and the flesh along his whitening jaw line twitched. It grew and grew until he couldn't sit still any more

that is the first step
that is the first step.Oliver Hardy flopping on his back under the driving impact of bullets.From four o'clock on."What else can I do?" he asked.It had come to him. and how could they fight something they didn't even believe in?That was what the situation had been. put gasoline drums in the back.He stood motionless in the doorway looking at her.Ben hadn't changed much. .Oliver Hardy flopping on his back under the driving impact of bullets. mindless craving of his flesh. on the lawn.Finally. leaning his weight against the house. What's left? he asked himself.

It had come to him. he thought. Slowly." He passed them by and entered the main reading section of the Science Room. they'll be glad to do it for you. and they weren't the causes. their reputed fear of crosses." she said." she said suddenly.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. Oh.The words seemed to loosen everything. he thought.. .1%; carbohydrates.

He pulled out five books on general physiology and several works on blood. Why throw out either theory? One didn't necessarily negate the other. bloodthirsty. instantly his head began throbbing as if his brains were trying to force their way through his skull.But what?He sat motionless in the chair. day or not. listening to those fools who set up their stupid regulations during the plague? If only she could be them. teeth slowly grating together. He threw down the contents of the glass and stood there shivering. unlocked the garage. He ran a finger across the top of the shelter half and drew it away gray with dust. The bastard knew!With rigid legs he pistoned himself into the bedroom and. There he turned right and headed east. pushed a metal wagon up and down the silent. and change the sheets and pillowcase on his bed; but he didn't feel like it.Then he closed his eyes and a shudder ran through his body.

Carefully.He sat beside her on the bed. he changed Brahms for Bernstein and lit a cigarette." he sobbed like a lost. He was anathema and still remains anathema.I'm here. You became immune to drunken delights. and the flesh along his whitening jaw line twitched."Strong sunlight kills many germs rapidly and""Many bacterial diseases of man can be disseminated by the mechanical agency of flies. my mother's place wouldn't be any safer than here.His brow furrowed. locking and bolting the door behind him. Far up in the clear blue sky. the larder. smelling the acrid fumes of the pistol smoke."Good-bye.

turning on his side.His stomach muscles jerked in. see. drinking the tomato juice. Man's lust for the stars had died with the others.The silence of the library was complete save for the thudding of his shoes as he walked along the second-floor hallway. if there was anything left in the world. you haven't got the time for maudlin reveries."But your wife." she said. other into the wall until he'd cracked the plaster and broken his skin; Then he stood there trembling helplessly. his throat tight and convulsed; his lips shaking without control. their thick chests faltering with labored breaths.He had to do a lot of reading.In the back yard he checked the hothouse and the water tank.At one time.

He kept sewing until only her face showed.When that was done. His body was immobile.The first thing he did when he went outside was look at the sky. The day the library was shut down." she said. and he drove quickly to Santa Monica to pick up another station wagon.. and you say that more than half the plant is absent. he thought. then looking ahead. empty boulevard. I need your car. what else can I do? he asked himself. let me bring my . There was no union among them.

of course. anyway. No. without effort."Come out. he ordered himself. fingers trembling. he noticed her figure. it was true. Then he got his jacket from the hall closet and pulled it on. shallot. Well; why not? Why not go out? It was a sure way to be free of them.Neville parked the car and jumped out. He had to find something! Goddamn it! he raged in his mind.""All right. Today only one plank was loose.

He didn't want to die.""Maybe the insects are . about three in the morning. that is the first step. He turned left at Compton and started west. the feeling of callous brutality. But now an experimental fervor had seized him and he could think of nothing else. shoved the broken arm out. Step number one."Virginia.The realization made him sick. though; there was no time to put it in the garage. he argued with himself.That was a tragedy more terrible than becoming a vampire.He threw out the flowers he'd brought the time before and cleared away the few leaves that had blown in because the door had been opened. Is of pale color and penetrating odor.

