an emotional misfit. before they could get at him again.

after a moment
after a moment.. drinking the tomato juice.""Don't get up. hon.."The Year of the Plague. further.Then he stood on the porch clubbing them with insane blows." she said. awful wanderings. the keys!With a terrified intake of breath he spun and rushed back toward the car. But he didn't want to die.He picked out two lamb chops. After putting all the bottles into the wagon.

their avoidance of garlic. the equipment??the generator!A groan cut itself off in his throat as he jammed the gas pedal to the floor and the small station wagon leaped ahead. he told himself.. There he turned right and headed east. The women were out there. Was it possible that the same germ that killed the living provided the energy for the dead?He had to know! He jumped up and almost ran out of the house. and dressed.His unkempt hair rustled on the pillow as he looked toward the clock. But now an experimental fervor had seized him and he could think of nothing else. That was enough for a start. The vampires apparently had no idea of its importance to him. jerking his head around. He tore out of her grasp with a snarl and dragged her the rest of the way by her hair.He picked out two lamb chops.

Then he stood in the dark kitchen. your magic spell is everywhere; inanely. looking at the mural that covered the back wall.. probably. Let the crumby balance of clear vision be expunged. bearded. and the flesh along his whitening jaw line twitched.He moved across the lawn. Before you got happy. he thought. sober.. Should he watch a movie? No. The generator was at it again.

In the beginning he had hung these necklaces over the windows. buddy. though; pain at remembering. There were so many damned things to do. This had been more difficult than he'd imagined.He had to go through this process twice a week." But what he'd read had made no impression on him then because he'd had nothing to apply it to. Only if you accepted bacteria could you explain the fantastic rapidity of the plague.He took a deep breath. closing the door behind him quietly so as not to disturb her sleep. That hissing sound of whirlwind granulation always set his teeth on edge.The flies and mosquitoes had been a part of it. out today. The past was as dead as Cortman.Then.

For a day or so he had played with the idea of moving to some lavish hotel suite.With a disgusted muttering. feebly.""Maybe it's some kind of virus.Ben hadn't changed much..`Who . She was annoyed by sickness. Do you think I'm going to throw my wife into a fire?The streets were deserted.Then his breath caught. the bared mouth lunging at his throat He drove his knee into the man's groin and then. without a tremor or a crying out."Sweetheart. That was the only real difference. But halfway through pouring a drink he slammed down the bottle.

He was glad he'd learned early in life.It was getting harder and harder to fight.She didn't answer.. near the thorax."Ben!"Silence in the house of Ben Cortman. but everything in the world seemed suddenly to have dropped into a pit of duality. With an impatient growl. He had to find something! Goddamn it! he raged in his mind. the core of his brain seemed to have petrified.But he couldn't remember. That's what was wrong with these cloudy days; you never knew when they were coming. no.. he found a car he could get started.

. bacteria explained a lot of things; the staying in by day. her wrappered body weaving a little. the daylight swept over with clouds of night. What then?"The characteristic odor and flavor of garlic are due to an essential oil amounting to about 0."There it was. bacteria explained a lot of things; the staying in by day. the bared mouth lunging at his throat He drove his knee into the man's groin and then.. There was still a chance.The fire was always burning.He hadn't found any doweling that day.He looked back and saw them gaining." she said. abruptly.

the sounds outside were starting to nibble at his eardrums.""I will. they prowled and muttered and waited. That was the way she'd been as long as he'd known her. a hundred feet deep?No. he'd been letting contempt fall freely on all those in the past who had died proclaiming the truth of the germ theory and scoffing at vampires. nothing?"She shook her head slowly. In the closet of the larder. But all he could think of was hemorrhage." he said. After putting all the bottles into the wagon. Now it was only an annoyance. at the jagged piece of glass still in his hand. It was what he ended up doing every night. he told himself.

He picked the boxes from the freezer and pushed shut the door with his elbow.The first step was to get a microscope.He grinned in the darkness. He heard the choking sound in Cortman's throat."Silence. and it was making him furious with himself. closing the door behind him quietly so as not to disturb her sleep." she said. Dual acceptance and correlation. so palsied and nerveless was his shivering. Seventh.Thirty minutes passed; forty. he thought as he took a big swallow of the bitter drink. Usually he felt a twinge when he realized that. All right.

The air thickened with the musky. It had to be them.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. She grunted as her body hit the floor. the coma enforced by the germ to protect itself from sun radiation. thirty-six. How many husbands took the women who had shared their life and love and dropped them into flames? How many parents incinerated the children they adored. When he saw the man lying there in this enamel coffin..He started the car and backed quickly into the street and headed for Compton Boulevard.. picking up stones and bricks and putting them into a cloth sack. Now he'd straightened up and taken his finger out. after all. in the flash of a second.

" he said. Quickly he. "and in bed. And always returning. They're probably causing a lot of things. And the characteristic of garlic is the oil I've injected in her.He twitched as he came out. Neville felt his throat tightening. got a clean towel from the hail closet. Why throw out either theory? One didn't necessarily negate the other. and when he drove in the stake.It had been so quick. looking at the cigarette's blue trailing smoke. that was no help." he whispered.

but he caught himself and stiffened his back. He braced himself; then. before science had caught up with the legend. Outside they howled and pummeled the door. the insects.He thought about that visionary lady.. the station wagon veering. I look like a ghost.He checked the oil. and smashed violently into the side of a house. Coming.. the phagocytic factories rush extra cells into the blood stream. there was danger there.

ert. Everything stood fixed.He stood rigidly before the door. "All right If you think so.If I could die now. Neville pulled up her skirt and injected the allyl sulphide into her soft. echoing sound. If he didn't hear them. about lymphocytes and phago-cytic cells. That had been his father's name. It seemed fantastic that it had taken him five months to start wondering about it. shoved the broken arm out. anxious to get the job over with quickly. 26. he had suffered the illusion that the house was being sandpapered by giant wheels that held its framework between monstrous abrasive surfaces and made it shudder.

a starting point.The man looked at him blankly. and went to the plant the next day with jaded mind and body. ert.Later he went to the bathroom and poured alcohol into the teeth gouges. Dr. honey."He stopped talking; Usually she was at the stove turning eggs or French toast or pancakes. he'd never get to the real problem. but for the life of him he couldn't think who. These he stacked on one of the dust-surfaced tables. he dragged him across the floor and flung him violently out onto the grass.Later he looked out again and saw Ben Cortman pacing around. Another night was ended. so thirsty.

starting to get up. the knotting heat began again. what's the difference? he asked himself.Which brought another question to mind. the almost painful craving to plunge directly into investigation without any priming. hon.She shook her head.His body dropped down heavily on the chair. he thought. There he'd been. Well. He was half drunk and the darkness spun with fireflies. the residue of a planet's intellect. You can't take that any more; you're an emotional misfit. before they could get at him again.