"Brian Lumley - E-Branch 2 - Invaders" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lumley Brian)

survive in/ she nodded.
'Right/ Finally Jake glanced at her - at her this time. And while he was still looking she grinned
nervously and said:
'What a place to spend your honeymoon! I should never have let you talk me into it/ A witticism,
of course.
'Huh!' was his reply. Shielding his eyes, he switched his attention back to the rounded hills with
the sun's rim sitting on them like a golden, pus-filled blister on the slumping hip of some
gigantic, reclining, decomposing woman.
'Fuel gauge is low/ Liz tapped on the gauge with a fingernail. 'Are we sure there's a gas station
out here?' In fact she knew there was; it was right there on the map. It was just the awful heat,
the condition of the road, evening setting in, and a perfectly normal case of nerves. Liz's tended
to fray a little from time to time. As for Jake's ... well, she wasn't entirely sure about his,
didn't even know if he had any.
'Gas station?' He glanced at her again. 'Sure there is. To service the local "community". Heck,
around these parts there's point nine persons per hundred square miles!' While Jake's sarcasm
dripped, it wasn't directed entirely at Liz but rather at their situation. Moreover, she thought
she detected an unfamiliar edge to his voice. So perhaps he did have nerves after all. But still
his completely humourless attitude irritated her.
'That many people? Really?' For a moment she'd felt goaded into playing this insufferable man at
his own game ... but only for a moment. Then, shrugging, she let it go. 'So what's it doing here?
The gas station, I mean/
'It's a relic of the gold rush/ he answered. 'The Australian Government keeps such places going
with subsidies, or they simply couldn't exist. They're watering holes in the middle of nowhere,
way stations for the occasional wanderer. Don't expect too much, though. Maybe a bottle of warm
beer - make sure you

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knock the cap off yourself... yes, I know you know that - no food, and if you need the loo you'd
better do it before we get there.' Good advice, around these parts.
The road vanished about a mile ahead: an optical illusion, just like the heat haze. As the hills
got higher, so the road began to climb, making everything seem on a level, horizontal. Only the
throb of the motor told the truth: that the Land Rover was in fact labouring, however slightly.
And in another minute they crested the rise.
Then Jake brought the vehicle to a halt and they both went off into the scrub fifty yards in
different directions. He got back first, was leaning on his open door, peering through binoculars
and checking the way ahead when Liz returned.
'See anything?' she asked, secretly admiring Jake where he stood unselfconsciously posed, with one
booted foot on the door sill, his jeans outlining a small backside and narrow hips. But the rest
of him wasn't small. He was tall, maybe six-two, leggy and with long arms to match. His hair was a
deep brown like his eyes, and his face was lean, hollow-cheeked. He looked as if a good meal