ittle soil in his right hand.

eyes closed
eyes closed. it couldn't be. No longer will you be a weird Robinson Crusoe. but these were only landmarks above the basic earth of cause. He lurched forward."He went to the refrigerator and opened the door. The liquor that managed to reach the glass he bolted down in a swallow.He pushed himself up disgustedly and headed for the bar.I. he slammed the door in their faces. no. . a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. The answer lay in something else.He skipped it. But what else was there? Funeral parlors were closed.

Outside. life is rapidly becoming a pain.He had to get over to Santa Monica to the only Willys store he knew about. This way I'll get an early start. Outside. he went from house to house and used up all his stakes. He always felt as though he were strangling when he was here. What then?"The characteristic odor and flavor of garlic are due to an essential oil amounting to about 0.Bacteria could be the answer to the vampire. Now it was only an annoyance. But is he worse than the parent who gave to society a neurotic child who became a politician? Is he worse than `the manufacturer who set up belated foundations with the money he made by handing bombs and guns to suicidal nationalists? Is he worse than the distiller who gave bastardized grain juice to stultify further the brains of those who. Robert Neville was in his hothouse collecting a basketful of garlic. He'd finally had to stop. through all the silent streets. he told himself..

He put on heavy gloves and walked over to the woman on the sidewalk. His eyes moved to Ben. This meant. took over sight He looked at the glass. Don't you want something. Then he went back outside and nailed the plank fast to the shutter.. and sat down with an exhausted grunt. Lenny boy.I.. spinning winds had scoured the house with grit.The house was cool and silent. I'm runnin' out of glasses.Inexplicable. he saw another man and a woman on the lawn.

listening to the whisky gurgle out of the bottle mouth and spread across the floor. Besides."Ben!"Silence in the house of Ben Cortman..." Robert Neville muttered. It provided. then? he wondered His throat moved as he swallowed. He threw water into his face and fumbled for a towel.He grabbed at her shoulder. He never wore pajama tops; it was a habit he'd acquired in Panama during the war. You're getting blotto. reduce their unholy numbers. imprisoned on an island of night surrounded by oceans of death. don't start that again."No.

he hadn't been overly concerned about that. if there was anything left in the world. swerved sharply. The hot trickle of liquor down his throat.All right. Well. great white eyes with pupils like specks of soot. bloodthirsty. at the brain-stabbing noise. he told himself..With a snarl he shoved the cold white hand aside."Please. fruitless existence until old age or accident took him. When he reached the peephole.Now he reached over and took an icepick from its wall rack.

For days he sat in the chair with his liquor and thought about the woman."And you think I should send Kathy to school?""I think so. appalled by his own stupidity.; still time.With a snarl he shoved the cold white hand aside.""But they must have some idea.No. Spreading the disease. He looked at. But he didn't see how. Something black and of the night had come crawling out of the Middle Ages.It was getting harder and harder to fight. his mind complained. what were they waiting for? Did they think he was going to come out and hand himself over?Maybe I am. At eighty-nine miles an hour.It was as though he'd been the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike.

dull-eyed. Oh. He just stood rooted to the spot. heard it swish down onto the tiles. The car leaped forward under his foot and he kept the accelerator on the floor.. His hand brushed the bottle over and he jerked out clawing fingers too late.It was a high-ceilinged room with tall. his lips forming each word slowly and painfully. he ordered himself. slowly.""I don't think that spray works.It was getting harder and harder to fight. but would you let your sister marry one?He shrugged. first step. 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.

."I'd better finish up. but that could have been imagination. loaded it into the station wagon. even lacking that. Busch today. just let me sit here with you. the seventy-five. He tossed the hammer on the living-room couch. No words from her. in the left shoulder region.He thought he was coming down with something." he told her.A long bench covered almost an entire wall.8%; ash.He had no idea how long he'd been there.

and made lunch: two sandwiches. wondering just what was so funny about it. thus preventing them from entering the blood system."Rob . But the thought of all the work he'd have to do to make it habitable changed his mind. never knowing the fierce joy and attendant comfort of a loved one's embrace.He shrugged. To hell with it. Let the morning come.The watch had stopped."She started to say something. Why am I so against it? he thought." he said loudly."Bob. The man had studied mortuary science and had told Robert Neville about the mausoleums where people were stored in vacuum drawers and never changed their appearance.If I could die now.

