Full Transcript for Small World - William F Nolan

they moved toward him along the street. God, 35 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:25.800 had he been seen? He couldn't be sure. Perhaps they 36 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:29.039 were aware of his position. He should have remained on 37 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:33.000 the open street, where he'd had a running chance. Perhaps, 38 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:36.240 if his aim were true, he could kill most of them. 39 00:02:36.680 --> 00:02:39.919 But even with its silener, the gun would be heard, 40 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:43.159 and more of them would come. He dared not fire 41 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:47.599 until he was certain they discovered him. They came closer, 42 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:52.800 the small, dark bodies crowding the walk, six of them, chattering, leaping, 43 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:57.599 cruel mouths, open eyes, glittering under the moon. Closer, the 44 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:03.280 shrill pipings increased, rose in closer. Now he could make 45 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:06.400 up their sharp teeth and matted hair, only a few 46 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:09.719 feet from the car. His hand was moist on the 47 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:14.240 handle of the automatic. His heart thundered, his chest seconds away. 48 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:20.000 Now Louis Stillman fell heavily back against the dusty seat cushion, 49 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:23.639 the gun loose in his trembling hand. They passed by. 50 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:28.159 They had missed him. Their thin pipinges diminished, grew faint 51 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:33.159 with distance. The tomb silence of late night settled around him. 52 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:39.280 The delicatessen proved a real windfall. The shells were relatively untouched, 53 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:42.400 and he had a white choice of tinned goods. He 54 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:46.240 found an empty cardboard box and hastily began to transfer 55 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:50.039 the cans from the shelf nearest him. A noise from behind, 56 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:55.520 a padding scraping sound. Louis Stillman whirled around the automatic, 57 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:59.800 ready a huge mongrel dog faced him, growling deep in 58 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:04.159 the throat folicks braced for an assault. The blunt ears 59 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:07.400 were laid flat along the short haired skull, and a 60 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:11.240 thin trickle of saliva seeped from the killing jawers. The 61 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:13.759 beast's powerful chest muscles were bunched. 62 00:04:13.479 --> 00:04:14.000 For the spring. 63 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:18.759 When Stillman acted, the gun he knew was useless, the 64 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:22.319 shots would be heard. Therefore, with the full strength of 65 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:24.839 his left arm, he hurled a heavy cat at the 66 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:29.079 dog's head. The stunned animals staggered under the blow leke's 67 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:33.800 buckling hurriedly. Stillman gathered his supplies and made his way 68 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:38.079 back to the street. How much longer can my luck hold, 69 00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:42.040 Louis Stillman wondered as he bolted the door. He placed 70 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:44.839 the box of tinned goods on a wooden table and 71 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:49.600 lit the tall lamp nearby. A flickering orange glow illumined 72 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:53.879 the narrow, low ceiling room. As Stillman seated himself on 73 00:04:53.879 --> 00:04:57.720 one of three chairs facing the table. Twice to night, 74 00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:01.360 his mind told him twice, you've escape them, and they 75 00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:04.800 could have seen you easily on both occasions if they 76 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:07.800 had been watching for you. They don't know you're alive, 77 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:12.360 but when they find out. He forced his thoughts away 78 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:16.000 from the scene in his mind, away from the horror. Quickly, 79 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:19.319 he stood up and began to unload the box, placing 80 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:21.879 the cans on a long shelf along the far side 81 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:25.240 of the room. He began to think of women, of 82 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:27.879 a girl named Joan, and of how much he had 83 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:33.680 loved her. The world of Lewis Stillman was damp and lightless. 84 00:05:34.199 --> 00:05:37.360 It was narrow, and its cold stone walls pressed in 85 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:40.279 upon him as he moved. He had been walking for 86 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:44.240 several hours. Sometimes he would run, because he knew his 87 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:47.759 leg muscles must be kept strong. But he was walking now, 88 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:51.399 following the thin yellow beam of his hooded lantern. He 89 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:56.639 was searching tonight. He thought, I might find another like myself. 90 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:00.399 Surely someone is down here. I'll find some if I 91 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.800 keep searching, I must find someone. 