Her words were cut off by the horror of what happened. As they watched,
the plane skimmed low across the Loop. At a point, approximately over
Lake Street, Frank estimated, the planes were annihilated. There was a
flash of blue fire coming in like jagged lightning to form four balls of
fire around the planes. The fire balls turned, almost instantly, into
globes of white smoke that drifted lazily away.
And that was all. But the planes vanished completely.
"What happened?" Wilson muttered. "Where'd they go?"
"It was as if they hit a wall," Nora said, her voice hushed with awe.
"I think that _was_ what happened," Frank said. "The invaders have some
kind of a weapon that holds us helpless. Otherwise the army wouldn't
have established this no-man's-land and pulled out. The reports said we
have them surrounded on all sides with the help of the lake. We're
trying to keep them isolated."
Jim Wilson snorted. "It looks like we've got them right where they want
us."
"Anyhow, we're damn fools to stick around here. We'd better head south."
Wilson looked wistfully about the room. "I guess so, but it's a
shame--walking away from all this."
Nora was staring out the window, a small frown on her face. "I wonder
who they are and where they came from?"
"The teletype releases were pretty vague on that."
She turned quickly. "There's something peculiar about them. Something
really strange."
"What do you mean?"
"Last night when we were walking up the street. It must have been these
invaders we heard. They must have been across the street. But they
didn't act like invaders. They seemed--well, scared. I got the feeling
they ran from us in panic. And they haven't been back."
Wilson said, "They may not have been there at all. Probably our
imaginations."
"I don't think so," Frank cut in. "They were there and then they were
gone. I'm sure of it."
"Those wailing noises. They were certainly signalling to each other. Do
you suppose that's the only language they have?" Nora walked over and
offered the silent Minna a cigarette. Minna refused with a shake of her
head.
"I wish we knew what they looked like," Frank said. "But let's not sit
here talking. Let's get going."
Jim Wilson was scowling. There was a marked sullenness in his manner.
"Not Minna and me. I've changed my mind. I'm sticking here."
Frank blinked in surprise. "Are you crazy? We've run our luck out
already. Did you see what happened to those planes?"
"The hell with the planes. We've got it good here. This I like. I like
it a lot. We'll stay."
"Okay," Frank replied hotly, "but talk for yourself. You're not making
Minna stay!"
Wilson's eyes narrowed. "I'm not? Look, buster--how about minding your
own goddam business?"
The vague feelings of disgust Frank had had now crystallized into words.
"I won't let you get away with it! You think I'm blind? Hauling her into
the back room every ten minutes! Don't you think I know why? You're
nothing but a damn sex maniac! You've got her terrorized until she's
afraid to open her mouth. She goes with us!"
Jim Wilson was on his feet. His face blazed with rage. The urge to kill
was written in the crouch of his body and the twist of his mouth. "You
goddam nosey little squirt. I'll--"
Wilson charged across the short, intervening distance. His arms went out
in a clutching motion.
But Frank Brooks wasn't full of knockout drops this time, and with a
clear head he was no pushover. Blinded with rage, Jim Wilson _was_ a
pushover. Frank stepped in between his outstretched arms and slugged him
squarely on top of the head with the telephone. Wilson went down like a
felled steer.
The scream came from Minna as she sprang across the room. She had turned
from a colorless rag doll into a tigress. She hit Frank square in the
belly with small fists at the end of stiff, outstretched arms. The full
force of her charge was behind the fists, and Frank went backward over
the bed.
Minna did not follow up her attack. She dropped to the floor beside Jim
Wilson and took his huge head in her lap. "You killed him," she sobbed.
"You--you murderer! You killed him! You had no right!"
Frank sat wide-eyed. "Minna! For God's sake! I was helping you. I did it
for you!"
"Why don't you mind your business? I didn't ask you to protect me? I
don't need any protection--not from Jim."
"You mean you didn't mind the way he's treated you--"
"You've killed him--killed him--" Minna raised her head slowly. She
looked at Frank as though she saw him for the first time. "You're a
fool" she said dully. "A big fool. What right have you got to meddle
with other people's affairs? Are you God or something, to run people's
lives?"
