Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, Issue 45 — page 74: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

DEATH DEFERRED Jeff whinnied with animal fear as he flung his weight against the door, both the woman and the man helping him to slam it against the rubber gaskets and spin the locking wheel. Then, running like madmen, they raced down a zig-zag corridor and past another thick, metallic door. They closed it just as the second bomb exploded in sun-bright splendour over the helpless city. © Sound vibrated through them, shaking the very earth, and they quivered as though they stood in a high wind. Heat lashed at them, bringing great beads of sweat to their skins, and, high against one wall, something chattered in mechanical frenzy. “Two,” whispered George in the flashlight lit darkness. Shadows crawled over his face as he crouched in one corner of the tiny shelter, and blood trickled from his bitten lips as he counted off other, fainter tremors of sound. “Three! Four! Five! .-.-. Five!”’ “Is it over ?”’ Lorna shivered as she hugged her shoulders, her white skin gleaming 73 through the flimsy material of her nightdress. “How do I know?” Jeff wiped sweat from his pudgy features. “They may come back, drop more bombs, anything.” “[ doubt it.’ George rose from his crouched position and stared around the tiny, shadow filled room. “Five bombs would be more than enough. I think that it must be over.” Jeff grunted and swept the beam of the flashlight over one, damply marked concrete wall. A switch revealed itself. and he threw it, filling the shelter with light from a single dim bulb. He snapped off the flashlight and put it on a low shelf, then stepped over and stared at the slowly chattering Geiger counter. “How is it?” George crossed the room and stared at the instrument. Jeff shrugged. ““We got a pretty heavy dose of radiation when that bomb fell. It must have been almost overhead, or at least too near for comfort, but I think we'll be all right. The count has gone down to well below the danger level.” comiclooks.cormn