By NBC News photojournalist Mike Simon
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – “Be careful, Mike! These things usually come in pairs.”
The words of my sound recordist, Bobby Lapp, ring as loudly as any memory of the attack.
There was no doubt what had just happened. A huge truck bomb had ripped apart the Marriott Hotel in downtown Islamabad. The shock wave started as a low rumble, then quickly blew through us, tearing apart every window pane and door jamb in our location nearby.
But once it passed, it was strangely quiet. No sirens. No wails of pain or children crying.
I know now that quiet is the sound of a country going into shock.
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