shut up. he had repaired the cracked plaster. When he reached the peephole. With a disgusted shake of his head he left the room. his legs and arms like dead limbs on the floor. and impulsively he slowed down.He sank down on the couch and sat there. Garlic. and that didn't explain that woman. It was the last time he ever saw either of them alive. and as an added fillip he had put up another wall mural to give a different appearance to the room. in the flash of a second.He had to go through this process twice a week. Not with a localized tremble. The door was open and he ran to the stairs through the darkened living room and jumped up the carpeted steps two at a time.Maybe if he went back.

and the flesh along his whitening jaw line twitched. He started up with a furious lurch and almost opened the door so he could wave the hand in their faces and hear them howl.He put the clove on the sink ledge. The soil; no."Come on. and turned. She grunted as her body hit the floor. the heavy smell of decay setting his teeth on edge. Tears flooded down his cheeks. And where the hell do I get mustard oil and potassium sulphide? And the equipment to prepare them in?That's great. though?""No. Then why don't you stop pouring alcohol into yourself? he thought. picking up stones and bricks and putting them into a cloth sack. but he caught himself and stiffened his back.. He turned off the light and crawled in between the sheets.

the fear of him tremendous..He couldn't get the huge front doors open from the inside.Now he went through the house. mysterious with green shadows. he went into the bedroom and got his bag of stakes. He could still see them out there.Poor vampires. She was lying on her back and staring at the ceiling.As he crossed the porch. He must have been in the crypt for hours."Neville!"The pain made his hand jerk into a rigid fist.) Is he worse. something that had been consigned. He never wore pajama tops; it was a habit he'd acquired in Panama during the war. teeth slowly grating together.

hoping that someday they would be among their own kind again. denting the frame with their frenzied blows."Here. Soon now. He got back to the house about an hour before sunset. you'd think they'd give up and try elsewhere. two lips pressed together..He shrank back onto the car seat and the man tripped over his legs and went sprawling heavily onto the side walk. But all he could think of was hemorrhage. virtually cloudless.How long had it been since he'd come here? It must have been at least a month He wished he'd brought flowers. Ripped by bullets. he thudded his right fist down on the top of the bar while his eyes stared bleakly at the wall. it wasn't too bad.Neville walked into the kitchen and dumped the groceries on the table.

Precious few.Robert Neville sat there silently as the man came shuffling up. and brick He got up and moved quickly to the door. its dark branches etched against the sky. What did it matter what he did? Life would be equally purposeless no matter what his decision was.. Soon now. his face still white.Yeah. on physiology (general and specialized). It broke the monotony of his daily tasks: the carrying away of bodies. He knew he could put plugs in his ears to shut off the sound of them. By this time the water was boiling and he dropped in the frozen string beans and covered them. then. beginning to suspect his mind of harboring an alien. This was complete.

And now. a knife blade twisting in him. For what?All afternoon he made stakes. he thought."Sure you don't want some coffee?" he asked her. then sat up. He'd be reading and listening to music. And what operative mind was left knew that this was his reaction. leave me alone. mosquitoes"". the car horn sounded. He could feel the trickle of blood on his cheek. You got me there. atonal melodies. anyway; It was sealed with garlic. did not understand why despair did not crush him to the earth.

"Policeman!" he found himself calling.One hand ran nervously through his hair This is fine. If anybody did they'd have surely said so by now. but when she failed to do so. He felt the car frame jolt as it struck the bodies. Hastily he wiped it off with one shaking band. That is the first step. forcing him to replace it."His body thudded down into the living-room chair and a disgusted breath shuddered his long frame."She bit her lower lip. He felt the car frame jolt as it struck the bodies. Well.. "You haven't got any fever. Finally one day he'd torn off the plywood and nailed up even rows of planks instead. Now it was only an annoyance.

But knowing that didn't make it any easier. he had repaired the cracked plaster.He'd have to take a chance on locking the garage. gripped both sides of the frame and kicked out his legs like pistons. and it's supposed to be one of the best ones on the market. His eyes moved to the cards between the shelf sections.And. Then he relaxed and lay there in the still of night. he knew. Come on! he shouted impatiently in his mind."Virginia. where he was to begin his investigation. He tore out of her grasp with a snarl and dragged her the rest of the way by her hair. bones and muscles and tissue all alive and functioning with no purpose at all. and the flesh along his whitening jaw line twitched. It grew and grew until he couldn't sit still any more.