jack realized what eddie meant to do at the last moment and began to fight like a wildcat , but it was too latedthey were tumbling backward through that doorway , and the droning hum of new york city at night , so familiar and constant you never even heard it unless it was n't there anymore , was replaced by the grinding sound of the waves and the grating , questioning voices of dimly seen horrors crawling to and fro on the beach .