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angry, my brethren, for the ...... of which we are all mutually ......! You know this! I know it! ...... tells us of these days! Can ...... look about us and fail to ...... that the very words of the ...... are become an actuality in our ......? Of course not! This is because ...... ran like a beast too long, ...... and corrupting, and men turned to ......! No wonder then that the Beast ......, with seven heads and ten horns ...... them, rises up from the ocean, ...... the seven seals have been broken ...... the four horsemen out of the ......, whose names we all know as ......, that dreaded ravener of the countryside! ...... who followeth in the wake of him! ...... who lays his hand upon us! ......, the final, terrible one, who killeth! ......, all of these be here tonight! ...... has judged us, and now only ...... can save us from the awful ...... that lies upon all mankind! Yes! ...... is the answer, my brethren! True ...... may save us still, from the ...... into which will be cast all ...... who bear the mark of the ...... upon their hands and their foreheads! ...... has said so in the holy ......! Can we think otherwise? Can we ...... this? You know it in your hearts, ......! Let us join together and ......!"
    He bowed his head then, winced as he clasped his hands, and continued to fight with the bell, for he knew that the odds were six to one in his favor.
    "How long? How long? Oh my ......!" he cried. "Until mankind will see the ever-present ......?"
    And the heavens were full of signs, cryptic and undecipherable, as the blue lightning stalked from pole to pole.
    Wondering, he licked the rain from his lips and swallowed, to ease the dryness of his throat.
     
    When Greg awakened him, it was night. Tanner coughed and drank a mouthful of ice water and crawled back to the latrine. When he emerged, he took the driver's seat and checked the mileage and looked at the compass. He corrected their course and, "We'll be in Salt Lake City before morning," he said, "if we're lucky… Did you run into any trouble?"
    "No, it was pretty easy. I saw some snakes, and I let them go by. That was about it."
    Tanner grunted and engaged the gears.
    "What was that guy's name that brought the news about the plague?" Tanner asked.
    "Brady or Brody or something like that," said Greg.
    "What was it that killed him? He might have brought the plague to L.A., you know."
    Greg shook his head.
    "No. His car had been damaged, and he was all broken up, and he'd been exposed to radiation a lot of the way. They burned his body and his car, and anybody who'd been anywhere near him got shots of Haffikine."
    "What's that?"
    "That's the stuff we're carrying, Haffikine antiserum. It's the only cure for the plague. Since we had a bout of it around twenty years ago, we've kept it on hand and maintained the facilities for making more in a hurry. Boston never did, and now they're hurting."
    "Seems kind of silly for the only other nation on the continent, maybe in the world, not to take better care of itself, when they knew we'd had a dose of it."
    Greg shrugged. "Probably, but there it is. Did they give you any shots before they released you?"
    "Yeah."
    "That's what it was, then."
    "I wonder where their driver crossed the Missus Hip? He didn't say, did he?"
    "He hardly said anything at all. They got most of the story from the letter he carried."
    "Must have been one hell of a driver, to run the Alley."
    "Yeah. Nobody's ever done it before, have they?"
    "Not that I know of."
    "I'd like to have met the guy."
    "Me too, I guess."
    "It's a shame we can't radio across country, like in the old days."
    "Why?"
    "Then he wouldn't of had to do it, and we could find out along the way whether it's really worth making the run. They might all be dead by now, you know."
    "You've got a point there, mister, and in a day or so we'll be to a place where going back will be harder than going ahead."
    Tanner adjusted the screen, as dark shapes passed.
    "Look at that, will you!"
    "I