zhang141

@@@@@Wilson peered out for an instant and shook his headThe bivouac area was invisible, a void of green across which the rain streamed, beating upon the subdued grass and shrubsThe wind was tremendousWilson remained on his knees, feeling the violence of it dumblyAlthough he had ducked back from the opening in the tent, his face was completely wetThere was no way to keep out the water which dripped quickly through every rip and seam of the tent fabric and blew in through the entrance like successive waves of surfThe rain trench had filled already, was flowing over onto their beddingGallagher gathered up their blankets, and the three men squatted under the flapping ponchos, trying to hold them down, and failing miserably in the attempt to keep their feet dryOutside the water had risen in great puddles which kept spreading and sending out tentacles like enormous amoeba absorbing the earth”Goddam, goddam,” Wilson said

Goldstein and Ridges were completely wetWhen the rain had started, they had got out of their tent and pounded down all the stakesGoldstein had crammed the blankets into the rubber bag of his jungle pack, and he crouched on his knees now inside the tent, trying to hold it down in the wind”This is terrible,” he shoutedHis ugly dumpy face was covered with drops of water, and his straight sandy hair had plastered itself in a spiral about his head”Nuttin’ to do but wait,” he shouted backHis voice was lost in the wind, and Goldstein could hear nothing but “wait,” which had a long wailing quality that pebbled his flesh with a sudden shudderThere seemed nothing in the universe but the gray violence roaring about themGoldstein felt his arm wrenched cruelly as the ridgepole lashed upward with an abrupt vicious snapHe was so wet that his green fatigues looked black
The bottom of the ocean would look like this, he told himselfThere were subterranean storms that he had read about, and this must be like themApart from his awe, and his concern that the tent should remain up, Goldstein was watching the storm with a fascinated interestProbably the world had been something like this when it first began to cool, he thought, and felt a deep excitement as if he were witnessing creationIt was silly to think about the tent in the same moment, but he could not help hims