Jim and Pam sat on the worn couch in the basement, shaking with fear and overcome with shock.

“Is Jon … you know?” Pam asked softly. Jim shook his head and said, “I don’t know…” He started rubbing his temple and closed his eyes as a tear fell down his cheek.

“Come here,” she said as she pulled him close to her. “I think he will be alright. He’ll find us, I know he will.”

“But he was right where the tank exploded. And even if he did make it out alive, the tripods were right there. We hardly made it through so how could he?”

“Jim, don’t think that way. Everything’s going to turn out okay, I promise.” She gave him a gentle kiss on his now colorless cheek.

“God, I hope you’re right.”

She reached behind her and grabbed an old and tattered quilt that was hanging from the back of the couch. She draped it around both her and Jim. He was then shaking from both the cold and overwhelming fear. She whispered in his ear, “Don’t lose hope,” as a tear escaped from her eyes and fell down her face. Of course, he noticed and wanted to do anything to take those tears away. “You want to know a secret?” he asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Sure.”

“I really enjoy Shakespeare.”

“Seriously?” she said as a small smile crept onto her face.

“Actually, yeah. When we read it in high school, I really got into it and kept on with it. I read every one of his works and started memorizing passages. Name a book and I could recite a scene out of it from the top of my head.”

“Do you still know any now?” she asked as she nestled into his shoulder.

“Yeah.”

“Recite something to me.”

“These violent delights have violent ends,
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss consume: the sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
And in the taste confounds the appetite:
Therefore love moderately; long love doth so;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.”

Soon, her eyes drew shut and she was sound asleep for the first time in two nights. When Jim noticed, he carefully laid her down on the couch and tucked the blanket around her. He leaned over her and couldn’t help but smile when he saw how peaceful she looked. “Good-night, good-night, parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good-night till it be morrow,” he whispered and placed a soft kiss on her lips before standing up to find the old man that has welcomed them into his house.

“Rick,” said the mysterious man.

“Excuse me?”

“My name’s Rick.”

“Oh, I’m Jim,” he replied as he sat on a small wooden stool next to him.

“I’m sorry about your brother.”

“I’m trying to keep hope,” Jim said as he thought back on what Pam had told him a few moments earlier. There was a long pause before Rick spoke.

“I lost all of my family. My wife and daughter.”

“I’m so sorry. That’s horrible.”

Another long pause.

“So is that your wife?” Rick asked.

“No, she’s just my girlfriend. We were taking a visit in New York City with my brother when this all happened. I was actually planning on proposing. I had a big romantic night planned out and everything, but I guess that idea isn’t going to work out.” He immediately asked himself why in the hell was he telling this to a man he had just met.

“Hold onto her while you can.”

There was silence once again.

“I think I’m going to get some sleep,” Jim told him as he stood up to walk back to Pam.

“You know those machines?” Rick said loudly. It caught Jim’s attention and he made his way back to the stool.

“The tripods?”

“Yeah. They buried them here before there was any means of civilization. They’ve been right under our feet this whole time. It’s been planned for millions of years. Think of it this way. They defeated the greatest nation on the planet in less than two days. They dominated us. They’re still comin’, too. This ain’t a war between worlds. It’s an extermination. ”

Jim stood back up and shook his head as he walked back over to Pam. He kneeled down next to her and placed a hand on her cheek. He could see the lines her tears made through the dirt and blood that was covering her face. One of her arms was hanging loosely over the couch. He took the limp hand and brought it to his mouth for a kiss. She was the reason he was still persevering to escape from the horror that was occurring. He wanted to protect her even if it meant losing his own life.

“You know, I’ve been around death. I’ve been around it plenty.” Rick said from where he was still sitting on the other side of the room. “I drove an ambulance back up in the Big Apple. I realized that the people that make it are the ones that keep thinkin’. Those that keep runnin’, they’re the ones that don’t survive. We can’t keep runnin’, Jim. It’ll kill ‘ya. And alls I know is that I’m dead set on livin’.”

Just then, the ground began shaking and a loud boom was heard. His heart jumped and Pam’s eyes winked open. “Jim?” she asked in a quiet voice. “It’s okay,” he reassured her. She slowly sat up blinked her eyes a few times to see what was going on. Then, a small piece of the corner collapsed to the ground due to the extreme vibrations.

“Go back to sleep,” he whispered to her. “And I want you to remember, I love you so much.” She smiled and leaned in to give him a little kiss before lying back down and falling asleep once again.

“Come ‘ere,” said Rick who was now holding a shotgun and was standing near a small, blocked off window. Jim gave Pam’s hand one last squeeze before walking over to him.

“We’ve gotta fight ‘em,” Rick continued.

“Wait, what?” Jim asked.

“They’ve gotta have a weakness. Look at this,” he said as he moved the wooden plank that was covering the window. They watched as two of the tripods sprayed out vine like strands out of the bottom of their machine. “They somehow found out how to kill a few in Asia . If they could do it, there’s no doubt we can.”

Jim looked at Rick with fear in his eyes and he hurried back to Pam. He picked her up and set her in a chair as her eyes instantly sprang open. “Jim, is something wrong?” she asked.

“Just stay right here,” he said as he hurried back to the insane man. “Why did you bring us here? I have a girlfriend and I fully intend on doing whatever it takes to keep her unharmed.”

“We have to fight ‘em together, Jim. We will come up from underground and take ‘em by surprise. Just like how they took us; by surprise. We’re right under their feet.”

Jim puts his hands over his face as he realized that he was in extreme danger staying with this psychotic man.