"Philip E. High - These Savage Futurians" - читать интересную книгу автора (High Phillip E)

in the event of trouble. It increased his confidence without affecting his
wariness.

He came to the top of a slight rise, make-shift club swinging loosely in
his hand, and stopped dead, his mouth opening foolishly in disbelief.

Below him the land sloped steeply downwards to a wide valley and the
sea. It was the valley which stunned him for, completely filling it, was the
ruins of a city, so vast, it staggered his imagination.

Ventnor was used to villages which seldom contained more than eight
hundred inhabitants. The concept of a community of forty or fifty times
that number had never entered his mind.

He looked about him again, conscious of a need for reassurance, but he
could find none.

To his left, a huge pile of rubble, still vaguely resembling a building,
topped a steep hill. Below him the ruins of the city remained unchanged.

He saw that most of the streets were overgrown with weeds, that the
few buildings which remained were shells and that, generally, all that
remained were the outlines of foundations. Yet from this height, despite
the rubble and weed, the order of the city was clearly seen.

Great highways, as wide as the village of Del, converged upon what had
clearly been a double harbor. Now only a few blackened projections, like
the fangs of a reef, protruded above the calm blue water. Within, twisted
hulks, suggesting ocean-going vessels, were still visible beneath the
surface.

Despite his awe, he was conscious of a curious melancholy. It was dead,
it was like looking at the skeleton of a long-remembered friend without
knowing how or when he had died.

Despite this, the city drew him; he was frightened yet fascinated.
Almost against his will and gripping his club tightly, he began the long
descent to the ruins below.
 After a few hundred paces he stumbled and realized that he was
walking on the broken, weed-covered surface of what had once been a
major highway. He followed it downwards, frightened, often stumbling
but now determined to go on.

As he descended, the resemblance to an orderly city slowly faded. There
were only low walls and moss-covered foundations. The streets were
choked with weeds, stunted trees and a bewildering tangle of ivy.

Despite the bright sunshine, the city conveyed a frightening sense of
desolation and despair. Here, he thought uneasily, invisible monsters
might dwell unchallenged.