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did not often fly over the Zone; and right by the path there were two
his burned neck. The pain and lack of air made Redrick think that he was
two nearby elevations. All right, Redrick thought, we'll see about that
satisfaction. His instinct of many years as a stalker protested against the
They probably would have gotten the old man away, because it looked as if
make? Five? Six? And now I wonder why? He's no relation. I'm not responsiblebatteries, and other rubbish remaining after the Visitation.
blood and ash. For a few seconds Redrick examined with dull interest the
me through jails and bars. I've had it! He unsnapped the straps of the pack
stood over him.with sandwiches and a thermos of coffee. While Arthur set up the sandwiches
his lips. "How do you know what we're after here?"
Redrick got the flask silently. I didn't agree right away, he thought.
like.
have been better for that swamp to be here. Look at Arthur go, he thought.
two nearby elevations. All right, Redrick thought, we'll see about that
knew also that when the sun came up and the fog settled into dew, he wouldthirty or forty yards away.
being in the sun. It obviously did not glow with its own light and it
sip, shut his eyes, and handed the flask to Arthur. That's it, he thoughtYes. Harmless.
wasn't green back then, we still had the square royal bills with some
meaning. It had no meaning before, either, but before it was a person at
for less. Or if I give Buzzard more than thirty. And the punk? The punk gets
He talked and talked, and Noonan nodded, sipped his whiskey, and
sun, which was unbearably white, hot, angry, and dead. The far end of theknees. And as for the piece, they all bring guns on their first time in the
here. But looking closer, Redrick noted a dark gray spot between the two dry
Watching him, Noonan remembered what had happened when Boyd's lab
trying to drink it away, because that was the way he was used to living.and took the Bask from Arthur.
smack at his feet, raising a cloud of white dust. He was
people. It seems the Visitation caught them here, and they mutated ...
one of his most striking childhood memories--his first visit to the Borscht.
I guess they did. Kirill felt sorry for me. Dick Noonan feels sorry for me.
rocks.
some game between some giants. It had not been carefully placed here, it hadthis self-reliance had been measured in the amount of money he could snatch,
He told him about the catastrophe. And about the shocking fact that
they found! Drop it, he told himself. You have to think first, and then useIt's probably the most valuable thing in the Zone! And who should have it?
He could not hear his own voice. He caught up with Arthur, grabbed his
asked in a low voice near his ear. He was next to him looking at the map,
don't get pulled out of the meatgrinder. He did pull him out of the Zone,
that he had managed to scramble up on, and leave him to wallow in filth.
against the side of the truck, wiped his hands against the small rocks, and "All right, don't worry, everybody knows about it," Redrick said.
"It was my own fault. I heard your order to lie there, but I was really
car--the driver had made a run for it when he saw what was happening.
they've acclimated to the new conditions. Have you heard that, too, Mr.like a tenderfoot.
question."
"I've never heard of anything like that," Arthur said looking back.
clattered the sack on the counter in front of Ernest, looking around
and all of him covered with a crust of oozing slime, and he felt no pity, no
A thick fog lay along the sides of the embankment. Once in a while it
He took Arthur's handkerchief, clean and smelling of cologne, wrappedgrab, or bite away from the indifferent chaos that surrounded him. It had
"Do you think I might have another sip, Mr. Schuhart?"
only miracles did happen, some voice said inside, and he repressed the voicesullen face of Monkey, covered with coarse brown fur. He struggled to