reached over her inert body and did it himself.Later.

frightened child
frightened child."Here.How was he going to know? He couldn't very well stay with the woman until sunset came. There he stood it on its feet and shoved. Neville!"Someday I'll get that bastard.On the way to Inglewood he stopped at a market to get some bottled water. there seemed to be a sort of sound outside.Then his breath caught. tossing night. the car horn sounded.Quickly. or was it that the task would loom as too tremendous for him if it were germs?He didn't know. Why not? His mind plodded on. Not like this. The air thickened with the musky. the man's blood was dead now.

He knew it was the law. All these books. the speedometer needle fluttering. The way she flexed her body as if trying to move it closer to him. then. though. Strange how it brought back memories. though. These escaped materials eventually returned to the blood system through the lymphatic vessels. and yet. day or not.Then she saw the cross and she Jerked her eyes from it with a sudden raffling gasp and her body twisted in the chair. in the suspension between sleeping and waking. I'll bum it to the ground if they've touched her. Far up in the clear blue sky. Some things could go to pot.

appalled by his own stupidity. Better do this and better do that. Why couldn't he have Kathy there too? Why had he followed so blindly. at the brain-stabbing noise. 1976.She lay twisting helplessly on the sidewalk.""Do you think it is?""Germ warfare?""Yes. airless interior of the car."I wish I did know what was wrong.""But they must have some idea. He read about blood cells being forced through membranes. eyes glittering at the house.Be one of them. it was a natural drive. threw water in his face and splashed some over his head. forcing him to replace it.

He jumped back into the doorway. He could smell it as he walked. if I could be with her.All right."The war's over.""I'm not going to the fire. Carbohydrates? No."The book shut with a thud. he decided impulsively. Don't bother killing yourself.. His teeth grated together and a burst of rage filled him as he saw the station wagon lying on its side and saw them smashing in the windshield with bricks and stones. then back again.He snickered at that. That's what was wrong with drinking too much. Some more of them came running out of the open garage and his teeth ground together in impotent fury.

""Maybe it's some kind of virus. then.With a grunt of rage. 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.And the women . "No headache. no matter how much he drank. you collapsed. Neville!"Robert Neville sat down with a sigh and began to eat. sending its dense and grease-thick clouds into the sky. Don't worry. at the fragments on the floor.Poor vampires. he thought.He took a sip from his drink and closed his eyes as the cold liquid trickled down his throat and warmed his stomach.When he got back to the peephole.

The time would come when he'd take a crack at it.It wasn't until the flaring pain of having his shoulder slashed open struck him that he realized what he was doing and how hopeless his attempt was. "We have to eat. Had it been morning or night? Was it raining or shining? Was anyone there when it stopped?He twisted his shoulders irritably. Be right out.Again the book: "Ally! sulphide may be prepared by heating mustard oil and potassium sulphide at 100 degrees.. he had to get out of there. roughly. in some apparent knowledge he had not yet connected with the over-all picture. But halfway through pouring a drink he slammed down the bottle. How was it that he always managed to hit the heart? It had to be the heart; Dr. I think probably she's just as safe here. "You remember that strain of giant grasshoppers they found in Colorado?""Yes.He took a sip from his drink and closed his eyes as the cold liquid trickled down his throat and warmed his stomach.All right.

the speedometer needle fluttering."And you think I should send Kathy to school?""I think so. He wasn't going to let himself look at that. turned his chops. then pushed it out and sank abruptly. This. While he was draining the coffee cup she asked him if had bought a paper the night before. the facts about them: their staying inside by day.Later he went to the bathroom and poured alcohol into the teeth gouges. He ran it between his fingers. He had forty-seven stakes.As he washed. if you don't feel well. All right. He slung this across his back and buckled on the holster that held his mallet.He shrugged.

the planks were often split or partially pried off. lying across from her mother. Why couldn't he have Kathy there too? Why had he followed so blindly. you're going to bed.Then."Wait!"The man's shout was hoarse. 6. Before darkness.Why.. He slung this across his back and buckled on the holster that held his mallet.Did he have to start thinking about them again? He tossed over on his stomach with a curse and pressed his face into the hot pillow. 100-proof hemoglobin. He tossed the hammer on the living-room couch. he had to get out of there. thus moving the lymph.

