"Howard Waldrop - The Wolf-man of Alcatraz" - читать интересную книгу автора (Waldrop Howard)

There was more noise from up on the roof, and the three left.




·····


Six hours later, they threw out the guns and surrendered. The marines came in and secured the cell
blocks. The guards took out the dead and wounded and set up fans to blow away the tear gas.
It was a few minutes til sundown when they got Howlin down to the isolation vault, and the doc in.




·····


One day in 1953, the new prison doctor, who'd only been there six months, came into the cell vault on
the morning after the first night of the full moon.
He found Howlin sitting up on the bedding of the concrete bunk.

The doc was taken aback.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"You tell me, Doc. I'm jumpy as hell. But I think I stayed awake the whole night. I don't think anything
happened. I could be wrong about that as about anything else—I could have only imagined I stayed
awake. But I think I did."

The doc moved a flashlight beam across Howlin's eyes, then used the stethoscope.

"Let's assume you've been awake the whole night. I'll give you your vitamin shot, and a sedative. I'll be
back this afternoon and give you another. Maybe you can sleep through the whole night for the first time
in—what?—nineteen years?"

"What's happening to me, Doc?"

"I'm not a guessing man," said the doctor. "Until I know better, I would say you're getting old. There's
some tests we can run next week."

Howlin looked down at the concrete floor. "Other than the great relief about it, I don't think I like the
idea of getting old, Doc."

"Happens to the best of us," said the doctor, loading up the needle.