День триффидов
— and Farther on
"Youdon’tseemtohavegotmuchchangeforit.Sowhat?"hesaid.
"I’mgoingonaftertheMichaelBeadleycrowd,"Itoldhim.
"Andifshe’snotwiththem?"
"AtpresentI’mjusthopingsheis.Shemustbe.Whereelsewouldshebe?"
Hestartedtosaysomethingandstopped.Thenhewenton:
"IreckonI’llcomealongwithyou.It’slikelythatcrowdwon’tbeanymoregladtoseemethanthisone,consideringeverything—butIcanlivethatdown.I’vewatchedonelotfalltobits,andIcanseethisone’sgoingtodothesame—moreslowlyand,maybe,morenastily.It’squeer,isn’tit?Decentintentionsseemtobethemostdangerousthingsaroundjustnow.It’sadamnedshame,becausethisplacecouldbemanaged,inspiteoftheproportionofblind.Everythingitneedsislyingaboutforthetaking,andwillbeforawhileyet.It’sonlyorganizingthat’swanted."
"Andwillingnesstobeorganized,"Isuggested.
"Thattoo,"heagreed."Youknow,thetroubleisthatinspiteofallthat’shappenedthisthinghasn’tgothometothesepeopleyet.Theydon’twanttoturnto—that’dbemakingittoofinal.Atthebackoftheirmindsthey’reallhangingon,waitingforsomethingorother."
"True—butscarcelysurprising,"Iadmitted."Ittookplentytoconvinceus,andthey’venotseenwhatwehave.And,someway,itdoesseemlessfinalandless—lessimmediateouthereinthecountry."
