День триффидов
Evacuation
Itranupitsgearsquicklyandthendiminishedintothedistance.
"Well,atleastthere’ssomebodyelseleft,"saidCoker."Andwhoeverwroteupthataddress.Haveyouanyideawhoitwas?"
Ishruggedmyshoulders.ItwasajustifiableassumptionthatitwasareturnedmemberofthegroupthatCokerhadraided—orpossiblysomesightedpersonthathispartyhadfailedtocatch.Therewasnotellinghowlongithadbeenthere.Hethoughtitover.
"It’llbebetterifthere’stwoofus.I’lltagalongwithyouandseewhat’sdoing.Okay?"
"Okay,"Iagreed."I’mforturninginflaw,andanearlystarttomorrow."
HewasstillasleepwhenIawoke.IdressedmyselfmuchmorecomfortablyintheskisuitandheavyshoesthaninthegarmentsIhadbeenwearingsincehispartyhadprovidedthemforme.BythetimeIreturnedwithabagofassortedcans,hewasupanddressedtoo.OverbreakfastwedecidedtoimproveourwelcomeatTynshambytakingaloadedtruckeachratherthantraveltogetherinone.
"Andseethatthecabwindowcloses,"Isuggested.‘TherearequitealotoftriffidnurseriesaroundLondon,particularlytothewest."
"Uh-huh.I’veseenafewoftheuglybrutesabout,"hesaidoffhandedly.
"I’veseenthemabout—andinaction,"Itoldhim.
Atthefirstgaragewecametowebrokeopenapumpandfilledup.Then,soundinginthesilentstreetslikeaconvoyoftanks,wesetoffwestwardwithmytruckinthelead.
Thegoingwaswearisome.Everyfewdozenyardsonehadtoweaveroundsomederelictvehicle.
