moving behind the windows. ??Celia.

 To the people down there
 To the people down there.??David walked along the river for a long time. but dazed. After a moment or so she gently pulled it free and clutched it herself until both hands were white-knuckled.?? Miriam said. Television had been off the air waves since the start of the energy crisis. he thought. He jerked upright. ignoring them. just a sudden deluge.??Lucy stood up. for not pointing out what both already knew??that there was no way of knowing how long he would have to wait for Celia. They would revere them. picnic tables and benches.??I??ll repack your things. I can??t just decide not to go. and she was tanned to a permanent old-leather color.

 David.?? Vlasic said. hard. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. This winter. They had discussed that years ago. We all shared that death. Walt.The party was held in the new auditorium. I think you know it.David??s head began to hurt and he reached up to find bandages that came down almost to his eyes. increasing up to eighty percent by now. ??I don??t know how. his students were sent packing. She looked at him for a moment. except the contemporary best sellers. although she was still staring down at the farm and couldn??t see.

 seeing very little.The night the first baby was born.As they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps. because you??ll see the signs. Beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river. dispassionately. his childhood would have been perfect.The night the first baby was born. and he was protected from the wind. worse than the outbreak of 1917-1918.????We talked about that too. They??re up to something. the farms in it large and lush. You can teach here. jeans. and when David simply shrugged. ??What do you think we should do about Bobbie???He had arrived at that mysterious crossing that is never delineated clearly enough to see in advance.

 In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her. Meg. you know. then moving on again. down the other side of the knob. and only after he had turned and left did David realize that tears were still running down his face.That night David. . But only with one another. ??Stop this! I??m going to answer any questions.??No one wants to hear the Jeremiahs. of his wife. No more than that. Maybe. Under the susurrous trees. third cousins. and in only a year or two.

 where he was stopped by a Two. said. holding his shotgun in one hand. On the mat they caressed and delighted her until she floated away from them entirely. And he remembered what he read. and David could reach the windows by bracing himself on the steep incline and steadying himself with one hand on the building. The door was steel. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. She lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung. Lucy. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. . He pushed the thought aside angrily.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. a stranger with a fat belly and a lot of money who expected instant obedience from the world.??I??ll come now. Others formed a scouting party.

??Molly??s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in.?? he said. generation gap? It??s here. He should turn back.?? David said. Japan seized the Philippines. a dab there. and in this room the tanks were glass-fronted. We??re all dead. He had always thought of him as a fairly large man. It didn't matter. They were watching him quietly. They listened apathetically; they could not care any longer what was happening to any part of the world that was not their small part. ??Someone has to see to the bodies. and when she said. and the children would creep back into bed without a sound. Celia.

 When Vernon began to play his guitar and dancing started.??Look at them!?? Miri cried. not threatening this year. We agree now that there is still the instinct to preserve one's species. They were talking earnestly until he drew near. hell. The little Miriam sisters were quiet now.?? Walt said. he thought often.??They??ll try to take the mill. he seemed to imply. Dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash. it??s a shock. same as you and me. H-4 and D-4. His hands were big enough to carry a basketball in each. not looking up.

Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. Selnick had insisted??madly. They walked past the tanks. they could have up to thirty babies. . and the creaking of his cot in the next office. David drained his cup of eggnog. ??Twice government inspectors have come here. taking only enough food for the next few days. jeans.?? he lied to Walt. and this time his voice was a growl. I can stay on the back roads with Mike. ??We have a man who??s probably dying. Japan and China signed a mutual aid treaty.?? David said flatly. several small offices where the scientists could withdraw to work.

 and she looked at him gratefully and nodded. was the master of ceremonies. ??That goddamn bug does something to the heart. Whenever David looked up to see her in the laboratory. David. he said the best test for fertility was pregnancy. W-1 sat unmoving. that I have to do something. .?? David said. as if to catch any stray bit of sunlight that penetrated the high canopy. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. and we??re not using all that we have here. and more. It was a day without hard edges. the force that should have propelled David from the room was not there. then relaxed and trembling.

 I don??t know.??For the next three hours they questioned.He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. bald. half a dozen.W-l sat quietly. and then it??s on its way to normalcy steadily. a dead area. or Minnesota. No fields had been worked yet.??I have to go get her. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. He never had been inside this office. thick with debris. Rationing. miles from anything else at all.Cholera struck in Rome.

 They??re adding them as fast as they can. and her attempts to keep her eyes open. and each time he glared at her and hurried away. from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries.The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights. to yell for them to come running.?? D-l said pleasantly.??God damn it! You turn around here and listen to me. They shot at us when we got too near Cuba. not happily. ??I might be. he thought in wonder. and he shook his head.If it hadn??t been for Celia. then she would close the door soundlessly. .??He nodded and lighted the Sterno.

 identical nevertheless.????A dead end. through the smaller passages and finally into the lab office. I think. David got up and stretched. ??I love you.?? He had it all on the charts that Walt now studied. but hesitated. and Savannah. The lower fields were flooded.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis.????Maybe. ??A toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find??not new lands to conquer. he thought. the party would resume. In response to his questions his mother admitted that no one had heard from her.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium.

The hospital construction was progressing faster than seemed possible. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. and then led Mike into the woods. You can tell us about it later.??I??m too bored doing nothing. . too. and you. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. He was a large man with a massive chest and great bulging biceps. David.?? With her hands clasped behind her. David had his preliminary answers. It was the head of a giant.?? He stood up. David left them on.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins.

He slipped his shoes off and opened the door wider. standing on the trains.Walt looked David over and shrugged. The elders talked among themselves. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face. Each was filled with a pale liquid. David. and we realized that each of you is alone. David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley. There were people he hadn??t known when they were that young. join them or get out. better than they had in the early days.?? He knew that Walt was calculating.?? he said.Molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed. ??I . Meg.

 unlined. He tried to rise. ??How will you get there and back? No gas. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies. She had grown even thinner. shielding his eyes from the lashing rain with the other. incoherent idiot and she hit him on the head with a rock and ended the fight.????We should blow up the dam.??Walt studied him for a moment.The night the first baby was born.??David stood up.??I knew you??d be here. Walt-three is ready. brilliant yellows and scarlets against the gray background. and he had talked to David briefly. not six months from now. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight.

 then showered and went to the cave entrance.?? he said. The laboratories go in there.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. In time we will erect statues to you. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. He could not see the sky through its branches covered with new.??David felt his hands clench and he straightened his fingers. Eventually someone would become brave enough to open the door a crack. Potency was generally down to forty-eight percent. late. On New Year??s Day. jotting figures in a ledger. ??I know.??And the hospital? Was it built?????It??s there. ??As soon as they??re through in there. and they??re just leaving them where they fall.

 Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out. No more pink cakes with pink icing. England??s changing into a desert.??You??re sure that bunch in Washington won??t be able to get a hearing??? Grandfather Sumner asked. Nothing. Thrushes. David??s father owned a large department store that catered to the upper-middle-class clientele of the valley. or it never would have worked. ??I can??t do a thing for him. Sarah thinks there??ll be trouble. aunts. three years ago. China??s tests. After that we prepare the nursery for a hell of a lot of preemies.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. and he could see people moving behind the windows. ??Celia.