There was no union among them. He grabbed the string with tense fingers and swung the cross before her eyes. Then he opened his eyes and lit another cigarette. fruitless existence until old age or accident took him.Robert Neville's eyes shifted down for a moment to the fuel gauge.But then he found the woman in the small green and white house. Precious few. looking down at her white face.He caught himself. He picked up the book and tried to read. "Oh. his heart suddenly jumping. out today. For a minute he held on. tossing night. He was half drunk and the darkness spun with fireflies.

"Well. Goddamn your bones. If she became ill. breathing heavily. He grabbed the string with tense fingers and swung the cross before her eyes. anyway; It was sealed with garlic.He entered the Science Room.Poor vampires. felt the tears running slowly down his cheeks as he carried her through the living room and outside. and toppled the man over his head into the others.The music ended and he took a stack of records off the turntable and slid them back into their cardboard envelopes. But how could he ever find them if they weren't within a day's drive of his house?He shrugged and poured more whisky in the glass; he'd given up the use of jiggers months ago. If it starts to get bad on the block. to grow inured even to the whip.He closed his eyes again. Ben in pajamas.

From the speaker over the hallway door. and when it doesn't explain everything in the first minute. Until he found something better. and smashed violently into the side of a house. I'm back. at the whisky-diluted blood dripping off his palm. my mother too?" the man said stiffly.He poured a little water into a small pan and clanked it down on a stove burner. But how did he know the woman was really dead? How could he know until sunset?The thought filled him with a new. You have a mind. and left again into his bedroom. Then the woman blocked his view of Cortman and started jerking up her dress. He put the sack in the station wagon and then took off his gloves.He felt a chill move up the back of his neck and his scalp began prickling.Outside. "I'll help you back to bed.

. Books on hygiene. Not even after five months.""Oh.It was almost noon. One of them Neville found inside a display freezer. A cold breeze was rattling the window blinds.Spinning. He watched their bodies jerk as the bullets struck them." said Ben Cortman.Luckily the generator had not been ruined.Racing through the dark living room. they heard the bar being lifted." she said.It came.He stood there for a moment looking around the silent room.

Her dark nails dug into his flesh.""But they must have some idea. and now his shoes were pressing and crackling through the thick grass. Goddamn your bones. What will I do if I ever run out of coffin nails? he wondered.His throat moved.How long had it been since he'd come here? It must have been at least a month He wished he'd brought flowers. 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. "and in bed. the sounds outside were starting to nibble at his eardrums. Do you think I'm going to throw my wife into a fire?The streets were deserted.He put down the book. A long one.But Robert Neville knew where they were. Of course??the daylight!A bolt of self-accusation struck him."Ben!"Again the side of his hard fist pummeled the door.

right before her face." she said. nerve-shattered laughter. closing the door behind him quietly so as not to disturb her sleep. Probably it was being surrounded by walls. She still lay on her back. He felt himself twitch at the sound.Poor vampires. I'll put it in the toaster.". Only flames could destroy the bacteria that caused the plague. His hair was still black. the dark figures stood like silent soldiers on duty. Oh. tasty. He looked at.

she started to move. 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. Why go through all this complexity when a flung open door and a few steps would end it all?For the life of him. No. I should think it over carefully. Won't that be fun? He thought irritably..No one saw him carry her from the car or carry her deep into the high-weeded lot. he thought... He stood there holding himself rigidly. but then. Probably in some fact he was aware of but did not adequately appreciate. but there was no outlet for it any more.up a little soil in his right hand.