Читаем Under the Dome полностью

Under the Dome

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when—or if—it will go away. Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens—town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing—even murder—to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t just short. It’s running out.From WikipediaUnder the Dome is a science fiction novel by Stephen King, published in November 2009. It is a rewrite of a novel King attempted writing twice in the late 1970s and early 1980s, under the titles The Cannibals and Under the Dome. As King stated on his official site, these two unfinished works “were two very different attempts to utilize the same idea, which concerns itself with how people behave when they are cut off from the society they’ve always belonged to. Also, my memory of The Cannibals is that it, like Needful Things, was a kind of social comedy. The new Under the Dome is played dead straight.” From the material originally written, only the first chapter is included in the new novel. There are also talks of the novel becoming a cable series.

Stephen King

Триллер / Ужасы18+

Stephen KingUNDER THE DOME<emphasis>A Novel</emphasis>

In memory of Surendra Dahyabhai Patel.

We miss you, my friend.

Who you lookin forWhat was his nameyou can prob’ly find himat the football gameit’s a small townyou know what I meanit’s a small town, sonand we all support the team

—JAMES MCMURTRY

MAPSOME (BUT NOT ALL) OF THOSE IN CHESTER’S MILL ON DOME DAY:TOWN OFFICIALS

Andy Sanders, First Selectman

Jim Rennie, Second Selectman

Andrea Grinnell, Third Selectman

SWEETBRIAR ROSE STAFF

Rose Twitchell, Owner

Dale Barbara, Cook

Anson Wheeler, Dishwasher

Angie McCain, Waitress

Dodee Sanders, Waitress

POLICE DEPARTMENT

Howard “Duke” Perkins, Chief

Peter Randolph, Assistant Chief

Marty Arsenault, Officer

Freddy Denton, Officer

George Frederick, Officer

Rupert Libby, Officer

Toby Whelan, Officer

Jackie Wettington, Officer

Linda Everett, Officer

Stacey Moggin, Officer/Dispatch

Junior Rennie, Special Deputy

Georgia Roux, Special Deputy

Frank DeLesseps, Special Deputy

Melvin Searles, Special Deputy

Carter Thibodeau, Special Deputy

PASTORAL CARE

Reverend Lester Coggins, Christ the Holy Redeemer Church

Reverend Piper Libby, First Congregational Church

MEDICAL STAFF

Ron Haskell, Doctor

Rusty Everett, Physician’s Assistant

Ginny Tomlinson, Nurse

Dougie Twitchell, Nurse

Gina Buffalino, Volunteer Nurse

Harriet Bigelow, Volunteer Nurse

TOWN KIDS

Little Walter Bushey

“Scarecrow” Joe McClatchey

Norrie Calvert

Benny Drake

Judy and Janelle Everett

Ollie and Rory Dinsmore

TOWNSPEOPLE OF NOTE

Tommy and Willow Anderson, Owner/Operators of Dipper’s Roadhouse

Stewart and Fernald Bowie, Owner/Operators of Bowie Funeral Home

Joe Boxer, Dentist

Romeo Burpee, Owner/Operator of Burpee’s Department Store

Phil Bushey, Chef of Dubious Repute

Samantha Bushey, His Wife

Jack Cale, Supermarket Manager

Ernie Calvert, Supermarket Manager (ret.)

Johnny Carver, Convenience Store Operator

Alden Dinsmore, Dairy Farmer

Roger Killian, Chicken Farmer

Lissa Jamieson, Town Librarian

Claire McClatchey, Scarecrow Joe’s Mom

Alva Drake, Benny’s Mom

Stubby Norman, Antique Dealer

Brenda Perkins, Chief Perkins’s Wife

Julia Shumway, Owner/Editor of the Local Newspaper

Tony Guay, Sports Reporter

Pete Freeman, News Photographer

“Sloppy” Sam Verdreaux, Town Drunk

OUT-OF-TOWNERS

Alice and Aidan Appleton, Dome Orphans (“Dorphans”)

Thurston Marshall, Literary Man with Medical Skills

Carolyn Sturges, Graduate Student

DOGS OF NOTE

Horace, Julia Shumway’s Corgi

Clover, Piper Libby’s German Shepherd

Audrey, the Everetts’ Golden Retriever

THE AIRPLANE AND THE WOODCHUCK1

From two thousand feet, where Claudette Sanders was taking a flying lesson, the town of Chester’s Mill gleamed in the morning light like something freshly made and just set down. Cars trundled along Main Street, flashing up winks of sun. The steeple of the Congo Church looked sharp enough to pierce the unblemished sky. The sun raced along the surface of Prestile Stream as the Seneca V overflew it, both plane and water cutting the town on the same diagonal course.

“Chuck, I think I see two boys beside the Peace Bridge! Fishing!” Her very delight made her laugh. The flying lessons were courtesy of her husband, who was the town’s First Selectman. Although of the opinion that if God had wanted man to fly, He would have given him wings, Andy was an extremely coaxable man, and eventually Claudette had gotten her way. She had enjoyed the experience from the first. But this wasn’t mere enjoyment; it was exhilaration. Today was the first time she had really understood what made flying great. What made it cool.

Chuck Thompson, her instructor, touched the control yoke gently, then pointed at the instrument panel. “I’m sure,” he said, “but let’s keep the shiny side up, Claudie, okay?”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Not at all.” He had been teaching people to do this for years, and he liked students like Claudie, the ones who were eager to learn something new. She might cost Andy Sanders some real money before long; she loved the Seneca, and had expressed a desire to have one just like it, only new. That would run somewhere in the neighborhood of a million dollars. Although not exactly spoiled, Claudie Sanders had undeniably expensive tastes which, lucky man, Andy seemed to have no trouble satisfying.

Chuck also liked days like this: unlimited visibility, no wind, perfect teaching conditions. Nevertheless, the Seneca rocked slightly as she overcorrected.

“You’re losing your happy thoughts. Don’t do that. Come to one-twenty. Let’s go out Route 119. And drop on down to nine hundred.”

She did, the Seneca’s trim once more perfect. Chuck relaxed.

Перейти на страницу:

Похожие книги

Читаем Under the Dome полностью

Under the Dome

Похожие книги

Все жанры