Summary: Alexis Green was there when the tripod emerged from underground; she was there when it took away a loved one, and she was lucky to survive the first few minutes of the attack. But now, after being taken in by an old family friend, Ray Ferrier, she must depart the city and go with the Ferrier family to Boston, and she will do what she must to survive. Meanwhile, she is making friends with Ray's two children, and one of the, Robbie, starts to steal Alex's heart...
A/N: Hello everyone! I'm Modesty, and I'm so excited about writing this story. I absolutely LOVED War of the Worlds, the movie, and felt inspired to create my own little Robbie/OC subplot, lol. First of all, Justin Chatwin (Robbie Ferrier) is and awesome actor, extremely handsome, and was the highlight of the film for me, lol. But I have to say, I loved the film anyways.
Please review, because it's important for me to know what people think. Feel free to leave me constructive criticisms, any ideas you might have, or just leave me a comment- all reviews are greatly appreciated, thank you.
Disclaimer: I do not own War of the Worlds, or any characters in this story except those of my own creation. H.G. Wells wrote the fantastic novel, and Steven Spielberg directed the phenomenal movie.
World on Fire
Chapter One: The Dark side of Light
A veil of darkness hovered in the sky, turning the once midday sky into a false night. A rough wind poured through the busy streets, crowded with awed onlookers and curious citizens of the city.
A large swarming circle glowed brightly in the center of the dark grey sky, coursing and moaning like a breath before the storm. It was something Ray Ferrier had never seen before. Storms, yes, and hurricanes, perhaps on the television screen, but this was so close. The misty darkness almost seemed to be reaching out to his backyard. With a tight brow knotted in confusion, he took a step backward onto the crowded street. Cars had been stopped in the midst of travel and were scattered about randomly across the road.
Ray glanced around, skipping a few steps down the street. Where the hell is that kid? He thought, teeth gritted as his gaze shifted from left to right.
"Ray, Ray!" he heard a familiar voice call.
"There you are. What were you thinking!" Ray barked as his son walked toward him.
"Sorry, the car just stopped and I couldn't…" Robbie tried to explain.
"Next time you take my car, without a license, and without permission," Ray pointed a finger at his son and scowled, "I'm callin' the cops. Do you understand me?"
"Yes," Robbie muttered eyes shifting downward. He could feel the anger against his father rising within him. Though, the seventeen year old had to admit, he was glad to be home safely after that strange occurrence on the road. He had been driving steadily through traffic when all the cars suddenly stopped, and as he wasn't an experienced driver, the event shook him up a little.
"Where were you?"
"Just down by the waterfront."
"Now get inside the house," Ray ordered, pointing to the tall row house on the right side of the road. "You're sister's in there."
Robbie kneaded the rim of his baseball cap with his fingers and frowned. Taking two steps closer to the house he hated.
"Now you stay there and don't leave, do you understand me?" he heard Ray call after him as his father kept moving down the street. Robbie understood just fine, but he didn't feel the urge to say anything to his father; he seldom did. Ray's blood boiled in his veins as his son stalled upon the road. "Robbie!" he smacked his hands together and shook his head with frustration.
"Ok, ok," Robbie picked up the pace and headed for home. As soon as he reached the steps to the front door, Robbie glanced up at the sky. His brow furrowed and he hugged his jacket tighter around him as an icy wind blew past. He looked in the direction of the wind, and again at the strange black patch in the sky.
"Robbie, come inside," he heard his sister, Rachel, call from in doors.
Breathing softly, Robbie opened the wilting screen door, and stepped inside his father's house for the last time.
"What was that, Audrey?" Alexis Green asked her step- mother.
The elder woman licked her lips nervously and glanced from the sky down to the small crater in the center of 17th Street. Her blonde curls swayed in the windy breeze. "I don't know Alex," she breathed.
"Come on, let's go home," said her step- daughter, gripping her shopping bag tightly with cold fingers. "I've had enough lightening for the day."
"Okay," Audrey answered, bewildered, and peering up again at the sky. "Let's go."
When the two reached their car, Audrey pulled her key chain out of her pocket and clicked the 'On' button. She clicked the button again. "Why isn't the door unlocking?" she asked no one in particular.
"Hey, look, Audrey," Alex pointed toward the street. "It's Mr. Ferrier."
"Hey, Ray!" Audrey shouted when she recognized the man Alex was pointing to. He was small figure in the growing crowd of bewildered townsfolk heading for the crater where all twenty-six bolts of lightening struck the earth earlier that day.
"Ray!" the woman yelled again, running towards him. Her step- daughter followed, unsure of the situation and thinking, I just want to go home; I just want to be in my own bed.
"Audrey," Ray turned to the right when he noticed his co- worker walk up beside him.
