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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6078d3f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60671 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60671) diff --git a/old/60671-h.zip b/old/60671-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 94830f4..0000000 --- a/old/60671-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/60671-h/60671-h.htm b/old/60671-h/60671-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 625179f..0000000 --- a/old/60671-h/60671-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1411 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Last Days of L.A., by George H. 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Smith - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: The Last Days of L.A. - -Author: George H. Smith - -Release Date: November 11, 2019 [EBook #60671] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST DAYS OF L.A. *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="344" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>The Last Days of L.A.</h1> - -<h2>BY GEORGE H. SMITH</h2> - -<p class="ph1"><i>Murder on a small scale may be illegal<br /> -and unpleasant, but mass murder can be<br /> -the most exhilarating thing in the world!</i></p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Worlds of If Science Fiction, February 1959.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>You are having the same recurring dream, the dream that has haunted -the whole world since that day in 1945. The dream of the sudden flash -in the night, the rising mushroom cloud and then annihilation. You -are living the nightmare again but this time it's true, you know it's -true. You can't be dreaming. The bombs are actually falling and huge -fireballs are sweeping upward while seas of flame spread at supersonic -speeds to engulf the city. You feel the blast, the searing heat, you -feel your flesh melting away. You try to scream but the sound dies -in your throat as your lungs shrivel. Horror makes you try again and -somehow you do scream and wake yourself up.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" width="522" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Once more, this one more time, it is only a dream. You lie there -panting, too weak from terror to move out of the puddle of your own -sweat. You lie there and think and your thoughts aren't very pretty. -It's a week day and you ought to be down at the office turning out -advertising copy by the ton but instead you lie there and think even -though you don't like what you're thinking. It's got to be soon. It -can't be much longer now, not the way things are going.</p> - -<p>You finally crawl out of bed around noon and ease your way into the -kitchen. You realize that you have a hangover and since you can't -remember what you did the night before you suppose you must have been -drunk. By the time you finish one of the two quarts of beer you find in -the refrigerator you know that isn't what you need, so you put on some -clothes and wander out to a bar.</p> - -<p>After a few quick drinks you walk somewhat unsteadily out into the -street again and head toward the place you always think of as The Bar. -A wino edges up to you and asks for money to buy a sandwich and a cup -of coffee.</p> - -<p>You give him a dollar but make him promise not to spend it on anything -so foolish as food. "Liquor, brother, is the salvation of the race," -you tell him. "Believe and be saved!"</p> - -<p>"Amen!" he says and hurries off.</p> - -<p>You make the mistake of stopping to read the headlines on the corner -so you know you're not drunk enough yet. U. S. REJECTS NEW RUSS NOTE. -MOON GUNS CAN DESTROY CITIES: KAGANOVITCH. BURMA LEADER KILLED IN FRESH -UPRISING.</p> - -<p>Just before you get to The Bar you pass an alleyway and as you glance -into the darkness, you see a huge rat standing there staring at you -with arrogant red eyes. After a moment he walks away, unhurried and -cocky. An icy chill runs down your spine. The rats will survive. The -rats always survive. Maybe <i>they</i> are the Master Race. Something else -tugs at your memory, something you read somewhere. Oh yes, it was a -statement by an oceanographer. He said that even if the H-bomb should -annihilate every living thing on the surface of the earth, the sea -creatures would be able to carry on. The rats and the fish will carry -on and build a better world.</p> - -<p>Your friends are sitting in their usual places when you get to The Bar. -John Jones-Very who has the reddest, bushiest and longest beard and -also the record for staying drunk the longest, is doing the talking. -Listening are Dale Bushman who paints huge canvases which he never -finishes, Ian, an out-of-work musician whose last name you don't know, -Pat O'Malley the actor and, of course, Anna.</p> - -<p>Anna is small and thin with deeply tanned skin drawn tightly over high -cheekbones. She wears a plain dress and no makeup and her hair is done -up in a bun on the nape of her neck. The poetry she writes is a kind -of elegant pornography. She is the only one in the group who makes -any money and that is because her book FLAME ROSE has been banned all -across the country. You like her very much, probably because she is the -most irritatingly ugly woman you have ever met.</p> - -<p>A howling bank of jets hurls across the sky screaming for human blood -and you shiver as you squeeze in at the table. You are convinced that -the elementals of hell are loose above and the world is in its last -stages. All the children born this year will probably have twenty-one -teeth and Anti-Christ will walk the land.</p> - -<p>"Why worry about the next war?" Dale Bushman asks. "It won't last -forever."</p> - -<p>"No," John says. "No war ever has ... yet."</p> - -<p>"Do you think it's coming?" you ask.</p> - -<p>"If you read the papers, you'd take to the hills right now," Pat -O'Malley says, finishing his bowl of chili and reaching for his drink.</p> - -<p>"Ah, the hills," Ian says. "But what good? The H-bomb is bad enough but -they'll use the C-bomb, the cobalt bomb, and this is the final weapon."</p> - -<p>"Just the same," you say. "I think we ought to take to the hills." Why -not hide yourself way back of nowhere? Hide so deep in the woods and -mountains that you won't even know when it happens. You could wrap the -silence around you and pull the earth over you. You could bury yourself -so deep that ... but of course you won't. You have a job and, like -everyone else, at least a thousand other reasons for staying on until -the end.</p> - -<p>"But really," you say, "a man should be able to survive a time of -terror by disengaging himself as completely as possible from the rest -of the human race. If he were to reduce his needs to a minimum ... a -little bread, a few vegetables, a blanket or two, a warm cave and...."</p> - -<p>"A blonde or two," Pat says.</p> - -<p>Bushman adds, "A cellar of good Scotch."</p> - -<p>"And books, lots of books," Jones-Very puts in.</p> - -<p>"No blondes, no Scotch, no books," you tell them, banging your mug on -the table so hard their glasses jump. "Minimum needs ... minimum needs!"</p> - -<p>"How about plumbing?" Anna demands. "I won't go without plumbing."</p> - -<p>"We're facing the end of the world," says John, "and you worry about -plumbing!"</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry, but if plumbing isn't going to survive, I'd just as soon -not either," Anna says. "I just can't see myself squatting in the -bushes."</p> - -<p>"What difference does it make?" Ian asks. "Everybody dies anyway. From -the moment you're born, you start dying."</p> - -<p>"Yes, but—"</p> - -<p>"So why bother? Everybody dies. Why prolong it more than you have to? -Everybody dies."</p> - -<p>"Worlds may or may not blow up," O'Malley says, "but it seems to me -it's the little indignities of modern life that hurt the most. The -constant repetition of the advertising slogans that insult your -intelligence, and the women with the pearly teeth and perfect permanent -waves, without body odor or souls."</p> - -<p>"I have body odor," Anna says.</p> - -<p>"But no soul," Ian says. "No soul at all."</p> - -<p>"You're just mad because I wouldn't sleep with you last night."</p> - -<p>"No soul," Ian says.</p> - -<p>The jukebox offers Tin Pan Alley's solution to the whole thing:</p> - -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">OH BABY, OH MY BABY O</div> - <div class="verse indent2">MY BABY IS MY BABY O</div> - <div class="verse">MY BABY IS MY BABY O</div> - <div class="verse indent2">MY BABY LOVES ME O</div> - <div class="verse">SHE DOES, SHE DOES, SHE DOES O</div> -</div></div> - -<p>"Our trouble is too much history," John says. "A period without history -is a happy one and we've had too much history."</p> - -<p>"No soul—too much history," Ian hiccups. "Not enough sex—everybody -dies."</p> - -<p>"Everybody is going to die damn fast, unless something happens," you -say.</p> - -<p>"No soul—so sad," Ian mumbles. "No soul and no sex ... everybody dies, -nothing happens."</p> - -<p>"So what?" Anna demands. "What is life anyway? Why try to be like -everyone else in this beautiful but messy Brave New World of 1970? Why -run searching for a messiah when all the messiahs died a thousand years -ago?"</p> - -<p>This starts you thinking about religion. You've never thought much -about it before but a man can change, maybe even accept the old myths -as real until they actually begin to seem real. Instead of dwelling -on your body being burned to a cinder in an atomic holocaust you could -think of your slightly singed soul being wafted to paradise on a -mushroom cloud while U-235 atoms sing a heavenly chorus to speed you on -your way.</p> - -<p>The others don't even notice when you get up and walk out to look for a -church.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Churches aren't hard to find in Los Angeles on any day of the week or -at any hour of the day. They're behind the blank fronts of painted-over -store windows. They're located in big old nineteenth-century houses -along Adams; they spring up under tents in vacant lots and in large -expensive temples and bank-like buildings in the downtown area.</p> - -<p>You pass by several likely-looking churches because they are in -neighborhoods that have alleyways, and you still remember that rat, -that red-eyed rat.</p> - -<p>Then as you walk through downtown crowds, you remember something else. -Some dentist once said that the teeth of the people in the A-bombed -Japanese cities hadn't been affected by radiation. This is very funny, -it makes you laugh. You picture a world of blistered corpses, none of -whose teeth have been affected. You laugh out loud and people turn to -look at you.