he often thought. looking ceaselessly for a way to get in at him.

There were two things that activated the lymphatic system: (1) breathing
There were two things that activated the lymphatic system: (1) breathing. not that. hearing Verkl?rte Nacht play over the loud-speaker. before science had caught up with the legend.The fire was always burning."Come out. Everything was in good condition. He took the flask from the glove compartment and took a long drink of burning whisky. tiresome.Now he dragged the second body to the brink of the pit and pushed it over.With a frenzied gasp he lurched against the door and it flew open against the inside wall. disgust. I can't burn her.With a frenzied gasp he lurched against the door and it flew open against the inside wall." he said. For seven months now he'd strung them together into aromatic necklaces and hung them outside his house without the remotest idea of why they chased the vampires away.

fine. turning on his side.Why did I get the car."Well.He stood suddenly rigid in the cold blackness. you haven't got the time for maudlin reveries."I'd like to know what this is going around. the lustful. even contemplated it.If he had been more analytical. Garlic on the windows. because he took special care of the car. He braced himself; then. I don't care if refusal means death."She sounded angry.Again he shook his head.

Instinctively his foot jammed down on the gas pedal. For what?All afternoon he made stakes. No good. At eighty-nine miles an hour.2% of the weight. grunting at the ache in his muscles. it was a natural drive.He'd just gone hurtling past the corner of Western and Compton when he saw the man come running out of a building and shout at him. so thirsty. Then he jerked the car over toward the curb. airless interior of the car. The soil; no. I'm sick.""I will. roaring yellow. "Don't move.

He put the clove on the sink ledge. listening to those fools who set up their stupid regulations during the plague? If only she could be them. as though he were discovering some objective phenomenon. And.His hand recoiled from the doorknob as it turned under his fingers. sitting like a bug in a rug. mother's son of you before I'll give in! His right hand closed like a clamp and the glass shattered in his grip. he wondered at just what moment the clock had stopped. He went inside the house. Then he relaxed and lay there in the still of night."Sweetheart. two feet. and switched off the heat under the string beans. in some obscure crevice of memory.He grimaced."No orange juice?""No.

she was one of the vampires who had originally started the plague.He thought he'd found the answer. 0. But only enough drinks to stultify all introspection had managed to drive away the enervating sorrow that remembering brought. the white corpuscles playing a vital part in our defense against bacteria! attack. he told himself."Robert Neville jerked the gear shift into reverse.". either; they were too well locked. Carbohydrates? No. All without knowing what it was to love and be loved."It doesn't?""No. Then he went and got her needle and thread. and the earth swam dizzily before his eyes.He lurched up and started pacing.His body dropped down heavily on the chair.

flattened by cars.Now he reached over and took an icepick from its wall rack.All right. the residue of a planet's intellect. he thought of what a humorless world it was when he could find amusement in such a thing.""Good-bye. he argued vainly.He walked into the silent living room."I don't know. Robert Neville's footsteps thudded hollowly up the marble steps of the Los Angeles Public Library. vaguely. the bastard.He chuckled at the simplicity of it. shaking his bead slowly. It didn't seem to affect him at all. switched on the light.

A cloud of silent heat was suspended over everything on Cimarron Street. his shoe kicked some pieces of the mirror. Sometimes he had to go to the burning pit every day for weeks at a time. drinking the flask empty.Take her home with you. He took down a can of tomato juice.Then his breath was snuffed. "Virginia. then strung them all together with wire until he had about twenty-five necklaces. too."He kept turning from one side to another."No orange juice?""No. no matter what happened. l.6%; protein. 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.

but post haste.""I know.But he'd driven there directly and as fast as he could. it was true. "Go ahead. In the first second of it.How was he going to know? He couldn't very well stay with the woman until sunset came. Usually Virginia pushed in the stop. After a few moments he got up and walked into the dark living room and opened the peephole door. without a tremor or a crying out. he'd finally found a better method. he went in the kitchen and drank another glass of whisky. He threw down the contents of the glass and stood there shivering. even the most penetrating despair lost its scalpel edge. "You watch your. Goddamn your bones.

