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Out of the Stairwell
The stairs finally end and we exit the north stairwell near the multi-story windows which face the plaza. The view is startling! Huge chunks of broken concrete and all kinds of debris fill the area beyond the windows. The destruction is so extensive and so shocking that people tend to freeze as they come out of the stairwell; but then a female police officer yells “Keep moving! Don’t look out!” Several policemen block the exits to the plaza. The female officer keeps yelling, “Go down the escalator! Don’t look out! Keep moving!” I follow the crowd to the left, to the escalator which goes down to the Liberty Street level. I can see Joe in the crowd on the lower level. As I get off the escalator, he approaches me and says, with a very resolute tone: “I’m not coming back here.” I don’t know how to respond. I hope he changes his mind. We follow the crowd through the glass doors to the Concourse – the retail area underneath the Plaza. Just beyond the doors, there is a security guard who looks very young; he is probably in his twenties but he looks like a teenager to me. He directs us to the Concourse exit near Church Street and Fulton – the exit which is farthest from the towers. Continue: Out of the Trade Center |