"Minna--I--"
It was as though he hadn't spoken. "Do you know what it's like to have
nobody? All your life to go on and grow older without anybody? I didn't
have no one and then Jim came along and wanted me."
Frank walked close to her and bent down. She reacted like a tiger.
"Leave him alone! Leave him alone! You've done enough!"
Nonplused, Frank backed away.
"People with big noses--always sticking them in. That's you. Was that
any of your business what he wanted of me? Did I complain?"
"I'm sorry, Minna. I didn't know."
"I'd rather go into back rooms with him than stay in front rooms without
nobody."
She began to cry now. Wordlessly--soundlessly, rocking back and forth
with the huge man's bloody head in her lap. "Anytime," she crooned.
"Anytime I would--"
The body in her arms stirred. She looked down through her tears and saw
the small black eyes open. They were slightly crossed, unfocused as they
were by the force of the blow. They straightened and Jim mumbled, "What
the hell--what the hell--"
Minna's time for talking seemed over. She smiled--a smile hardly
perceptible, as though it was for herself alone. "You're all right," she
said. "That's good. You're all right."
Jim pushed her roughly away and staggered to his feet. He stood swaying
for a moment, his head turning; for all the world like a bull blinded
and tormented. Then his eyes focused on Frank.
"You hit me with the goddam phone."
"Yeah--I hit you."
"I'm gonna kill you."
"Look--I made a mistake." Frank picked up the phone and backed against
the wall. "I hit you, but you were coming at me. I made a mistake and
I'm sorry."
"I'll smash your goddam skull."
"Maybe you will," Frank said grimly. "But you'll work for it. It won't
come easy."
A new voice bit across the room. "Cut it out. I'll do the killing.
That's what I like best. Everybody quiet down."
They turned and saw a slim, pale-skinned young man in the open doorway.
The door had opened quietly and no one had heard it. Now the pale young
man was standing in the room with a small, nickle-plated revolver in his
right hand.
The left hand was close down at his side. It was swathed generously in
white bandage.
The young man chuckled. "The last four people in the world were in a
room," he said, "and there was a knock on the door."
His chuckle deepened to one of pure merriment. "Only there wasn't a
knock. A man just walked in with a gun that made him boss."
No one moved. No one spoke. The man waited, then went on: "My name is
Leroy Davis. I lived out west and I always had a keeper because they
said I wasn't quite right. They wanted me to pull out with the rest of
them, but I slugged my keeper and here I am."
"Put down the gun and we'll talk it over," Frank said. "We're all in
this together."
"No, we aren't. I've got a gun, so that makes me top man. You're all in
it together, but I'm not. I'm the boss, and which one of you tried to
cut my hand off last night."
"You tried to break in here yelling and screaming like a madman. I held
the door. What else could I do?"
"It's all right. I'm not mad. My type--we may be nuts, but we never hold
a grudge. I can't remember much about last night. I found some whisky in
a place down the street and whisky drives me nuts. I don't know what I'm
doing when I drink whisky. They say once about five years ago I got
drunk and killed a little kid, but I don't remember."
Nobody spoke.
"I got out of it. They got me out some way. High priced lawyers got me
out. Cost my dad a pile."
Hysteria had been piling up inside of Nora. She had held it back, but
now a little of it spurted out from between her set teeth. "Do
something, somebody. _Isn't anybody going to do anything?_"
Leroy Davis blinked at her. "There's nothing they can do, honey," he
said in a kindly voice. "I've got the gun. They'd be crazy to try
anything."
Nora's laugh was like the rattle of dry peas. She sat down on the bed
and looked up at the ceiling and laughed. "It's crazy. It's all so
crazy! We're sitting here in a doomed city with some kind of alien
invaders all around us and we don't know what they look like. They
haven't hurt us at all. We don't even know what they look like. We don't
worry a bit about them because we're too busy trying to kill each
other."