rd the door. As he did so, the door to the
bathroom closed.

Jim Wilson wore a two-day growth of beard and it didn't seem to bother
him at all. As he entered the room he rubbed his hands together in great
gusto. "Well, where'll we eat, folks? Let's pick the classiest
restaurant in town. Nothing but the best for Minna here."

He winked broadly as Minna, expressionless and silent, followed him in
exactly as a shadow would have followed him and sat primly down in a
straight-backed chair by the wall.

"We'd better start moving south," Frank said, "and not bother about
breakfast."

"Getting scared?" Jim Wilson asked.

"You're damn right I'm scared--now. We're right in the middle of a big
no-man's-land."

"I don't get you."

At that moment the bathroom door opened and Nora came out. Jim Wilson
forgot about the question he'd asked. He let forth a loud whistle of
appreciation. Then he turned his eyes on Frank and his thought was
crystal clear. He was envying Frank the night just passed.

A sudden irritation welled up in Frank Brooks, a distinct feeling of
disgust. "Let's start worrying about important things--our lives. Or
don't you consider your life very important?"

Jim Wilson seemed puzzled. "What the hell's got into you? Didn't you
sleep good?"

"I went down the block this morning and found some teletype machines.
I've just been reading the reports."

"What about that guy that tried to get into your room last night?"

"I didn't see him. I didn't see anybody. But I know why the city's been
cleaned out." Frank went back to the window and picked up the sheaf on
clips he had gone through. Jim Wilson sat down on the edge of the bed,
frowning. Nora followed Frank and perched on the edge of the chair he
dropped into.

"The city going to blow up?" Wilson asked.

"No. We've been invaded by some form of alien life."

"Is that what the papers said?"

"It was the biggest and fastest mass evacuation ever attempted. I pieced
the reports together. There was hell popping around here during the two
days we--we waited it out."

"Where did they all go?" Nora asked.

"South. They've evacuated a forty-mile strip from the lake west. The
first Terran defense line is set up in northern Indiana."

"What do you mean--Terra."

"It's a word that means Earth--this planet. The invaders came from some
other planet, they think--at least from no place on Earth."

"That's the silliest damn thing I ever heard of," Wilson said.