DAY 6 4:22 P.M.
The wind was blowing briskly. There was no sign of the swarms2, and I crossed to the shed without incident. I didn’t have a headset so I was spared Ricky’s commentary. The back passenger door of the Toyota was open. I found Charley lying on his back, motionless. It took me a moment to see he was still breathing, although shallowly. With an effort, I managed to pull him into a sitting position. He stared at me with dull eyes. His lips were blue and his skin was chalky gray. A tear ran down his cheek. His mouth moved. “Don’t try to talk,” I said. “Save your energy.” Grunting3, I pulled him over to the edge of the seat, by the door, and swung his legs around so he was facing out. Charley was a big guy, six feet tall and at least twenty pounds heavier than I was. I knew I couldn’t carry him back. But behind the backseat of the Toyota I saw the fat tires of a dirt bike. That might work. “Charley, can you hear me?”
An almost imperceptible nod.
“Can you stand up?”
Nothing. No reaction. He wasn’t looking at me; he was staring into space.
“Charley,” I said, “do you think you can stand?”
He nodded again, then straightened his body so he slid off the seat, and landed on the ground. He stood shakily for a moment, his legs trembling, and then he collapsed4 against me, clutching me to hold himself up. I sagged5 under his weight.
“Okay, Charley ...” I eased him back to the car, and sat him down on the running board. “Just stay there, okay?”
I let go of him, and he remained sitting. He still stared into space, unfocused.
“I’ll be right back.”
I went around to the back of the Land Cruiser, and popped the trunk. There was a dirt bike, all right—the cleanest dirt bike I had ever seen. It was encased in a heavy Mylar bag. And it had been wiped down after it was used. That would be David’s way, I thought. He was always so clean, so organized.
I pulled the bike out of the car and set it on the ground. There was no key in the ignition. I went to the front of the Toyota, and opened the passenger door. The front seats were spotless and carefully ordered. David had one of those suction cup notepads on the dashboard, a cradle for his cell phone, and a telephone headset mounted on a little hook. I opened his glove box and saw that the interior was neatly6 arranged, too. Registration7 papers in an envelope, beneath a small plastic tray divided into compartments8 containing lip balm, Kleenex, Band-Aids. No keys. Then I noticed that between the seats there was a storage box for the CD player, and beneath it was a locked tray. It had the same kind of lock as the ignition. It probably opened with the ignition key.
I banged the tray with the heel of my hand, and heard something metallic9 rattle10 inside. It might have been a small key. Like a dirt bike key. Anyway, something metal. Where were David’s keys? I wondered if Vince had taken David’s keys away on arrival, as he had taken mine. If so, then the keys were in the lab. That wouldn’t do me any good. I looked toward the lab building, wondering if I should go back to get them. That was when I noticed that the wind was blowing less strongly. There was still a layer of sand blowing along the ground, but it was less vigorous.
Great, I thought. That’s all I need now.
Feeling new urgency, I decided11 to give up on the dirt bike and its missing key. Perhaps there was something in the storage shed that I could use to move Charley back to the lab. I didn’t remember anything, but I went into the shed to check, anyway. I entered cautiously, hearing a banging sound. It turned out to be the far door, banging open and shut in the wind. Rosie’s body lay just inside the door, alternately light and dark as the door banged. She had the same milky12 coating on her skin that the rabbit had had. But I didn’t go over to look closely. I hastily searched the shelves, opened the utility closet, looked behind stacked boxes. I found a furniture dolly made of wooden slats with small rollers. But it would be useless in sand. I went back outside under the corrugated13 shed, and hurried to the Toyota. There was nothing to do but try to carry Charley across to the lab building. I might be able to manage it if he could support part of his own weight. Maybe by now he was feeling better, I thought. Maybe he was stronger.
But one look at his face told me he wasn’t. If anything, he appeared weaker.
“Shit, Charley, what am I going to do with you?”
He didn’t answer.
“I can’t carry you. And David didn’t leave any keys in his car, so we’re out of luck—” I stopped.