92 00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:05.079 But he knew he would not. 93 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:08.600 He knew he would find only chill, emptiness ahead of 94 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:12.600 him in the tunnels. For three long years, he had 95 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:15.600 been searching for another man or woman down here in 96 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:19.519 this world under the city. For three years he had 97 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:23.120 prowled the seven hundred miles of storm drains which threaded 98 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:26.000 their way under the skin of Los Angeles like the 99 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:29.360 veins in the giant's body, and he had found nothing. 100 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:30.519 Nothing. 101 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:35.079 Even now, after all the days and nights of search, 102 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:38.240 he could not really accept the fact that he was alone, 103 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:40.759 that he was the

last man alive in a city 104 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:45.759 of seven million, that all the others were dead. He paused, 105 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:49.079 resting his back against the cold stone. 106 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:50.000 Some of them were. 107 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:53.160 Moving over the street above his head. He listened to 108 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:56.399 the sharp scuffling sounds on the pavement and swore bitterly, 109 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:01.360 damn you, said Louis Stillman, lovely damn all of you. 110 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:08.160 Louis Stillman was running down the long tunnels. Behind him, 111 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:11.319 a tide of migerd shadows washed from wall to wall. 112 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:16.160 High keening cries, doubled and tripled by echoes, rang in 113 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:20.639 his ears. Clothes reached for him. He felt panting breath 114 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:24.000 like hot smoke on the back of his neck. His 115 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:28.959 lungs were bursting, his entire body of flame. He looked 116 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:31.959 down at his fast pumping legs doing their job with 117 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:35.560 pistoned precision. He listened to the sharp slap of his 118 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:38.160 heels against the floor of the tunnel, and he thought 119 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:42.399 I might die at any moment. But my legs will escape. 120 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:45.319 They will run on down the endless drains and never 121 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:49.120 be caught. They moved so fast, while my heavy, awkward 122 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:52.879 upper body rocks and sways above them, slowing them down, 123 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:57.959 tiring them, making them angry. How my legs must hate me. 124 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:01.319 I must be clever and humor them, begged them to 125 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:04.839 take me along to safety. How well they ran, how 126 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:10.279 sleek and fine. Then he felt himself coming apart. His 127 00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:13.879 legs were detaching themselves from his upper body. He cried 128 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:17.360 out in horror, flailing the air with his arms, beseeching 129 00:08:17.399 --> 00:08:20.680 them not to leave him behind. But the legs cruelly 130 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:24.680 continued to unfasten themselves. In a cold surge of terror, 131 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:29.079 Lewis Dullmann felt himself tipping, falling toward the damp floor, 132 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:32.200 while his legs raced on with the wild animal life 133 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:35.240 of their own. He opened his mouth high above the 134 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:41.080 insane legs and screamed, ending the nightmare. He sat up 135 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:46.039 stiffly in his cot, grasping drenched in sweat. He drew 136 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:49.240 in a long, shuddering breath and reached for a cigarette. 137 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:53.559 He lit it with a trembling hand. The nightmares were 138 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:57.000 getting worse, He realized that his mind was reveling as 139 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.600 he slept, spilling forth the bottled up fear of the day. 140 00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:04.559 During the night hours, he thought once more about the 141 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:08.000 beginning six years ago, about why he was still alive, 142 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:11.639 the last of his kind. The alien ships had struck 143 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:16.000 Earth suddenly, without warning. Their attack had been twor and deadly. 144 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:19.399 In a matter of hours. The aliens had accomplished their 145 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:22.759 clever mission, and the men and women of Earth were destroyed. 146 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:26.559 A few survived. He was certain he had never met 147 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:29.919 any of them, but he was convinced they existed. Los 148 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:32.559 Angeles was not the world after all, and if he 149 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:36.720 escaped so much have others around the globe. He had 150 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:40.080 been working alone in the drains when the alien ships appeared, 151 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:43.919 finishing a special job for the construction company on b Tunnel. 