Hanging on

slow us down," Kelly said. "We already know that."
        "He's talking about something else," Tooley said. "Something worse than the strike. Something that has not yet happened."
        "Even if he is," Kelly said, "what can I do? He hasn't given me enough to go on. Why don't we have enough time? What terrible disaster is pending?"
        Tooley looked at the zombie, patted his head. "Tell us more, Kowalski."
        Kowalski was silent.
        "He's already warned us," Lily said. "He hasn't anything more to say."
        Refuting her, Kowalski leaned toward Lily and said, "Cu…"
        "Yes?" she asked.
        Everyone leaned closer, listening intently. The walls seemed to recede; the dreariness was replaced by a sense of the cosmic, a spiritual mood that was undeniable and hinted of forces beyond the ken of man. The lights were no longer dim, merely mysterious. The centipedes were forgotten. They listened to the wise man's words as if the fate of the world hinged on his pronouncements.
        "Cu… cu…" Kowalski's eyes were fever-bright. His tongue moved obscenely between his cracked lips as he tried to finish what he wanted to say. "Cu…"
        "He's got something big to say," the pacifist insisted. "I know he does."
        "Cu… cu… cu…"
        "He's almost got it!" Tooley fisted his hands, arms bulging as he pulled for Kowalski.
        Major Kelly felt, all of a moment, in the midst of a miracle, some fundamental religious experience which he would treasure the memory of for the rest of his days. He had not been so choked up and teary since he had seen Margaret Sullavan in Back Street.
        Watching Lily, Kowalski rocked back and forth. His tongue fluttered. His eyes blinked so rapidly it seemed the lashes would give him flight. "Cu… Cu…"
        Lily held her hands out to him, encouraged him as one might encourage a baby who was walking toward his mother for the first time. "Don't give up, poor dear," she cooed. "Tell us. Try, Kowalski. Tell us, poor baby."
        "Cu… cu… cunt!" Kowalski squealed, lunging for her. He ripped open her khaki shirt and pawed her bare breasts. He gibbered with delight.
        Pullit screamed.
        Liverwright was immobilized by the sight of Lily's jugs.
        Still screaming, Pullit ran for the bunker door, red bandanna trailing behind. "Help! Help, someone!"
        Going to Lily's rescue, Kelly stumbled on a cot brace, staggered, and fell heavily onto the makeshift bed. The cot collapsed.
        Kowalski rolled into the major, and for an instant their faces touched nose-to-nose. Kowalski's eyes were wide and bloodshot, but possessed a certain lucidity which Kelly had not seen there for long days. "Cunt, cunt, cunt!" he screamed. Then, like a door closing, the semirationality left his eyes, and a bottomless stupidity returned. Drool ran out of the left corner of his mouth and down his chin.
        Private Tooley grabbed the major by the scruff of the neck and hoisted him to his feet. "You okay, sir?"
        Kelly nodded dumbly, brushing at his clothes.
        "What do you think?" Tooley asked.
        "About Kowalski? Shoot him. Put him out of his misery."
        Tooley was hurt. "No! I think he's getting much better."
        "Sure he is." Kelly said. "Sure he is."
        Although he thought Kowalski should be put out of his misery, Major Kelly was worried about the zombie's prediction. They could not withstand another crisis. Even if they settled the labor strike, they had little chance of getting the village built in time. If one more problem arose…
        "You don't look sleepy," Lily said, taking his arm as he reached the bunker door. "I'm not sleepy either. Why don't we take a walk together?"
        They walked to the woods, then to the knoll where Beame had expected to meet Nathalie for lunch. And then, of course, they stopped walking and undressed and made love. Even as worried as he was, Kelly was ready for Lily Kain.
        When they were finished, they lay side-by-side in the grass and stared at the clouds overhead. Stars popped out between bands of mist, then disappeared once more. "You're a gem," Kelly told her. "You're the only woman I've ever known who hasn't the slightest reservation about having it put to her."
        "Nonsense," she said. "Every girl wants to have it put to her."
        "You're wrong," he said, squeezing her hand.
        "I can't believe that. Every woman wants to have