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course, but something like that! How are we going to get back?"
"That's what they deserve, the bloodsuckers. I hope they all choke."
sun seared and blinded him, and he shaded his eyes with his hand and was
Everything had to be changed. Not one life or two lives, not one fate or
face, or voice, or soul. Buzzard had a hoarse, whiny, sneaky kind of voice.
Air Force insignia was very clear on the flattened metal. Redrick had notwatched as the green wash dimmed and quickly turned to pink. The sun's
his burnt skin, walked to a dry spot and examined the backpack. The pack had
from me. This is the end for all of you, get it? I'm not leaving any of
abandoned empties--apparently Buzzard had dropped them on the way back, fear He told him about the catastrophe. And about the shocking fact that
purple lights were fluttering
Now they were moving parallel to the embankment. Every step brought
pity. My choice is always either/or. He finally understood the choice:
Some shepherds.
really taken a beating. The top buckles had melted and the vials in the
They went around the mound of gray rags. There was nothing left ofknow me better than I know myself. You're getting old, that must be it.
through the puddles. He was limping and did not look as straight and
asked in a weak voice. "The backpack. You forgot the backpack, Mr. Schuhart."
He talked and talked, and Noonan nodded, sipped his whiskey, and
unbuttoning his jacket with limp fingers, and Redrick leaned his backpack
his elders and now he lies there in order to show smart people the right
been very powerful, for there hadn't even been a real fire, and the Royal
thirty or forty yards away. Arthur Burbridge blushed, looked up at Redrick once more, and became
back to back for warmth in a tortured half-sleep on top of the hill, waiting
could feel a thousand needles puncturing his face. "For- ward!" he kept
have been it as far as injuries.a feast!"
I guess they did. Kirill felt sorry for me. Dick Noonan feels sorry for me.
was going on, because he let them into the apartment to examine his father.
The boy could have made a stalker, after all, thought Redrick. They
preliminary negotiations gawking at Guta washing the kitchen windows,
unbuttoning his jacket with limp fingers, and Redrick leaned his backpack
his lips. "How do you know what we're after here?"forgotten everything -- the master key and Monkey. What does that mean? It
"To the right. Let's go."
like.covered with the rusty red piles of the ore. Further on, in the direction of
very thought, which was irrational and unnatural, of laying a path between
Something big and motionless. Harmless. Redrick care fully sniffed the air.
broken brick, sprinkled with white dust, and highlighted by the blinding
could be seen the mottled surface of the stagnant swamps, covered with
seated himself at the table, where a pint bottle, a bowl with thick soup, "That's how it comes out here, Artie," he pontificated. "This isn't an
Noonan took his time pouring. The old man sat in the same position,
Redrick felt a barely perceptible current of air on his left cheek and
Lord God himself, and then two stalkers were killed within a few days,God, what else? What else has to be done to us before we understand? Isn't
"Nonsense!" Redrick muttered distractedly and froze over the cup near
visible against the bright sky. Arthur sat down, shoulder deep in the slime.
Watching him, Noonan remembered what had happened when Boyd's lab
green slime and the billowing clouds of yellow steam.
knocking herself out for you, you know," he told Noonan. "She wants to make
later told him that "that redhead" at first didn't seem to understand whatRedrick squinted up at the sun; it was still low. And suddenly he realized
You'll pay for this, he thought. Arthur dove under at the rock, just as a
sun. A train of ten ore cars stood oil it. Some of the cars had fallen off "Bend low!" he whispered and bent over himself. ''Lower, stupid!''