Beat partners Carol Paukner and Tracy Donahoo were assigned to the NYPD’s Transit Division, District 2, in Lower Manhattan. Donahoo was a rookie officer at the time. After the first plane hit they responded to a call "for an unknown condition" only to find the "streets covered with debris" (p. 4). They helped direct people and vehicles in the chaos that ensued. Paukner told Donahoo where to meet her if they became separated, which they did. Shortly afterward Paukner was blown "into the glass partition" (p. 5) of a store then "through the exit" (p. 6), but she managed to find someone else, who she held onto in order to protect both of them. She finally made it to safety, with all of this occurring before the first tower fell. Paukner tore her rotator cuff as well as her knee; her neck, foot, and eyes were injured and she developed a lung infection, while everyone she knew who worked in that area was killed.

Donahoo had been "a waitress and a bartender" before becoming a police officer, but she "wanted to do something important to help people, like being a … cop" (p. 119). That morning she found herself "flying. I must have gone 20 feet" (p. 121). Her "mouth, ears, and eyes filled with debris" (p. 121). But she got herself up and again began helping people towards safety. Everyone at Donahoo’s command thought that she and Paukner were dead. Donahoo’s ear was cut, she had burns on her skin, and her corneas were scratched, but she continued to do her job. "Before this, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a cop…. But during and after September 11, I knew that this is what I’m supposed to be doing…. I’m glad I was there. We saved thousands of people" (p. 124).