День триффидов
Rendezvous
Hetooktwopistolsfromadrawerinthetableandpushedthemacross."Lessmessythanthat."headded,withalookatJosella’shandsomeknife."Goodscroungingtoyou."
Evenbythetimewesetoutafterunloadingthestationwagonwefoundthattherewerestillfewerpeopleaboutthanonthepreviousday.Theonesthatwereshowedaninclinationtogetonthesidewalksatthesoundoftheengineratherthantomolestus.
Thefirsttrucktotakeourfancyproveduseless,beingfilledwithwoodencasestooheavyforustoremove.Ournextfindwasluckier—afive-tonner,almostnew,andempty.Wetrans-shipped,andleftthestationwagontoitsfate.
Atthefirstaddressonmylisttheshuttersoftheloadingbayweredown,buttheygavewaywithoutmuchdifficultytothepersuasionsofacrowbarfromaneighboringshopandrolledupeasily.Inside,wemadeafind.Threetrucksstoodbackeduptotheplatform.Oneofthemwasfullyloadedwithcasesofcannedmeat.
"Canyoudriveoneofthesethings?"IaskedJosella.
Shelookedatit.
"Well,Idon’tseewhynot.Thegeneralidea’sthesame,isn’tit?Andthere’scertainlynotrafficproblem."
Wedecidedtocomebackandfetchitlater,andtooktheemptytruckontoanotherwarehouse,whereweloadedinparcelsofblankets,rugs,andquilts,andthenwentonfarthertoacquireanoisymiscellanyofpots,pans,caldrons,andkettles.Whenwehadthetruckfilledwefeltwebadputinagoodmorning’sworkonajobthatwasheavierthanwehadthought.
