e coughing sounds muffled by the heels of his palms； which he held pressed against his mouth。
When his coughing eased； we covered the front of the Farmall with the pine boughs again and walked back the way we had e。 The worst part of that whole surreal furlough was … for me； at least … the last two hundred yards； with us scurrying back south along the shoulder of the highway。 I could see （or thought I could） the first faint lightening of the sky in the east； and felt sure some early farmer； out to harvest his pumpkins or dig his last few rows of yams； would e along and see us。 And even if that didn't happen； we would hear someone （in my imagination it sounded like Curtis Anderson） shout 〃Holdit right there！〃 as I used the Aladdin key to unlock the enclosure around the bulkhead leading to the tunnel。 Then two dozen carbine…toting guards would step out of the woods and our little adventure would be over。
By the time we actually got to the enclosure； my heart was whamming so hard that I could see little white dots exploding in front of my eyes with each pulse it made。 My hands felt cold and numb and faraway； and for the longest time I couldn't get the key to go into the lock。
〃Oh Christ； headlights！〃 Harry moaned。
I looked up and saw brightening fans of light on the road。 My keyring almost fell out of my hand； I managed to clutch it at the last second。
〃Give them to me；〃 Brutal said。 〃I'll do it。〃
〃No； I've got it；〃 I said。 The key at last slipped into its slot and turned。 A moment later we were in。 We crouched behind the bulkhead and watched as a Sunshine Bread truck went pottering past the prison。 Beside me I could hear John Coffey's tortured breathing。 He sounded like an engine which has almost run out of oil。 He had held the bu