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Ness Patrick
Книга "Monsters of Men"
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either product...
Who’s in the bunker? Who’s in the bunker? Women and children first A...
...
“War,” says Mayor Prentiss, his eyes glinting. “At last.” “Shut up,” I say. “The...
...
...
[TODD] “We hit the spackle head on!” the Mayor shouts at the men, aiming his Noi...
{VIOLA} Todd, I think, riding Acorn through the mash of people crowding across t...
[TODD] Angharrad runs after Morpeth as the army surges down the road in front of...
{VIOLA} BOOM! Another explosion just up ahead of us now, sending smoking d...
[TODD] The road outta town reaches a wide clearing bounded by the river on the r...
{VIOLA} “Wilf!” I yell, riding over to him. He’s driving an ox-cart, out in fron...
[TODD] Our front line sprints across the clearing like a wall falling down a hil...
{VIOLA} Me and Acorn are barely a minute away from the army of the Answer when w...
[TODD] The next blast of fire comes before anyone’s ready for it– WHOOMP! ...
{VIOLA} “There!” I shout, pointing at what has to be the road up the hill to the...
[TODD] I don’t even think when the Mayor and Morpeth run after the soldiers into...
{VIOLA} “You’re alive!” Mistress Coyle says and I see her face change, making on...
[TODD] Here they come– This part of the hill is all rock and steepness so ...
{VIOLA} “You’re lying,” Mistress Coyle says, but she’s already turning, as if sh...
[TODD] I pull the trigger again– All I get is another snick– I look ...
{VIOLA} “Survey probe!” Bradley says, coming back down the ramp, carrying what l...
[TODD] I fire the gun before I can even think if I want to– BANG! I ...
{VIOLA} Bradley presses the screen on the remote device. The probe lifts lightly...
[TODD] Men burning– Everywhere– The screaming– And the terribl...
{VIOLA} “Oh, my God,” says Bradley. “Are those–?” Simone says, shocked, st...
[TODD] We push forward– Forward forward forward– Into the line of at...
{VIOLA} Bradley starts to answer Mistress Coyle but Simone speaks first, “Yes, w...
[TODD] We’re losing– There ain’t no two ways about it– Me knocking d...
{VIOLA} “Her?!” Mistress Coyle says. “She’s just a girl–” “A girl we trust...
[TODD] I fire my gun but there’s so many Spackle and men mixed together I have t...
{VIOLA} We snap our attention back to the projection. “What was that?” I say. ...
[TODD] In the smoke and the screaming, Angharrad rocks her way back up to her fe...
{VIOLA} “It’s finishing,” I say. “The battle’s ending.” Bradley let the pr...
[TODD] “CUT THEM DOWN!” the Mayor’s yelling. “SEND THEM RUNNING!” It don’t...
{VIOLA} “It does seem to be ending down there,” Bradley says, looking at the pro...
[TODD] I hold the bandage to the wound on Angharrad’s flank and let the medicine...
And a Third ...
(THE RETURN) The Land waits. I wait with them. And I burn with the waiting...
...
...
{VIOLA} The urgency of Bradley’s Noise is awful. “Y...
[TODD] “We’ve rounded up blankets from the houses nearby,” Mr O’Hare says to the...
{VIOLA} The town is eerily quiet as Acorn and I walk through it, some of it even...
[TODD] “And then Simone said, I’ve got a better idea,” Viola says and opens the ...
{VIOLA} Acorn and I go back up the road and across through the square, the dista...
Before ...
(THE RETURN) The sun is about to rise as I take some food from the cookfires. Me...
...
{VIOLA} “Can you think of a safer place, my girl?” Mistress Coyle says. Af...
[TODD] “It’s the smart thing to do,” the Mayor says. “It’s what I would do in he...
{VIOLA} “I really think Mistress Coyle should have a look at this, Viola,” Mistr...
[TODD] “But how?” I say, staring up at the falls– Staring as they get quie...
{VIOLA} “How?” Simone says. “How did they do it?” “Can you send the probe ...
[TODD] There’s a line of lights in the shadows under the disappearing falls, str...
{VIOLA} “Todd!” I yell into the comm as we watch the fire curve through the air ...
