The last lines that land, closing moments from thousands of vintage SF stories. Mind the spoilers, and follow any that stop you into the full read.
Listening. For what?
Ten minutes later, the rain of bombs began to shower down on Earth.
How in the name of heaven am I going to stay awake? Because once I fall asleep....
And then they went back and flung rocks through their City's Dome.
When they were gone, he changed slowly into a large teddy bear. Then, with a moist gleam in his eye, he went back to reading the thick, red-leather, picture encyclopedia in his lap.
For the first time in months, he was hungry.
Then he went outside and turned his face toward the silent city and began to run....
But the circle tightened relentlessly around Lewis Stillman. He was screaming when the children closed in.
7:32 P.M. Patient pronounced dead._
That no one had ever found.
Because, behind those shadowed, perfect lids, there was--_Nothing_.
And he was color-blind....
Then he put on his spacesuit and took his gun, and, without the slightest danger to himself, went out and shot them one by one.
He was still thinking about Mars when the ship fell into the burning maw of the sun.
But that was far too late.
We didn't say a word, neither of us, for hours. It takes a long time to fill a hole twenty feet deep--especially when you're shoveling very, very carefully and packing down the dirt very, very hard.
His head was killing him.
He was Napoleon. Napoleon Bonaparte."
I know, because, at this moment of hatred, I could kill them all.
His feet clattered loud on the road; the small sound was quickly swallowed by silence, and he covered his face against the relentless blaze of the stars.
Not the Earth. His soul.
"Now, listen carefully," said the dying man. . . .
Tom answered very softly. "I'm Driving."
He did not look back.
Later, half asleep, he heard a dog howling, and remembered stories of how they announced death and the presence of monsters.
He went home and hanged himself in a closet.
They entered the city.
They were the hills of home.
And before us lay a great space of flowers.
His feet were stuck tight, and he wouldn't ever get them out. He was sobbing softly when they found him.