nine-eleven ♡ h.s.

seven

C H A P T E R        S E V E N

09:17am — Harry

 A loud sob is audible when Harry and Susan reach floor 95. His calves are burning and he is already starting to become tired and exhausted but the need to find his daughter is abetting him to walk further.

 Cries rattle through the internal staircase and Harry starts sprinting. Exactly sixteen steps later Harry sees the small figure of Amy carried around by Mr.Weaver. His heart bursts into a million pieces at the sight of seeing his daughter alive.

 "Amy!" Harry calls out relieved and takes her out of Mr.Weaver's arms.

 "Daddy." Amy cries and buries her head in the crook of his neck. Harry's hand rubs her back in a comforting manner. He slowly sinks down to sit on the stairs, holding his daughter tightly against his chest.

 "Are you okay, Amy?"

 "She is just scared and wants to see her mother," Mr.Weaver answers for Amy. Harry holds her small head and tries his best to calm her down, "She heard and saw the explosion of the North tower. Then she saw someone jumping out of the window. It seems like they had no other way out of the North tower. Your daughter is in shock. I didn't know what to do. She's been crying ever since the explosion happened."

 Harry nods and tries to sort his thoughts. He needs to be calm for his daughter, for everyone here. No one knows what to do and no one can wrap their minds around the current situation. It was supposed to be a normal day, not one filled with terror and fear.

 "Daddy, I wanna go home," Amy sobs, "I wanna go to Mommy."

 "Shh, we're going to get out of this, yeah? Someone's gonna help us and then we're out here in the blink of an eye. You're gonna see Mommy very soon."

 "We should go downstairs again." Mr.Weaver suggests and Susan sighs but Harry ignores them.

 "Do you wanna call Mommy maybe?" He asks Amy and she nods. Quickly, Harry takes his phone out and dials Valerie's number. It doesn't even take her five seconds to pick up her phone.

 "Harry? Harry, are you okay?" Valerie sounds drenched in tears.

 "I have Amy in my lap. We're on floor 96. We're trying to get out of here now," Harry informs his wife, "Did they say what floor the plane has crashed in?"

 "They're guessing it's around floor 80 and lower."

 "80...okay, that's 16 floors below us," Harry murmurs and stands up. Amy is still pressed against his chest. Directed to Susan and Mr.Weaver he says, "We have to walk. It could become difficult —or even impossible— around floor 80 and lower but we'll find a way to get out of here."

 Mr.Weaver rubs with his hands over his face and then nods, "Okay, let's go."

 The little group walks downstairs again. Harry has the phone on speaker so Valerie can talk to him and Amy. His daughter slowly starts to calm down. She is still in shock and sometimes starts crying again but her breathing is tranquil.

 The walk is long and all they see are grey walls, grey doors with big black letters to show that they have reached a new floor. Sometimes they hear babble of voices coming from floors below them.

 Suddenly Susan starts gasping and stops walking. She leans forward and tries to breathe but it sounds wrong and painful. Mr.Weaver rushes to her side and holds her.

 "I need water or...This is all too much for me." She chokes out and slowly slides down on the wall. With her head between her knees she is trying to breathe as Mr.Weaver, John, gets her a glass of water from the restroom on floor 90.