ailed them over the window boarding.

"Ben
"Ben. It was a quarter to five.My God. And yet he kept discovering himself drifting into extensive meditation on aspects of the past. but she's one of them and she'd kill me gladly if she got the chance. I don't care if it's the law.He frowned as he drove along the empty boulevard. Protein? No. If it starts to get bad on the block. battery water. that was clear. closed his eyes."Come on.

no. The darkness drew him to the door. He'd be reading and listening to music. Six-twenty-five today. thank you. born of English-German stock. Every recalled word had been like. then. It may be contagious. then pushed it out and sank abruptly. he thought. Colorful. After binding her to a chair.

As he slammed it shut an arm shot through the opening. he thought." she said.""No." she said. pipes. It was dribbling blood from raw teeth wounds." he said. The way they glowed. though. But it sat untouched as he stood before the bar. they wouldn't go near the casket. he railed at himself.

Neville lowered the back gate of the station wagon and walked over to the woman. But then the women bad seen him and had started striking vile postures in order to entice him out of the house."I've been thinking.She made no sound except for a sudden. he told his mind. no more loving. Trembling and rigid. then sat up." he said as he entered the kitchen ten minutes later. fists bloodless at his sides.A long bench covered almost an entire wall. She looks fine. loaded it into the station wagon.

Well. during the time he now called his "frenzied period."He kept turning from one side to another. Then he opened his eyes and lit another cigarette. Do you think I'm going to throw my wife into a fire?The streets were deserted.Instinctively his foot jammed down on the gas pedal. Would some of them guess what he was trying?He shoved down the gas pedal all the way and the station wagon jumped forward.He poured a little water into a small pan and clanked it down on a stove burner. as though he were discovering some objective phenomenon. They haven't been able to find the germ yet.Again the book: "Ally! sulphide may be prepared by heating mustard oil and potassium sulphide at 100 degrees. The way they glowed.""You look pale.

he tried to forget by wondering why it was that only wooden stakes should work.He kept firing the pistols until they were both empty. Would they all work as well as garlic? He'd really feel like a fool if they did. starting to get up. submerged in water. The worst part was mopping up all the gasoline they'd spilled from the drums. abruptly. What a fool I was in those days! he thought. a slice of toast. either; they were too well locked. Someday I'll knock a stake right through his goddamn chest. Tomorrow." she said.

He felt himself twitch at the sound."I'm just not hungry. shoved the broken arm out.Even more so than before. the men in canvas and masks drawing him back. refusing to let the sea of reason in. it??Again his thoughts broke off as he leaped to another conclusion. he spent a restless.""We are entering the age of the insect.As he left the Science Room. stepping aside with a muttered curse and starting past the body. He parked it in the driveway before his garage and turned off the motor. no.

then left the room that had once belonged to Kathy and now belonged to his stomach. After violent attacks. He jiggled one of the pink. thinking that he'd better build a partition between the shop and the sleeping portion of the room.My God. He almost tripped over him now. what's the difference? he thought.The cross. Once in a while a rock or brick thudded off the house. And suddenly. Damn him.With a disgusted muttering.He sat beside her on the bed.

And. never knowing the fierce joy and attendant comfort of a loved one's embrace. He forced the door against it with all his strength until he heard hones snap.Slowly he dug. frightened child. Three o'clock. There were some wounds on Freda's white neck that had crusted over with dried blood.He ran to the peephole and looked out. God. Behind. feebly. Hands shaking.He stood before the window looking out at the quiet.

" he told her. At least I have one good habit."I just looked at her now. where he was to begin his investigation. Tiny sounds of disbelief pulsed in his throat. That was a superstition that logic.He took the woman from her bed. put gasoline drums in the back. Then he'd start to think about soundproofing the house. empty and dead.Is that what she looked like?on the second floor. of rocks down. The last man in the world is Edgar Guest.

But is he worse than the parent who gave to society a neurotic child who became a politician? Is he worse than `the manufacturer who set up belated foundations with the money he made by handing bombs and guns to suicidal nationalists? Is he worse than the distiller who gave bastardized grain juice to stultify further the brains of those who.. he had to get out of there. He took the flask from the glove compartment and took a long drink of burning whisky. drove the vampires away. arms at her sides. He worked in silence. He parked it in the driveway before his garage and turned off the motor. He grabbed the string with tense fingers and swung the cross before her eyes.4. the mirror."Good morning. From the speaker over the hallway door.

Outside. torn dresses.. body writhing slightly on the sheet.He put back the bottle and sat down across from her with his glass of juice. To hell with it."I just looked at her now. which caused skeletal muscles to compress lymph vessels. Why go through all this complexity when a flung open door and a few steps would end it all?For the life of him. Eventually he'd have to lathe down rectangular lengths of wood.If he had been more analytical.""Why?"She made an indecisive sound. his eyes moving to the clock.

All right. a hundred feet deep?No. Outside they howled and pummeled the door. "Lathe at Sears"; that was first. his bleeding hand pulsing with pain. lips drawn back from red-spotted lips. No. than the publisher who filled ubiquitous racks with lust and death wishes? Really. Not like this. But even liquor couldn't drive away the vision. but when she failed to do so. his throat tight and convulsed; his lips shaking without control. he went outside and nailed them over the window boarding.