</p> - -<p>A woman points you out to a policeman and he looks your way. You want -to keep on laughing but now you don't dare to. So you just keep on -walking, trying to keep the laughter from bubbling out of you.</p> - -<p>"Hey, bud," the policeman calls to you, "what's the matter with you?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing—nothing at all, officer," you tell him, and dive into the -next church you pass.</p> - -<p>This one is called the Church of the New Cosmology. Inside, a -round-faced little man is talking to a few listless people.</p> - -<p>"A geologist will never know the rocks until he has seen the Rock of -Ages. The botanist will never know plants until he has beheld the Lily -of the Valley, the cosmologist will never know the universe until he -has listened to the Word of God!</p> - -<p>"Let us consider for a moment the sun. What do we know about the sun, -my friends? What do the so-called scientists know about it? What do -they tell us about our heavenly light? They say it's a giant ball of -fire millions of miles across and ninety-one million miles away. Now -why, I ask you, would that be so? The Bible says that God made the sun -to light the world. Now have you ever known the Lord to do anything -silly or foolish? Of course you haven't! Then why do they ask us to -believe that He would put the sun, which is supposed to light the -world, ninety-one million miles away from it? An engineer who did -something like that wouldn't be much of a God. The true answer, my -friends, is that Jehovah God did nothing so impractical and no matter -who tells you different, don't believe it!"</p> - -<p>The little man's voice dropped to a husky whisper. "I have studied -my Bible and I've listened to the scientists and I've talked to God -Himself about it and I tell you this is the truth. The sun is our -heavenly light, the sure sign of God's love, and right this minute it -is just two thousand three hundred miles from Los Angeles! It is not a -wasteful million miles across, it is just forty-five and five-tenths -miles across ... just the right size to give us our beautiful -California sunshine.</p> - -<p>"How do I know?" The whisper had grown to a hoarse shout. "How do I -know? I know because it's the Word of God, my friends! The personal -word of God given to me by God Himself.</p> - -<p>"What else do I know? What else has God told me, to confound the -Godless scientists? Why, my friends, the Bible says that this earth -upon which we live is flat—as flat as this book!" He brings his hand -down with a sharp slap on the Bible. "You ask then how is it possible -to circumnavigate the world when it is a flat plane. The answer is that -it isn't possible. A ship that seems to go around the world really -makes a circle on the flat surface like this." With a stubby forefinger -he draws a circle on the book. "Now I know that those scientists up on -the moon say that the world is round, but whoever saw or heard of a -scientist that wasn't a liar? Can any of you really bring yourselves -to believe that this flat earth of ours is traveling through space at -the tremendous speed that they say it is? Tell me, do you feel any wind -from this great speed? Do you feel anything at all?"</p> - -<p>No, you have to admit, you don't. You don't feel a thing. Even his own -congregation doesn't seem to.</p> - -<p>This is thirsty work. You have a couple more drinks and then you -look for another church. You find one called the Church of Christian -Capitalism.</p> - -<p>The thin old man with the dusty fringe of gray hair has his audience -well in hand as you walk in and take a seat. He makes the sign of the -cross and the sign of the dollar over their heads as he harangues them.</p> - -<p>"Blessed are the wealthy for they shall please God," he says. "Christ -was the first capitalist, dear friends. He took a loaf and seven fishes -and blessed them and made them into enough food to feed a multitude. He -walked in poverty but he came to own the world!</p> - -<p>"God is the Good Capitalist, the Owner and Proprietor of all -things on this earth. This country was created by those saints of -Capitalism—Morgan, Rockefeller and Gould."</p> - -<p>Christian Capitalism sends you home to bed by way of another bar.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>You're sitting in a room with people all around you. At first you don't -know why you're there and then you remember it's a party. Everyone -except you is laughing and drinking and having a good time. You have -a strange sense of foreboding, of something about to happen that you -can't avoid. You see a girl you know across the room and get up and -start to cross the room to her.</p> - -<p>There's a sudden blinding flash of light outside the house and the -windows come crashing in. You see murderous slivers of glass piercing -the flesh of those about you and you hurry over to the girl you know -only to find her face and neck slashed by the flying glass and blood -streaming down over her bare breasts. You try to stop the flow of blood -with a handkerchief but it's coming in such strong spurts that you -can't.</p> - -<p>A second shock wave follows the first with an even brighter flash. -You're knocked to the floor and the building comes crashing down. You -struggle against the falling masonry but it does no good. You feel the -crushing weight and scream ... and your screams wake you up.</p> - -<p>You feel almost as bad awake as you did asleep, only now the crushing -weight is on your head instead of your chest and your mouth is filled -with the taste of death and decay. You figure you must have been -drinking last night but you can't quite remember.</p> - -<p>You reach out your hand and it locates a bottle that still guggles a -little. Without opening your eyes you lift it hurriedly to your mouth -and then almost choke trying to spit it out. Mouthwash!</p> - -<p>You manage to get your eyes open, and remember with thankful heart that -today is Sunday and you don't have to go to work. It's been five days -since the last dream and that's not so bad, but just the same you'd -better get up and get a drink because this one really shook you up. Or -maybe you ought to go to church. Perhaps you'd better do both.</p> - -<p>A tall blond man in a black suit is standing on a platform in the -center of a group of forty or fifty intensely quiet people as you -enter.</p> - -<p>"Is there a wall in front of you?" he asks.</p> - -<p>"Yes, there is a wall in front of us," the people answer.</p> - -<p>"Can you see the wall in front of you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, we can see the wall."</p> - -<p>"Is there a wall behind you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, there is a wall behind us."</p> - -<p>"Can you see the wall behind you?"</p> - -<p>They all turn around and look. "Yes, we can see the wall behind us."</p> - -<p>"Is there a floor beneath your feet?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, there is a floor beneath our feet."</p> - -<p>"Are you sure? Feel the floor with your feet."</p> - -<p>There is a loud shuffling as they do as they are told.</p> - -<p>"Are you sure the floor is there?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, we're sure the floor is there."</p> - -<p>"Now feel your feet with the floor."</p> - -<p>There is more shuffling and during this you steal quietly out. This one -reminds you of the D.T.'s and you want nothing at all to do with that.</p> - -<p>You get tossed out of the next place you try because the preacher says -you're drunk. You're not, but you wish you were, so you head toward The -Bar. You stop when you see the sign, "FLYING SAUCER CONVENTION." It's -over the door of a large building and underneath in smaller letters it -says, "Listen to the words of the Space People. Hear the advice they -bring us in these troubled times."</p> - -<p>Surely, you tell yourself, the Space People will have a solution, -surely they can bring peace. You enter and see a young, -ordinary-looking fellow addressing a crowd of about three hundred. You -take a seat next to a bald man who is writing down what the young man -is saying even though it doesn't seem to make much sense.</p> - -<p>"... member of a small group that has been in touch with the Space -People and feel that this world can be saved only through the aid of -superior beings. I will now play this tape which I obtained from the -captain of a Flying Saucer."</p> - -<p>He places the tape on the spindle and it begins to whirl. A voice -begins to speak in slightly stilted English. "I am Lelan. I am what -you people of Earth think of as the head of the government of the -planet Nobila. I speak to you across the parsecs in order to bring you -good and bad news. The good is that a new age is about to begin for -the people of Earth through the aid of we Nobilians. We have already -contacted the President of the United States, the Pope of the Catholic -Church and all other world leaders. A new age is about to begin for you -as soon as we have saved you from the evil influence of the vicious -Zenonians from the planet Zeno. All Earth knowledge will become -obsolete as we supply you with new information and all good things will -be free in the days after we drive the Zenonians from among you.</p> - -<p>"But first we must warn you that the Zenonians will try to stop us, -but you can help avoid this if you are alert. Look around you for -persons who seem strange. It is the Zenonians who have made you what -you are. It is the Zenonians who cause your wars and your crime with -their evil rays. We will use our good Nobil rays to combat their evil -Z rays. When we have driven them out, the world will be a better place -in which to live. But—beware! They are all about you. Examine the man -next to you. Beware! They are all about you. You shall hear from us -again."</p> - -<p>You turn and look at the man next to you; he's looking at you. He <i>is</i> -a rather strange-looking guy and you edge away from him just as he -edges away from you. You turn to look at the man on the other side of -you. He is moving away from you also.</p> - -<p>Then you hear the stories of the people in the audience. Every one of -them who stands up to speak has had a mysterious visitor in the night -or had a flying saucer land in his backyard. Most of them have had -trips to the moon and elsewhere in flying saucers. Space you think must -be as crowded as the Hollywood Freeway at rush hour. Almost all of them -have been contacted by superior beings from space because they are the -only people in the world who are wise enough to interpret the Space -People to the Earth people.