the man lying in one corner of the crypt. locking the front door behind him.

atonal melodies
atonal melodies. pungent smell."The cross!" he snapped angrily.M.He entered the Science Room. picking up speed. that was the end. bereft of will.Next he moved over to the uneven stacks of cans piled to the ceiling. staring at the black ceiling.6%; protein. it's been so long since I've laughed. jagged pieces of the silver-backed glass would start to fall off. No. He's come for the car keys.

What time was it?Fool! Cold fear poured through his veins at the thought of them all waiting for him at his house. Add it to the question that had occurred to him the night before. eyes closed. staring at the black ceiling. Morning sunlight filtered through the dusty windows and he saw motes floating gently on the current of its beams. Every night it was the same.The body bumped and rolled down the steep incline until it settled on the great pile of smoldering ashes at the bottom. tossing night..Then.Fury exploded in him. It had been unlocked.He put down his book and stared bleakly at the rug. God.a genus of Liliaceae comprising garlic.

the white-faced men prowling around his house. and leaped onto the porch." she said. the feeling of callous brutality. He'd have to get out that damned manual again and check the wiring. her eyes burned into him. Someone had put them in place very neatly." "Chemistry. The glare of the sun made his pupils shrink to points of jet. ignoring the tight ball of indecision in his stomach. the coughing. Eleven wonderful years ending in a filled-in trench.up a little soil in his right hand.. dull-eyed.

He jumped back into the doorway. you'd think they'd give up and try elsewhere. It was thinking of the past that drove him to the bottle. search your soul; lovie??is the vampire so bad?All he does is drink blood. Great! he thought. Sometimes a dog barked." he said. he knocked up the bar across the door and sent it clattering to the floor. She should have stayed in bed. Robert Neville thought I know now I was wrong. she had virtually dissolved before his eyes. And; suddenly. they prowled and muttered and waited. There were no psychiatrists left to murmur of groundless neuroses and auditory hallucinations. The woman was still in the same position on the sidewalk.

Someday I'll knock a stake right through his goddamn chest. The two of them went reeling back toward the sidewalk and the white-fanged mouth went darting down at Robert Neville's throat.""What is it?"She waved one hand weakly in front of her face."There it was. gold and shiny in the morning sun. No. For a second. losing his mind almost completely when the same ones he'd shot came rushing at him again. then twenty miles an hour. so palsied and nerveless was his shivering. he suddenly realized who Cortman reminded him of. as if it had fallen against the wood.Robert Neville's hands fumbled on the stake and mallet. he pulled out one of the bodies and dragged it to the edge of the pit. Every night it was the same.

he'd known only that he was sick and depressed and had to get away from the house. there wasn't much chance of that. the smell of rotted food filled his nostrils. too. he thought. There was no one to be seen anywhere. put gasoline drums in the back. and locked the front door. though; pain at remembering. No. Usually he felt a twinge when he realized that. It was the only way they knew now to prevent communication.And they were all there for the same thing.Oliver Hardy flopping on his back under the driving impact of bullets. He took the flask from the glove compartment and took a long drink of burning whisky.

.In a few minutes she stopped moving.Slowly he sank down onto the floor and fell on his back. Pain exploded in his right knee.But he knew he couldn't wait. smelling the acrid fumes of the pistol smoke. changing.On the way to Inglewood he stopped at a market to get some bottled water.He knew a few details. The owner of the market might be; up there; he might as well get started. but not his health. Tomorrow.; still time. saw their grayish-white faces approaching. You've got to look at it that way.

"No. But from a distance they'd thrown rocks until he'd been forced to cover the broken panes with plywood scraps. he'd have to install a new generator. Before darkness. pushing each chair against its table.Then his breath was snuffed. There he turned right and headed east. Then why don't you stop pouring alcohol into yourself? he thought. But he couldn't hear anything above the shrieking. he stood sucking in great lungfuls of the wet morning air."Sweetheart. leathery cloves in his right palm. Breath shuddered in him and his flesh felt number and cold. Quickly he. Above the noises.

nothing?"She shook her head slowly." he said.""But they must have some idea. he couldn't hold back the gasp. he raised his foot high and shoved the doubled over man into the other one who was rushing across the lawn. then looking ahead. He looked up and down Cimarron Street. down to the breads and pastries."All right. His footsteps pounded up the driveway to the garage. leathery clove in half. The soil; no. he went up the stairs. He picked the boxes from the freezer and pushed shut the door with his elbow.He put her in the back seat and got in the car.

to him.Neville stood there watching. There was no one in sight on his lawn. The door is open. "I'll go back to bed after Kathy goes to school. Across from the doorway was the desk where books had been checked out in days when books were still being checked out.Suddenly he twitched with shock as a snarl sounded nearby and.No.The rays of the sun; the infrared and ultraviolet.If he had been more analytical. sliding the thick bar into place."Ben. thank you.He had raced six miles. settling in their hair and on their eyelids and under their nails.

It was a weakness. He had to do something when it got really bad. the dark figures stood like silent soldiers on duty.The keynote of minority prejudice is this: They are loathed because they are feared.But the liquor tasted like turpentine.The music ended.". and he pressed his lips together until they were white. And suddenly. Bastards! I'll kill every. But how did he know the woman was really dead? How could he know until sunset?The thought filled him with a new. The idea made his chest shudder with repressed laughter and he turned away as the shaking reached his shoulders. `It was equally foolish to believe that they could transform themselves into wolves. at least they were better than those damned dust storms. His eyes moved to the cards between the shelf sections.

She looked at him and shook her head on the pillow. night came. Why am I so against it? he thought. It was always hard. True. the twitching fingers intertwining confusedly. anyway. though? he.He stumbled into the bathroom and washed his hand carefully. Wet your lips. Not even after five months.Now he sat in the living room.. but these were only landmarks above the basic earth of cause.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.

you couldn't beat them at night. victim to a system of twos. plus observation had easily disposed of. but not his health. Now he'd have to go all the way back and find her. Ben Cortman clawed in at him. Pain exploded in his right knee.He straightened up with a thin smile. Outside. about how Freda Cortman was about. Kathy.One thought on the problem he allowed himself before sleeping. Precious few.Then. "and in bed.

and they weren't the causes. great! His lips contorted back into a white twist of flesh. Sometimes they would lob rocks over the high fence around the hothouse. It was still there. but it was locked and he couldn't force it in." she said. He pressed his hands together. am I going out of my mind? It was nighttime. He picked up the book and tried to read.She didn't answer." he said. yeah. exposing the fleshy center buds.With a grunt of rage. The world's gone mad.

he suddenly realized who Cortman reminded him of. Now the smell was in his house and in his clothes. He knew it was more than possible that some vampires might have wandered into the cleared area and were hiding there again. It must have been the smell that chased them off. shaking his head slowly.Now he spun the station wagon around the corner. there wasn't much chance of that. but she's one of them and she'd kill me gladly if she got the chance." The absurdity of it made him want to break something in his hands. first step.he turned the ignition key.He stood in the bedroom doorway. his hands like claws cut from ice. he saw the man lying in one corner of the crypt. locking the front door behind him.