CHAPTER FIVE

The Killing Begins

I could not move, so amazed was I at all that I had just seen. Yet, I wanted so badly to see more, especially inside that entrance to their machine. I started to slowly walk in a wide circle around the pit that hid the Martians from view, never once taking my eyes off it.

Several long snake-like arms came wiggling out of the hole for a very brief moment, and then disappeared again, back down below. Then, a long, thin, metal rod rose up out of the pit. At the top of it spun a round object, similar to a mirror. I wondered what they could be doing?

Most of the people had gathered into two groups, one on the right of the pit, and the other, on the left. I was standing pretty much alone. I approached one man and recognized him to be a neighbor of mine. His eyes clearly showed he was terrified.

"What horrible-looking monsters!" he cried over and over again.

"Did you see a man down in the pit?" I asked. He, however, did not respond to my question at all, but continued to stare at the mysterious hole in the ground.

I decided to try and get a better view from a small hill, nearby. As I stood there, I saw that all around the pit, small groups of men had begun to gradually walk closer and closer. They would move a few feet and then stop to wait and see if anything would happen. One of the little groups was holding and waving, high up in the air, a white flag on a stick. They, apparently, wanted to show the Martians that we were men of some intelligence, with whom they could communicate. At the time, I could not make out who was part of that group, but I later learned that my friend, Ogilvy, and Stent were included among them.

By this time, the pit was almost completely surrounded by people, who, little by little, were approaching the cylinder. A bright flame, suddenly, flew straight up into the air from the pit. The light reflected green from the surrounding peoples' faces and then quickly disappeared. Then a large domed object slowly rose out from the pit. Seconds later, a clear, almost invisible, beam of energy shot from the object, and the men gathered around the flag, one by one, burst into flames. The rest of the people, who had been following close behind, turned and ran.

I, again, could not move for a moment. I was so amazed by the sight before me. I had not yet realized that these flames running about in front of me were dying men.

That single shot of invisible heat from the Martian ship had quickly moved from man to man, and was now spreading to the surrounding trees and far away buildings. I followed the path of destruction to try and see in which direction the danger was headed. I saw a horse suddenly catch on fire without even having time to cry out. Then, a row of bushes burst into flame; and it was at that moment, I could see that the heat ray was moving toward me, and, coming much too fast for me to be able to move out of its path.

Suddenly, everything became quiet, and the Thing in the pit slowly moved back down and out of sight. I had been lucky. If it had continued just a few seconds longer, I would not be here today to tell the story.

All around me, the ground was burned black. The group of men who had been holding the white flag had now completely disappeared into nothing. They were all dead. Houses could be seen burning in the distance toward the town of Woking. The smell of burnt flesh and wood filled the air. Nothing could be seen of the Martians, except for their metal rod with the spinning mirror on top.

The silence, together with the smell, suddenly made me aware of the terrible fear growing deep inside of me. I immediately began to run away through the fields. I ran like I had never run before, full of terror and crying like a frightened little child. I felt that I had no control over the situation; nowhere was safe any longer. It seemed that, at any moment, I could be struck from behind by that soundless, invisible heat ray.

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