Seven Unholy Days by Jerry Hatchett Read Free Book Online

had needed to put the plan together. The latter afforded him the ability to rationalize and justify the atrocities that would unfold over the next few days.
    The luxury jet flew lazily at six thousand feet above New York City. The late hour provided few other planes in the clear night air to contend with, but the view of the city that never sleeps shone true. No other place on Earth could offer up such a view from the heavens, such a testimony to the accomplis hments of modern man. There were other cities in the world that covered more ground, but none had the breathtaking prowess of the islands of light below as they lay shouldered against the blackness of the water along their shores.
    Visual symbolism aside, certainly no other city wielded the tangible power over the rest of the Earth that did New York. Other cities could affect economies globally in a technology-driven world, but there was none other that could essentially shut them down. There were cities that had more people, but the Grand Lady below was alone in her diversity. She was a snapshot of the modern world. Other cities were important to the modern world. New York was crucial. It was the one and only logical vantage point for Hart as the beginning of the end arrived. She and her people had proven resilient before, but this time they would acknowledge defeat and yield to a superior power.
    He watched the timer on his wristwatch count down the last few seconds, vowing to kill those responsible should the timing be amiss and ruin the moment for him. There would be no need. As the digits reached zero, it happened. It was so startling a thing to witness that the plane momentarily bobbled side to side as the pilot jerked.
    In one instant, the massive presentation of lights below was gone. New York City was as black as the waters around her. Chaos would soon reign on the ground, but from the nighttime skies above, it looked as if the nerve center of the world had just died. He couldn’t see them from the Gulfstream, but he knew reconnaissance satellites above the United States were already transmitting even more staggering images: New York City was not alone. In the blink of an eye, the mainland of the United States had just gone dark. All of it.
    Hart gazed out the window for about thirty seconds, closed his eyes in a euphoric state of satisfaction and said quietly, “It has begun.”
     
     
     
     

7
     
     
     
     
    2:12 AM CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME (LOCAL)
    IUKA COUNTRY INN
     
     
     
     
                  WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! My eyes popped open and I shook my head. Not again. I fumbled with the switch on the lamp beside the bed but it wouldn’t turn on. It was too dark to see anything through the peephole so I left the chain in place and cracked the door. Tark.
    It suddenly hit me that the power was off. My boxers clung to me with sweat. I let him in.
    “Matthew, we’ve got huge problems.”
    “I see that. How much dropped?”
    “All of it.”
    “Good grief, the whole state again?”
    “Not just this state, Matthew. All of ‘em.”
    “All three?”
    “All sixteen,” he said.
    “The hell you say!”
    “The heck I say.”
     
                  We found the security guard lying in a puddle of congealing blood inside the little guard shack at the entrance to the complex. “Tark, we’re bad out of our league. We need to call in some help, and I don’t mean the local sheriff. The FBI needs to be here.”
    He took the guard’s gun from its holster, which was already unsnapped. “That’s fine, but in the meantime we’ll have to fend for ourselves. You know how to shoot?”
    “I can shoot.”
    “Good.” He spun the pistol on his finger and handed it to me butt first. “You take this one. I brought my own.”
    He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue Smith & Wesson Chief’s Special. Five shots, snub nose, .38 Special. Very nice personal defense weapon if you liked small revolvers. I prefer good automatics with triple the