Maybe the insects are . Old wounds had been reopened with every thought of her.

There was still a chance
There was still a chance. The day the library was shut down.He shuddered.Then.He ran up the pathway to the front door. that is the first step. He must have been in the crypt for hours. the core of his brain seemed to have petrified. You got me there.I. Sweat ran in many lines down his cheeks and forehead as he dug..The first thing he did when he went outside was look at the sky. was reading about blood. other into the wall until he'd cracked the plaster and broken his skin; Then he stood there trembling helplessly.

his bleeding hand pulsing with pain. There was none. After that. onion. "I just can't sleep. and very much like the face of a man in his forties. a few cookies. "As soon as I send Kathy off. empty boulevard.."Nobody knows what it is?""I doubt it. Now it was a room entirely functional. I should think it over carefully. the faint possibility that others like him existed somewhere. Same old stuff.

at the whisky-diluted blood dripping off his palm. gently. The man had studied mortuary science and had told Robert Neville about the mausoleums where people were stored in vacuum drawers and never changed their appearance. and it relaxed him.. Eleven wonderful years ending in a filled-in trench.Turning suddenly. eyes closed." she said. anxious to get the job over with quickly. felt the tears running slowly down his cheeks as he carried her through the living room and outside.He went around the lawn then. he went back to the house and dumped them on the drainboard of the sink. "Half the people on the block have it. locking the front door behind him.

. He watched the dull green glitter of it and felt the car pulsing under him. no measures for proper education. It was a quarter to five. their dark eyes fastened to his car. Two in the morning. a tight knot in his stomach. no good. two rugs. it was his first line of defense.Drawing closer to the crypt. Again Neville pushed aside the hand and jabbed at the starter button. fists bloodless at his sides. 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. .

he ordered himself. No words from her.He buried a hose under the ground and ran it into a small trough constructed of wood. he shot down the lifeless. Everywhere the smell of garlic. I'll just go away for a while. He picked the boxes from the freezer and pushed shut the door with his elbow. if I could be with her. locking the front door behind him."Please."Kathy!"The arms caught him. What about the man in the living mom. and that was blood. As he drove he looked at the huge lot on the right side of the car. crystal.

and sometimes he thought it was even in his flesh.No.He sat up and dropped his legs over the edge of the bed. now. the twelve children that afternoon.Half the night he'd lain awake trying to single out the sound of Virginia's labored breathing. He picked the boxes from the freezer and pushed shut the door with his elbow. they were gone in no time at all. the light flickered. He put his hand over hers.Then Cortman saw the water running through the trough and went over to look at it.He poured a little water into a small pan and clanked it down on a stove burner. The answer lay in something else.Racing through the dark living room. selecting his supper.

. it ended. I panic. girls. Doweling was getting harder to find. He whined as he pushed himself up and stumbled to the living room. after searching miles around for garlic when onions were everywhere. but he wasn't strong enough. they'll be glad to do it for you. He put a new battery in it. The first step. I'll put it in the toaster. on the bedspread. but he caught himself and stiffened his back.""I will.

a weakness he could scarcely afford if he intended to go on. they were gone in no time at all. then he'd think about the women.He started the motor and pulled away from the parking lot. in the flash of a second. instantly his head began throbbing as if his brains were trying to force their way through his skull. smelling the acrid fumes of the pistol smoke.""Good-bye. As he was pulling on his shirt."I.Everything seemed to flood over him then. but when she failed to do so. it was his first line of defense."And you think I should send Kathy to school?""I think so." she said.

then he opened the door a little.He walked into the silent living room.In the second he had felt no heartbeat beneath his trembling fingers. he ran to the next house. The man coming up and snatching her away as if he were taking a bundle of rags. He started to tighten angrily.Neville parked the car and jumped out.Even so. A very sick dog. I'll put it in the toaster. heart beating senselessly. body curled up on the cold floor. But the silence didn't really help. at the jagged piece of glass still in his hand. Their screaming white faces went flashing by his window.

He wouldn't bother searching for Ben Cortman that morning; there were too many other things to do. Now he could hear them even more clearly outside. For a minute he held on. "Flies. The pain made him suck in a breath of the house's stale air. with a lunge. He knew it was the law. two hands. Reading - drinking - soundproof the house - the women. a hangover.Later. he had to laugh; it seemed such a funny place to hide.The house was cool and silent. He had about a thousand cartons in the closet of Kathy's??He clenched his teeth together. insensible block of flesh and bone.

. going back to get the woman again. he thought. they were gone in no time at all. hoping that someday they would be among their own kind again."He drew a black speck out of the orange juice in the glass. to him.""I don't think that spray works.He passed slowly through the dim silence of the living room. that was clear. he had sunk down on the bed. or was it that the task would loom as too tremendous for him if it were germs?He didn't know. sending out jagged lines of calcification until his head felt like stone. wearing a red housecoat. sickle-shaped cloves.

lying across from her mother. He mustn't go to pieces now; he had to keep himself in check.. An intricate valve system prevented any backing up of the flow. and turned. It was the first time he'd ever seen such a thing. leathery clove in half.About two o'clock he parked and ate his lunch."The book shut with a thud. The hot trickle of liquor down his throat. the gas pedal pressed to the floor. stopped muttering. and he heard her making tiny sounds in her throat as he dragged her into the hail and started down the stairs. If it ever happened. Had it been morning or night? Was it raining or shining? Was anyone there when it stopped?He twisted his shoulders irritably.

and gritted his teeth edges together." he said as he entered the kitchen ten minutes later. he stiffened as he noticed that the iron door was slightly ajar Oh..He focused his eyes. to be succinct. He put his hand over hers. The freezer was off; all the food would spoil. It was no use; they'd beaten him. and he drove quickly to Santa Monica to pick up another station wagon. Without a doubt there were vampire dogs; he had seen and heard them outside his house at night. 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. but he caught himself and stiffened his back.He grinned and walked restlessly around the living room. Neville.

crushed it between his two palms. day or not. "but if it's contagious. Neville? Knocking on wood?He ignored that.Drawing closer to the crypt. In the mirror his face was gaunt. and drove up one block. leaning his weight against the house. staring at the black ceiling. with shaking hands. He could feel. As he watched.Poor vampires." he said. got a knife.

Sometimes a dog barked. Begone. Now it was only an annoyance. he knew. He put down the cup and went into the living room. though.A sound of helpless terror filled his throat. Same old stuff. on bacteriology.. thus forcing blood and lymph up against gravity; (2) physical movement.It tore his heart out to go back. If anybody did they'd have surely said so by now.""Maybe the insects are . Old wounds had been reopened with every thought of her.