Never Forget

People were confused, most of them standing and looking around as if their answer lied with each other. But then someone screamed, pointing to one of the many windows on the wall.

Blackness covered the outside as if someone had painted over the windows; dark clouds billowing upward in an ominous fashion. A knot formed in Alfred's stomach as he watched the clouds roll up, his mind frantic over the fact that they were much too dark to be actual clouds. But if they weren't clouds then it was smoke, and smoke was not something he wanted to see.

He ran back into his office, opening the curtains and looking down. He couldn't see too well, but there was definitely a fire below him. Fear started to build within him, but it wasn't his own fear... it was the fear of his people around him.

But after he was able to control the fear in him, the pain started to appear. Alfred nearly fell to his knees at the amount he felt.

What was happening?

"Mr. Jones!" A secretary ran into his office, her hair slightly frizzed from her panic. "We need to evacuate the building! We have to get out now!"

The man nodded as he slowly started to make his way out of his office, glancing around to see that most of the people were ignoring the orders of their superiors and looking out the windows at the smoke.

"Mr. Jones," The secretary called again, tugging impatiently on his arm.

"You go," He said, slipping from her hold and moving to the others, "I'll round everyone up to leave."

"But, sir...!"

"Go!"

Alfred didn't look back to see if she listened to him as he moved to the windows, grabbing people by their arms and pulling them away while barking orders. They seemed to snap out of their daze by his shouting, most of them running to the exits.

~*~*~

Alfred put his suit on slowly, making sure to take his time as he tied his tie and slipped his shoes on. He looked at himself in the mirror as he took a deep breath. It was time to leave.

He never took his car when he remembered this day, he wanted to feel closer to his people and walking was the best way to do that. As he walked, he could feel people mourning for their loved ones lost from the attacks. It wasn't many now, but it was still enough for his chest to clench tightly with the grief. The grief he felt from the young adults teens were the worst because they're the ones that lost their parents to the attacks, and that kind of emotional trauma was wrecking him.

There were times when the emotions of the others became too much for him, times when he felt like he was drowning in the sorrow of those around him, and his superiors told him to forget this day so many times... but he couldn't. Not even if he tried, America could never forget what he had gone through.

It took him over an hour of walking, but Alfred eventually made it.

Ground Zero.

The 9-11 memorial.

So many people were gathered there, crying over their lost loved ones. The emotions were so thick... He could barely move from it, but he pushed through nonetheless. He needed to. He couldn't explain why, but he just had to get to that one spot between the two... holes. The desperate need inside of him wouldn't allow for him to be in any other spot.

~*~*~

One thing they all noticed was that the shaking they had felt earlier was a plane crashing into their Tower, taking out the floors from 99 to 93. Meaning that they were trapped with no way to get down... Fear gripped his chest, and this time America wasn't sure if he was feeling it from the people around him, or his own.