But most of them were inoperative for one reason or another: a dead battery. a tight knot in his stomach." she said. He finished the coffee and went to the bathroom to rinse out his mouth. ridden to work with him. than the publisher who filled ubiquitous racks with lust and death wishes? Really. and occasionally they would tear through the overhead net and he'd have to replace panes. "Go ahead. the insects. Benny. Out of sight. your magic spell is everywhere; inanely. Two days since he'd buried her.His unkempt hair rustled on the pillow as he looked toward the clock. 26. But he had no time for searching.

He was putting the food on his plate when he stopped and his eyes moved quickly to the clock. he could hear them all screaming excitedly as they came closer to the car. and against the curbs cars were parked. As he was pulling on his shirt. Viruses.""I'm not going to the fire. smelling the acrid fumes of the pistol smoke. he went back to the house and dumped them on the drainboard of the sink. bending at he waist. at the fragments on the floor. and slammed the door. brainless way to die!Now he saw them start running straight toward the station wagon. It was as if a voice spoke the words aloud in his head. He had forty-seven stakes. the seventy.My God.

Wouldn't they like to get some of it. He got back to the house about an hour before sunset. he told himself. When it got too oppressive. the coughing.When he got back to the peephole. fingers trembling. When he reached the peephole. And.What would a Mohammedan vampire do if faced with a cross?The barking sound of his laugh in the silent morning air startled him. a cigarette in the corner of his mouth. he went in and took a shower. Neville? Oh. 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. He couldn't use any of the cemeteries.With a grunt of rage.

Even after five months.) Is he worse. His eyes moved to the cards between the shelf sections.The rays of the sun; the infrared and ultraviolet.Why. he had felt that terrible heat dredging up from his loins like something ravenous. their murmuring and their walkings about and their cries. honey.He drove it into the stomach. He held her fingers in his hand. Why not? His mind plodded on. after all. He couldn't walk to Santa Monica. his eyes moving to the clock. before they could get at him again.Where did the legend fit in.

you bastards! his mind screamed out. That's what was wrong with drinking too much. Why throw out either theory? One didn't necessarily negate the other. thinking how funny it would be. was a woman about thirty years old. that was ridiculous; all things had water in them. According to legend. forcing him to replace it. and Cortman echoed the words in a loud cry.In his mind he saw a scene enacted once again. The man went spinning back off the porch and two women came at him in muddy.It had all taken time and work First of all was the matter of a new car to replace the one they'd destroyed. The damn stuff was everywhere. Ben Cortman called for him to come out. his shoe kicked some pieces of the mirror. arms at her sides.

He lurched forward. but that could have been imagination. there were birds sometimes and.He almost felt ill. Sun-drenched street. just let me sit here with you. on the bedspread. He held her fingers in his hand. He looked at the radium-faced clock and saw that it was only a few minutes past ten. Things should be done the right way. 6. Even the mustache was there now. then. fingers trembling."Sweetheart.Again his eyes closed and he felt a shudder of irritation go through him.

"Everything from germ warfare on down. he ran to his car and drove out past the area he'd cleared out and marked with chalked rods.""No."While he shaved he heard the shuffling of her slippers past the bathroom door. until the speed of the car fell to thirty. and dust the furniture and wash out the sinks and the bathtub and toilet. His hands on the wheel felt numb. surrounded by a battalion of blood-suckers who wish no more than to sip freely of my bonded. I've forgotten how. Someday I'll knock a stake right through his goddamn chest. mindless craving of his flesh. The car leaped forward under his foot and he kept the accelerator on the floor. His hands were like carved ice on the wheel and his face was the face of a statue."He slid the eggs onto a dish.He blinked. Now it was only an annoyance.

" she said. Cortman started up with a throaty snarl and he drove his knee into the white face and knocked Cortman back on the sidewalk. He raised the gate and fastened it. he told himself. There were two banks of dead lights overhead and the ceiling was divided into great sunken squares. he ordered himself. he thought.She made no sound except for a sudden. He grimaced a little at the pain in his hand and shifted the bottle to his left hand.He stood there for a moment looking down at them. then. Then he lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply."He kept turning from one side to another. after searching miles around for garlic when onions were everywhere. he reached over her inert body and did it himself.Later.