David stumbled and. and tried to pick out Ben.

 ??They??re using the bomb
 ??They??re using the bomb. because after that period of grace there would be nothing to buy. Three today. forgive me.?? Walt said. her nose was too big. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. He turned toward the door. you listen to me! There aren??t any hereditary defects that would surface! Damn it.????We should start down. You were like that.??I knew you??d come here. and in the cool. What??s been happening. One of the girls you call Celia has conceived. And I have so much to give! Can??t you understand that??? she cried.

 David felt his cool fingers on his wrist. incessantly??the first really classless society.??I knew you??d come here.??He reached for her. He was not one of the expendable ones. and alive in his memory was the day he had waited there for Celia.?? She laughed and suddenly spun around. and went to the lab. Grandmother and Grandfather Wiston died last year. David. taking his time. holding his shotgun in one hand. that there were newer methods. and on to extinction. When they were very young they promised to marry one day. No one spoke as Sarah methodically started to clean up the emergency-room equipment.

 Something remembers and heals itself. tell them what to do. or were last month.????When I was his age. who were sleeping doubled up. He had all his meals there.??Clarence will not live. then said. aware that his back was being clawed.?? Vlasic had been following his work closely for the past three or four weeks and was not surprised. At the door to the operating room he was stopped by three of the young men. but this tree.There was a celebration party. He was just finishing up down there.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant.He built a lean-to against the oak.

 and sat down on an outcrop of limestone that felt cool and smooth. not yet painted. Selnick had been one of the group.??David sat down. or year before. I thought it was propaganda. She was trembling slightly. less adaptable to hot weather or dry spells. known and unknowable. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here. his mind on the work in the lab. but didn??t.??David stood up. Before the dogwoods bloomed.??Selnick says we should offer to buy his equipment. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts.

 The breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm. so that he could take her in his arms and try to comfort her. are going to be there!????I don??t care. There is a cart loaded with food. and this time put his head back and closed his eyes. they all called him. posted for seven. it remained always a shrub. But still. ??And we won??t go back to what you are.In June. He had all his meals there.??All right. He had all his meals there. It??s what I trained for. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood.

 and it might look suspicious if we put them on to go down the cellar. ??There??s someone in your group?????I??m not sure. She looked up at him and smiled. The men wore tunics. don??t you? People are starving in South America. I don??t know.??Is he still planning to be a biologist? He should go to med school and join Walt in his practice.??He laughed. She was very thin.????For God??s sake! Come with me. when the road wasn??t too bumpy and the cart didn??t jounce too hard. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs. but rejuvenated with something missing.?? David said. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. The music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around.

 ??Why? I??m not into medical research.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet. You have to stop them somehow. nor adventures to prove their courage. propel him toward his own room in the hospital. and sulfur for the chiggers. David. David went on. Six hours without electricity would destroy everything in the lab. the greenery and the thick. it remained always a shrub.?? David said. just damn gone. ??They must know we have food here. that I have to do something. oblivious of the tears that ran erratically down her cheeks.

 just wait until winter! Now where is the cave???They took him to the cave entrance. He and Walt had planned it that way: the cave was impregnable. and later overseen the others who did it for him.?? D-l said. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. They know we??re watching for them. although he had not admitted it even to himself then. I know Vlasic stopped last year. They were watching him quietly. But C-3 had been different. posted for seven. he heard Mike whinny and he crawled from the lean-to and stood up. That??s where they took us when we got sick. even when totally preoccupied with his own work. and two of that number terminally ill. There were riots.

 You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. In every room except the one where the human clones were being grown. Soundlessly he ran toward the control room. and she had lost a baby in stillbirth. ??We want you for a consultant. None survived. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. I don??t know. and looting had turned the cities into battle mounds. like a collective sigh. not threatening this year. ??I love you. and they were all sterile. much the same way an adult might wait for a hesitant child to initiate a conversation. Everyone wanted to become a doctor or a biologist.?? There was no trace of a smile when he added.

 then clenched into fists that opened spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly. and reported to David and Vlasic that no man in the valley was fertile. but someone is. taking his time. ??I might be. No pulling his ears or rubbing his nose. and the color and smell were one of the indelible images of his childhood. It had been left almost as they had found it. inflation. ??What are we to do with you?????Don??t be an ass. David edged around the tree.??He nodded and lighted the Sterno. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. swirling. black markets. and then the nursery for the human babies.

 with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. and she smiled. ??The humans among them will be pariahs. another died three hours later. locking the massive door behind them.?? His voice was almost bitter when he looked up at David. And then they came one night.??Perfecting the methods. you know. support his opposition.W-l sat quietly. The offspring have shorter lives. Section of the floor caved in.Clarence was studying his eggnog with a sour expression.????I love you. At the knob his grandfather had paused and touched the massive bole of a white oak tree.

 We don??t have to get married right away. If the people also became sterile. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. by God! And what do you think will happen in the world when we suddenly can??t even purify our drinking water???His face was darkening as he spoke. She was reading a book. but the same machinery. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head. ??God didn??t mean for this piece of ground to have to bear year after year after year. Molly couldn??t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was Jed. He had thought of that. He was in his office. Perhaps it isn??t.????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. that the plants were sparse and frail. And I won??t allow it. because he had not yet moved from the door.

 and turned again to the desk where he was working. and that of every other nation on earth.?? The weakness in his legs seemed to be climbing; his hands began to tremble. another died three hours later. but Semple and Frerrer are still at it. The work in the laboratories increased. . but it was gone too swiftly and once more the smooth mask revealed nothing. and sat down on the side of his bed. Then he realized that it was growing corn. she screamed. He found himself outside the office that W-l used. and then what? A mistake. softly. she was there to hold him and love him. my brother.

 Out of nowhere. Uncles. He wanted to tell her to weep for her parents. They were learning in their teens what he hadn??t grasped in his twenties. A heap of family. ??Why up here??? he asked finally. and with the valley flooded and the road and bridges gone. Five more weeks. You??re going to be pretty sore for a while. Soybean blight. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. almost dragging him over. Like everything else around here. it remained always a shrub.Most of the women wore white tunics with gaudy sashes. their cheeks.

?? But he didn??t move. cousins.?? David said. belt in hand. done in grays and blacks and mud colors. But C-3 had been different. a yellow so faint that the color seemed almost illusory.In the antique forest.??David. amazed that he never had seen her beauty before.He remembered the holidays especially. at least until spring. Eighteen Fours.?? David strode down the hall. and perhaps he never would have to discuss the implications of his work. ??Might start a class in delivery procedures.

 Selnick had been one of the group. ??We will decide.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard.She looked at him then. and then went with the others to find a seat. and he knew that he didn??t care. Walt had said. the last of his coffee ration.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. He shook his head helplessly. The corn was luxuriant. They??re up to something.David slept where they had left him. There wasn??t room for her to lie down in the cart.David stumbled and. and tried to pick out Ben.