I was not very emotional now. I was just very tired. I realized that I was cold and wet. There were small pools of water on the carpet. I went into the dining room and drank some whisky. Then I changed my clothes.
After that, I went upstairs to my study. This room looks over the trees toward Horsell Common. We left the window open when we ran away. The room was very dark. I stood in the doorway and looked out.
The thunderstorm was over. The college and the trees were gone. I saw a bright red light on the common. Huge black shapes were moving around the pits. They were very busy.
The whole area seemed to be on fire. I saw many small flames on the hillside. Sometimes smoke moved across the window. This smoke hid the Martians. I could not see what they were doing. The air smelled like burning wood.
I walked quietly to the window. I could see the houses near the station. I could also see the burned woods. There was a bright light on the railway. I realized it was a wrecked train. The front was on fire, but the back was still on the rails.
I saw fires in many places. The land was very dark between the fires. It was a very strange and scary sight. At first, I did not see any people. Then I saw some black figures running near the station.
I lived in this quiet place for many years. Now it was full of fire and death. I sat in my chair and watched the window. I looked at the three giant machines. They moved back and forth in the red light.
I wondered about the machines. Were they smart? Did a Martian sit inside the machine? Maybe the Martian used the machine like a human uses a body. I compared the machines to a large ironclad (a very old type of war ship made of iron).
The sky became clear after the storm. I saw the planet Mars in the west. Then a soldier came into my garden. I heard him at the fence. I watched him climb over the wooden pickets. I leaned out of the window.
"Quiet!" I said in a whisper.
The soldier stopped. Then he walked across the grass to the house. He moved very softly. He stood under the window and looked up at me.
"Who is there?" the soldier asked. He was also whispering.
"Where are you going?" I asked him.
"I do not know," he said.
"Are you trying to hide?" I asked.
"Yes," he answered.
"Come into the house," I said.
I went downstairs and opened the door. I locked the door again after he entered. I could not see his face in the dark. He did not have a hat. His coat was open. He seemed very upset.
"What happened?" I asked.
"They killed everyone," he said. "Everyone is gone."
He followed me into the dining room. I gave him some whisky to drink. Suddenly, he sat at the table. He put his head on his arms and started to cry. He cried like a little boy. I stood next to him and waited.
Later, he was able to talk. He was an artilleryman (a soldier who works with big guns). He started his job at seven o'clock that evening. He said the Martians were moving toward the second cylinder. They used a large metal shield to protect themselves.
Then the shield grew legs and became a giant machine. The soldier was with his gun near the pits. His horse fell into a hole and threw him to the ground. Then his gun exploded. He was under a pile of dead men and dead horses.
"I stayed very still," he said. "I was very scared."
He said there was a terrible smell of burnt meat. He stayed under a dead horse for a long time. He watched the Martians from his hiding place. Some soldiers tried to run at the pit. The Martians killed them all instantly.
The giant machine walked across the common. Its head moved around like the head of a cow. It held a metal box that flashed with green light. This box fired the Heat-Ray. It killed every living thing on the common.
Woking station and the houses were destroyed. The town was a pile of ruins. Then the machine turned away. It walked toward the second cylinder in the woods. Then a second giant machine rose out of the pit.
The soldier crawled across the grass. He reached a ditch and escaped to Woking. He saw a few people there. They were very afraid and some were burned. He saw a Martian catch a man with a tentacle (a long, thin arm that can bend). The Martian killed the man against a tree.
The soldier hid until it was dark. Then he ran toward my house. He was very thirsty. He found a broken water pipe and drank from it. He told me his story slowly, bit by bit. He was very hungry.
I found some meat and bread in the kitchen. We did not light a lamp because we were afraid. The Martians might see the light. We ate in the dark. I could see his face now. It was covered in black dust.
We went upstairs to my study after we finished eating. I looked out of the window again. The valley was now a valley of ashes. The fires were smaller now. I saw the ruins of many houses and many black trees.
The dawn light was coming. I saw a few things that were not broken. I saw a white signal on the railway and part of a greenhouse. But most things were destroyed. Three giant machines stood near the pit. They looked at the empty land.
The pit was bigger now. I saw green vapour (smoke that looks like a gas) rise from the hole. The gas moved in the air and then disappeared. In the distance, I saw the smoke from the fires. The sun was starting to rise.