</p> - -<p>You feel pretty good from the drinks you've had, so you stand up and -tell them what you think.</p> - -<p>"The first flying saucers were sighted after the atomic bombs were -first exploded," you begin. "And they became very prevalent after the -first Earth satellites were put into space and again after the first -moon rockets. I therefore think that the Earth is a cosmic madhouse in -which the human race has been incarcerated for its own good and that -every time we start rattling the bars, the keepers hurry down to take a -look."</p> - -<p>No one seems to care much for your theory, and you are escorted to the -door none too politely.</p> - -<p>No, the Space People don't seem to have the answer. With the headlines -you see at every corner chasing you, you head for The Bar and dive -gratefully through the door.</p> - -<p>"So everybody dies," Ian is saying. "We're all dying, just sitting -here."</p> - -<p>"Will you stop that? God damn it, will you stop that?" you yell at him.</p> - -<p>Ian looks at you owlishly for a few seconds and then back at his drink. -Jones-Very and the others go right on with the conversation.</p> - -<p>"It's merely what I was saying the other night," Jones-Very says. "It's -the contagious spread of the madness that is epidemic in our time. No -one wants war. But still we are going to have a war. After all, the -very zeitgeist of our times is one of complete callousness toward human -life. You have only to think of the Russian slave camps, the German gas -chambers and our own highway slaughter."</p> - -<p>"Maybe life itself is just some sort of stupid mistake," Anna says. -"Maybe we're a cosmic blunder, a few pimples on the tail of the -universe."</p> - -<p>"That isn't so," you blurt out. "There's purpose—there's got to be -purpose. You can't look around you and say there isn't purpose in the -universe; that there isn't a reason for our being here."</p> - -<p>This time they all turn and look at you strangely. Then they look at -each other.</p> - -<p>"I wonder," Jones-Very says, "if I wasn't closer to the truth than I -thought when I talked about contagion."</p> - -<p>"What the hell do you mean by that?" you demand, half rising from your -seat.</p> - -<p>"Nothing ... nothing at all," Jones-Very says, looking at the others.</p> - -<p>"What this world needs is a moral renovation—a new birth of the -spirit," you go on.</p> - -<p>"Oh, my God," Jones-Very moans, his head in his hands.</p> - -<p>"Would you listen to that, in this age of space stations and moon -guns," Anna says.</p> - -<p>"John, you're right—you're right! It's got him!" Bushman says.</p> - -<p>You won't listen to any more of this. You get to your feet and stagger -with great dignity to the door.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>You're dressed in high altitude equipment and you're sitting in the -nose of a jet bomber listening to the vicious growling of the motors. -You have a tremendous feeling of power and you think about how many -you'll kill this trip. You think about the big black bombs nestled in -the bomb bay and remember there is one for each of the three cities on -your list.</p> - -<p>God, it will be beautiful! You can almost see the glorious colors of -the rising mushroom cloud and hear the screaming of the shattered -atoms. You can't hear the screaming of the people up here, that's one -of the nicest parts of this kind of murder. You can't hear them. This -makes you as happy as it must have made Attila and Hitler when they -killed their millions. Murder on a small scale may be illegal and -unpleasant, but mass murder can be the most exhilarating thing in the -world.</p> - -<p>Then your bombs are gone and you're passing through the most beautiful -clouds you've ever seen but somehow they smell of charred flesh and -even up here you hear the screams of the people. The sound rips -and tears at your brain, destroying what little sanity you have -left. You've got to stop them! You've got to, before they drive you -completely mad. You tilt the nose of the bomber and dive toward the -screams. You've got to stop them! You scream back at them as you dive -and again your own screams wake you up.</p> - -<p>This is the worst one you've ever had and your hangover is almost as -bad. You dress and hurry out of your apartment to get away from the -terror and the guilt but suddenly you remember that you aren't really -the guilty one. Or are you?</p> - -<p>You look for a bar or a place to buy a bottle and then remember that -you haven't any money. You see Pat O'Malley up ahead of you in the -crowd and hurry to catch up with him. He hasn't any money either, so -you suggest that both of you go to church.</p> - -<p>"Why not?" he says. "We have only our souls to lose."</p> - -<p>The two of you enter the first one you come to and the woman on the -platform is an amazing sight. She's big and full-bodied and has all the -grace and arrogance of a lioness. She's got the Word and she's passing -it out in large doses.</p> - -<p>"That's Dr. Elinda A. Egers, D.C.F.," O'Malley whispers. "Doctor of -Complete Faith."</p> - -<p>You watch fascinated as that lush body of hers moves restlessly around -the platform.</p> - -<p>"In these troubled times the tortured mind of man is hanging in the -balance, because he has forgotten his great enemy," Elinda shouts. -There's a wildness in her eyes and a sensuousness in the way she moves -her body that makes you move forward until you're sitting on the edge -of your seat. Any stripper, you muse, would give her G-string to be -able to imitate this woman's uninhibited way with her hips.</p> - -<p>"Why are our asylums filled with millions of the mentally sick? And -why are there tens of millions of the physically sick among us? -WHY?" she demands at the top of her lungs. "Because the doctors and -the psychologists absolutely fail to recognize or blindly refuse to -recognize the demoniac origin of these illnesses. They have failed, my -dear friends, because they are bound to the unreality of conventional -science. They have failed because they did not look into their souls to -see what God has written there for all to read.</p> - -<p>"If we face the truth, we will learn to recognize the presence of -demons and only then can we cure the inflicted!"</p> - -<p>Demons, you think. What a lovely idea. Perhaps you have fallen through -a rift in time and come out in the Middle Ages with only wonderful -things like witches and demons to worry about. You turn to O'Malley to -tell him this, only to find him sound asleep. You've often wondered -where he did his sleeping, and now you know.</p> - -<p>"The battle in the world today is not between nations but between Jesus -Christ and the Devil!" She has gone into a kind of bump and grind -routine now with her hands on those glorious hips and her body moving -back and forth while her legs remain absolutely still. It looks real -good from where you sit but you think it might look even better up -closer so you leave Pat snoring gently and take a seat further toward -the front.</p> - -<p>"Come to me and the Lord will put out his hand and save you. He has -said unto me: 'You shall have the power to cast out demons,' and I have -replied that I will do so. If you feel it, say Amen!"</p> - -<p>There is a lusty chorus of amen's from the winos and bums who fill the -auditorium. You have an idea they were attracted here by the same thing -that keeps you on the edge of your seat.</p> - -<p>A man with the jerks of some sort comes down the aisle and the healing -starts. Dr. Egers lays one hand on his head and the other at the back -of his neck.</p> - -<p>"Get out of him, you demons! Out! Out! In the name of the Lord, I -charge thee—get out!"</p> - -<p>The man jerks even more violently. "Heal him, Lord, heal him! They're -coming out ... the demons are coming out. Can't you feel them leaving -you, brother?"</p> - -<p>The fellow jerks once more and almost falls as an attendant leads -him away. "He's cured," Elinda shouts. "Praise God! He'll never have -another convulsion."</p> - -<p>"Praise God! Praise God!" the congregation shouts. Only the -still-jerking man seems to have any doubts as to his cure.</p> - -<p>"The Power of God will save you," she says to the little boy now -kneeling before her. "From the top of his head to the bottom of his -feet, I charge you, Satan, come out!" She hugs the child against those -astonishing breasts of hers. "This can be your cure if you believe, -Jimmy. All things are possible if you only believe. Little Jimmy, do -you have faith?"</p> - -<p>The boy nods his head eagerly and his face is so full of faith and -belief that you find yourself nodding with him.</p> - -<p>"Restore him tonight in the name of Jesus Christ!" she shouts, placing -her hands on his thin little legs. "This little leg, Lord ... send the -Power to restore this little leg. Drive the demon of evil from it!" Her -voice grows even louder. "The Power is coming! The Power is coming! The -Power is within me now and it will flow from me to you. Do you feel it, -Jimmy? Do you feel it? Do you feel it flowing in your legs?"</p> - -<p>She has lifted him from the floor and is cradling him in her arms. "Do -you feel it, Jimmy?"</p> - -<p>Christ, you can almost feel it yourself.</p> - -<p>"Don't your legs feel different, Jimmy?"</p> - -<p>"I think they're tingling a little," he says.</p> - -<p>"Do you hear that?" she shouts again. "His legs are tingling! The God -Power is making them tingle!" She lowers the child to the floor. "You -can do it, Lord! Send the Power in the name of Jesus! Send it into this -little foot, into this little leg. Try, Jimmy, try it for me, try it -now!"</p> - -<p>Jimmy tries to stand up but wavers and falls. With renewed effort he -manages to pull himself erect and stand swaying.</p> - -<p>"YOU'VE SEEN IT! YOU'VE SEEN IT WITH YOUR OWN EYES!" Elinda screams at -them joyously.</p> - -<p>Sure they've seen it but they don't seem much impressed. In fact, -most of them get up and leave after this round. You ease yourself out -of your seat and head toward the door, because you need a drink, but -you turn before going out to look back at her. She looks tired and -disappointment shows in her full sensuous face.</p> - -<p>You know that she's the most wonderful thing you have ever seen. You've -found your religion. You've found something to worship—Elinda Egers, -the only real goddess in the world. You'll come here every night and -the bomb won't worry you because you have a religion now. Elinda Egers -will save you. You head for the nearest bar, singing "Rock of Ages" at -the top of your lungs.