An hour or so had passed and Jim was still trembling with anger and fear.  Pam sat on the stairs with her knees up to her chest as she watched him pace back and forth.  Rick sat in a corner sharpening a knife. 

When Jim peeked outside, he saw a mysterious red plant growing wildly everywhere. It resembled veins. He ripped off a piece to examine but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He stepped away from the window when a beam of light filled the basement signaling that a tripod was standing right over them. Feeling more downhearted than ever, he walked back over to Pam where he saw Rick now sitting next to her. 

“You’re worried about your Jim, ain’t cha. How about if anything happens to him, you know, like he dies or somethin’, that I watch over ya’s.” Rick said as he placed his hand on her upper thigh. “He is not going to die, “ Pam replied through clenched teeth and tears. She shoved his hand away from her, stood up, and walked over to Jim who immediately pulled her into his arms. She was shaking. He glared at Rick and shook his head before saying, “I don’t want you to say anything to her or even come close to touching her. Am I making myself clear? If you have something to say, you say it to me.” 

“So this is your plan? Sittin’ here and not talkin’ to me? What exactly is your plan, Jim? Are you just going to wait here until they come get you?” 

“Shut up,” Pam said, her voice still tight.

Rick had no response. Instead, he stood up and started pacing the basement doing miscellaneous things. He began to ramble on and on about how the best thing was to take action against the tripods and how trying to hide and protect yourself was only going to kill you. Jim led Pam back to the couch where they sat and tried their best to calm down. All of a sudden, the sound of the robots outside came to a halt along with the rumbling that had been going on nonstop. 

“It stopped,” Jim said. 

“But who knows what will happen? Maybe they’ll turn you into their pet. Either way, you’re fate is lookin’ grim,” Rick continued.

“Just shut up and listen!” Jim yelled which caused Pam to tighten her grip on him. 

Suddenly, pieces of wood fell from the hole that formed earlier in the ceiling and what seemed to be like a tentacle of a robot came floating into the basement. It had an eye on the end that looked like a screen or a one-way mirror. It was metallic and as made a faint buzzing noise.  Pam and Jim ran behind the stairs and huddled together while Rick hid in a corner. The tentacle looked around the couch as if it knew they were hiding in there. A rat ran by which turned its attention away from looking for them. Pam looked up at Jim and the expression in her eyes was a mix of fear and a sign that she was getting ready to give up. He held her tighter, hoping that it would remind her that he was going to get them through this and that she should never, ever give up.  

As the tentacle continued to explore the wrecked basement, the terror in Jim, Pam, and continued to grow.  Rick reached for his axe to cut off the camera from its limb. Jim motioned for him to put it away and he finally did. When they were given the chance, Rick ran over to hide with Jim and Pam. He almost made it but he ended up hitting a cabinet, which created a loud thud to sound throughout the basement. The robot heard this and turned its attention towards their hiding place.  They ran to another hiding place and the robot’s tentacle neared them once again. Jim put up a large mirror in protection. At first, it examined itself in the mirror and then finally turned in the opposite direction. They all let out a sigh of relief. Then, Pam’s foot slid to where it was laying in eyesight of the tentacle, making a noise. The robot turned around and made it’s way towards the hiding place.  When it looked behind the mirror, the only thing left there was a shoe. The three of them were lucky to pull Pam’s foot out of her shoe and run to another hiding place in time. Sweat was trickling down their fear-stricken faces.

When the robot seemed to have given up, it finally exited out of the hole. They all let out a sigh of relief. For Jim, it was more than just relief.  For the first time since this nightmare had started, he saw that the invaders were capable of making mistakes.  For the first time, he began to feel hope.