What if David were locked out of his car? He was an engineer, he thought of contingencies14 like that. Even if it was unlikely to happen, David would never be caught unprepared. He’d never be flagging down cars asking if they had a wire hanger15 he could borrow. No, no. David would have hidden a key. Probably in one of those magnetic key boxes. I started to lie down on my back to look underneath16 the car when it occurred to me that David would never get his clothes dirty just to retrieve17 a key. He’d hide it cleverly, but within easy reach. With that in mind, I ran my fingers along the inside of the front bumpers19. Nothing. I went to the back bumper18, did the same. Nothing. I felt under the running boards on both sides of the car. Nothing. No magnetic box, no key. I couldn’t believe it, so I got down and looked under the car, to see if there was a brace20 or a strut21 I had somehow missed with my fingers. No, there wasn’t. I felt no key.
I shook my head, puzzled. The hiding place needed to be steel for the magnetic box. And it needed to be protected from the elements. That was why almost everybody hid their keys inside the car bumpers.
David hadn’t done that.
Where else could you hide a key?
I walked around the car again, looking at the smooth lines of the metal. I ran my fingers around the front grill22 opening, and under the back license23 plate indentation. No key.
I started to sweat. It wasn’t only the tension: by now I could definitely feel the drop in the wind. I went back to Charley, who was still sitting on the sideboard.
“How you doing, Charley?”
He didn’t answer, just gave a little shrug24. I took his headset off, and put it on. I heard static, and voices talking softly. It sounded like Ricky and Bobby, and it sounded like an argument. I pulled the mouthpiece near my lips and said, “Guys? Speak to me.”
A pause. Bobby, surprised: “Jack25?”
“That’s right ...”
“Jack, you can’t stay there. The wind’s been falling steadily26 for the last few minutes. It’s only ten knots now.”
“Okay ...”
“Jack, you’ve got to come back in.”
“I can’t just yet.”
“Below seven knots, the swarms can move.”
“Okay ...”
Ricky: “What do you mean, okay? Jesus, Jack, are you coming in or not?”
“I can’t carry Charley.”
“You knew that when you went out.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Jack. What the hell are you doing?”
I heard the whirr of the video monitor in the corner of the shed. I looked over the roof of the car and saw the lens rotate as they zoomed27 in on me. The Toyota was such a big car, it almost blocked my view of the camera. And the ski rack on top made it even higher. I vaguely28 wondered why David had a ski rack, because he didn’t ski; he always hated cold. The rack must have come with the car as standard equipment and—
I swore. It was so obvious.
There was only one place I hadn’t checked. I jumped up on the running board and looked at the roof of the car. I ran my fingers over the ski rack, and along the parallel tracks bolted to the roof. My fingers touched black tape against the black rack. I pulled the tape away, and saw a silver key.
“Jack? Nine knots.”
“Okay.”
I dropped back down to the ground, and climbed in the driver’s seat. I put the key in the lock box and twisted it. The box opened. Inside I found a small yellow key. “Jack? What’re you doing?”
I hurried around to the back of the car. I fitted the yellow key in the ignition. I straddled the bike and started it up. The motor rumbled29 loudly under the corrugated shed.
“Jack?”
I walked the bike around the side of the car to where Charley was sitting. That was going to be the tricky30 part. The bike didn’t have a kickstand; I moved as close to Charley as I could and then tried to support him enough that he could climb onto the backseat while I still sat on the bike and kept it upright. Fortunately, he seemed to understand what I was doing; I got him in place and told him to hold on to me.
Bobby Lembeck: “Jack? They’re here.”
“Where?”
“South side. Coming toward you.”
“Okay.”
I gunned the motor, and pulled the passenger door shut. And I stayed exactly where I was.
“Jack?”
Ricky: “What’s the matter with him? He knows what the danger is.”
Bobby: “I know.”
“He’s just sitting there.”
Charley had his hands around my waist. His head was on my shoulder. I could hear his raspy breathing. I said, “Hold tight, Charley.” He nodded.