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>You're running ... running, terror riding you like a jockey using the -whip. You're running while a boiling sea of flame rolls over the city. -Behind you and close on your heels come breakers of radioactive hell, -smashing buildings and lifting cars and people into the air. People -are running on all sides of you. A girl in a spangled evening dress, a -puffing little man in Bermuda shorts, a woman carrying two children, a -man with a golf bag over his shoulder and two men in gray flannel suits -followed by a woman in a sack dress that keeps blowing up over her face -as she runs.</p> - -<p>The harder you run, the closer the fire seems to get. You can feel it -singeing your back and the fat little man screams as a lashing tongue -catches up with him and turns him into a cinder. The woman in the sack -dress tramples across the bodies of the two men in gray flannel but -the man with the golf club fights her off with his mashie. Then the -four of them are eaten up by the hungry flames. You moan and your legs -pump harder. There's an underground shelter ahead and you run toward -it only to find the entrance jammed with people. You try to fight your -way in. You grab hold of a man but his boiled flesh comes away in your -hands. Then you see they are all dead, packed together so tightly they -can't fall. You're running again and you see the woman with the two -children only there's nothing left of them but a charred arm and a hand -which she still clutches. The girl in the evening dress falls in front -of you and you stumble over her. You see her dress and then her hair -burst into flames. She throws her arms around you and you feel the -suffocating flames.</p> - -<p>"Oh Lord—Lord," you moan, and wake up. The bottle of wine on the -nightstand is only half empty and you drink from it gratefully and -think of going out for more. But you remember your goddess and you know -that you have to go to see her.</p> - -<p>She's in good form tonight as she talks about the Kinsey Report.</p> - -<p>"If you're listening, say Amen!" She raises both arms as she yells this -and you're amazed at the way her big breasts rise with them.</p> - -<p>"In the Old Testament, God demanded death for the adulteress but Dr. -Kinsey in his day tried to make her sins sound normal. But I tell you -that this sin is the road to Hell, for the person and for the nation. -God has destroyed other cities for this sin and His wrath will fall -upon yours as well.</p> - -<p>"If you're listening, say Amen!"</p> - -<p>"AMEN!"</p> - -<p>"Are you really listening? Do you honestly want to hear? Or do you -prefer the way Los Angeles and the rest of the nation is going? Do you -prefer the way of sex, the way of fornication and adultery? Do you -prefer to read about sixteen-year old girls found in love nests with -older men? Do you prefer to think of boys and girls in the back seats -of cars? Do you prefer to think of some man's hand running over your -daughter's body, touching her...." Elinda Egers is swaying back and -forth, her body rigid, her breath coming faster and faster.</p> - -<p>Someone else is breathing heavily and you're not surprised to find it's -you.</p> - -<p>"If this is what you want, say Amen!"</p> - -<p>"Amen!" you shout before you realize you're not supposed to this time. -No one seems to notice. Beads of perspiration are forming on the back -of your neck and trickling down your spine. The tabernacle is jammed -and there isn't much ventilation. You're dizzy with the wine, lack of -food and desire.</p> - -<p>"Go ahead! Let your kids go to Hell! Let them read comic books and -smoke and drink and fornicate in the back seats of jalopies! Let them -go to filthy movies, let them listen to dirty jokes on television, let -them look at the brazen women with their breasts hanging half out of -their dresses."</p> - -<p>"Oooooh ..." a woman in front of you moans, and you feel like moaning -with her.</p> - -<p>"But if you don't want these things," Elinda shouts, her voice on the -verge of breaking, "sing—sing, sing with me!</p> - -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">"<i>Come home, come home,</i></div> - <div class="verse"><i>Ye who are weary,</i></div> - <div class="verse"><i>Come home.</i>"</div> -</div></div> - -<p>You are sitting in a metal room with telescreens on the wall and a big -red button in front of you. Sweat is standing out on your forehead -and trickling down the back of your neck because you know the time is -coming, the time when you have to decide whether to push that button -and send a dozen ICBM's with hydrogen warheads arcing over the Pole. -In the telescreens you see cities ... peaceful scenes of people going -about their business. Then the people are running, leaping out of their -cars and leaving them on the street, vanishing into buildings and -underground shelters. Your hand is poised over the big red button and -your muscles are tightened as if your whole hand and arm were turned to -wood, and you know that even if you have to, you can't push that button -and destroy half the world.</p> - -<p>Then in one of the telescreens there is a sudden white glare, and the -screen goes blank—burned out—and then in another telescreen you -see destruction fountaining like dirty white dust boiling out of the -streets ... and you see the buildings breaking and falling in rubble, -and now you hear the people's screams, a sound that tears through your -guts and drives you crazy, and the rubble is falling and sending up -more fountains of gray dust—and you know that this is happening to -your own country, your own people, and you have to strike back, you -have to push the button and avenge them, stop the slaughter by killing -the enemy's people and destroying their cities too, but you can't make -yourself push the button, your arm won't move and your fingers are -paralyzed, and then all the telescreens are glaring white or blowing -up in clouds of destruction, and you scream, scream in the metal room -until you can't hear anything but your own screaming, and then somehow -you force your hand down and push the button. And just as you feel it -go down, the walls of the room burst inward in a volcano of noise and -terror and the gray dust comes swirling in over you, blotting out your -screams....</p> - -<p>You wake up and hurry through the streets with this last dream hanging -over you more heavily than any of the others. You've got to run—you've -got to get out. But look at all the other people. None of them are -running. They're going home from work—going into cafes, walking the -dog ... oh God, walking the dog at a time like this....</p> - -<p>You're scared. The bloody world is coming to a bloody end. You know it -just as sure as you're sitting here in the warm sun in MacArthur park -with the fifth you've bought and are drinking from in a paper bag.</p> - -<p>It's close now. You're not sure how close but it's close. The world is -coming to an end and you know you can't convince anyone that it is. You -feel the way Henny Penny—or was it Chicken Little?—must have felt. -The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Hell—you're just one more -caterwauling messiah in a city of messiahs. Los Angeles, where every -man is his own messiah.</p> - -<p>Then you know what the trouble is. You've been looking for someone -to help you, when what you should have been doing was helping them. -Now you realize that you are the <i>one</i>, you are the messiah you've -been seeking. It's up to you to lead them out to the city into the -wilderness. You drink more and you drink it fast and the more you drink -the more a feeling of infinite compassion comes over you for your -fellow men.</p> - -<p>You can save them. You can do it. You drain about two-thirds of the -bottle and then get up and walk toward a man in that uniform of -success, a gray flannel suit.</p> - -<p>"Wait a minute, friend," you say, shifting the bottle to your left hand -so you can take his arm with your right.</p> - -<p>"What is it? What do you want?" he says, looking at you as though -you're drunk.</p> - -<p>"Have you seen the papers today, friend?" you ask.</p> - -<p>"Let go of me," he says, pulling away.</p> - -<p>"If you have seen them, what are you going to do about it?"</p> - -<p>"I'm going home and eat my dinner." He hurries off.</p> - -<p>You approach a plump, pretty little blonde pushing a baby carriage. -"Miss, can I have a few minutes of your time in which to save your -life?"</p> - -<p>She looks frightened and tries to wheel the buggy around you.</p> - -<p>"Have you thought about the future of this dear little child of yours?"</p> - -<p>She breaks into a half trot and soon disappears with the baby carriage -bouncing along ahead of her.</p> - -<p>You sit down for a few minutes and have a few more swallows of the -bourbon. When you get up you're surprised to find that you stagger a -little. But you've got to tell the people, you've got to make them -listen. Your eye lights on a garbage can a short way off and you know -you've found the way to do it. You take a stand beside the can and -with the bottle tucked safely in your pocket you begin to pound on the -can with both hands.</p> - -<p>"Hey, listen, everybody! I've got to tell you about the Last Days of -Los Angeles. Listen to me! I can save you if you'll just listen! You're -doomed. The city is doomed!"</p> - -<p>You pound like mad on the can, but this being L.A. where such things -happen every day, only a very few passersby stop. "Come over here and -let me tell you about it!" you yell. "Do you know what the power of the -H-Bomb can do? Have you heard of the C-Bomb? Do you know what nerve gas -is? Have you seen the Sputniks overhead? Do you know how far an ICBM -will travel and how fast? Do you know that there is no defense?"</p> - -<p>You grab a man by the arm, but he shakes you off, so you reach for a -gray-haired old lady and get an umbrella in your middle from the dear -little thing.</p> - -<p>"Boy, is he ever soused." Two teen-aged girls are standing in front of -you, giggling. "Did you ever see a guy so drunk?"</p> - -<p>You want to save them and you start toward them with outstretched arms, -but they move back into the crowd. This makes you furious and you start -to yell again.</p> - -<p>You grab the nearest person. It's a woman but you shake her anyway. -Someone has got to listen.</p> - -<p>"Let go of me, you masher," the woman screams. "Help, somebody, help!"