"David Gerrold - [SS] The Strange Disappearance of David Gerrold" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gerrold David)

sound of the brakes, he raised his face to mine, he was painted in green and blue
camouflage to match his skintight costume. He looked likeтАФhe had a surreal quality,
like an animated painting. For an instant, I wasnтАЩt sure what I was seeing. But I could
tell he was injured and in pain and frightenedтАФ

I got out of the car, leaving the driver-side door hanging open, ran to the back
of the camper and grabbed my red backpackтАФmy emergency kit. Everything from
Tums to toilet paper. Batteries, Band-Aids, water bottle, wet-wipes, aspirin, gauze,
tape, Neosporin ointment, scissors, knife, plastic tableware, poncho, even a soft
navy-blue blanket. I talked patiently and quietly to the boy as if he were a frightened
animal. тАЬItтАЩs all right, IтАЩm a friend. IтАЩm not going to hurt you. IтАЩm here to help you.
DonтАЩt be afraid. IтАЩll get you free from there. Do you have a name?тАЭ

He was making sounds in his throat that werenтАЩt wordsтАФat least, not words
that I could identify. Liquid, hissing sounds. His hair was greenish, which suggested
that his natural color was blond, but it was blue and dark beneath the green, so what
did I know? His eyes were wide and almost Asian-looking. His skin had a kind of
oily sheen, maybe it was the camouflage paint, but the closer I looked the less it
looked like paint. Most face-painting isnтАЩt that detailed or as exquisite. It couldnтАЩt
have been a tattooтАФtats donтАЩt come in colors that clean and bright or with shading
that subtle. He looked a little shiny, almost as if he were scaled like a fish; but he also
looked as if he had soft downy fur as well; but overall, I had the weird sensation that
he was as much a part of the plant world as the animal kingdom. He moved with a
slow, silent graceтАФa bit like a dancer, but a bit like a willow waving in the wind.
 I touched his shoulder. It startled me. He wasnтАЩt wearing a skin-tight shirt after
all. This was his naked skin. He was naked all over, he was blue-green all over. Not
blue-green like a corpse, but blue-green like a tropical plant. His feet were small; his
toes were elongated and they looked webbed; I didnтАЩt have time to examine. He
didnтАЩt seem to have any genitals, or maybe they were tucked within his genital slit, I
couldnтАЩt tell; but he was definitely male in appearance and attitude. His bare skin was
cool to the touch; not cold, but coolтАФas if he had spent most of the day naked in
this high bright timberland. The air was crisp, but the sun was surprisingly warm; if
he had been out in the sun for a whileтАФ

It didnтАЩt matter. He shivered at my touch, but he didnтАЩt draw back. I could
see how he was tangled in the barbed-wire fence and how his skin was scratched
and cut deeply in several places. On a hunch, I went pawing through the jetsam at the
bottom of the backpack. I was in the habit of tossing loose tools into the pack rather
than let them rattle around the camper shell, and I had been wiring in some new
speakers a few months back, and I hadnтАЩt been able to find my wire-cutters
anywhere in the house the next time I needed them, so I had been assuming since
then that they were probably still in the camperтАФand yes, finally, my hand closed
around the grip and I pulled the cutters free with a soft whispered, тАЬYes!тАЭ

The wire was stiff and thick, and these cutters were way too small for the job.
I had to use both hands, and I donтАЩt have the strength in my arms and hands that I
used to, but thereтАЩs that strength that comes from adrenaline and fear, and somehow
I finally snapped through the top wire and it spanged free and away, and then, I
donтАЩt remember exactly how I did it, but I came up under the boy and lifted him off
the wire, ending up with him half over my shoulder, I almost stumbled backward, but