[TODD] “VIOLA!” I scream– But I don’t got the comm no more, the binos neit...
{VIOLA} “Todd!” I scream again and I see the fires zooming in over the river and...
[TODD] WHOOSH! One spinning fire flies right by us on our left and I see t...
{VIOLA} “We are not firing a missile,” Bradley says, his Noise roaring. “That de...
[TODD] “Come on, girl, please,” I say– There’s bodies around us everywhere...
{VIOLA} “Think what you’re doing,” Bradley says, his Noise roaring Stupid, selfi...
[TODD] Morpeth don’t even have time to scream– His knees buckle as the bol...
Weapons of War ...
(THE RETURN) The blast hits us all. The hill that overlooks the valley is ...
...
...
{VIOLA} “I thought you were hit,” I say, putting my head in my hands. “I saw one...
[TODD] The days that follow are kinda scarily quiet. A night and a day and...
{VIOLA} “Right,” Mistress Lawson says, bandaging my arm again. “We know the band...
[TODD] “They kept coming through the night,” Viola says to me thru the comm. “Th...
{VIOLA} Girl colt, Acorn greets me as I give him an apple I stole from the food ...
[TODD] My dearest son, I read. My dearest son. The words my ma uses at the...
{VIOLA} “You’re the one here who knows the most about the truce,” I say. “You we...
[TODD] By the middle of the night, I’ve had enough tossing and turning and I go ...
The Embrace of the Land ...
(THE RETURN) The Land has lost a part of itself, the Sky shows, opening his eyes...
...
[TODD] There’s blood everywhere. Across the grass in the front garden, on ...
{VIOLA} “You sure you ain’t got nothing?” Todd asks over the comm. He’s riding A...
[TODD] “Fires, sir,” Mr O’Hare says, not a minute after I hang up with Viola. ...
{VIOLA} What Mistress Coyle says to me is, “I never apologized to you for the bo...
[TODD] The soldiers raise their rifles and start looking all round but the Spack...
{VIOLA} “That’s terrific, Wilf,” I hear Bradley say as I exit the scout ship, lo...
[TODD] Boy colt? Angharrad says to me all the way back into town after the Spack...
{VIOLA} I find Mistress Coyle in a small group of women near the healing tents, ...
[TODD] “The shame disappears, Todd,” the Mayor says, appearing behind me in that...
{VIOLA} “Fatal?” I say. “Four women so far,” Mistress Coyle says. “Another...
[TODD] We run towards the water tank, the soldiers in front of us parting to mak...
{VIOLA} “There’s been a big attack,” Bradley says as we run towards him. “...
[TODD] The legs of the tank give way and the huge metal container of water comes...
On the Brink ...
(THE RETURN) I am submerged in the Voice of the Land. I am attacking the C...
...
...
{VIOLA} My comm beeps and I know it’s Todd calling, but I’m in the healing room ...
[TODD] “Neutral ground?” says the Mayor, his eyebrows raising. “Now where might ...
{VIOLA} “That sounds suspicious,” I say into the comm. “I know,” Todd says...
[TODD] The Mayor and I ride down the road towards the house of healing in the co...
{VIOLA} I stare at Todd. Looking at him and looking at him. And not hearin...
[TODD] “You,” the Mayor says back to Mistress Coyle, after a long, silent minute...
{VIOLA} “WHAT?” Todd shouts. “I have no idea what she’s talking about,” th...
[TODD] “Are you sure yer okay?” I ask Viola, riding up close to her, ignoring th...
{VIOLA} The talks go on for hours, all through the morning until the sun gets hi...
[TODD] Mistress Coyle takes up the reins and snaps them on the oxes, who say Wil...
Pathways’ End ...
(THE RETURN) I smooth the freshly-grown lichen over the band on my arm, touching...
...
[TODD] We hear ’em coming thru the trees, distant but rising fast. “Wait f...
{VIOLA} “That was slaughter,” Bradley says angrily. “How exactly does that const...
[TODD] The Spackle attacks keep coming. And we keep stopping ’em. Submit! ...
{VIOLA} “What’s happening now?” Lee says, scratching underneath his bandage. ...
