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"Reckon," Ridges answered quietlyThe wind had lapsed for a moment, and their voices had a subdued uncertain quality as if they were talking in a churchGoldstein released the pole, and felt the strain flowing out of his armsFatigue products being carried away by the bloodstream, he thoughtPerhaps the storm was practically overIn the hole, the ground was hopelessly muddy, and Goldstein wondered how they would sleep that nightHe shivered; abruptly he had realized the chill weight of his sodden clothing
The wind started again, and their mute tense struggle to preserve the tent began once moreGoldstein felt as though he was holding onto a door which a much stronger man was trying to open from the other sideHe saw two more tents tear off into the wind, and he watched the men running to find shelter somewhere tiffany jewelry us elseWyman and Toglio, laughing and cursing, dropped into their hole"Our tent just went," Wyman shouted, his young bony face spread in a great grin"Gee, this is something!" he roared, and the expression on his face was somewhere between delight and wonder as though uncertain whether the typhoon was a catastrophe or a circus
"What about your stuff?" Goldstein shoutedI left my M-one in a puddle of water
Goldstein looked for his rifleIt was on a ledge above the hole, splattered with water and mudGoldstein was disgusted because he had not wrapped it in his dirty shirt before the storm beganHe was still a rookie, he told himself; a veteran would have remembered to protect it
Water was dripping from Toglio's big fleshy noseHe moved his heavy jaw and shouted"Think your tent'll hold?"
"Don't know," Goldstein roared The gucci backpack four men were cramped in the hole even though they were squatting on their heelsRidges watched his feet sink into the mud, and wished he was not wearing shoesMan's jus' more fussed tryin' to keep 'em dry than the whole thing's worth, he thoughtA rill of water kept running into the tent along the ridgepole and trickling onto his bent kneeHis clothing was so cold that the drops of water seemed warm
A tremendous gust of wind bellied under the tent, blew it out like a balloon, and then the ridgepole snapped, tearing a rent in the ponchoThe tent fell upon the four men like a wet sheet, and they struggled stupidly under it for a few seconds before the wind began to strip it awayWyman got the giggles, and began to feel around helplesslyHe lost his balance and sat down in the mud, struggling feebly under the folds of chanel bags to buy fake the tentHe felt as if caught in a sack, and he subsided into helpless laughterToo weak to punch my way out of a paper bag, he said to himself, and this made everything seem even more ludicrous"Where are you?" he shouted, and then the folds of the tent filled out again like a sail, ripped loose completely, and went eddying and twisting through the airA little piece of the poncho had been left on one of the stakes, and it flapped in the galeThe four men stood up in the hole, and then crouched before the force of the windThey could still see the sun just above the horizon in one clear swatch of sky that seemed infinite miles awayThe rain was very cold now, almost frigid, and they shudderedAlmost all the tents were down in the bivouac area, and here and there a soldier would go skittering through the mud, staggering vintage gucci watch from the force of the wind with the odd jerking motions of a man walking in a motion picture when the film is unwinding too rapidly"Christ, I'm freezin'," Toglio shouted
"Let's get out of here," Wyman saidHe was covered with mud and his lips were chattering"Goddam rain," he said
They stumbled out of the hole, and began to run toward the motor pool where there would be some shelter in the lee of the trucksToglio staggered as though he had lost some necessary ballast and was being driven downwind without any way to control himselfGoldstein shouted to him, "I forgot my rifle
"You don't need it," he bawled back
Goldstein tried to halt and turn around but it was impossible"You never can tell," he heard himself shoutThey were running side by side, but it felt as if they were roaring to each other across a vast gucci g watch roo |
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