Virginia Navarro – Collapse
September, 11th, 8:36
‘Riley Brown, come into my office, please ‘
After hearing my name, I decided to stand up and walk to Mr. Davis’ office.
I was very excited because I was going to present my proposal for the new project that the company wanted to carry through. Since I started working in the World Trade Center, specifically in the South Tower, I was clear that I had been given a great opportunity and I was not going to waste it.
‘Good Morning, Mr. Davis. Before we begin, I would like to thank you for the fact that you want to listen to my ideas for the company.’ I said, right before my legs started to shiver. ‘ I’ve been thinking we could… ‘
In that moment, a strong noise made me hush. I fixed my eyes into the large windows and I saw the other tower in flames. Both Mr. Davis and I ran out of the room.
‘What is going on?’ I asked confused. No one gave me an answer. Someone switched on the TV and we all tried to find out what was happening. Some channels said it had been a bomb. Others refused it and thought it was just a fire. We stared at the television for at least fifteen minutes. No one gave credence to what happened. Finally, the government decreed that a plane had crashed into the North Tower.
September, 11th, 9:00
Fear began to reign in the room and people started to panic. We didn’t have a clue about what we should do or what was going to happen. Turning my gaze to the other tower horrified me. Nevertheless, I could not avoid it. I saw things which were falling from the tower while this one was burning.
Out of the blue, an outburst took me out of my thoughts. This one was that big that I looked up, expecting the ceiling to fall, but it didn’t. The impact also caused my body to fall to the ground and hit me with a metal on my head. I wasn’t able to see anything else than smoke and flames, which made breathing and vision difficult. Finally, I had strength enough to get up.
‘This is the New York Police Department, please get out of the building as soon as possible’
In that moment, I ran towards the stairs, which afterwards I realised were destroyed. Meanwhile I was running desperately, I watched the hell unleashed in that disaster. I decided to follow my way the emergency stairs, but someone crossed in front of me. Someone who, when reached the extreme point of the tower, decided to throw himself to the void and end with his life. I let out a muffled scream and ran like there was no tomorrow to the stairs. Fortunately, these were still intact. After going down sixty-five floors, a few thousand people managed to get to the building’s hall, where we met the police.
‘Run and don’t look back’ we were told over and over again by the agents. I ran looking down the floor, which didn’t make me feel any better either, since this one was full of blood and dead bodies. When I reached the way out, I could get into local, just before the North Tower demolished, taking everything and everyone with it.