152 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:47.039 He could still hear the weird sound of the mammoth 153 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:51.799 ships and feel the intense heat of their passage. Hunger 154 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:55.480 had forced him out, and overnight he became a curiosity, 155 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.919 the last man alive for three years. 156 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:00.000 He was not harmed. 157 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:03.600 He worked with them, taught them many things, and tried 158 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:07.679 to win their confidence, but eventually certain ones came to 159 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:11.039 hate him, to be jealous of his relationship with the others. 160 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:14.840 Luckily he had been able to escape to the drains. 161 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:18.399 That was three years ago, and now they had forgotten him. 162 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:22.639 His later excursions to the upper level of the city 163 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:25.919 had been made under the cover of darkness, and he 164 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:30.120 never ventured out unless his food supply dwindled. Water was 165 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:33.200 provided by rain during the wet months and by bottled 166 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:37.200 liquids during the dry. He had built his one room 167 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:40.799 structure directly to the side of an overhead grating, not 168 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.720 close enough to risk their seeing, but close enough for 169 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:47.600 light to seep in during the sunlight hours. He missed 170 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:50.440 the warm field of open sun on his body almost 171 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:53.559 as much as he missed the companionship of

others, but 172 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:56.159 he could not think of risking himself above the drains 173 00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:02.080 by day. Sometimes he got insane thoughts. Sometimes, when the 174 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:05.639 loneliness closed in like an immense fist and he could 175 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:08.519 no longer stand the sound of his own voice, he 176 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:10.679 would think of bringing one of them down with him 177 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:14.519 into the drains, one at a time. They could be handled. 178 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:19.320 Then he remembered their sharp, savage eyes, their animal ferocity, 179 00:11:19.559 --> 00:11:23.080 and he would realize that the idea was impossible. If 180 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:26.759 one of their kinds appeared suddenly and without trace. Others 181 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:30.720 would certainly become suspicious, begin to search for him, and 182 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:34.919 it would all be over. Lewis Stillman settled back into 183 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:38.639 his pillow, pulling the blankets tight about his body. He 184 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:41.000 closed his eyes and tried not to listen to the 185 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:45.600 distant screams, pipings, and really cries filtering down from the 186 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:51.039 street above his head. Finally he slept. He spent the 187 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:55.080 afternoon with paper women. He lingered over the pages of 188 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:59.919 some yellowed fashioned magazines, looking at all the beautifully photographs 189 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:04.480 models in their fine clothes, all slim and enchanting. These 190 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:09.600 page women with their cool, enticing eyes and perfect smiles, 191 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:14.000 all grazed and softness and glitter and sword cloth. He 192 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:18.559 touched their images with gentle fingers, stroking the tawny paper hair, 193 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:22.519 as though by some magic formula he might imbue them 194 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:26.159 with life. It was easy to imagine that these women 195 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:29.399 had never really lived at all, that they were simply 196 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:34.039 painted in microscopic detail by sly artists to give the 197 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:38.080 illusion of photos. He didn't like to think about these 198 00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:43.720 women and how they died. That evening, Lewis Stillman watched 199 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:46.759 the moon round and high and yellow in the night sky. 200 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:49.639 And he thought of his father, and of the long 201 00:12:49.720 --> 00:12:54.519 hikes through the moonlit main countryside, of hunting trips, and 202 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:58.559 warm camp fires of the main woods, rich and green 203 00:12:58.600 --> 00:13:02.120 in summer. He thought of his father's hopes for his future, 204 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:05.200 and the words of that tall, gray haired figure came 205 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:09.720 back to him. You'll be a fine doctor, Lewis. Study 206 00:13:09.799 --> 00:13:11.600 and work hard, and you'll succeed. 