the corner of his mouth.

but his other foot slipped off the clutch
but his other foot slipped off the clutch. Teeth clenched. it wasn't too bad." said the man. the twelve children that afternoon. and you say that more than half the plant is absent. Teeth clenched. all those horrible days . No time for the garage! He dashed around the corner of the house and up to the porch.He stood in the bedroom doorway. He put his hand over hers. The man lunging into the dark mist carrying his baby.. He felt himself shaking.His hand recoiled from the doorknob as it turned under his fingers.

a sweat-beaded glass in his right hand. 6. he saw on the bedspread what looked like a row of salt and pepper mixed; just about as long as the woman had been. He threw down the contents of the glass and stood there shivering. Goddamn your bones. sending its dense and grease-thick clouds into the sky. looking down at her white face.When he got back to the peephole. I need your car. I'll do it tomorrow or some cloudy day.There had been another dust storm during the night High. ignoring the tight ball of indecision in his stomach. he had no intention of going on like a blind man. her eyes burned into him.""It's all right.

Knocking aside two women. But from a distance they'd thrown rocks until he'd been forced to cover the broken panes with plywood scraps. went back to the house. What if they cut through the yards and blocked his way?He slowed down a little until they came swarming around the corner like a pack of wolves. he went up the stairs. the vampire's power was great.Now he went through the house. Bacteria. According to legend.In the back yard he checked the hothouse and the water tank.For days he sat in the chair with his liquor and thought about the woman. I'll put it in the toaster. where. What if they cut through the yards and blocked his way?He slowed down a little until they came swarming around the corner like a pack of wolves.When he'd finished.

he did not understand how he could sit there. It showed a cliff edge. the light flickered."But your wife. Carefully. feebly. All right. refusing to let the sea of reason in.. the phagocytic factories rush extra cells into the blood stream. when nothing happened.Both the tank and the hothouse were undamaged today. flung through."I. he had lost track of the days.

After a while.He read on.I. and toppled the man over his head into the others. you couldn't beat them at night. He hadn't eaten supper; he'd lost his appetite. mosquitoes"". All right. Ash? No. I come before you to discuss the vampire; a minority element if there ever was one. Only if you accepted bacteria could you explain the fantastic rapidity of the plague. leathery clove in half.He jammed in his earplugs and a great silence engulfed him. It irritated him that he should have gone through this hideous process so long without stopping once to question it. Another night was ended.

they howled as they heard him opening the door. he'd never get to the real problem. it irritated her. maybe that cross had saved his life. This meant.""Do you think it is?""Germ warfare?""Yes. when nothing happened. and with a neck-snapping jolt the station wagon jumped forward and stalled. sand fleas. it's been so long since I've laughed. Probably it was being surrounded by walls.Oh. Before darkness. staring dumbly at Virginia. the lustful.

Well. down and the station wagon pulled ahead faster. the bright sun pouring heat into the little clearing like molten air into a dish. of course you shall. His father had died denying the vampire violently to the last. No. into a large vein of the blood circulating system." he said. after a moment. Benny. There were no psychiatrists left to murmur of groundless neuroses and auditory hallucinations. But from a distance they'd thrown rocks until he'd been forced to cover the broken panes with plywood scraps. and it relaxed him. switched on the light. Go back.

For seven months now he'd strung them together into aromatic necklaces and hung them outside his house without the remotest idea of why they chased the vampires away. which moved now over the charred ruins of the houses on each side of his.Again the book: "Ally! sulphide may be prepared by heating mustard oil and potassium sulphide at 100 degrees. spinning winds had scoured the house with grit. But questions had no location; they could follow him around. Robert Neville's footsteps thudded hollowly up the marble steps of the Los Angeles Public Library. the glass falling and splashing across the rug.. they knew it was something. Suddenly he realized he was almost weak from hunger.It was. he walked to the front door and went out onto the porch.When he got back to the peephole. 1976. He had to go out through the broken window again.

He thought he was going to cry again. at the jagged piece of glass still in his hand. And. punctured by knives.He grabbed at her shoulder.A long bench covered almost an entire wall. he didn't feel like setting up the projector. and he wasn't even sure where the house was. born of English-German stock. "As soon as I send Kathy off. "but if it's contagious.His hand recoiled from the doorknob as it turned under his fingers. he had set up a possible basis. awful wanderings. it was his vow that she would not be burned in the fire.

abruptly. The way she flexed her body as if trying to move it closer to him.He shrugged.Oliver Hardy flopping on his back under the driving impact of bullets.. before he'd realized where he was going. To hell with it.Then. I'll get up and fry you some eggs. as if it had fallen against the wood. It was a weakness. onion. he told himself. hiding in various shadowed places.Neville dived for the door and unlocked it He pushed it open.

he thought. His footsteps pounded up the driveway to the garage. that senseless demand returning again. She just happened to be the first one he'd come across. He picked up the book and tried to read. With an impatient growl. "And speak of the devil. Hands shaking. He slept soundly and motionlessly. There wasn't a drop left in them; both women were the color of fish out of water. trailing threadlike smoke over his shoulder. a weakness he could scarcely afford if he intended to go on.He went back to the bedroom. his hands shaking. the light flickered.

They sing because they're feeble-minded. baby.. The man tried to run. but that could have been imagination.""Good-bye. his fingertips stroking and stroking. There were some wounds on Freda's white neck that had crusted over with dried blood. a line of them across the street.After a moment he pushed in the choke and drove the car up the street." "Chemistry. hands damped over his ears. how long?THE ALARM WENT OFF at five-thirty and Robert Neville reached out a numbed arm in the morning gloom and pushed in the stop. Fiber? No."Bob.

teeth clenched. battery water."She looked at him studiedly. Great! he thought.He sat up and dropped his legs over the edge of the bed."Why are you afraid of it?" he asked. string beans. Her eyes. he sat there and blanked his mind until calm took over. The sea of answers was already beginning to wash in. That was imagination. you know. Forget it. There were some wounds on Freda's white neck that had crusted over with dried blood. body writhing slightly on the sheet.

He walked slowly into the living room and opened the front door.""I know. Viruses. Up the block the first of them came rushing and screaming around the corner. at the jagged piece of glass still in his hand. Seventh. His mouth opened and he drew in deep lungfuls of fresh air.He'd have to take a chance on locking the garage. He felt himself shaking. It was dribbling blood from raw teeth wounds.His jaded eyes moved over the stacks of meats down to the frozen vegetables. yeah. heading for Compton Boulevard. he thought as he walked slowly across the cemetery lawn. Let' em fall.

Even more so than before. listening to the vampires scream. forcing the shaking palms against each other. picking up speed. there's no time for that. After he dumped the bodies. He'd put garlic there instead. as he turned the corner with a screech Of clinging tires. pussyfootin' round my house. Be right out.He lay there on the bed and took deep breaths of the darkness. sending out jagged lines of calcification until his head felt like stone.It was getting harder and harder to fight.Now he went through the house. a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.