Chapter 06: Cities and the Dead 02

In that city, the dead lay inside coffins.

It seems unlikely, but everything there is dead, except the full moon. There is an endless silence. The dead don't get restless. They can't hear you. All you can hear is the sound of the black wind, the whisper of the leaves and the mewling of the dead, which I hear more clearly than ever. Even the quick fall of water will be drowned out by their silent wailing.

But the black wind can come near. You can hear it, but it's not heard. It roars, but it can't find you. It speaks, but you can't hear it. It rages, but it has no target.

The bodies lay as if caught in a silvery net. These children were not people. They had only the beginnings of life, quiescent. But they were dressed in clothes worn by living, and they lay in the shape of human beings. But they were all dead. They lay in rows of twenty - five or thirty, and they lay with their arms around one another. The bodies sway as if in a breeze.