</p> - -<p>The crowd closes in on you. A sailor grabs you from behind and a man -in working clothes hits you with a lunch bucket. You let go of the -woman and hit back at him.</p> - -<p>"Help! Help!" the woman is still yelping.</p> - -<p>"Call the cops—a man's trying to rape a girl!"</p> - -<p>Someone hits you with an umbrella, and you know it's the same dear -little old lady. A guy grabs you by the neck and tries to throw you to -the ground but you kick him in the groin and trade punches with two -others. Then they're all over you. The old lady trips you and you go -down. She starts beating you with the umbrella as a man's foot smashes -against your head. You see a woman's nylon-clad leg as she raises her -spiked heel and brings it ripping down across your cheek. Other feet -crash into you.</p> - -<p>"Let me help you," you're still yelling, but they keep on kicking. Some -of the shoes have blood on them, you notice through the haze, but they -still keep on kicking.</p> - -<p>Then it's getting dark and you lie there and think how Henny Penny—or -was it Chicken Little?—must have felt. You want to tell someone about -it but you don't. You just lie there and wait for the screaming sirens -to come and take you away.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Last Days of L.A., by George H. Smith - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST DAYS OF L.A. *** - -***** This file should be named 60671-h.htm or 60671-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/6/7/60671/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Smith - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: The Last Days of L.A. - -Author: George H. Smith - -Release Date: November 11, 2019 [EBook #60671] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST DAYS OF L.A. *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - The Last Days of L.A. - - BY GEORGE H. SMITH - - _Murder on a small scale may be illegal - and unpleasant, but mass murder can be - the most exhilarating thing in the world!_ - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Worlds of If Science Fiction, February 1959. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -You are having the same recurring dream, the dream that has haunted -the whole world since that day in 1945. The dream of the sudden flash -in the night, the rising mushroom cloud and then annihilation. You -are living the nightmare again but this time it's true, you know it's -true. You can't be dreaming. The bombs are actually falling and huge -fireballs are sweeping upward while seas of flame spread at supersonic -speeds to engulf the city. You feel the blast, the searing heat, you -feel your flesh melting away. You try to scream but the sound dies -in your throat as your lungs shrivel. Horror makes you try again and -somehow you do scream and wake yourself up. - -Once more, this one more time, it is only a dream. You lie there -panting, too weak from terror to move out of the puddle of your own -sweat. You lie there and think and your thoughts aren't very pretty. -It's a week day and you ought to be down at the office turning out -advertising copy by the ton but instead you lie there and think even -though you don't like what you're thinking. It's got to be soon. It -can't be much longer now, not the way things are going. - -You finally crawl out of bed around noon and ease your way into the -kitchen. You realize that you have a hangover and since you can't -remember what you did the night before you suppose you must have been -drunk. By the time you finish one of the two quarts of beer you find in -the refrigerator you know that isn't what you need, so you put on some -clothes and wander out to a bar. - -After a few quick drinks you walk somewhat unsteadily out into the -street again and head toward the place you always think of as The Bar. -A wino edges up to you and asks for money to buy a sandwich and a cup -of coffee. - -You give him a dollar but make him promise not to spend it on anything -so foolish as food. "Liquor, brother, is the salvation of the race," -you tell him. "Believe and be saved!" - -"Amen!" he says and hurries off. - -You make the mistake of stopping to read the headlines on the corner -so you know you're not drunk enough yet. U. S. REJECTS NEW RUSS NOTE. -MOON GUNS CAN DESTROY CITIES: KAGANOVITCH. BURMA LEADER KILLED IN FRESH -UPRISING. - -Just before you get to The Bar you pass an alleyway and as you glance -into the darkness, you see a huge rat standing there staring at you -with arrogant red eyes. After a moment he walks away, unhurried and -cocky. An icy chill runs down your spine. The rats will survive. The -rats always survive. Maybe _they_ are the Master Race. Something else -tugs at your memory, something you read somewhere. Oh yes, it was a -statement by an oceanographer. He said that even if the H-bomb should -annihilate every living thing on the surface of the earth, the sea -creatures would be able to carry on. The rats and the fish will carry -on and build a better world. - -Your friends are sitting in their usual places when you get to The Bar. -John Jones-Very who has the reddest, bushiest and longest beard and -also the record for staying drunk the longest, is doing the talking. -Listening are Dale Bushman who paints huge canvases which he never -finishes, Ian, an out-of-work musician whose last name you don't know, -Pat O'Malley the actor and, of course, Anna. - -Anna is small and thin with deeply tanned skin drawn tightly over high -cheekbones. She wears a plain dress and no makeup and her hair is done -up in a bun on the nape of her neck. The poetry she writes is a kind -of elegant pornography. She is the only one in the group who makes -any money and that is because her book FLAME ROSE has been banned all -across the country. You like her very much, probably because she is the -most irritatingly ugly woman you have ever met. - -A howling bank of jets hurls across the sky screaming for human blood -and you shiver as you squeeze in at the table. You are convinced that -the elementals of hell are loose above and the world is in its last -stages. All the children born this year will probably have twenty-one -teeth and Anti-Christ will walk the land. - -"Why worry about the next war?" Dale Bushman asks. "It won't last -forever." - -"No," John says. "No war ever has ... yet." - -"Do you think it's coming?" you ask. - -"If you read the papers, you'd take to the hills right now," Pat -O'Malley says, finishing his bowl of chili and reaching for his drink. - -"Ah, the hills," Ian says. "But what good? The H-bomb is bad enough but -they'll use the C-bomb, the cobalt bomb, and this is the final weapon." - -"Just the same," you say. "I think we ought to take to the hills." Why -not hide yourself way back of nowhere? Hide so deep in the woods and -mountains that you won't even know when it happens. You could wrap the -silence around you and pull the earth over you. You could bury yourself -so deep that ... but of course you won't. You have a job and, like -everyone else, at least a thousand other reasons for staying on until -the end. - -"But really," you say, "a man should be able to survive a time of -terror by disengaging himself as completely as possible from the rest -of the human race. If he were to reduce his needs to a minimum ... a -little bread, a few vegetables, a blanket or two, a warm cave and...." - -"A blonde or two," Pat says. - -Bushman adds, "A cellar of good Scotch." - -"And books, lots of books," Jones-Very puts in. - -"No blondes, no Scotch, no books," you tell them, banging your mug on -the table so hard their glasses jump. "Minimum needs ... minimum needs!" - -"How about plumbing?" Anna demands. "I won't go without plumbing." - -"We're facing the end of the world," says John, "and you worry about -plumbing!" - -"I'm sorry, but if plumbing isn't going to survive, I'd just as soon -not either," Anna says. "I just can't see myself squatting in the -bushes." - -"What difference does it make?" Ian asks. "Everybody dies anyway. From -the moment you're born, you start dying." - -"Yes, but--" - -"So why bother? Everybody dies. Why prolong it more than you have to? -Everybody dies." - -"Worlds may or may not blow up," O'Malley says, "but it seems to me -it's the little indignities of modern life that hurt the most. The -constant repetition of the advertising slogans that insult your -intelligence, and the women with the pearly teeth and perfect permanent -waves, without body odor or souls." - -"I have body odor," Anna says. - -"But no soul," Ian says. "No soul at all." - -"You're just mad because I wouldn't sleep with you last night." - -"No soul," Ian says. - -The jukebox offers Tin Pan Alley's solution to the whole thing: - - OH BABY, OH MY BABY O - MY BABY IS MY BABY O - MY BABY IS MY BABY O - MY BABY LOVES ME O - SHE DOES, SHE DOES, SHE DOES O - -"Our trouble is too much history," John says. "A period without history -is a happy one and we've had too much history." - -"No soul--too much history," Ian hiccups. "Not enough sex--everybody -dies." - -"Everybody is going to die damn fast, unless something happens," you -say. - -"No soul--so sad," Ian mumbles. "No soul and no sex ... everybody dies, -nothing happens." - -"So what?" Anna demands. "What is life anyway? Why try to be like -everyone else in this beautiful but messy Brave New World of 1970? Why -run searching for a messiah when all the messiahs died a thousand years -ago?" - -This starts you thinking about religion. You've never thought much -about it before but a man can change, maybe even accept the old myths -as real until they actually begin to seem real. Instead of dwelling -on your body being burned to a cinder in an atomic holocaust you could -think of your slightly singed soul being wafted to paradise on a -mushroom cloud while U-235 atoms sing a heavenly chorus to speed you on -your way. - -The others don't even notice when you get up and walk out to look for a -church. - - * * * * * - -Churches aren't hard to find in Los Angeles on any day of the week or -at any hour of the day. They're behind the blank fronts of painted-over -store windows. They're located in big old nineteenth-century houses -along Adams; they spring up under tents in vacant lots and in large -expensive temples and bank-like buildings in the downtown area. - -You pass by several likely-looking churches because they are in -neighborhoods that have alleyways, and you still remember that rat, -that red-eyed rat. - -Then as you walk through downtown crowds, you remember something else. -Some dentist once said that the teeth of the people in the A-bombed -Japanese