День триффидов
Evacuation
"Inthecircumstances,"Iwenton,"whatdoyousaytodeclaringanamnestyandstartingoveragain?"
Heagreed.
"I’dgotitwrong,"herepeated."IthoughtIwastheonewhowastakingitseriously—butIwasn’ttakingitseriouslyenough.Icouldn’tbelievethatitwouldlast,orthatsomekindofhelpwouldn’tshowup.Butnowlookatit!Anditmustbelikethiseverywhere.Europe,Asia,America—thinkofAmericasmittenlikethis!Buttheymustbe.Iftheyweren’t,they’dhavebeenoverhere,helpingoutandgettingtheplacestraightthat’sthewayit’dtakethem.No,Ireckonyourlotunderstooditbetterfromthestart."
Weruminatedforsomemoments,thenIasked:
"Thisdisease,plague—whatdoyoureckonitis?"
"Searchme,chum.Ithoughtitmustbetyphoid,butsomeonesaidtyphoidtakeslongertodevelop—soIdon’tknow.Idon’tknowwhyI’venotcaughtitmyself—exceptthatI’vebeenabletokeepawayfromthosethathaveandtoseethatwhatIwaseatingwasclean.I’vebeenkeepingtocansI’veopenedmyself,andI’vedrunkbottlebeer.Anyway,thoughI’vebeenluckysofar,Idon’tfancyhangingaroundheremuchlonger.Wheredoyougonow?"
Itoldhimoftheaddresschalkedonthewall.Hebadnotseenit.HehadbeenonhiswaytotheUniversityBuildingwhenthesoundofmyshothadcausedhimtoscoutroundwithsomecaution.
"It—"Ibegan,andthenstoppedabruptly.Fromoneofthestreetswestofuscamethesoundofacarstartingup.