Ricky: “Jack? What’re you doing?”
Then at my ear, in a voice just above a whisper, Charley said, “Fucking idiot.”
“Yes.” I nodded. I waited. I could see the swarms now, coming around the building. This time there were nine swarms, and they headed straight for me in a V formation. Their own flocking behavior.
Nine swarms, I thought. Soon there would be thirty swarms, and then two hundred ...
Bobby: “Jack, do you see them?”
“I see them.” Of course I saw them.
And of course they were different from before. They were denser31 now, the columns thicker and more substantial. Those swarms didn’t weigh three pounds anymore. I sensed they were closer to ten or twenty pounds. Maybe even more than that. Maybe thirty pounds. They would have real weight now, and real substance.
I waited. I stayed where I was. Some detached part of my brain was wondering what the formation would do when it reached me. Would they circle me? Would some of the swarms hang back and wait? What did they make of the noisy bike?
Nothing—they came right for me, flattening32 the V into a line, then into a kind of inverted33 V. I could hear the deep vibrating hum. With so many swarms it was much louder. The swirling34 columns were twenty yards away from me, then ten. Were they able to move faster now, or was it my imagination? I waited until they were almost upon me before I twisted the throttle35 and raced forward. I passed straight through the lead swarm1, into the blackness and out again, and then I was gunning for the power station door, bouncing over the desert, not daring to look back over my shoulder. It was a wild ride, and it only lasted a few seconds. As we reached the power station, I dropped the bike, put my shoulder under Charley’s arm, and staggered the final step or two to the door.
The swarms were still fifty yards away from the door when I managed to turn the knob, pull, get one foot in the crack, and kick the door open the rest of the way. When I did that I lost my balance, and Charley and I more or less fell through the door onto the concrete. The door came swinging shut, and whanged into our legs, which hung outside. I felt a sharp pain in my ankles—but worse, the door was still open, kept ajar by our legs. Through the opening I could see the swarms approaching.
I scrambled36 to my feet and dragged Charley’s inert37 body into the room. The door shut, but I knew it was a fire door, and it wasn’t airtight. Nanoparticles could come right in. I had to get both of us into the airlock. We wouldn’t be safe until the first set of glass doors had hissed38 shut. Grunting and sweating, I hauled Charley into the airlock. I got him into a sitting position, propped39 up against the side blowers. That cleared his feet of the glass doors. And because only one person could be in the airlock at a time, I stepped back outside. And I waited for the doors to close.
But they didn’t close.
I looked on the side wall for some sort of button, but I didn’t see anything. The lights were on inside the airlock, so it was getting power. But the doors didn’t close. And I knew the swarms were fast approaching.
Bobby Lembeck and Mae came running into the far room. I saw them through the second set of glass doors. They were waving their arms, making big gestures, apparently40 indicating for me to come back into the airlock. But that didn’t make sense. Into my headset, I said, “I thought you had to go one at a time.”
They didn’t have headsets, and couldn’t hear me. They were waving frantically41, come in, come in.
I held up two fingers questioningly.
They shook their heads. They seemed to be indicating I was missing the point. At my feet, I saw the nanoparticles begin to come into the room like black steam. They were coming through the edges of the fire door. I had only five or ten seconds now. I stepped back in the airlock. Bobby and Mae were nodding, approving. But the doors did not close. Now they were making other gestures, lifting.
“You want me to lift Charley?”
They did. I shook my head. Charley was slumped43 there in a sitting position, a dead weight on the ground. I looked back at the anteroom, and saw it was filling with black particles, starting to form a grayish mist in the air. The grayish mist was coming into the airlock as well. I felt the first tiny pinpricks on my skin.
I looked at Bobby and Mae, on the other side of the glass. They could see what was happening; they knew only seconds remained. They were again making gestures: lift Charley up. I bent44 over him, got my hands under his armpits. I tried to haul him to his feet, but he didn’t budge45.
