The Day of the Triffids - Ch. 4 - 6
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Now some extremely difficult moral dilemmas have arrived with more to come. Although the decision is distasteful and painful, in practical terms they really have only one choice.“If we face it squarely, there’s a simple choice,” I said. “Either we can set out to save what can be saved from the wreck—and that has to include ourselves—or we can devote ourselves to stretching the lives of these people a little longer. That is the most objective view I can take.
“But I can see, too, that the more obviously humane course is also, probably, the road to suicide. Should we spend our time in prolonging misery when we believe that there is no chance of saving the people in the end? Would that be the best use to make of ourselves?”
She nodded slowly.
“Put like that, there doesn’t seem to be much choice, does there? And even if we could save a few, which are we going to choose? And who are we to choose? And how long could we do it, anyway?”
“There’s nothing easy about this,” I said. “I’ve no idea what proportion of semidisabled persons it may be possible for us to support when we come to the end of easy supplies, but I don’t imagine it could be very high.”
“You’ve made up your mind,” she said, glancing at me. There might or might not have been a tinge of disapproval in her voice.
“My dear,” I said, “I don’t like this any more than you do. I’ve put the alternatives badly before you. Do we help those who have survived the catastrophe to rebuild some kind of life? Or do we make a moral gesture which, on the face of it, can scarcely be more than a gesture? The people across the road there evidently intend to survive.”
She dug her fingers into the earth and let the soil trickle out of her hand. “I suppose you’re right,” she said. “But you’re also right when you say I don’t like it.”
P. 85 in Kindle edition
Chapter 4: Shadows Before
Bill is wandering the streets when he hears a scream and finds a sighted young woman being beaten by a blind man. He rescues her and she reveals her name as Josella Playton who had missed the comet through a wild party. They drive to Josella's home but find that her family has all been killed by triffids.
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Chapter 5: A Light in the Night
On the way to pick up some anti-triffid gear, Bill and Josella are almost caught by a mob of blind people. They evade them, find the gear and clothes, and make their way to an empty flat in a tower block. They plan to leave London soon to somewhere in the country. During the night, they spot a light flashing in the city.
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Chapter 6: Rendezvous
In the morning, Bill and Josella make their way to the University of London, the source of the light, where they spot a group of blind people led by a sighted man arguing at the gates. The crowd are dispersed and the pair enter. They learn that the occupants of the University, mostly sighted, are planning to leave London the next day. Bill and Josella are sent out to gather food.