[TODD] “Mistress Coyle’s gonna be fuming,” I say, as the Mayor keeps shaking han...
{VIOLA} “The nerve of it,” Mistress Coyle says through clenched teeth. “And how ...
[TODD] It’s a small sound and I shouldn’t be able to hear it, not thru the sleep...
{VIOLA} “How did she do this?” Bradley says, as we watch the tracer arc through ...
[TODD] “That bitch,” I hear the Mayor say, reading the soldiers around him. The ...
The Voiceless ...
(THE RETURN) This is not what it seems, shows the Sky, as we watch the strangely...
...
...
[TODD] “It’s obvious,” the Mayor says. “I will be the one who goes.” “Over...
{VIOLA} He looks back at me, puzzled. But he doesn’t sound puzzled. He doe...
[TODD] Bradley sighs loudly, after what seems like hours spent bickering round t...
{VIOLA} I wake as the ship bumps back down on the hilltop and the bay doors open...
[TODD] Boy colt, Angharrad says, nuzzling me. And then she says, Boy colt yes. ...
{VIOLA} “A big day, my girl,” Mistress Coyle says to me where we’re all gathered...
[TODD] The Mayor’s climbed up on a cart near the scout ship, standing above the ...
{VIOLA} We ride out of the last edge of town and through a field of burnt bodies...
[TODD] “They’re nearly there,” I say. Me and Wilf and the Mayor and everyb...
The One In Particular ...
(THE RETURN) Dawn is coming, the Sky shows. They will be here soon. He sta...
...
{VIOLA} The attack comes from nowhere. The leader of the Spackle, the Sky, as he...
[TODD] “VIOLA!” I’m screaming my head off, looking for a horse to ride, a ...
{VIOLA} “The honest truth,” Bradley says, “is that we can’t leave. It was a one-...
[TODD] “They’ve been at it for hours,” I say, watching the projeckshun from the ...
{VIOLA} “No,” Bradley says, shaking his head again, his breath clouding up as th...
[TODD] I watch Viola sleep in the projeckshun. I said no to her staying the nigh...
{VIOLA} “Viola,” I hear, and I open my eyes and wonder for a moment where I am. ...
[TODD] The Mayor knocks the comm right outta my hand. “You’ll endanger her...
{VIOLA} “Viola?” I finally hear again. “Todd, what’s happening?” I say, lo...
[TODD] “Make the final preparations, Captain.” “Yes, sir,” Mr Tate salutes...
{VIOLA} “What are we meant to be looking for?” Simone asks from the scout ship, ...
[TODD] “Sir!” Mr O’Hare says, face all puffy like he just woke up. “Lights have ...
{VIOLA} An explosion rings across the valle...
[TODD] The second is as loud as the first and it lights u...
{VIOLA} “What does he mean?” Mistress Coyle says over the comm in a panic. “Viol...
[TODD] “Nothing!” Mr O’Hare shouts, running back into camp. “There’s nothing the...
{VIOLA} The Sky’s Noise whirls like a storm. We’ve all seen what’s happened in t...
[TODD] Peace, we hear, from the leader of the Spackle’s own Noise, boomed across...
I Raise My Knife ...
(THE RETURN) I raise my knife, the one I stole from the cooking huts on my way h...
...
...
{VIOLA} “Listen to them,” Bradley says, as even from this distance, the ROAR fro...
[TODD] “This glorious new day,” the Mayor’s voice booms. “This day where we have...
{VIOLA} “He’s taken all the credit!” Mistress Coyle shouts, stomping around the ...
[TODD] “Why would I harm the women?” the Mayor says to me across the campfire, a...
{VIOLA} “You are not going to be on the council with the Spackle, Ivan,” Mistres...
[TODD] “It’s a ruddy great idea,” I say, watching Viola’s face in my comm. “Ever...
{VIOLA} “So you’re taking it, too, then?” Mistress Coyle says from the doorway a...
[TODD] I hold up my ma’s book. “I wanna read the end.” The Mayor looks up ...
{VIOLA} “Look how beautiful,” Simone says over the comm system as we feel the sc...
[TODD] “I don’t really know what I’m doing,” I say, unrolling the bandages the M...