cities hadn't been affected by radiation. This is very funny, -it makes you laugh. You picture a world of blistered corpses, none of -whose teeth have been affected. You laugh out loud and people turn to -look at you. - -A woman points you out to a policeman and he looks your way. You want -to keep on laughing but now you don't dare to. So you just keep on -walking, trying to keep the laughter from bubbling out of you. - -"Hey, bud," the policeman calls to you, "what's the matter with you?" - -"Nothing--nothing at all, officer," you tell him, and dive into the -next church you pass. - -This one is called the Church of the New Cosmology. Inside, a -round-faced little man is talking to a few listless people. - -"A geologist will never know the rocks until he has seen the Rock of -Ages. The botanist will never know plants until he has beheld the Lily -of the Valley, the cosmologist will never know the universe until he -has listened to the Word of God! - -"Let us consider for a moment the sun. What do we know about the sun, -my friends? What do the so-called scientists know about it? What do -they tell us about our heavenly light? They say it's a giant ball of -fire millions of miles across and ninety-one million miles away. Now -why, I ask you, would that be so? The Bible says that God made the sun -to light the world. Now have you ever known the Lord to do anything -silly or foolish? Of course you haven't! Then why do they ask us to -believe that He would put the sun, which is supposed to light the -world, ninety-one million miles away from it? An engineer who did -something like that wouldn't be much of a God. The true answer, my -friends, is that Jehovah God did nothing so impractical and no matter -who tells you different, don't believe it!" - -The little man's voice dropped to a husky whisper. "I have studied -my Bible and I've listened to the scientists and I've talked to God -Himself about it and I tell you this is the truth. The sun is our -heavenly light, the sure sign of God's love, and right this minute it -is just two thousand three hundred miles from Los Angeles! It is not a -wasteful million miles across, it is just forty-five and five-tenths -miles across ... just the right size to give us our beautiful -California sunshine. - -"How do I know?" The whisper had grown to a hoarse shout. "How do I -know? I know because it's the Word of God, my friends! The personal -word of God given to me by God Himself. - -"What else do I know? What else has God told me, to confound the -Godless scientists? Why, my friends, the Bible says that this earth -upon which we live is flat--as flat as this book!" He brings his hand -down with a sharp slap on the Bible. "You ask then how is it possible -to circumnavigate the world when it is a flat plane. The answer is that -it isn't possible. A ship that seems to go around the world really -makes a circle on the flat surface like this." With a stubby forefinger -he draws a circle on the book. "Now I know that those scientists up on -the moon say that the world is round, but whoever saw or heard of a -scientist that wasn't a liar? Can any of you really bring yourselves -to believe that this flat earth of ours is traveling through space at -the tremendous speed that they say it is? Tell me, do you feel any wind -from this great speed? Do you feel anything at all?" - -No, you have to admit, you don't. You don't feel a thing. Even his own -congregation doesn't seem to. - -This is thirsty work. You have a couple more drinks and then you -look for another church. You find one called the Church of Christian -Capitalism. - -The thin old man with the dusty fringe of gray hair has his audience -well in hand as you walk in and take a seat. He makes the sign of the -cross and the sign of the dollar over their heads as he harangues them. - -"Blessed are the wealthy for they shall please God," he says. "Christ -was the first capitalist, dear friends. He took a loaf and seven fishes -and blessed them and made them into enough food to feed a multitude. He -walked in poverty but he came to own the world! - -"God is the Good Capitalist, the Owner and Proprietor of all -things on this earth. This country was created by those saints of -Capitalism--Morgan, Rockefeller and Gould." - -Christian Capitalism sends you home to bed by way of another bar. - - * * * * * - -You're sitting in a room with people all around you. At first you don't -know why you're there and then you remember it's a party. Everyone -except you is laughing and drinking and having a good time. You have -a strange sense of foreboding, of something about to happen that you -can't avoid. You see a girl you know across the room and get up and -start to cross the room to her. - -There's a sudden blinding flash of light outside the house and the -windows come crashing in. You see murderous slivers of glass piercing -the flesh of those about you and you hurry over to the girl you know -only to find her face and neck slashed by the flying glass and blood -streaming down over her bare breasts. You try to stop the flow of blood -with a handkerchief but it's coming in such strong spurts that you -can't. - -A second shock wave follows the first with an even brighter flash. -You're knocked to the floor and the building comes crashing down. You -struggle against the falling masonry but it does no good. You feel the -crushing weight and scream ... and your screams wake you up. - -You feel almost as bad awake as you did asleep, only now the crushing -weight is on your head instead of your chest and your mouth is filled -with the taste of death and decay. You figure you must have been -drinking last night but you can't quite remember. - -You reach out your hand and it locates a bottle that still guggles a -little. Without opening your eyes you lift it hurriedly to your mouth -and then almost choke trying to spit it out. Mouthwash! - -You manage to get your eyes open, and remember with thankful heart that -today is Sunday and you don't have to go to work. It's been five days -since the last dream and that's not so bad, but just the same you'd -better get up and get a drink because this one really shook you up. Or -maybe you ought to go to church. Perhaps you'd better do both. - -A tall blond man in a black suit is standing on a platform in the -center of a group of forty or fifty intensely quiet people as you -enter. - -"Is there a wall in front of you?" he asks. - -"Yes, there is a wall in front of us," the people answer. - -"Can you see the wall in front of you?" - -"Yes, we can see the wall." - -"Is there a wall behind you?" - -"Yes, there is a wall behind us." - -"Can you see the wall behind you?" - -They all turn around and look. "Yes, we can see the wall behind us." - -"Is there a floor beneath your feet?" - -"Yes, there is a floor beneath our feet." - -"Are you sure? Feel the floor with your feet." - -There is a loud shuffling as they do as they are told. - -"Are you sure the floor is there?" - -"Yes, we're sure the floor is there." - -"Now feel your feet with the floor." - -There is more shuffling and during this you steal quietly out. This one -reminds you of the D.T.'s and you want nothing at all to do with that. - -You get tossed out of the next place you try because the preacher says -you're drunk. You're not, but you wish you were, so you head toward The -Bar. You stop when you see the sign, "FLYING SAUCER CONVENTION." It's -over the door of a large building and underneath in smaller letters it -says, "Listen to the words of the Space People. Hear the advice they -bring us in these troubled times." - -Surely, you tell yourself, the Space People will have a solution, -surely they can bring peace. You enter and see a young, -ordinary-looking fellow addressing a crowd of about three hundred. You -take a seat next to a bald man who is writing down what the young man -is saying even though it doesn't seem to make much sense. - -"... member of a small group that has been in touch with the Space -People and feel that this world can be saved only through the aid of -superior beings. I will now play this tape which I obtained from the -captain of a Flying Saucer." - -He places the tape on the spindle and it begins to whirl. A voice -begins to speak in slightly stilted English. "I am Lelan. I am what -you people of Earth think of as the head of the government of the -planet Nobila. I speak to you across the parsecs in order to bring you -good and bad news. The good is that a new age is about to begin for -the people of Earth through the aid of we Nobilians. We have already -contacted the President of the United States, the Pope of the Catholic -Church and all other world leaders. A new age is about to begin for you -as soon as we have saved you from the evil influence of the vicious -Zenonians from the planet Zeno. All Earth knowledge will become -obsolete as we supply you with new information and all good things will -be free in the days after we drive the Zenonians from among you. - -"But first we must warn you that the Zenonians will try to stop us, -but you can help avoid this if you are alert. Look around you for -persons who seem strange. It is the Zenonians who have made you what -you are. It is the Zenonians who cause your wars and your crime with -their evil rays. We will use our good Nobil rays to combat their evil -Z rays. When we have driven them out, the world will be a better place -in which to live. But--beware! They are all about you. Examine the man -next to you. Beware! They are all about you. You shall hear from us -again." - -You turn and look at the man next to you; he's looking at you. He _is_ -a rather strange-looking guy and you edge away from him just as he -edges away from you. You turn to look at the man on the other side of -you. He is moving away from you also. - -Then you hear the stories of the people in the audience. Every one of -them who stands up to speak has had a mysterious visitor in the night -or had a flying saucer land in his backyard. Most of them have had -trips to the moon and elsewhere in flying saucers. Space you think must -be as crowded as the Hollywood Freeway at rush hour. Almost all of them -have been contacted by superior beings from space because they are the -only people in the world who are wise enough to interpret the Space -People to the Earth people. - -You feel pretty good from the drinks you've had, so you stand up and -tell them what you think. - -"The first flying saucers were sighted after the atomic bombs were -first exploded," you begin. "And they became very prevalent after the -first Earth satellites were put into space and again after