"Baxter, Stephen - Huddle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Baxter Stephen)

He tucked his head under his arm and turned his back to the wind. He stood the
cold as long as he could.

Then, following the lead of others, he worked his way around the rim of the
group, to its leeward side. At least here he was sheltered. And after a time
more came around, shivering and iced up from their time to windward, and
gradually he was encased once more in warmth.

Isolated on their scrap of ice, with no shelter save each other's bodies from
the wind and snow, the little group of humans huddled in silence. As they took
their turns at the windward side, the group shifted slowly across the ice, a
creeping mat of fur.

Sometimes children were born onto the ice. The people pushed around closely, to
protect the newborn, and its mother would tuck it away into the warmth of her
body. Occasionally one of them fell away, and remained where she or he lay, as
the group moved on.

This was the huddle: a black disc of fur and flesh and human bones, swept by the
storms of Earth's unending winter.

A hundred thousand years after the Collision, all humans had left was each
other.

Spring came slowly.

Dwarfed by the desolate, rocky landscape, bereft of shelter, the humans
scratched at their isolated puddle of ice, beginning the year's feeding.

Night-Dawn scraped ice from his eyes. He felt as if he were waking from a
year-long sleep. This was his second spring, and it would be the summer of his
manhood. He would father children, teach them, and protect them through the
coming winter. Despite the depletion of his winter fat, he felt strong,
vigorous.

He found Frazil. They stood together, wordless, on the thick early spring ice.

Somebody roared in his ear, hot foul breath on his neck.

It was, of course, the Bull. The old man would not see another winter; his
ragged fur lay loose on his huge, empty frame, riven by the scars of forgotten,
meaningless battles. But he was still immense and strong, still the Bull.

Without preamble, the Bull sank his teeth into Night-Dawn's neck, and pulled
away a lump of flesh, which he chewed noisily.

Night-Dawn backed away, appalled, breathing hard, blood running down his fur.

Frazil and No-Sun were here with him.