“Charley, for God’s sake, help.” Groaning46, I tried again. Charley kicked his legs and pushed with his arms and I got him a couple of feet off the ground. Then he slid back down. “Charley, come on, once more ...” I pulled up as hard as I could, and this time he helped a lot and we got his legs back under him and with a final heave, got him standing47. I kept my hands under his armpits; we were in a kind of crazy lovers’ clench48. Charley was wheezing49. I looked back to the glass doors.
The doors didn’t close.
The air was getting blacker all the time. I looked to Mae and Bobby, and they were frantic42, holding up two fingers, shaking them at me. I didn’t get it. “Yes, there’s two of us ...” What was wrong with the damned doors? Finally Mae bent over, and very deliberately50 pointed51 with one finger of each hand to her two shoes. I saw her mouth, “Two shoes.” And point to Charley. “Yeah, so, we have two shoes. He’s standing on two shoes.”
Mae shook her head.
She held up four fingers.
“Four shoes?”
The pinpricks were irritating, making it difficult to think. I felt the old confusion begin to seep52 over me. My brain felt sluggish53. What did she mean, four shoes? It was beginning to get dark in the airlock. It was becoming harder to see Mae and Bobby. They were pantomiming something else, but I didn’t get it. They began to feel distant to me, distant and trivial. I was without energy, and without care. Two shoes, four shoes.
And then I got it. I turned my back to Charley, leaned against him, and said, “Put your hands around my neck.” He did, and I grabbed his legs and lifted his feet off the floor. Instantly, the door hissed shut.
That was it, I thought.
The blowers began to blast down on us. The air rapidly cleared. I strained to hold Charley up and I managed until I saw the second set of doors unlock and slide open. Mae and Bobby hurried into the airlock.
And I just fell down. Charley landed on top of me. I think it was Bobby who dragged him off me. I’m not sure. From that point on, I don’t remember much at all.
NEST
收听单词发音 |
1
swarm
|
|
| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
swarms
|
|
| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
grunting
|
|
| 咕哝的，呼噜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
collapsed
|
|
| adj.倒塌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
sagged
|
|
| 下垂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
neatly
|
|
| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
registration
|
|
| n.登记，注册，挂号 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
compartments
|
|
| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
metallic
|
|
| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
rattle
|
|
| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
milky
|
|
| adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
corrugated
|
|
| adj.波纹的；缩成皱纹的；波纹面的；波纹状的v.（使某物）起皱褶(corrugate的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
contingencies
|
|
| n.偶然发生的事故，意外事故( contingency的名词复数 )；以备万一 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
hanger
|
|
| n.吊架，吊轴承；挂钩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
retrieve
|
|
| vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
bumper
|
|
| n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
bumpers
|
|
| （汽车上的）保险杠，缓冲器( bumper的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
brace
|
|
| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
strut
|
|
| v.肿胀，鼓起；大摇大摆地走；炫耀；支撑；撑开；n.高视阔步；支柱，撑杆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
grill
|
|
| n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
license
|
|
| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
shrug
|
|
| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
zoomed
|
|
| v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去式 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
rumbled
|
|
| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
tricky
|
|
| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
denser
|
|
| adj. 不易看透的, 密集的, 浓厚的, 愚钝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
flattening
|
|
| n. 修平 动词flatten的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
inverted
|
|
| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
swirling
|
|
| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
throttle
|
|
| n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
scrambled
|
|
| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
inert
|
|
| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
hissed
|
|
| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
propped
|
|
| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
frantically
|
|
| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
frantic
|
|
| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
slumped
|
|
| 大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
budge
|
|
| v.移动一点儿；改变立场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
groaning
|
|
| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
clench
|
|
| vt.捏紧（拳头等），咬紧（牙齿等），紧紧握住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
wheezing
|
|
| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的现在分词 )；哮鸣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
deliberately
|
|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
seep
|
|
| v.渗出，渗漏；n.渗漏，小泉，水（油）坑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
sluggish
|
|
| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |