to move the cars that had been crushed away from the site.
The smell was also becoming worse and the air seemed thicker. We were moving downwind, and the fumes were being carried toward us. The burning garbage smell was becoming something worse than that … stronger, more putrid and heavy, like burning sewage.
We crossed over Courtlandt. It was, of course, barricaded too, but I looked beyond the barricade. There, in the distance, I caught my first glimpse of the outline of the remains of the towers. Twisted, blackened metal poked out of a pile of debris, while smoke rose up into the already hazy air. I stopped and my heart seemed to skip a beat, sending a chill down my entire body. That was all that remained.
“That’s … that’s it,” James said.
“That’s it.” It was hard to believe. We weren’t seeing it through the lens of a TV camera. Here it was, big and ugly and smelly, and the smoke wasn’t just in my face or my eyes, it was in my nose and in the pores of my skin.
We walked forward, eyes fixed on the wreckage, toward the barricade and the two policemen who were manning it. Both of them were wearing surgical masks. I wondered if that would block out the smell somehow. We stepped aside as a city van came up from behind us. The two officers pulled the barricade aside to let it enter. James quickly walked toward the opening.
“Hang on a second!” James called out. “We need to get through!”
He caught me off guard, but I quickly fell in beside him as he walked toward the barrier. He’d impressed me.
Unfortunately, the two police officers didn’t feel the same way. One of them swung the barrier back into place and the second stood there, arms folded across his chest, blocking our way.
“We need to get through,” James said again.
“This gate is for authorized personnel only,” the officer said.
“We are authorized. This is the gate we were
told
to come to. This is Courtlandt, isn’t it?”
I had to hand it to James. He sounded not just confident but a little bit cocky—like, the
nerve
of them to interfere with us!
“And just who told you to come to this gate?” the second officer asked. Again, he didn’t seem as impressed as I was.
“A police officer. I didn’t get his name, but I do know he had three stripes on his sleeve … which is three more than either of you two.”
One of the officers pulled down his mask. “Look, kid, we can’t just let people wander into the site.”
“Nobody here is doing any wandering. We’re here to help.”
“Just how old are you two boys?”
“We’re both eighteen,” James said.
Okay, that was a bit of a stretch. Maybe we could have got away with seventeen, but eighteen … ?
“Vehicle,” the second officer said again.
We all turned around as a big black car came toward the barrier. One officer brushed us off to the sidewalk and the second went up to the driver’s window, which glided down. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about.
The back door of the car opened up and a man climbed out. He was wearing a white hard hat with a suit and tie, the tie hanging loosely around his neck. He looked exhausted. He also looked kind of familiar. He shook hands with the officer and they exchanged a few words, and then the man pointed at us and they said a few things more. What were they talking about, and what would any of it have to do with us?
As the man walked toward us, the second officer actually saluted him! Whoever he was, he was important. He shook the officer’s hand.
“How’s it going, son?” he asked the officer.
“As good as can be expected, sir.”
Sir—he had to be somebody high up in the police force. That was why he wasn’t wearing a uniform.
“Hello, boys,” he said then, and we both mumbled back a greeting.
This was not good. We’d got somebody important involved with us. This couldn’t possibly end well.
“The officer says you want to get into the site,” he said.
“Yeah,” James said.
“Yes,
The smell was also becoming worse and the air seemed thicker. We were moving downwind, and the fumes were being carried toward us. The burning garbage smell was becoming something worse than that … stronger, more putrid and heavy, like burning sewage.
We crossed over Courtlandt. It was, of course, barricaded too, but I looked beyond the barricade. There, in the distance, I caught my first glimpse of the outline of the remains of the towers. Twisted, blackened metal poked out of a pile of debris, while smoke rose up into the already hazy air. I stopped and my heart seemed to skip a beat, sending a chill down my entire body. That was all that remained.
“That’s … that’s it,” James said.
“That’s it.” It was hard to believe. We weren’t seeing it through the lens of a TV camera. Here it was, big and ugly and smelly, and the smoke wasn’t just in my face or my eyes, it was in my nose and in the pores of my skin.
We walked forward, eyes fixed on the wreckage, toward the barricade and the two policemen who were manning it. Both of them were wearing surgical masks. I wondered if that would block out the smell somehow. We stepped aside as a city van came up from behind us. The two officers pulled the barricade aside to let it enter. James quickly walked toward the opening.
“Hang on a second!” James called out. “We need to get through!”
He caught me off guard, but I quickly fell in beside him as he walked toward the barrier. He’d impressed me.
Unfortunately, the two police officers didn’t feel the same way. One of them swung the barrier back into place and the second stood there, arms folded across his chest, blocking our way.
“We need to get through,” James said again.
“This gate is for authorized personnel only,” the officer said.
“We are authorized. This is the gate we were
told
to come to. This is Courtlandt, isn’t it?”
I had to hand it to James. He sounded not just confident but a little bit cocky—like, the
nerve
of them to interfere with us!
“And just who told you to come to this gate?” the second officer asked. Again, he didn’t seem as impressed as I was.
“A police officer. I didn’t get his name, but I do know he had three stripes on his sleeve … which is three more than either of you two.”
One of the officers pulled down his mask. “Look, kid, we can’t just let people wander into the site.”
“Nobody here is doing any wandering. We’re here to help.”
“Just how old are you two boys?”
“We’re both eighteen,” James said.
Okay, that was a bit of a stretch. Maybe we could have got away with seventeen, but eighteen … ?
“Vehicle,” the second officer said again.
We all turned around as a big black car came toward the barrier. One officer brushed us off to the sidewalk and the second went up to the driver’s window, which glided down. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about.
The back door of the car opened up and a man climbed out. He was wearing a white hard hat with a suit and tie, the tie hanging loosely around his neck. He looked exhausted. He also looked kind of familiar. He shook hands with the officer and they exchanged a few words, and then the man pointed at us and they said a few things more. What were they talking about, and what would any of it have to do with us?
As the man walked toward us, the second officer actually saluted him! Whoever he was, he was important. He shook the officer’s hand.
“How’s it going, son?” he asked the officer.
“As good as can be expected, sir.”
Sir—he had to be somebody high up in the police force. That was why he wasn’t wearing a uniform.
“Hello, boys,” he said then, and we both mumbled back a greeting.
This was not good. We’d got somebody important involved with us. This couldn’t possibly end well.
“The officer says you want to get into the site,” he said.
“Yeah,” James said.
“Yes,
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