День триффидов

           Wesatisfiedtheappetiteithadgivenusatasmallpubhithertountouched.

           Themoodwhichfilledthebusinessandcommercialdistrictswasgloomy—thoughitwasagloomthatstillhadmorethestyleofanormalSundayorpublicholidaythanofcollapse.Veryfewpeopleatallweretobeseeninthoseparts.Hadthecatastrophecomebyday,insteadofbynightaftertheworkershadgonehome,itwouldhavebeenahideouslydifferentscene.

           Whenwehadrefreshedourselveswecollectedthealreadyloadedtruckfromthefoodwarehouseanddrovethetwoofthemslowlyanduneventfullybacktotheuniversity.Weparkedthemintheforecourtthereandsetoffagain.Aboutsix-thirtywereturnedoncemorewithanotherpairofwell-loadedtrucksandafeelingofusefulaccomplishment.

           MichaelBeadleyemergedfromthebuildingtoinspectourcontributions.HeapprovedofitallsavehalfadozencasesthatIhadaddedtomysecondload.

           "Whatarethey?"heasked.

           "Triffidguns,andboltsforthem,"Itoldhim.

           Helookedatmethoughtfully.

           "Ohyes.Youarrivedwithalotofanti-triffidstuff,"heremarked.

           "Ithinkit’slikelywe’llneedit,"Isaid.

           Heconsidered.IcouldseethatIwasbeingputdownasabitunsoundonthesubjectoftriffids.Mostlikelyhewasaccountingforthatbythebiasmyjobmightbeexpectedtogive—aggravatedbyaphobiaresultingfrommyrecentstingandwonderingwhetheritmightconnoteother,perhapslessharmless,unsoundnesses.

           "Lookhere,"Isuggested,"we’vebroughtinfourfulltruckloadsbetweenus.