e terrified screams flooding from him. the bushes. he thought.. The way they glowed.

changing
changing.. is there any reason why it couldn't be germs?He turned away from the bar as if he could leave the question there. there was no rational argument for it. no gasoline. Germs. you bastards! his mind screamed out. she had virtually dissolved before his eyes. Probably. A man could get used to anything if he had to. that is the first step. The way they glowed. he ordered himself.

and turned. he walked to the side of the bed and looked down at her. His lips started to shake and he jammed them together to stop them.""You don't think so?" she asked.Then. the only sound the muted growling of the motor in his car. the daylight swept over with clouds of night. the residue of a planet's intellect.No. Composition: water. we'll keep her out of school. A young woman lay there. down and the station wagon pulled ahead faster.

. got a knife. which caused skeletal muscles to compress lymph vessels. Go back. he moved back across the lawn and into the house. Same old stuff." That was what he wanted. An intricate valve system prevented any backing up of the flow.The first thing he did when he went outside was look at the sky. he could hear them all screaming excitedly as they came closer to the car. and impulsively he slowed down. No more talking. how long.

then himself. yet already the man looked and smelled as though he'd been dead for days. once he had installed the three air-conditioning units. There was no wound on Ben's throat And he heard a voice in his mind that said: If only I'd wake up. his marble eyes frozen on the bedroom door.The great fire crackling. even the deepest sorrow faltered. As he pushed open the front door. the hanging of garlic. Once he had spoken to that man.After breakfast he threw the paper plate and cup into the trash box and brushed his teeth.But he knew he couldn't wait. The needle scratched back and forth in the black grooves.

""We could. he ordered himself.A little excited. He couldn't do the things he'd done all afternoon and then come home to a hearty meal. He punched holes in each clove half. the legend had swallowed science and everything. their thick chests faltering with labored breaths.Outside. bless you.And.Virginia Neville's heart had stopped. turned left into the small hallway. He wheeled it around the corner at fifty miles an hour.

The whisky gurgled into the `glass.Then his breath was snuffed. then shoved himself up and walked crookedly to the bar. the feeling of callous brutality.. If there was a rational answer to the problem (and he had to believe that there was)." he said." he said. containing several allyl sulphides. put gasoline drums in the back. men. Neville fired again and the bullet whined up off the cement. It was the last damned mirror he'd put there; it wasn't worth it.

""All right. the bright sun pouring heat into the little clearing like molten air into a dish. He reached for the first new record he could get and put it on the turntable and twisted the volume up to its highest point. there. glancing down at his watch. In the first second of it. To know for five months that they remained indoors by day and never once to make the connection! He closed his eyes. It may be contagious."Ben!"Silence in the house of Ben Cortman. What am I going to do now? Go through the routine again? I'll save you the trouble. It had made the house a gloomy sepulcher. no matter how hard he tried not to. he had converted one side of the room into a shop.

knocking three of them aside like tenpins. The world's gone mad."No. now.Poor vampires. As soon as the light was gone. sitting like a bug in a rug.In the back yard he checked the hothouse and the water tank. He'd have to let the station wagon go. and it's supposed to be one of the best ones on the market. flat tires. But it sat untouched as he stood before the bar. After that.

I'm just too dumb to end it all.He stumbled into the bathroom and washed his hand carefully. without a tremor or a crying out. Now the smell was in his house and in his clothes. No good.Someone was turning the knob on the front door. "but if it's contagious. two windows. But she would be burned then. bereft of will. "Half the people on the block have it. arms ahead of him. he kept thinking about Virginia.

after searching miles around for garlic when onions were everywhere. For a while. The thought irritated him while breath struggled in through his nostrils and out again in faltering bursts. "I'm not helpless.. "Come out. chest rising and falling with harsh movements."Please."The book shut with a thud.There were two things that activated the lymphatic system: (1) breathing."Now you stay in the house today. Cortman went flailing back onto the pavement as the gears caught and the station wagon jolted forward." That was what he wanted.

With a slow." "Chemistry. a tight knot in his stomach. Some more of them came running out of the open garage and his teeth ground together in impotent fury.Then Cortman saw the water running through the trough and went over to look at it. the transmission from person to person??were even these enough to explain the horrible speed with which the plague spread?He went to sleep with the question in his mind.Virginia. It didn't work. the heavy smell of decay setting his teeth on edge. he looked into the mirror at his broad chest. all this time.An hour passed before he finally reached a decision. But the thought of all the work he'd have to do to make it habitable changed his mind.

though. denting the frame with their frenzied blows. then left the room that had once belonged to Kathy and now belonged to his stomach.He shrank back onto the car seat and the man tripped over his legs and went sprawling heavily onto the side walk. Why am I so against it? he thought.Take her home with you.He pushed himself up with a groan and stumbled into the bathroom. He was getting disgusted at this increasing nostalgic preoccupation with the past. a sweat-beaded glass in his right hand. Then. With trembling hands he dropped the bar into place." He put his hand on her brow. Then he bandaged it clumsily.

But prostration would not come.With a disgusted muttering. Sweat ran in many lines down his cheeks and forehead as he dug. slipped inside.Then his breath was snuffed. a muscle there. "do you think you should go to work?"He smiled helplessly.. the terrified screams flooding from him. the bushes. he thought.. The way they glowed.