own head. The only image in her mind that of her children, their faces wet and soured by their tears, receiving news of her death.
Then there was silence, the only sound heard was that of a strong breeze sweeping through lower Manhattan carrying with it the remains of what once were the twin towers.
Kelly slid out of the booth and wiped the dust from his face. Miranda sat up and spat out all the grit that invaded her mouth. She started coughing uncontrollably, heaving a terrible black mess into her hands. She gulped at the air around her, she had never been so thankful for breath. She stumbled to the nearest trash bin and leaned over it, her body retching, trying to purge itself of the toxic mess. She ran her hands through her hair, when she finally managed to stop.
They heard someone behind the counter and looked over, several people were huddled in a corner, beginning to stand up and brush themselves off as well. People were coughing and pouring water over their eyes for relief from the terrible dust in the air.
"We've got water bottles behind here!" A man behind the counter rasped.
They all walked toward the voice, the air still dusty around them. They took a bottle each and Miranda sat back down at the booth she had just sought salvation in. She cracked open the bottle of water and took a generous swig, it was wonderfully cold. She poured the rest of the water over her face and in her hair, letting the liquid rinse away the filth. The water dripped from her head, and over her chest, darkening her powdered clothing.
Kelly did the same, pouring the entire bottle over his eyes and in his mouth. He sat the empty bottle on the dusted table and bowed his head, his posture tense. Miranda was sure that he was about to break down but he lifted his head, eyes red but his expression blank. He seemed determined to keep it all at bay for now.
"They said anyone of these buildings could blow up next!" Miranda heard a woman say on the other side of the pizzeria, causing her to whip her head around.
"Who fuckin' knows. They hit the pentagon too! Anything could happen!" A dusty bald man replied in a thick Yankee accent.
"I really need to get home to my family" The editor said, her voice heavy.
"I do too." The redhead responded, standing up with a huff.

They all said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways. Miranda limped out into the street, the young man trailing shortly behind her. They didn't look behind them; they didn't want to see what they knew to be true. All they wanted was to get home and away from this madness. They walked several blocks, ash raining down on them as if a volcano were about to erupt nearby. They found several rescue workers along the street tending to masses of injured.
"You should let these people look at you. They might be able to help." Kelly suggested as they walked by. She knew that she should, but she wanted to go home.
She shook her head silently and kept walking; her head hung low and her shoulders sagging. She was sure she had never looked so pitiful.

The two made slow progress crossing a street when a dusty sedan honked at them. Miranda looked at the driver, her iciest glare she could conjure at the ready. Her heart leapt when she saw that it was her Mercedes and the driver was Roy. The large man opened the driver's side door and ran to her.
"Oh God! I thought you were dead for sure!" He said pulling the petite woman in for a hug, completely crossing every professional boundary between them without a care.
"I can't tell you how happy I am to see you" she said with a weak smile, looking into her drivers shining eyes.
"Please, Take me home"
"Sure thing Miranda" Roy said wrapping an arm around her waist, guiding her into the car.

THE FINAL PART IS COMING SOON! PLEASE REVIEW!
Thanks for reading :]