207 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:12.679 I know you will. 208 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:17.360 He remembered the long winter evenings of study at his 209 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:22.320 father's great mahogany desk, poring over medical books and journals, 210 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:27.159 taking notes, sifting and re sifting facts. He remembered one 211 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:32.240 set of books, in particular, Ericsson's monumental three volume texts 212 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:36.919 on Sugary, richly bound and stamped in gold. He had 213 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:41.399 always loved these books above all others. What had gone 214 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:45.559 wrong along the way? Somehow the dream had faded, The 215 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:49.000 bright girl vanished and was lost. After a year of 216 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:52.480 pre med at the University of Southern cal he had 217 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:56.440 given up medicine. He had become discouraged and quit college 218 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:00.279 to take a laborer's job with the construction company. How 219 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:03.919 ironic was this move should have saved his life. He 220 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:06.919 wanted to work with his hands, to sweat and labor 221 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:10.000 with the muscles of his body. He'd wanted to earn 222 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:13.919 enough to marry Joan, and then later perhaps he would 223 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:17.759 have returned to finish his causes. It all seemed so 224 00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:21.399 far away now, his reason for quitting, for letting his 225 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:27.120 father down. Now, at this moment, an overwhelming desire gripped him, 226 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:31.879 a desire to pore over Ericsson's pages once again, to recreate, 227 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:35.519 even for a brief moments, the comfort and happiness of 228 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:39.519 his childhood. He had seen a duplicate set on the 229 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:43.200 second floor of Pickwick's Bookstore in Hollywood, in their used 230 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:46.480 book department, and now he knew he must go after them, 231 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:49.600 bring the books back with him to the drains. It 232 00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:52.360 was a dangerous and foolish desire, but he knew he 233 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:55.600 would obey it, despite the risk of death. He would 234 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:56.159 go after the. 235 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:56.919 Books to night. 236 00:14:57.399 --> 00:15:03.879 Tonight, one corner of Louis Stillman's room was reserved for weapons. 237 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:08.480 His prize, a Thompson submachine, had been procured from the 238 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:13.759 Los Angeles Police Arsenal. Supplementing the Thompson were two semi 239

00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:18.000 automatic rifles, a Looger, a cort point four five and 240 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:22.039 a point two two caliber hornet pistol equipped to the silencer. 241 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:26.360 He always kept the smallest gun in a spring clip 242 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:29.840 holster beneath his armpit, but it was not his habit 243 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:32.720 to carry any of the larger weapons with him into 244 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:38.360 the city. On this night, however, things were different. The 245 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:42.279 drains ended two miles short of Hollywood, which means he 246 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:45.519 would be forced to cover a long and particularly hazardous 247 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:48.080 stretch of ground in order to reach the book store. 248 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:52.080 He therefore decided to take along the point tree zero 249 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:56.120 caliber Savage rifle in addition to the small hand weapon. 250 00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:01.080 You're a fool, Lewis, he told himself as he slid 251 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:04.600 the old Savage from its leather case. Are the books 252 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:08.639 important enough to raise your life? Yes, another part of 253 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:12.240 him replied, they are that important. If you want a 254 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:15.559 thing badly enough, and the thing is worth while, then 255 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:16.279 you must. 256 00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:16.679 Go after it. 257 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:19.440 If he here holds you like a rat in the dark, 258 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:22.720 then you are worse than a coward. You betray yourself 259 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:26.399 and the civilization you represent. Go out and bring the 260 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:32.120 books back. Running in the chill wind, grass now pavement, 261 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:38.039 now grass beneath his feet, ducking into shadows, moving stealthily 262 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:43.159 past shops and theaters, rushing under the cold moon, Santa 263 00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:48.679 Monica Boulevard, then Highland, the Hollywood Boulevard, and finally, after 264 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:54.840 an eternity of heart beats, the book store Pickwicks Lilis. Stillman, 265 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:59.039 his rifle over one shoulder, the small automatic gleaming in 266 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:04.279 his hand, aged silently into the store. A paper battleground 267 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:08.440 met his eyes in the filtered moonlight. A white blanket 268 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:12.279 of broken backed volumes spilled across the entire lower floor. 