{VIOLA} “Shall we?” the Mayor says, a wide smile across his face, his uniform wi...
[TODD] I’m running before I even know exactly why, just knowing that I gotta get...
{VIOLA} “Let me go!” I yell, still trying to twist away from Bradley as Todd lea...
[TODD] “TODD!” I hear Viola scream from behind us– But we’re too far from ...
{VIOLA} Flames explode out from Mistress Coyle in all dir...
[TODD] “TODD!” I hear again, my ears ringing, my clothes hot and burning– ...
The Source ...
(THE RETURN) Through the circle of the Pathways’ End around us, we see a brief g...
...
[TODD] A small intake of breath is all the Mayor gives when Mistress Lawson pres...
{VIOLA} “There.” Bradley points at the screen in the cockpit. “He is closer to S...
[TODD] I see her in the doorway, see how healthy she’s looking– See her se...
{VIOLA} “Viola,” Todd calls after me down the ramp. “Viola, I’m sorry. Why won’t...
[TODD] “The world awaits,” the Mayor says, taking my arm, pulling me away from V...
{VIOLA} “What the hell?” I say, as the ROAR of the crowd vanishes almost instant...
[TODD] “I’ve been waiting for this my entire life,” the Mayor’s saying to me and...
{VIOLA} I press hard through the crowd, caring less and less if I’m stepping on ...
[TODD] My stomach drops outta the bottom of my feet and my breath feels like I’m...
{VIOLA} It’s Ben. I can see him as clearly in the Noise of the crowd as if...
[TODD] I can’t even say nothing, I just can’t, there ain’t no words for it as I’...
{VIOLA} “Todd?” I hear the Mayor say as I stop right beside him– Because i...
[TODD] “But I don’t unnerstand,” I say, not for the first time. “Does that make ...
{VIOLA} “Don’t you feel excluded?” the Mayor says, pacing around the campfire on...
[TODD] “So what happens now?” Viola says to Ben, sitting next to me on my cot. I...
{VIOLA} “I wanna go back to old Prentisstown,” Todd says. “What?” I say, s...
[TODD] “I’m in complete agreement,” the Mayor says to Ben. You are? Ben sa...
{VIOLA} “That Ben’s Noise is amazing,” Lee says, as I help him up on the cart th...
[TODD] I’m smiling like a loon as I hold out my hand to catch the flakes as they...
{VIOLA} “You look like you’ve rolled in flour,” I say down to Todd as he approac...
[TODD] “The snow’s getting thicker,” I say. Viola and Ben and Bradley have...
{VIOLA} We’re right at the top of the hill when we hear it, taking the first ste...
[TODD] “Yer mad,” I say, my hands up now, edging towards the door, where Ivan’s ...
The Future Arrives ...
(THE RETURN) The sky rides over to me through the ice falling gently from the cl...
...
...
[TODD] “Wake up, Todd,” says the Mayor’s voice over the comm system. “You’ll wan...
{VIOLA} There’s no place to run, nowhere we can possibly get away from the missi...
[TODD] “What the HELL?” the Mayor growls– But I’m watching the screens tha...
{VIOLA} “We wanted peace!” Bradley shouts at the Sky, as we watch the hoopers fa...
(THE RETURN) Me? I show. The Land will need to learn to listen to you, the...
[TODD] The ship pitches this way and that and I can hardly stand up straight in ...
{VIOLA} The scout ship’s hardly visible now through the smoke that’s rising ever...
[TODD] The screens are nothing but fire now, fire everywhere, ringing the valley...
(THE RETURN) The Sky turns his battlemore hard, corralling the beasts of the Cle...
{VIOLA} The horses leap forward as the wall of flame WHOOSHES up the riverbed be...
(THE RETURN) I run– No thought in my head– No sound in my voice exce...
{VIOLA} “It’ll destroy the town!” Bradley says, before Ben even tells us what’s ...
[TODD] “VIOLA!” I scream but still no answer on Communicator 1 or Communicator 3...
{VIOLA} “The ocean!?” I yell back into the comm. “Todd? What do you mean–?” ...
[TODD] I groan and pick myself up from the floor, where I fell on Ivan’s body. I...
(THE SKY) I must send the Land through fire to save it. I must send them climbin...