"Crazy weather we're having, eh?" asked Audrey with a grin.
"Yeah," Ray agreed, rather solemnly.
Audrey chuckled a little. "Ray," she said, making sure that her step daughter was beside her. "You remember my step- daughter, Alexis, don't you?"
"Yeah," Ray answered, glancing fleetingly at the dark haired teen who skipped in beside her step- mother.
Alex could see a crowd of people gathering near the hole in the road. She and Audrey came to a stop, but she could see that Ray wanted to see more than the backs of peoples' heads. She watched as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd, and listened as almost everything fell silent.
"What is it?" Alex heard a woman behind her ask.
"It's never happened before," she heard a man mutter.
"Now step back please," a police officer that Alex couldn't see was instructing as people came too close to the crater. Alex licked her lips with anticipation and glanced around her at the frustrated and impatient crowd around.
Ray knelt down beside the shifted gravel and picked up a chunk of debris from the lightening crash and held it in his hands. He took his fingers off every few seconds for the rock seemed to burn, but it was not hot.
"Is it hot?" he heard someone ask from behind him.
Ray eyed the piece suspiciously for a moment and then answered, "No; it's freezing."
Suddenly, Alex heard moans coming from somewhere, but it was not the voice of a human. "What is that?" someone asked.
"Is it the subway?"
"Maybe it's the water main."
"No," the policeman said. "There's no water main down there, or the train. There's nothing down there."
Alex glanced up at Audrey who seemed to be fascinated by the entire event, which was terrifying the girl. She thought about asking Audrey if they could leave, but then thought that to be childish, and at sixteen, she was no child. The storm is over, she repeated to herself. Everything's fine now.
Suddenly, she felt the ground shift beneath her feet and more moans and groans sounded from below. "What is that?" she asked, but no one answered.
The earth shifted again and she could hear the road splitting in several places. The crowd lurched backward, throwing Alex off her feet. She fell to the ground just as the ground began to shift even faster. More than a dozen spider-web like cracks shattered the surface of the road.
"Alex, get away from there!" she heard Audrey yell. Alex looked up and realized that she had fallen on the curb beside an old building.
She watched in a daze as a large crack pierced the side of the building and lifted herself form the sidewalk just as the windows broke, glass flying and shattering all over. Alex turned her head to watch and felt the icy tip of a piece of glass chipped her cheek. She faced forward and shut her eyes as she bolted away from the sidewalk, running towards her step- mother.
When she opened her eyes, only seconds later, she could see a round, grayish figure rising from the depths of the earth. She looked around for Audrey and found her. As she ran toward her step- mother, she glanced back at the hole as nearly everyone in the road stopped to see what would happen next.
To Alex's sheer horror, from the ground rose a giant metallic figure nearly ten stories high. She tried to scream as the object took its first step on the road, but her throat seemed to be clogged with terror. She ran into Audrey's arms and couldn't help but stare at the magnificent, yet terrifying thing.
It rose and stood there for a minute, its body resting upon a tripod of long legs. "Look at that," Audrey whispered to her, amazed.
Before anyone could think, the monster raised its legs and began trudging slowly through the still crowded street. "Let's go," Alex said, turning. She knew Audrey wasn't following.
Audrey grinned. "Look at that," she repeated in amazement. "Wow, you don't see that every-"
A beam of light blazed through the sky, and then another, reaching out towards the earth. "Audrey!" Alex turned around just in time to see her step- mother burst into a grey, powdery ash and disappear forever.
Eyes wide and with a face pale as milk, Alex stood there. Her knees buckled beneath her and she hit the road hard. She soon became blinded by tears and shook her head to free herself of them.
Ray Ferrier, who had been hiding behind a car, ran forward out into the street. He had seen the death of his co- worker and friend, and he could see Alex sitting in the street all alone.
"Alex!" he shouted. The girl couldn't hear him. Before he could move forward, Ray jumped to the side, dodging a flying car.
All around him people were screaming, cursing and fleeing the streets. He ran as fast as he could to Alex's side and lifted her to her feet. Tugging on her arm, he turned to run.
The girl didn't try to slow him down. She blinked most of her tears away and focused harder on trying to save her own life. Her legs were weak and felt like strings of yarn, but her life was at stake, she realized.
"This way," Ray raced around a corner, Alex following obediently behind as the foreign tripod moved awkwardly through the streets, blasting citizens here and there, and turning once living people into dust and little more than a memory.
A/N: Yay! It begins…I hope you all like it so far. Please review and tell me what you think. The next update should be in a few days to a week. I'm writing two other fanfics right now (King Arthur and Phantom of the Opera) so please be patient. Thanks!
Modesty