269 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:17.960 Stillman shuddered. He could envision them shrieking, scrabbling at the shelves, 270 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:23.599 throwing books wildly across the room at one another, screaming, ripping, destroying. 271 00:17:24.680 --> 00:17:27.519 What of the other floors, what of the medical section? 272 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:32.279 He crossed to the stairs, spilled pages crackling like a 273 00:17:32.359 --> 00:17:35.599 fall of dry leaves under his step, and sprinted up 274 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:40.680 the first short flight to the mezzanine, similar chaos. He 275 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:44.599 hurried up to the second floor, stumbling, terribly afraid of 276 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:48.640 what he might find. Reaching the top, his heart plooding, 277 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:54.240 he squinted into the dimness. The books were undisturbed. Apparently 278 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:58.279 they had tired of their game before reaching these he 279 00:17:58.359 --> 00:18:01.119 slipped the rifle from his shoulder and placed it near 280 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:05.519 the stairs. Dust lay thick all around him, powdering up 281 00:18:05.559 --> 00:18:09.519 and swirling. As he moved down the narrow aisles. A damp, 282 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:13.279 leathery mustiness lived in the air, an odor of mold 283 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:18.599 and neglect. Louis Stillman paused before a dim hand lettered 284 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:22.839 sign medical section. It was just as he had remembered it. 285 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:27.920 Holstering the small automatic, he struck a match, shading the 286 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:30.559 flame with a cupped hand as he moved it along 287 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:36.640 the rows of faded titles Carr, Davidson, en Wright, Ericsson. 288 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:41.799 He drew in his breath sharply. All three volumes, their 289 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:45.960 gold stamping dust out but readable, stood in tall and 290 00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:50.799 perfect order on the shelf in the darkness. Louis Stillman 291 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:55.440 carefully removed each volume, blowing it free of dust. At last, 292 00:18:55.880 --> 00:18:59.799 all three books were cleaned and solid in his hands. Well, 293 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:03.039 you've done it, You've reached the books, and now they 294 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:07.480 belong to you, he smiled, thinking of the moment when 295 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:09.640 he would be able to sit down at the table 296 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:13.319 with his treasure and linger again and again over the 297 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:17.880 wondrous pages. He found an empty carton at the rear 298 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:21.640 of the store and placed the books inside. Returning to 299 00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:24.680 the stairs, he shouldered the rifle and began his descent 300 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:28.559 to the lower floor. So far, he told himself, my 301 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:33.240 luck is still holding. But as Lewis Stillman's foot touched 302 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:35.599 the final stare, his luck ran out. 303 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:38.599 The entire lower floor was alive with. 304 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:43.759 Them, rustling like a mass of great insects, gliding toward him, 305 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:48.000 eyes gleaming in the half

light. They converged upon the stairs. 306 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:52.720 They had been waiting for him. Now suddenly the books 307 00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:57.119 no longer mattered. Now only his life mattered, and nothing else. 308 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:00.559 He moved back against the hard wood of the their rail, 309 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:05.480 the curtain of books sliding from his hands. They had 310 00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:08.160 stopped at the foot of the stair. They were silent, 311 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:12.200 looking up at him, the hate in their eyes. If 312 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:15.720 you can reach the street, Stillman told himself, then you've 313 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:18.599 still got half a chance. That means you've got to 314 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:20.920 get through them to the door, all right. 315 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:21.680 Then move. 316 00:20:23.480 --> 00:20:26.720 Lewis Stillman squeezed the trigger of the automatic, and three 317 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:30.279 shots echoed through the silent door. Two of them fell 318 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:34.359 under the bullets. As Stillman rushed into their midst he 319 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:38.160 felt sharp nails claw at his shirt and trousers, heard 320 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:42.160 the cloth ripping away in their grasp. He kept firing 321 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:45.599 the small automatic into them, and three more dropped under 322 00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:49.960 the hail of bullets, shrieking in pain and surprise. The 323 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.640 others spilled back, screaming from the door. The gun was empty. 