Epilogue

As I look back on the pages I have here written, it has become clear to me that not everyone will completely agree with my story. There are many questions about why and how the Martians died so quickly. I, however, am not an expert in the area of biological science, so I am happy with the popular reports.

It has not yet been made clear what exactly the Martians' black gas consisted of. Scientists found an unknown substance among the contents, but they have yet to understand it completely; nor are its effects on the human body very clear.

Of course, because so few people actually saw the Martians themselves, people have taken great interest in the Martian body that has been preserved and put on display at the Museum of Natural History in London. Very few of these were remaining due to the number of wild dogs that had seized upon them just after death. This one is almost in perfect condition.

Surprisingly, one subject, which is not very often discussed, is the possibility of another Martian attack. Personally, I am quite concerned, for it seems very likely to happen some day. I feel that we should be keeping a close eye on Mars, especially the area where the gun was seen shooting the cylinders to our planet. Earth should always be ready for a second attack. In fact, I think that the Martians' failure has given humans a hint as to how to defend themselves should history repeat itself. For example, we now know that the Martians are powerless when they first land, for they have to wait for their cylinder to cool or they will burn themselves. We could simply destroy the cylinder during this early period. If no bombs are available at the time, guns could be set upon the Martians as they first come out of their cylinder. In other words, I do not think that the Martians will have as easy a time if they attacked in the same manner. But, then again, they may be aware of this themselves and could already have started planning a new method of attack.

In any case, the attack on Earth has benefited man in some ways. First of all, it has made us more aware of the idea that perhaps, we are not the highest form of life in the universe. This is a good thing, because man had become quite arrogant and abused his powers over less powerful creatures, like animals and plants. Maybe now, man will be kinder to the animals on this planet. The second benefit is the technology that has been passed on to us. I believe that over the next one hundred years, man may make incredible scientific leaps forward. Who knows, maybe one day we will be visiting other planets ourselves.

I have to say that I am not as comfortable with my life on Earth as I was before the war. Everyday I look out the window of my study and I see the slowly recovering landscape once again on fire; I see the milkman pass my home and the children running to school and I remember all of those frightened faces as people ran from Woking that terrible Saturday. I visit London and I see all of the business in the streets, the fruit sellers and the pub owners, and I remember all of those horribly burned bodies that filled the streets. I pass the still motionless metal fighting machine that today stands in the center of town as a reminder of the war, and a terrible cold feeling runs through my body as I recall that stormy night when that first giant fighting machine walked over me as I lay helpless in the mud.

I am always thinking about these events. But the thing that affects me the most, and always brings me to tears, is when I look at my wife and think that she and I once thought the other was dead.

I hope that the people of the future will never experience such terrible things. However, I am afraid that future people of the Earth will experience more war and death, not because of more Martian attacks, but because men will continue to fight with each other. It is my hope that of all the things that we learned from the Martians is we learned the need for peace on Earth for that is the best way for the human race to survive.

(end of section)