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across the street. Damon ran to the window and saw what appeared to be a car fire one block over. He said, “What, are we in Baghdad? Do we have to deal with IEDs now? Is that what all those booms we heard were? Cars blowing up everywhere?”
    Jason joined him at the window and said, “It's almost like a coordinated attack. They started with power generation and transportation. Now we're seeing stuff more locally focused. If you think about it, a grid down scenario like this would give someone up to no good the perfect cover. Law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed, security cameras are down, and no cell or land line coverage to make any reports.”
    Just then, a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter flew overhead from the east to the west. Damon pointed at the helicopter and said, “That thing didn't even seem to stop and check out the car fire. That sort of says something about the big picture. Think about it. We've not seen one news helicopter, not one commercial aircraft of any kind, and really no police presence to speak of. Things must be a lot worse than we think, or things are so wide spread and serious, that our plight here is small potatoes.”
    “Hey, guys,” Peggy said from the restroom. “The sewage is backing up in here. This is gross.”
    “Well, hell,” Damon said, “either the city sewage system has been hit too or some pumps are down. Does the water still run?”
    “No, it's out too,” she said.
    “Well they, whoever they are, have managed to hit everything,” added Damon.
    “The streets seem a lot emptier now than before,” said Evan looking out the window. “People are probably catching on that this isn't a simple temporary power outage anymore. And where are all the cars?”
    Jason interrupted and said, “Okay guys, uh, and gal, let's hit the sack. We have a big day tomorrow. I think the situation warrants a constant watch now. We have about six hours until we need to get up and on the move, let's split this night up into three two-hour shifts. I'll take the first, then Evan, and lastly Damon, you can be the early riser.”
    “Roger that,” Evan and Damon both replied.
    Things were pretty uneventful during Jason's watch. He heard a few screams off in the distance that gave him the chills. In the pitch darkness of the moonless night, he couldn't see anything out the window. It was eerie how dark a major city could be without power. The hotel's generators must have finally run out of fuel; the emergency lights had gone out as well. A few gunshots could be heard on occasion. He could only imagine the fun the scumbags were having. This was like a golden opportunity for them. If the police weren't responding to car bombs, then who would possibly care about rape, murder, and robbery?
    At the end of Jason's shift, he awoke Evan for his relief. He debriefed him on what he had heard and Evan took his place at the chair by the window with his SIG .40 holstered up and ready to go. About a half hour into his watch, just as Jason had fallen asleep, he heard multiple footsteps that sounded like they were making their way down the hall. He crept over to the door to try and get a peek through the peephole, as he leaned his head up to the door— BAM! The door was kicked open, striking him on the forehead and knocking him backwards onto the floor.
    Jason, who was barely asleep, awoke to see Evan sitting up on the floor with his gun pointed in the direction of the door. POP! POP! POP! Evan fired three shots into the doorway while screaming, “Get out! Get out! Get out!”
    A large man fell out into the hallway as the others in the group scurried down the hall to escape Evan's rage. Jason jumped to his feet, grabbed his gun, and covered the door while he ran over to help Evan up. Evan said, “I'm fine, I'm fine. Damon, watch Peggy while we secure the room.”
    Jason and Evan, both with their flashlights in their non-shooting hand, cleared the doorway and checked the hall. Calling on their previous military