the first -moon rockets. I therefore think that the Earth is a cosmic madhouse in -which the human race has been incarcerated for its own good and that -every time we start rattling the bars, the keepers hurry down to take a -look." - -No one seems to care much for your theory, and you are escorted to the -door none too politely. - -No, the Space People don't seem to have the answer. With the headlines -you see at every corner chasing you, you head for The Bar and dive -gratefully through the door. - -"So everybody dies," Ian is saying. "We're all dying, just sitting -here." - -"Will you stop that? God damn it, will you stop that?" you yell at him. - -Ian looks at you owlishly for a few seconds and then back at his drink. -Jones-Very and the others go right on with the conversation. - -"It's merely what I was saying the other night," Jones-Very says. "It's -the contagious spread of the madness that is epidemic in our time. No -one wants war. But still we are going to have a war. After all, the -very zeitgeist of our times is one of complete callousness toward human -life. You have only to think of the Russian slave camps, the German gas -chambers and our own highway slaughter." - -"Maybe life itself is just some sort of stupid mistake," Anna says. -"Maybe we're a cosmic blunder, a few pimples on the tail of the -universe." - -"That isn't so," you blurt out. "There's purpose--there's got to be -purpose. You can't look around you and say there isn't purpose in the -universe; that there isn't a reason for our being here." - -This time they all turn and look at you strangely. Then they look at -each other. - -"I wonder," Jones-Very says, "if I wasn't closer to the truth than I -thought when I talked about contagion." - -"What the hell do you mean by that?" you demand, half rising from your -seat. - -"Nothing ... nothing at all," Jones-Very says, looking at the others. - -"What this world needs is a moral renovation--a new birth of the -spirit," you go on. - -"Oh, my God," Jones-Very moans, his head in his hands. - -"Would you listen to that, in this age of space stations and moon -guns," Anna says. - -"John, you're right--you're right! It's got him!" Bushman says. - -You won't listen to any more of this. You get to your feet and stagger -with great dignity to the door. - - * * * * * - -You're dressed in high altitude equipment and you're sitting in the -nose of a jet bomber listening to the vicious growling of the motors. -You have a tremendous feeling of power and you think about how many -you'll kill this trip. You think about the big black bombs nestled in -the bomb bay and remember there is one for each of the three cities on -your list. - -God, it will be beautiful! You can almost see the glorious colors of -the rising mushroom cloud and hear the screaming of the shattered -atoms. You can't hear the screaming of the people up here, that's one -of the nicest parts of this kind of murder. You can't hear them. This -makes you as happy as it must have made Attila and Hitler when they -killed their millions. Murder on a small scale may be illegal and -unpleasant, but mass murder can be the most exhilarating thing in the -world. - -Then your bombs are gone and you're passing through the most beautiful -clouds you've ever seen but somehow they smell of charred flesh and -even up here you hear the screams of the people. The sound rips -and tears at your brain, destroying what little sanity you have -left. You've got to stop them! You've got to, before they drive you -completely mad. You tilt the nose of the bomber and dive toward the -screams. You've got to stop them! You scream back at them as you dive -and again your own screams wake you up. - -This is the worst one you've ever had and your hangover is almost as -bad. You dress and hurry out of your apartment to get away from the -terror and the guilt but suddenly you remember that you aren't really -the guilty one. Or are you? - -You look for a bar or a place to buy a bottle and then remember that -you haven't any money. You see Pat O'Malley up ahead of you in the -crowd and hurry to catch up with him. He hasn't any money either, so -you suggest that both of you go to church. - -"Why not?" he says. "We have only our souls to lose." - -The two of you enter the first one you come to and the woman on the -platform is an amazing sight. She's big and full-bodied and has all the -grace and arrogance of a lioness. She's got the Word and she's passing -it out in large doses. - -"That's Dr. Elinda A. Egers, D.C.F.," O'Malley whispers. "Doctor of -Complete Faith." - -You watch fascinated as that lush body of hers moves restlessly around -the platform. - -"In these troubled times the tortured mind of man is hanging in the -balance, because he has forgotten his great enemy," Elinda shouts. -There's a wildness in her eyes and a sensuousness in the way she moves -her body that makes you move forward until you're sitting on the edge -of your seat. Any stripper, you muse, would give her G-string to be -able to imitate this woman's uninhibited way with her hips. - -"Why are our asylums filled with millions of the mentally sick? And -why are there tens of millions of the physically sick among us? -WHY?" she demands at the top of her lungs. "Because the doctors and -the psychologists absolutely fail to recognize or blindly refuse to -recognize the demoniac origin of these illnesses. They have failed, my -dear friends, because they are bound to the unreality of conventional -science. They have failed because they did not look into their souls to -see what God has written there for all to read. - -"If we face the truth, we will learn to recognize the presence of -demons and only then can we cure the inflicted!" - -Demons, you think. What a lovely idea. Perhaps you have fallen through -a rift in time and come out in the Middle Ages with only wonderful -things like witches and demons to worry about. You turn to O'Malley to -tell him this, only to find him sound asleep. You've often wondered -where he did his sleeping, and now you know. - -"The battle in the world today is not between nations but between Jesus -Christ and the Devil!" She has gone into a kind of bump and grind -routine now with her hands on those glorious hips and her body moving -back and forth while her legs remain absolutely still. It looks real -good from where you sit but you think it might look even better up -closer so you leave Pat snoring gently and take a seat further toward -the front. - -"Come to me and the Lord will put out his hand and save you. He has -said unto me: 'You shall have the power to cast out demons,' and I have -replied that I will do so. If you feel it, say Amen!" - -There is a lusty chorus of amen's from the winos and bums who fill the -auditorium. You have an idea they were attracted here by the same thing -that keeps you on the edge of your seat. - -A man with the jerks of some sort comes down the aisle and the healing -starts. Dr. Egers lays one hand on his head and the other at the back -of his neck. - -"Get out of him, you demons! Out! Out! In the name of the Lord, I -charge thee--get out!" - -The man jerks even more violently. "Heal him, Lord, heal him! They're -coming out ... the demons are coming out. Can't you feel them leaving -you, brother?" - -The fellow jerks once more and almost falls as an attendant leads -him away. "He's cured," Elinda shouts. "Praise God! He'll never have -another convulsion." - -"Praise God! Praise God!" the congregation shouts. Only the -still-jerking man seems to have any doubts as to his cure. - -"The Power of God will save you," she says to the little boy now -kneeling before her. "From the top of his head to the bottom of his -feet, I charge you, Satan, come out!" She hugs the child against those -astonishing breasts of hers. "This can be your cure if you believe, -Jimmy. All things are possible if you only believe. Little Jimmy, do -you have faith?" - -The boy nods his head eagerly and his face is so full of faith and -belief that you find yourself nodding with him. - -"Restore him tonight in the name of Jesus Christ!" she shouts, placing -her hands on his thin little legs. "This little leg, Lord ... send the -Power to restore this little leg. Drive the demon of evil from it!" Her -voice grows even louder. "The Power is coming! The Power is coming! The -Power is within me now and it will flow from me to you. Do you feel it, -Jimmy? Do you feel it? Do you feel it flowing in your legs?" - -She has lifted him from the floor and is cradling him in her arms. "Do -you feel it, Jimmy?" - -Christ, you can almost feel it yourself. - -"Don't your legs feel different, Jimmy?" - -"I think they're tingling a little," he says. - -"Do you hear that?" she shouts again. "His legs are tingling! The God -Power is making them tingle!" She lowers the child to the floor. "You -can do it, Lord! Send the Power in the name of Jesus! Send it into this -little foot, into this little leg. Try, Jimmy, try it for me, try it -now!" - -Jimmy tries to stand up but wavers and falls. With renewed effort he -manages to pull himself erect and stand swaying. - -"YOU'VE SEEN IT! YOU'VE SEEN IT WITH YOUR OWN EYES!" Elinda screams at -them joyously. - -Sure they've seen it but they don't seem much impressed. In fact, -most of them get up and leave after this round. You ease yourself out -of your seat and head toward the door, because you need a drink, but -you turn before going out to look back at her. She looks tired and -disappointment shows in her full sensuous face. - -You know that she's the most wonderful thing you have ever seen. You've -found your religion. You've found something to worship--Elinda Egers, -the only real goddess in the world. You'll come here every night and -the bomb won't worry you because you have a religion now. Elinda Egers -will save you. You head for the nearest bar, singing "Rock of Ages" at -the top of your lungs. - - * * * * * - -You're running ... running, terror riding you like a jockey using the -whip. You're running while a boiling sea of flame rolls over the city. -Behind you and close on your heels come breakers of radioactive hell, -smashing buildings and lifting cars and people into the air. People -are running on all sides of you. A girl in a spangled evening dress, a -puffing little man in Bermuda shorts, a woman carrying two children, a -man with a golf bag over his shoulder and two men in gray flannel suits -followed by a woman in a sack dress that keeps blowing up over her face -as she runs. - -The harder you run, the closer the fire seems to get. You can feel it -singeing your back and the fat little man