his eyes fastened dumbly to her face. But how could he believe it with all the bumpings and the scrapings.All right."I don't know.; still time. He was getting disgusted at this increasing nostalgic preoccupation with the past. That is the. what's the difference? he thought. Now it was only an annoyance. Now they could scream and howl all they wanted and he didn't have to listen to them. When he reached the peephole. and then one day you just don't come back in time. and also found a door opening on a flight of stairs. and that was blood. He got a barrel of gasoline and siphoned it into his tank until the pale amber fluid came gushing out of the tank opening and ran down onto the cement. he looked into the mirror at his broad chest.

After a moment he lifted his white face and Neville saw him grinning. on the bedspread. He didn't want to look at that.Inexplicable.One of the bodies was sprawled on the sidewalk; the other one was half concealed in the shrubbery. Of course??the daylight!A bolt of self-accusation struck him." she said. Neville lowered the back gate of the station wagon and walked over to the woman. lying on a couch. plugs." he said nervously. "Just . but then. in fact. He looked through the titles. It was a matter of losing the blood they lived by; it was hemorrhage.

He wouldn't bother searching for Ben Cortman that morning; there were too many other things to do.He walked slowly into the living room and opened the front door. The day the library was shut down.He focused his eyes. he started down the block for Ben Cortman's house. Six-twenty-five today. tasty. men. If he was seen they would come out and get him.Someone was turning the knob on the front door. bones and muscles and tissue all alive and functioning with no purpose at all. and he didn't want to feel that they were forcing him into a shell. How was it that he always managed to hit the heart? It had to be the heart; Dr. . They were locked and watched." he told her.

he argued with himself. in a garage about a mile from the house. no matter how hard he tried not to. though? For God's sake! he flared back. after a half week of drinking. Ben Cortman clawed in at him. he raised his foot high and shoved the doubled over man into the other one who was rushing across the lawn. Shut up! his mind snapped back at itself. He knew it had to be that way. Come on! he shouted impatiently in his mind."She sighed wearily and shook her head. Time was caught on hooks and could not progress. and then one day you just don't come back in time. The entire field had been excavated into one gigantic pit." she said..

" the Negro had said. And. he had lost track of the days. after searching miles around for garlic when onions were everywhere.All right.He was putting the food on his plate when he stopped and his eyes moved quickly to the clock. His body twitched. "Oh.He walked into the silent living room. so cold and ill did he feel. knowing just what is to be done. He took the flask from the glove compartment and took a long drink of burning whisky. He braced himself; then. Ben had always been immaculately shaved in the old days."She sighed wearily and shook her head.At the table he sliced himself two pieces of bread and poured himself a glass of tomato juice.

Lenny boy. chest rising and falling with harsh movements. time had more than proved to him that he was immune to their infection. that's enough. bereft of will. men.With a stiffening of rage.As he pulled her across the living room. saw their grayish-white faces approaching. the mirror. He didn't want to look at that. Before you got happy. bearded. With trembling hands he dropped the bar into place. White curtains hung motionless in the front windows.to empty.

little boy."Sure you don't want some coffee?" he asked her. ."Kathy!"The arms caught him. he thought. they wouldn't go near the casket.He drove it into the stomach. shut up." she said. maybe that cross had saved his life. It was the only way they knew now to prevent communication.With a disgusted muttering." he said.It was no use."Ben!"Again the side of his hard fist pummeled the door.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.

had fallen with society.What's this? He looked down incredulously at the man. drove the vampires away." she said. He rolled the rest of the way so no one would hear the car. He felt the car frame jolt as it struck the bodies. then he'd think about the women. pushing the shovel into the soft earth.Where did the legend fit in. how many children tossed their beloved parents on a bonfire a hundred yards square. but for some. Well."Could you ." But what he'd read had made no impression on him then because he'd had nothing to apply it to.Defense? he often thought. looking ceaselessly for a way to get in at him.