It was about six o'clock when August Brooks came into the station, jacket in one hand. He 
thought there was something strange about the silence, but then again, it wasn't uncommon 
for the place to be that quiet so early in the day. Still, there did seem to be something 
unusual. As he came into the squad room, a group of people were gathered around the 
television set.
	"What's going on?" he asked, tossing his jacket onto his desk.
	Captain Jensen said, "An airplane just crashed in one of the Twin Towers."
	"What?" August asked in amazement, and came over to see.
	He couldn't believe the image on the screen. The World Trade Centers standing 
against the clear blue sky. From one of them, the North Tower, streamed a great plume of 
gray smoke. "When did this happen?"
	"About fifteen minutes ago," Richardson said. "The news said it was some kind of an 
accident."
	As they continued to watch, August's cell-phone rang. He quickly answered. "Yeah?"
	"August," Chase McDonald said on the other end. "Are you near a TV?"
	"Yeah, yeah, we're watching it right now."
	"I just heard it on the car radio. I can't believe it."
	"Yeah, I know."
	"Does anybody know anything yet?"
	"Some kind of accident they think."
	"A hell of an accident," Chase said. "What about--"
	"Oh my God!" someone shouted.
	August looked up just in time to see what looked like a second plane hitting the 
South Tower, and a huge explosion followed. "What the hell was that?"
	"Another plane just hit the second tower," someone said.
	On the phone, he heard Chase say, "August, are you seeing this?"
	"Yeah, it just happened. I just . . . I just saw that plane slam into the . . . I--I 
gotta go, Mac," he said, and hung up. He couldn't speak. There was just no way he could 
possibly think of anything to say. All he could do was watch in horror.
	"That was no accident," Jensen said beside him. "It's gotta be a terrorist attack."
	Again, August couldn't say anything. Didn't even really hear his captain. Everything 
else seemed so distant. Only the horrific images before them could hold his attention.



It was his day off, but out of habit, James Harris still woke at his usual time. He made 
his way into the kitchen, still half-asleep. He had glimpsed Jennifer over on the couch, 
watching television, but he had to get something to drink before he could say anything. 
As he walked over with a glass of juice, he was slowly awoke by a grim reality, and he 
seemed to stand straight up. His mouth gaped, and he stood in silence behind the couch. 
The glass dropped from his hand, shattering on the floor.
	Jennifer turned with a start. "James," she said quietly.
	He saw she had been crying, but he didn't need to ask why.
	"It's terrible."
	He sat down beside her. "What happened?"
	"Two planes hit the towers," she said, wiping the tears from her face. "One in the 
North, one in the South. They thought it was an accident after the first, but now they're 
saying it's possibly a terrorist attack."
	"My God . . . "



As Chase hurried into the station, he found Jensen and August talking quietly. "What's the 
latest?" he asked.
	Jensen said, "The place is a war zone. Firemen, paramedics, police; they're all down 
there. They're trying to evacuate the towers."
	"That's no accident," Chase said, staring at the screen. "Just one, maybe. But two 
in a row, that close together? No way. It's a terrorist attack, that's for sure."
	"The Pentagon was just hit!" someone yelled.
	They rushed to the TV. The news coverage had switched to an image of the Pentagon, 
where one section was engulfed in flames and a cloud of smoke.
	Chase gasped. "Jesus." He had never felt such a sensation of out-right sadness, fear, 
and anger as he had at that moment. It was as if the images themselves had triggered an 
emotion he had never before experienced and hoped he never would again.



James and Jennifer were watching the news as the smoke continued to pour out from the two 
towers. "Can you imagine . . . The poor people on those planes. What they must have went 
through."
	James just shook his head. "I don't think anybody can imagine that," he said.
	"How could this happen?"
	James tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't believe what he was seeing 
next. Like a bad dream, the worst nightmare imaginable, the South Tower . . . collapsed. 
"Holy shit . . . "
	Jennifer put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my God."
	The tower crumbled before their eyes, steadily growing smaller and smaller, throwing 
up an enormous cloud of dust and debris. They saw people running screaming for their lives 
as the dust seemed to follow the path of the streets, sweeping around corners and through 
intersections like some incredible special effect from a movie.



Everything felt like it was in slow motion as Chase stood watching, the South Tower 
collapsing. He couldn't believe it. None of them could. It was like a bad dream. It had 
to be a bad dream. There was now way it could possibly be happening. But he had to accept 
the reality: it was happening. As much as he wanted to pretend it was all fake, all a 
movie or something, he knew it was real.
	And at that thought, Chase McDonald began to cry.



"Yeah, I can't believe it," August was saying to Kendra on the phone. "It's unbelievable. 
This is going to change a lot of things. Yeah, I'll call you later. Bye."
	As he walked back over, Jensen said, "They just evacuated the White House."
	"The President?"
	"He was at a school in Florida when it happened. They said he's been taken to a 
secure location."
	"Hey, somebody turn it up," Richardson said.
	On the TV, the news was showing images of a field near a wooded area. Fire crews 
were on the scene trying to put out the flames. The reporter was saying, " . . . a report 
that an airplane has crashed in a remote field in Pennsylvania. Nothing is known for sure 
at this time, but we're already hearing speculation that this might have been a fourth 
hijacked plane destined for a target somewhere."
	"It's like a bad dream," August said. "It's like the worst dream imaginable." He 
turned to look at Chase, thinking he was to his right, but he was gone. "Where's Chase?"
	"I think he went outside," Jensen said. "It seemed really shaken."
	As August turned to leave, someone shouted, "The second tower's collapsing!"



August stepped out into the rear of the station and looked around. Chase was standing over 
by his car, his back to him. August walked over slowly. "Mac," he said quietly.
	Chase turned slightly, and his partner saw him quickly wipe the tears from his face.
"It's okay, Chase. It's nothing anyone should be embarrased about."
	"What's the latest?"
	August sighed, leaning against the back of the car beside him. "Another plane just 
crashed in a field somewhere in Pennsylvania. They think it might have been hijacked as 
well; they don't know anything yet. The White House was evacuated, and the President's 
been taken to a secure location. And the North Tower just collapsed."
	Chase couldn't describe how he reacted to that. He wasn't even sure how he reacted. 
All he knew was that he still had that feeling he had had earlier, and he turned away 
again. August looked down. "This is America's darkest day," he said. "But I've got no 
doubt that we'll recover. And once we find out who's responsible, we will make them pay."
	"I wish I could be one of the ones to make them."
	"Me, too, Mac." He put a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Me, too."