...
Pittsburgh, the South District Inland Port construction site.
A massive tower crane stood motionless in mid-air, its steel cables swaying in the wind.
A few hours ago, this place had been bustling with activity, but now it had fallen into an unsettling silence.
The convoy of steel trucks, which should have arrived two hours ago, was nowhere to be seen.
Dozens of welders sat on the scaffolding, welding torches in hand, but with no work to do.
The machinery at the concrete mixing station had stopped. Workers gathered around to play cards, but no one had the heart to look at their hands. Their eyes kept drifting toward the construction site's main gate.
Anxiety spread through the air.
"What's going on? Why aren't the materials here yet?"
"Heard they set up a roadblock. The state police impounded all the trucks."
"So what about our pay for today? We don't get paid if we're not working."
"Dammit, this job is so frustrating. Something goes wrong every other day."
