"I said, turkey buzzards. They're thick up ahead."
"Oh," Bascom said. Then he added thoughtfully, "Maybe we'd better roll
the windows up."
A half mile further on, a tree had fallen across the road, and the axes
proved their worth. As soon as they had chopped the trunk free and
dragged it out of the way, they went ahead.
Louisville had almost swallowed the little town of Okalona. A mile
beyond the fallen tree, a large sign loomed up beside the highway.
WELCOME TO LOUISVILLE
THE GATEWAY TO THE SOUTH
POP. 1,567,000
The vultures, Matt noticed, were thicker than ever. They sat on the
eaves of the houses peering down into the street or rose flapping into
the air ahead of them.
A faint fetid odor tainted the atmosphere, and it grew stronger and
stronger as they penetrated deeper into the city. It seeped through the
closed windows, strangling them.