It was now dark and rain had come and gone. The air was still cold. They had joined a large number of people that were walking in a rural area. Everyone had their head down; it was as if all of the happiness had left the world. They were holding onto their loved ones, trying to keep warm. Many of them sought comfort in others arms for they felt that the end was near. Various times, Pam had silently cried because this same thought had crossed her mind. She thought about everything she hadn’t experienced, such as get married and have kids , travel to Paris, England, and Rome, actually get somewhere with her art, and so on. As much as she hated to admit it, she was beginning to lose hope. She was also wondering why Jon was acting so strangely. She knew it had to be something else along with the thought that they have the chance of dying soon. He wasn’t taking place in the small conversations she and Jim were holding and he was walking fairly quicker than them.

Suddenly, they heard a huge explosion that was similar to gunfire and fire rose at the top of a hill.

“Jon, slow down!” Jim called. Jon’s pace quickened as Jim said this. He started heading towards the direction where the explosion was heard. “Jon, slow down,” he said a little more forcefully.

They continued to follow Jon and then saw huge army tanks driving up and down the hill. They were obviously what were causing the explosion noises.

“Jon, seriously, we have to stick together,” Pam said. By then, Jon was beginning to run faster and faster and was making his way up the hill and towards the tanks.

“Jon! What are you doing? JON!” Jim called as they tried to keep up with him. Many other people were either making their way up or down the hill.

Just then, a missile aimed right towards Jim and Pam’s head.

“Pam, watch out!” he yelled as they jumped to the ground. When it was gone, they stood up and went after Jon once again. “Get back here! Come on!” Pam yelled. He was then in a full scale run towards the truck. Jim and Pam were far behind him by now so he told her to wait for him at a tree. “I’m coming right back,” he promised before he took off after Jon. He kept calling after him gaining no response back.

When Jon made it to the tanks and attempted to get in, the soldiers threw him back. Jim grabbed him and held him against the ground.

“Why are you doing this?” he yelled over the loud explosions. “We can’t lose you! We have to stick together!”

“But I want to help these people! I want to put an end to these tripods and be a hero!” Jon yelled back.

“You will put your life in danger. If you died do you know what it would be like for mom?”

“How do you know mom is alive? She’s probably dead like everyone else will be unless we all try and help!”

“Don’t say that!”

“It’s the truth!”

“Just please, don’t do this, Jon! I love you!”

“But I need to be here! I need to see this!”

“No you don’t! It may seem like you do but you don’t!”

“Just let me go! Please!”

While this was going on, Pam is approached by a couple around her age.

“You need to get out of this area! It’s not safe!” The woman said.

“You can come with us,” the boy requested.

“No, I’m okay! My boyfriend and his brother are here and they’re coming back for me,” Pam explained. Their conversation went on like this and the couple refused to let Pam do anything but come with them. Pam started to get more forceful and would not move from the tree. Meanwhile, Jim still had Jon pushed to the ground and they are still arguing.

“I’m not letting you do this!” Jim yelled.

“Please!” Then, Jim head his name called and he turned to see Pam surrounded by the two strangers. He looked back and forth from them to Jon.

“Listen to me!”

“I know you’re my brother and you love me but this is what I want to do!”

Jim didn’t respond and they both stared at each other for what seemed like forever. He turned back to look at Pam who was starting to be dragged away by the couple. He finally let his grasp off of Jon and they both stood up. Jim figured that it was time to let him go. It was what he wanted and he couldn’t stop him from that. They stared at each other for a moment before Jon began running up the hill. Jim watched him until he was out of sight before he dashed back to Pam.

“It’s okay, she’s with me,” he explained to the couple.

“I’m so sorry! We thought she was alone, we only wanted to help! We—” The woman didn’t finish her sentence because the man started dragging her away. Jim pulled Pam into a tight hug.

“Jim, what happened? Where’s Jon?” she asked. They looked up at in the direction of the hill where Jon ran not but a few minutes earlier. They saw a flaming tank roll down the hill. Two more followed in suit. Then, there was an earsplitting explosion that practically knocked them on their feet. A gigantic fire rose right where Jon went out of sight.

“Jon!” Jim screamed.

“Oh, Jim,” she said softly. A tripod suddenly rose over the hill. They both watched, scared, stiff for a couple of seconds before he realized what was going on. “Come on!” he yelled and grabbed her hand. They began sprinting down the hill in a desperate attempt to get away from one of the things that was the cause of the demolishment of millions. She turned her head back for a split second and saw three other tripods. They made their way back to the road and ran, not sure of where they were going. After about 500 yards of running, they saw a man holding a gun out of the cellar of a house.

“Over here! Over here!” the old man bellowed.

“Hurry!” Pam yelled as the lasers coming from the tripods were bright enough for them to see. They ran into the basement where the man was. Jim and Pam rushed into the main room while the man closed the cellar door. They both settled on a couch, shivering and terrified out of their minds. They listened to the gunfire coming from outside. All was dark except for flickering lights coming from the explosions and lasers that shone through the cracks.