Page:Weird Tales v15n01 1930-01.djvu/67

moved by unconscious habit, but as he stumbled down one of those narrow streets eastward a sudden rising uproar a few blocks ahead of him brought him to a stand-still. Then, the first swirling mists of horror lifting from his brain, he stared down along the narrow street.

Along its darkened length only circular patches of light at intersections were visible to him but now he saw, fleeing into those light-areas toward him, a growing mob of half-dressed people who were pouring from the bordering buildings into the street, running wildly with gesticulating hands and with hoarse cries of animal fear. Far down the street, almost to the waterfront eastward, Worley could see that growing mob pouring forth, fleeing toward him, and then he saw, too, what was behind them and what they fled from so wildly. For at the narrow street's eastern end there was rolling smoothly toward him, and after those fleeing figures, a great, glistening gray wave, waist-high, a gliding mass of gleaming jelly-stuff that stretched across the street's width and flowed effortlessly after the fugitives, great looping arms forming from it and reaching forth to draw them back into its glistening masses, that flowed smoothly onward with those fugitives' bodies in their grip!

Remembrance of half-read newspaper articles flashed again over Worley's brain in that moment. "Protoplasm!" he cried, unconsciously, again. "Masses of it—and sweeping up over all the city!"

For in ever-increasing floods the gray, glistening masses of protoplasm were rolling forward, from the waters eastward; were surging through the narrow streets with that fear-crazed mob fleeing before them; were flowing swiftly and smoothly into buildings, from the interior of which came terrible shrieks; were shooting forth great tentacle arms of their own jelly-like substance to catch and draw back the weeping little figures that fled before it. A mighty, mindless, brainless, nerveless monster, a great wave of living protoplasm that was sweep-up and flowing through streets and buildings to lick them clean of all life! From southward, and from westward, were coming screams and cries as other great waves poured through the streets, as out over the doomed great city there poured from the waters about it that mighty tide of death!

Worley leapt back, suddenly, as down the street from behind him there roared a long police-car, the fleeing mob ahead splitting to both sides as it thundered through. It skidded to a stop but yards from that advancing, glistening wave, and Worley saw blue-coated figures tumbling from it, staring in an amazement of horror at the great gleaming wave of protoplasm rolling toward them, then recovering themselves and lining swiftly across the street before it. Then there came the swift sharp drumming of powerful riot-guns, spraying tearing steel bullets into that advancing wave. At the same time came the dull detonation of grenades, hurled into the glistening masses, and for a moment Worley stared down toward them in sudden leaping hope.

But the flood of protoplasm rolled onward, unchecked, unheeding. The bullets that tore through its jelly-like masses left holes that closed instantly of themselves. The bombs that exploded in those masses splashed them violently to every side, but in the next moment the glistening fragments had flowed smoothly forward of themselves; had joined together again in a solid flood; were sweeping resistlessly forward. Before the men lined across the street could comprehend the fact that the thing before them could not be killed, or even hurt, by human means, the wave had advanced upon them; a myriad tentacle-arms had whipped out of it toward them; and then it had gripped and had rolled