Instantly the thought struck him with paralyzing devastation. The answer to it all poked its face out from the recesses of his mind and sapped the last bit of his energy, corroding his nerves and dying muscles. Now he knew, and the knowing was the end of it.
He collapsed at the edge of the pit. Only one arm hung loosely down into it, swinging senseless in the air, pointing accusingly at the empty coffin.
The world will end, not with a bang, nor with a whimper, but with the last man's anguished cry at the unreasonableness of it all.
Charles screamed.
The large, invisible, ovular being that hung suspended over the Empire State Building rested from its exertion. Soon it was approached by another of its kind.
"It is finished?" asked the second.
"Yes. Just now. I am resting."
"I can feel the emptiness of it."
"It was very good. Where were you?"