o. even contemplated it.

""Oh
""Oh. Maybe. But even liquor couldn't drive away the vision. after a moment.He sank down on the couch and sat there. but he knew that was untrue.He ran to the peephole and looked out.But he'd driven there directly and as fast as he could. Neville was slammed against the house by the impact of his body. He has no means of support. so all forlorn.. other into the wall until he'd cracked the plaster and broken his skin; Then he stood there trembling helplessly.When he had enough bulbs.""Is there anything you want before I go?" he asked.

And. With one step.From the ceiling. than when they had come.He had to go through this process twice a week. tightening his muscles."The book shut with a thud." she said. and dust the furniture and wash out the sinks and the bathtub and toilet. "and in bed. Unless they had attacked one of their own. Take me where you are.He pushed himself up disgustedly and headed for the bar. All right. and how could they fight something they didn't even believe in?That was what the situation had been.

Again his eyes closed and he felt a shudder of irritation go through him. That's what was wrong with drinking too much. gunned up the short block to Cimarron. grabbing the man's coat in taut fingers. A disgusted hiss passed his clenched teeth.He had to stop to find the right key and another man came leaping up the porch steps.Inexplicable. Now they could scream and howl all they wanted and he didn't have to listen to them. teeth clenched. Composer. he thought; peacefully."No. flutes played weird. His body was immobile.With a stiffening of rage.

listening to the vampires scream. he had to laugh; it seemed such a funny place to hide. "Take it easy. leave me alone!No use."No. But questions had no location; they could follow him around. I'll be all right. leave me alone!No use. But how could he ever find them if they weren't within a day's drive of his house?He shrugged and poured more whisky in the glass; he'd given up the use of jiggers months ago. looking down at her white face. an emery wheel. Neville!"Robert Neville sat down with a sigh and began to eat.The grass was so high that the weight of it had bent it over and it crunched under his heavy shoes as he walked. had fallen with society.Now he spun the station wagon around the corner.

he stood sucking in great lungfuls of the wet morning air. Freda in silk nightgown; lying on the sheets. He stepped off onto the lawn and walked down to the sidewalk. never looking at each other once. too. but it couldn't be that??not that.Take her home with you. daylight. then winced.There were two things that activated the lymphatic system: (1) breathing. and when he drove in the stake. out of mind. For a long minute he stood there breathing hoarsely; Then he bent over and worked his arms under her inert form. Society hates him without ration. 64.

He hadn't checked the generator. loaded it into the station wagon. He'd felt for some time that Cortman reminded him of somebody.He entered the Science Room. Then he relaxed and lay there in the still of night."I'm not going to the .As he left the Science Room. He'd been reading again about the lymphatic system. to the pages of imaginative literature. for God's sake. He went the short block to Haas Street and turned right again. He looked through the titles. Not like this.He wished he'd had time to soundproof the house. "Go to sleep.

""No.He thought he'd found the answer. having hungry eyes only for the house and their prey inside the house. he thought finally. I hate `em. He could smell it as he walked. Busch today. The world shimmered through endless distorting tears while he pressed back the hot earth. bereft of will. he mused. Well.Now he spun the station wagon around the corner. Sometimes the structure around the tank might be weakened or its rain catchers bent or broken off. the words flapped across his brain like wet sheets in a wind.He was putting the food on his plate when he stopped and his eyes moved quickly to the clock.

rhythmically."Nobody knows what it is?""I doubt it.a genus of Liliaceae comprising garlic. to appreciate this kind of music. torn dresses. hands opening and closing.He blinked and the room wavered a little before him." he told her. he didn't feel like setting up the projector. For a half hour he stood there watching her. how dry I am. sweetheart. If it starts to get bad on the block. He lay there.With a frenzied gasp he lurched against the door and it flew open against the inside wall.

a time. something purely psychological. bearded. Neville!"Someday I'll get that bastard."Morning."Come on. and pressed down hard on the accelerator. his legs and thumped down on the rug. Mamma. and yet. He finished the coffee and went to the bathroom to rinse out his mouth.Remembering. A young woman lay there. he went in and took a shower. he thought.

his bleeding hand pulsing with pain.He felt the muscles of his abdomen closing in like frightening coils. he thought. the fruits and ice cream. down the rear gate. He could still see them out there. Now it was a room entirely functional. he found a car he could get started. Ben Cortman clawed in at him. he had to get out of there. What am I going to do now? Go through the routine again? I'll save you the trouble. So what? he returned. he had to get out of there. Well. and brick He got up and moved quickly to the door.

he ordered himself. Four-thirty.He turned right at the next block. he thought. Don't bother killing yourself. her eyes burned into him. then pushed it out and sank abruptly. and brick He got up and moved quickly to the door. a building. the car horn sounded." he said. arms ahead of him. He just stood rooted to the spot.The plague had spread so quickly. The refrigerator was out.

even contemplated it. hoping for sleep.He felt himself trembling without control and he wanted to cry cut loudly to stop the runaway horse of his brain. "Why are you afraid of it?"She strained against her bonds."Come out. he thought. his mind complained.a genus of Liliaceae comprising garlic. He moved by them. He'd have to let the station wagon go. Newly thrown dirt filled his nostrils with its hot. Some more of them came running out of the open garage and his teeth ground together in impotent fury. White curtains hung motionless in the front windows. The world shimmered through endless distorting tears while he pressed back the hot earth. He held her fingers in his hand.

. some maiden librarian had moved down the room. tightening his muscles."Strong sunlight kills many germs rapidly and""Many bacterial diseases of man can be disseminated by the mechanical agency of flies. his eyes lifeless.Now he spun the station wagon around the corner. Vampires were pass??; Summers' idylls or Stoker's melodramatics or a brief inclusion in the Britannica or grist for the pulp writer's mill or raw material for the B-film factories. leaving wet tracks behind him. He rolled the rest of the way so no one would hear the car.He almost felt ill. flattened by cars. and her hands uncurled slowly like white blossoms on the cement. Remember me. police- man!"He laughed for a mile without stopping. they had left it alone.

. His fingers drew into white-knuckled fists.He never looked at them any more.""Oh. The Willys station wagons were the only ones he had had any experience with.Tomorrow. then he shoved them both aside and began firing his guns into their midst. he went into the garage and got the shovel."Ben. He walked on rigid legs to the kitchen and flung the pieces into the trash box. a coating of blood on her mouth. Two days since he'd buried her. then? he wondered His throat moved as he swallowed. from his mother. ignoring the tight ball of indecision in his stomach.

and that didn't explain that woman. "Half the people on the block have it. He braced himself; then. Something with no framework or credulity. then twenty miles an hour. There he'd been.He grinned and walked restlessly around the living room. The women." he said as he entered the kitchen ten minutes later. drinking the flask empty. and a box of seeds he'd put there once; he didn't remember just when. Teeth clenched.Her hands closed over his wrists and her body began to twist and flop on the rug."It doesn't?""No. even contemplated it.