{VIOLA} We pound up the road into town, Acorn and Angharrad running so fast I ca...
[TODD] The screens change. The ocean disappears and up pop the probes from the t...
{VIOLA} “Faster!” Bradley calls ahead of me– But I can barely hear him– ...
[TODD] Outta the corner of my eye, I see a screen showing that we’re landing on ...
{VIOLA} “No,” I feel myself whispering as New Prentisstown is torn to pieces beh...
[TODD] VIOLA! I think right at him– Hitting him with all the rage that she...
{VIOLA} “Acorn!” I shout into his mane– But he ignores me, just keeps up h...
(THE SKY) The Sky hears everything. I knew that before but I did not reall...
{VIOLA} “Viola, stop!” Bradley calls after me– But I’m already riding forw...
(THE SKY) The fog grows thicker, twining itself with the smoke and steam rising ...
{VIOLA} I jump at the sound of the shot, expecting the same burning I felt throu...
(THE SKY) What was that? I demand of the Source. What have you done? I pee...
{VIOLA} “They’re coming,” Bradley whispers. “Who?” I say. “The Spackle?” ...
[TODD] I blink my eyes open, pain throbbing in my head. I make to sit up from wh...
(THE SKY) The fog is thick as a white night now and the Land marches only accord...
{VIOLA} “Look at the valley,” Bradley says, as we race through the forests on th...
(THE SKY) “My name is Wilf,” the man says, standing alone in the fog, though I c...
{VIOLA} We’re outrunning the fog now, but the snow keeps falling, thicker here, ...
(THE SKY) There is a long silence as I lower my weapon while the whole world wai...
{VIOLA} Acorn’s front legs crumple mid-stride and I go tumbling hard through som...
[TODD] I don’t know how long it takes me to loosen the strap around one wrist ev...
{VIOLA} Angharrad feels different than Acorn, broader, stronger, faster, but sti...
[TODD] “It’s gonna be you,” I say, as he unties my other leg. “It’s gonna be you...
(THE SKY) You’ve done right, the Source shows to me as we ride through the trees...
[TODD] I catch the Mayor with the first VIOLA I hurl at him, see him stumble to ...
{VIOLA} The ground starts to slope steeply down and we’re seeing the ocean const...
[TODD] Get back, I think at the Mayor and I see him take a step back but just th...
{VIOLA} “TODD!” I yell and he turns to see me– And he calls out in pain fr...
[TODD] Cuz she’s here– She came– She came for...
{VIOLA} The Mayor’s flung backwards down the slope, tumbling and sliding towards...
[TODD] “Wait,” says the Mayor. And it’s not a controlling thing he’s tryin...
{VIOLA} “He’s gone,” Todd says, and I share every bit of the disbelief in his vo...
(THE SKY) My battlemore makes the final leap onto the beach and for a moment I a...
[TODD] I squint thru the snow, which is getting thicker by the minute– “Wh...
(THE SKY) He pushes the girl away, seeing me coming, and I have an open shot– ...
{VIOLA} Todd makes a sound like the world collapsing and grabs at his chest– ...
...
{VIOLA} “Todd!” I shout– No– No– No– He can’t be dead– ...
(THE SKY) She turns to face me– And though she has no voice, I see enough ...
{VIOLA} I see the weapon, the white stick weapon of the Spackle lying on the gro...
(THE SKY) “Show me!” she shouts. “Or I swear to God I’ll beat you to death with ...
{VIOLA} His Noise opens up in front of me and it shows me exactly how to use the...
(THE SKY) She turns back to me, still pointing the weapon, her hands placed exac...
{VIOLA} 1017 is remembering Todd– I can see it in his Noise, see it as the...
(THE SKY) She drops the weapon. It falls to the sand unfired. And so...
{VIOLA} Viola? Ben says again. I find that I can’t stand up and so I have ...
...
“And there’s a chill in the air, son,” I read, “and I don’t mean just the winter comin...
Is this right? I blink and I’m in one memory, like this one here, back in a classroom in...
...
...
PATRICK NESS is the author of the Chaos Walking trilogy, which includes The Knife of Never Le...
Table of Contents Start ...
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