lung through. the mirror.Half the whisky splashed on the sink top as he poured.

at the whisky-diluted blood dripping off his palm
at the whisky-diluted blood dripping off his palm." by Roger Leie. the insects. was reading about blood. It was almost more than he could control. then sat up."It's in the living room. Cortman went flailing back onto the pavement as the gears caught and the station wagon jolted forward. leave me alone." he said. What's left? he asked himself.

"He sat down and she handed him the buttered toast. Well.A little excited. only the knowledge that there was still much left to do keeping him from the liquor. The man went spinning back off the porch and two women came at him in muddy. ert. even though he had the gas mask on. and turned right again. Neville..He wished he'd had time to soundproof the house.

A long one. Morning sunlight filtered through the dusty windows and he saw motes floating gently on the current of its beams. It might be just the thing he needed. They grabbed up bricks and rocks and hurled them against the house and they screamed and cursed at him.He had no idea how long he'd been there. turned left into the small hallway."She started to say something. nothing's happened!He flung down the syringe and. Let' em fall. he built a small wooden structure on the front lawn and hung strings of onions on it. There was no one in sight on his lawn.

Then suddenly he had darted forward with a berserk scream. an emery wheel.But what?He sat motionless in the chair."."I'm not going there!" Neville shouted without looking at the man. 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.The fire was always burning. After putting all the bottles into the wagon. sliding the thick bar into place. he had to get out of there. something that had been consigned.

two eyes. chest rising and falling with harsh movements.""Do you think it is?""Germ warfare?""Yes.His mind began churning with a sudden excitement Something had killed the vampire; something brutally effective. The hot blood thick breath was on him again. now. the car horn sounded.That restless feeling again; the feeling as if he were expanding and the house were contracting and any second now he'd go bursting through its frame in an explosion of wood. It's all over the country. To know for five months that they remained indoors by day and never once to make the connection! He closed his eyes. That was the way she'd been as long as he'd known her.

Let the morning come. thinking that it was probably the electric stove that was milking the generator. did not understand why despair did not crush him to the earth.He lay fully clothed on his bed.He started. he went into the garage and got the shovel. He'd clean it up later."Virginia. There he stood it on its feet and shoved.""What do they say?"He shrugged.For days he sat in the chair with his liquor and thought about the woman.

no. and that was blood. Neville? Knocking on wood?He ignored that. Outside. He got back to the house about an hour before sunset. and dropped the heavy bar into its slots. No. He tried to take good care of his teeth because he was his own dentist now. which caused skeletal muscles to compress lymph vessels.His mind began churning with a sudden excitement Something had killed the vampire; something brutally effective.""I don't think that spray works.

the gas pedal pressed to the floor. shallot..Silence held him in its cold and gentle hands."Sweetheart. Then. he listened to records over the loudspeaker he'd set up in: the bedroom??Beethoven's Third. to be succinct. and dust the furniture and wash out the sinks and the bathtub and toilet. Until he found something better. then.

perhaps. His breath slowed down. and he'd left the garage door open! The gasoline. feebly..He drank sparingly during those days.. Eventually he'd have to lathe down rectangular lengths of wood.BRIGHT hush broken only by the chorus of birds in the trees." he said nervously. And now.

He watched the dull green glitter of it and felt the car pulsing under him. I know."Still feel weak?" he asked. and left again into his bedroom. Some things could go to pot. atonal melodies. Ben in pajamas. Dual acceptance and correlation." He passed them by and entered the main reading section of the Science Room.Wouldn't they like to get some of it.He hadn't found any doweling that day.

sliding the thick bar into place. The woman was still in the same position on the sidewalk. He eased the gas pedal. Carbohydrates? No. he consoled himself. there wasn't much chance of that.There were two of them. drinking the tomato juice. flung through. the mirror.Half the whisky splashed on the sink top as he poured.