Chapter 50

December Twenty-fourth 11:00 p.m. EST

Paul crouched in the snow behind the thick trunk of a tree. The only sound was the hum from the high tension lines that marched in a seemingly endless line over the forested hills of Southern New York. That near silence was broken when, with a deafening roar, the Semtex charges that he and his team had put in place exploded simultaneously.

As three of the massive towers of steel girders teetered on shattered bases, the thick cables they supported stretched back and forth, producing a sound like a giant, out of tune guitar. Then one tower toppled with a crash that made the ground vibrate beneath Paul's feet. Accompanied by the loud crack of snapping cables, the other two quickly followed.

Whooping, hollering, and thrusting their fists into the air, Paul and the other four members of his team celebrated their act of mayhem for a few minutes before returning to cover. He could feel joy and smug satisfaction flowing through a number of the bubbles in his head and knew that the other fourteen teams assigned to similar tasks had also been successful.

Only minutes later, they heard a helicopter approach. The aircraft surveyed the scene for a few minutes before flying off. After the passage of less than twenty minutes, the first of the utility company vehicles began to arrive, their chain covered tires throwing up plumes of snow behind them as they raced over the frozen hills. Shortly thereafter, vehicles, both those belonging to the power company and others operated by local law enforcement, flooded into the area. When the rush slowed, Paul signaled his team and stepped out into the open.

The butt of his assault rifle shook against his shoulder as he, and those following him, targeted the local cops and the vehicles at the front and rear of the pack. Return fire was sporadic and light. When it ceased altogether, he extended his fangs and drew a long knife as he advanced: they only had a limited amount of ammunition and had to spare as much as they could. Besides, this way would be a lot more fun.

Only a short time later, he was stalking one of the last of the utility company employees. The look on the man's face reminded him of his father's expression when Paul had asked, after the second day of kindergarten, which thing his father liked better: laughter or pain.

As he finished draining the man, his cheap, digital watch announced the coming of midnight with a beep. He imagined that he could feel the earth shake as the explosives he and the other teams had placed on other high tension lines, natural gas compressor stations and rural electrical substations over the past few weeks went off, although the nearest was much too far away for this to be a reality.

At a run, Paul led his team through the woods to the pickup truck they had concealed along the side of the distant road. They still had much to do tonight, before heading west to join the five teams assigned to attack the massive grain elevators, stockyards, farms and cattle ranches that fed the country and much of the world.