"Davis, Jerry - Halloween Ants" - читать интересную книгу автора (Davis Jerry) pausing in his knife sharpening. Brad edged past him, and passing
the meat section. The butcher followed. Forgetting about food, Brad decided he'd better get out of there. It was an eat-or-be-eaten situation and he was outnumbered. Ahead was a big guy Ц he was huge! Ц who had a demented expression and appeared to be drooling. He turned his cart so that he blocked Brad's way, and just stood and stared at him with bugged-out eyes. His mouth was open and he was biting his tongue. He grinned at Brad. Brad made a quick left down the junk food aisle only to find two women had their carts side by side at the far end, blocking him in. He continued down the aisle until it was apparent that the ladies were not going to move. Turning around, Tom found the big guy and the butcher had him blocked at the other end, and behind them was the checkout woman. Brad continued toward the two women at the far end, gaining speed until he was trotting. Either they were going to move their carts or he was going to ram them. Their expressions became alarmed, and they moved to one side but left their carts where they were. Brad rammed their carts with his, making a loud crash and sending the carts and the groceries tumbling. The women hissed and snarled at him as he scrambled past. He leaped over a chain and past a register, but slipped and landed hard on the worn linoleum. As he got to his feet, he saw people running toward him. The manager, the other checkers, the women with the carts. The big look, and Brad turned and sprinted for the door, banging into it and shoving it open. He was out before they could reach him, and his feet pounded the pavement across the parking lot. The cats, he saw, were no longer fighting. One was dead and being fed upon by the other. Just before he rounded the corner he looked back, seeing a few of them standing in the parking lot staring back at him, but none were pursuing. As he passed the gas station and headed down the street where he lived, his running slowed to a jog and then he abruptly stopped. He bent forward, hands on trembling knees, and fought to catch his breath. As he stood there panting, his thoughts became clear. The whole town seemed to be going nuts, but how could that be? How could the town be going crazy? He thought about it, trying to reason it through. First the dream, and then the insane thoughts. Then everyone seemed crazy to him Ц predatory Ц as if they were sharing his sudden cravings for human flesh. Brad decided that at some point his mind had snapped. The emotional strain of losing his wife to that bastard, that self-important, smug, swaggering jerk Е his brain couldn't deal with it, his subconscious rebelling against his conscious mind, because his conscious refused to allow himself to commit murder no matter how justified he felt. Brad straightened and resumed walking up the street, feeling the insanity, seeing through it like a filter. No one had actually |
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