[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
with biting lunges. One hung stubbornly on at his thigh, ripping at the cloth of his corduroy pants. Hall
made a fist and smashed it aside.
He was nearly three-quarters of the way back when the huge whirring filled the darkness. He looked up
and the gigantic flying form smashed into his face.
The mutated bats had not lost their tails yet. It whipped around Hall's neck in a loathsome coil and
squeezed as the teeth sought the soft spot under his neck. It wriggled and flapped with its membranous
wings, clutching the tatters of his shirt for purchase.
Hall brought the nozzle of the hose up blindly and struck at its yielding body again and again. It fell away
and he trampled it beneath his feet, dimly aware that he was screaming. The rats ran in a flood over his
feet, up his legs.
He broke into a staggering run, shaking some off. The others bit at his belly, his chest. One ran up his
shoulder and pressed its questing muzzle into the cup of his ear.
He ran into the second bat. It roosted on his head for a moment, squealing, and then ripped away a flap
of Hall's scalp.
He felt his body growing numb. His ears filled with the screech and yammer of many rats. He gave one
last heave, stumbled over furry bodies, fell to his knees. He began to laugh, a high, screaming sound.
Five A.M., Thursday.
'Somebody better go down there,' Brochu said tentatively.
'Not me,' Wisconsky whispered. 'Not me.'
'No, not you, jelly belly,' Ippeston said with contempt.
'Well, let's go,'Brogan said, bringing up another hose. 'Me, Ippeston, Dangerfield, Nedeau. Stevenson,
go up to the office and get a few more lights.'
Ippeston looked down into the darkness thoughtfully. 'Maybe they stopped for a smoke,' he said. 'A
few rats, what the hell.'
Page 14
Stevenson came back with the lights; a few moments later they started down.
Page 15
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]