День триффидов
World Narrowing
Ahalf-trackwouldcontinuetorunovergroundthatwasdryenough,butastimewentonitwouldbeincreasinglydifficulttofindarouteopenenoughevenforthat.
"Andwemusthaveonereallastfling,"Isaid."Youshalldressupagain,andwe’llgoto—"
"Sh-sh!"interruptedJosella,holdinguponefingerandturninghereartothewind.
Iheldmybreathandstrainedmyears.Therewasafeeling,ratherthanasound,ofthrobbingintheair.Itwasfaint,butgraduallyswelling.
"Itis—it’saplane!"Josellasaid.
Welookedtothewest,shadingoureyeswithourhands.Thehummingwasstilllittlemorethanthebuzzingofaninsect.Thesoundincreasedsoslowlythatitcouldcomefromnothingbutahelicopter;anyotherkindofcraftwouldhavepassedoverusoroutofhearinginthetimeitwastaking.
Josellasawitfirst.Adotalittleoutfromthecoast,andapparentlycomingourway,parallelwiththeshore.Westoodupandstartedtowave.Asthedotgrewlarger,wewavedmorewildly,and,notverysensibly,shoutedatthetopsofourvoices.Thepilotcouldnothavefailedtoseeusthereontheopenbeachhadhecomeon,butthatwaswhathedidnotdo.Afewmilesshortofusheturnedabruptlynorthtopassinland.Wewentonwavingmadly,hopingthathemightyetcatchsightofus.Buttherewasnoindecisioninthemachine’scourse,novariationoftheenginenote.Deliberatelyandimperturbablyitdronedawaytowardthehills.
Wetowedourarmsandlookedatoneanother