screams as a lashing tongue -catches up with him and turns him into a cinder. The woman in the sack -dress tramples across the bodies of the two men in gray flannel but -the man with the golf club fights her off with his mashie. Then the -four of them are eaten up by the hungry flames. You moan and your legs -pump harder. There's an underground shelter ahead and you run toward -it only to find the entrance jammed with people. You try to fight your -way in. You grab hold of a man but his boiled flesh comes away in your -hands. Then you see they are all dead, packed together so tightly they -can't fall. You're running again and you see the woman with the two -children only there's nothing left of them but a charred arm and a hand -which she still clutches. The girl in the evening dress falls in front -of you and you stumble over her. You see her dress and then her hair -burst into flames. She throws her arms around you and you feel the -suffocating flames. - -"Oh Lord--Lord," you moan, and wake up. The bottle of wine on the -nightstand is only half empty and you drink from it gratefully and -think of going out for more. But you remember your goddess and you know -that you have to go to see her. - -She's in good form tonight as she talks about the Kinsey Report. - -"If you're listening, say Amen!" She raises both arms as she yells this -and you're amazed at the way her big breasts rise with them. - -"In the Old Testament, God demanded death for the adulteress but Dr. -Kinsey in his day tried to make her sins sound normal. But I tell you -that this sin is the road to Hell, for the person and for the nation. -God has destroyed other cities for this sin and His wrath will fall -upon yours as well. - -"If you're listening, say Amen!" - -"AMEN!" - -"Are you really listening? Do you honestly want to hear? Or do you -prefer the way Los Angeles and the rest of the nation is going? Do you -prefer the way of sex, the way of fornication and adultery? Do you -prefer to read about sixteen-year old girls found in love nests with -older men? Do you prefer to think of boys and girls in the back seats -of cars? Do you prefer to think of some man's hand running over your -daughter's body, touching her...." Elinda Egers is swaying back and -forth, her body rigid, her breath coming faster and faster. - -Someone else is breathing heavily and you're not surprised to find it's -you. - -"If this is what you want, say Amen!" - -"Amen!" you shout before you realize you're not supposed to this time. -No one seems to notice. Beads of perspiration are forming on the back -of your neck and trickling down your spine. The tabernacle is jammed -and there isn't much ventilation. You're dizzy with the wine, lack of -food and desire. - -"Go ahead! Let your kids go to Hell! Let them read comic books and -smoke and drink and fornicate in the back seats of jalopies! Let them -go to filthy movies, let them listen to dirty jokes on television, let -them look at the brazen women with their breasts hanging half out of -their dresses." - -"Oooooh ..." a woman in front of you moans, and you feel like moaning -with her. - -"But if you don't want these things," Elinda shouts, her voice on the -verge of breaking, "sing--sing, sing with me! - - "_Come home, come home, - Ye who are weary, - Come home._" - -You are sitting in a metal room with telescreens on the wall and a big -red button in front of you. Sweat is standing out on your forehead -and trickling down the back of your neck because you know the time is -coming, the time when you have to decide whether to push that button -and send a dozen ICBM's with hydrogen warheads arcing over the Pole. -In the telescreens you see cities ... peaceful scenes of people going -about their business. Then the people are running, leaping out of their -cars and leaving them on the street, vanishing into buildings and -underground shelters. Your hand is poised over the big red button and -your muscles are tightened as if your whole hand and arm were turned to -wood, and you know that even if you have to, you can't push that button -and destroy half the world. - -Then in one of the telescreens there is a sudden white glare, and the -screen goes blank--burned out--and then in another telescreen you -see destruction fountaining like dirty white dust boiling out of the -streets ... and you see the buildings breaking and falling in rubble, -and now you hear the people's screams, a sound that tears through your -guts and drives you crazy, and the rubble is falling and sending up -more fountains of gray dust--and you know that this is happening to -your own country, your own people, and you have to strike back, you -have to push the button and avenge them, stop the slaughter by killing -the enemy's people and destroying their cities too, but you can't make -yourself push the button, your arm won't move and your fingers are -paralyzed, and then all the telescreens are glaring white or blowing -up in clouds of destruction, and you scream, scream in the metal room -until you can't hear anything but your own screaming, and then somehow -you force your hand down and push the button. And just as you feel it -go down, the walls of the room burst inward in a volcano of noise and -terror and the gray dust comes swirling in over you, blotting out your -screams.... - -You wake up and hurry through the streets with this last dream hanging -over you more heavily than any of the others. You've got to run--you've -got to get out. But look at all the other people. None of them are -running. They're going home from work--going into cafes, walking the -dog ... oh God, walking the dog at a time like this.... - -You're scared. The bloody world is coming to a bloody end. You know it -just as sure as you're sitting here in the warm sun in MacArthur park -with the fifth you've bought and are drinking from in a paper bag. - -It's close now. You're not sure how close but it's close. The world is -coming to an end and you know you can't convince anyone that it is. You -feel the way Henny Penny--or was it Chicken Little?--must have felt. -The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Hell--you're just one more -caterwauling messiah in a city of messiahs. Los Angeles, where every -man is his own messiah. - -Then you know what the trouble is. You've been looking for someone -to help you, when what you should have been doing was helping them. -Now you realize that you are the _one_, you are the messiah you've -been seeking. It's up to you to lead them out to the city into the -wilderness. You drink more and you drink it fast and the more you drink -the more a feeling of infinite compassion comes over you for your -fellow men. - -You can save them. You can do it. You drain about two-thirds of the -bottle and then get up and walk toward a man in that uniform of -success, a gray flannel suit. - -"Wait a minute, friend," you say, shifting the bottle to your left hand -so you can take his arm with your right. - -"What is it? What do you want?" he says, looking at you as though -you're drunk. - -"Have you seen the papers today, friend?" you ask. - -"Let go of me," he says, pulling away. - -"If you have seen them, what are you going to do about it?" - -"I'm going home and eat my dinner." He hurries off. - -You approach a plump, pretty little blonde pushing a baby carriage. -"Miss, can I have a few minutes of your time in which to save your -life?" - -She looks frightened and tries to wheel the buggy around you. - -"Have you thought about the future of this dear little child of yours?" - -She breaks into a half trot and soon disappears with the baby carriage -bouncing along ahead of her. - -You sit down for a few minutes and have a few more swallows of the -bourbon. When you get up you're surprised to find that you stagger a -little. But you've got to tell the people, you've got to make them -listen. Your eye lights on a garbage can a short way off and you know -you've found the way to do it. You take a stand beside the can and -with the bottle tucked safely in your pocket you begin to pound on the -can with both hands. - -"Hey, listen, everybody! I've got to tell you about the Last Days of -Los Angeles. Listen to me! I can save you if you'll just listen! You're -doomed. The city is doomed!" - -You pound like mad on the can, but this being L.A. where such things -happen every day, only a very few passersby stop. "Come over here and -let me tell you about it!" you yell. "Do you know what the power of the -H-Bomb can do? Have you heard of the C-Bomb? Do you know what nerve gas -is? Have you seen the Sputniks overhead? Do you know how far an ICBM -will travel and how fast? Do you know that there is no defense?" - -You grab a man by the arm, but he shakes you off, so you reach for a -gray-haired old lady and get an umbrella in your middle from the dear -little thing. - -"Boy, is he ever soused." Two teen-aged girls are standing in front of -you, giggling. "Did you ever see a guy so drunk?" - -You want to save them and you start toward them with outstretched arms, -but they move back into the crowd. This makes you furious and you start -to yell again. - -You grab the nearest person. It's a woman but you shake her anyway. -Someone has got to listen. - -"Let go of me, you masher," the woman screams. "Help, somebody, help!" - -The crowd closes in on you. A sailor grabs you from behind and a man -in working clothes hits you with a lunch bucket. You let go of the -woman and hit back at him. - -"Help! Help!" the woman is still yelping. - -"Call the cops--a man's trying to rape a girl!" - -Someone hits you with an umbrella, and you know it's the same dear -little old lady. A guy grabs you by the neck and tries to throw you to -the ground but you kick him in the groin and trade punches with two -others. Then they're all over you. The old lady trips you and you go -down. She starts beating you with the umbrella as a man's foot smashes -against your head. You see a woman's nylon-clad leg as she raises her -spiked heel and brings it ripping down across your cheek. Other feet -crash into you. - -"Let me help you," you're still yelling, but they keep on kicking. Some -of the shoes have blood on them, you notice through the haze, but they -still keep on kicking. - -Then it's getting dark and you lie there and think how Henny Penny--or -was it Chicken Little?--must have felt. You want to tell someone about -it but you don't. You just lie there and wait for the screaming sirens -to come and take you away. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Last Days of L.A., by George H. 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