324 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:58.680 He tossed it away, swinging the heavy Savage rifle free 325 00:20:58.680 --> 00:21:02.680 from his shoulder. At he reached the street, the night air, 326 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:06.880 crisp and cool in his lungs, gave him instant hope. 327 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:10.079 I can still make it, thought Stillman, as he leaped 328 00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:13.240 the curb and plunged across the pavement. If those shots 329 00:21:13.240 --> 00:21:15.960 were heard, then I've still got the edge. My legs 330 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:21.079 are strong, I can outdistance them. Luck, however, had filled 331 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:24.839 him completely on this night. Near the intersection of Hollywood 332 00:21:24.839 --> 00:21:28.039 Boulevard and Highland, a fresh pack of them swarm towards 333 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:31.519 him over the street. He dropped to one knee and 334 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:35.079 fired into their ranks, the Savage jerking in his hands. 335 00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:39.559 They scattered to either side. He began to run steadily 336 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:42.720 down the middle of Hollywood Boulevard, using the butt of 337 00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:45.599 the heavy rifle like a battering ram as they came 338 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:49.079 at him. As he neared Highland, three of them darted 339 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:53.880 directly into

his path. Stillman fired. One doubled over, lurching 340 00:21:53.960 --> 00:21:58.680 crazily into a jagged plate glass stall front. Another clawed 341 00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:01.319 at him. As he swept round the corner to Highland. 342 00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:05.440 He managed to shake free. The street ahead of him 343 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:09.200 was clear. Now his superior lick power would count heavily 344 00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:12.640 in his favor. Two miles could he make it before 345 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:19.160 others cut him off? Running, reloading, firing, sweat soaking his shirt, 346 00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:23.440 rivering down his face, stinging his eyes. A mile covered 347 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:27.240 half way to the drains. They had fallen back, but 348 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:30.160 more of them were coming, drawn by the rifle shots 349 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:34.920 pouring in from side streets, stalls, and houses. His heart 350 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:38.319 jarred in his body. His breath was ragged. How many 351 00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:42.599 of them around him? A hundred two hundred more coming? 352 00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:43.400 God. 353 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:47.240 He bit down on his lower lip until the salt 354 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:50.400 taste of blood was on his tongue. You can't make it, 355 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:53.359 A voice inside him shouted, they'll have you in another 356 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:57.119 block and you'll know it. He fitted the rifle to 357 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:01.640 his shoulder, adjusted his aim, and fired. The long, rolling 358 00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:04.759 crack of the big weapon filled the night. Again and 359 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:08.200 again he fired the bud jerking into the flesh of 360 00:23:08.200 --> 00:23:11.519 his shoulder, the smell of powder in his nostrils. 361 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:14.680 It was no use. Too many of them. 362 00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:20.559 Lewis Stillman knew that he was going to die. The 363 00:23:20.680 --> 00:23:24.480 rifle was empty at last, the final bullet had been fired. 364 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:27.519 He had no place to run because they were all 365 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:32.440 around him in a slowly closing circle. He looked at 366 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:35.920 the ring of small, cruel faces, and he thought the 367 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:40.359 aliens did their job perfectly. They stopped Earth before she 368 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:43.359 could reach the age of the rocket, before she could 369 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:44.920 threaten planets. 370 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:45.599 Beyond her own moon. 371 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:50.400 What an immensely clever planet had been to destroy every 372 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:53.960 human being on Earth above the age of six, and 373 00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:57.039 then to leave as quickly as they had come, allowing 374 00:23:57.079 --> 00:24:01.200 our civilization to continue on a primitive level. Knowing that 375 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:04.799 Earth's back had been broken, that her survivors would revert 376 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:09.599 to savagery as they grew it into adulthood, Louis Stillman 377 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:12.480 dropped the empty rifle at his feet and threw out 378 00:24:12.519 --> 00:24:18.519 his hands. Listen, he pleaded, I'm really one of you. 379 00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:22.640 You'll all be like me soon. Please listen to me. 380 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:28.839 But the circle tightened relentlessly around Louis stillman. He was 381 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:34.680 screaming when the children closed in End of Small World 382 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:36.039 by William F. 383 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:36.519 Nolan