Chapter 2 - Ray

The Tripod Call sounded again.

"No,"
Harlan gripped his gun so tight the strain showed white in his knuckles and palms. If a huge hundred foot monster wasn't hanging above them, possibly with a few buddies, then Ray would have laughed. Why did Harlan think he could fight a revolution of aliens with one lousy rifle?

Ray held his hand up, warning Harlan to keep still and quiet. Harlan nodded slowly. His eyes were almost as wide as they had been earlier when the blood had drifted in through the window on the air. That had all stopped now. Robbie was staring up at the ceiling as if were lying on his back on the grass on a sunny afternoon. Rachel was watching her father's face.

Ray's neck was strained painfully as he stared up at the ceiling. What were they waiting for? The sound of Tripod's footsteps made the little basement shake. Robbie jolted, trying to leap up but held down.

"Dad!"
"Robbie!"

Ray didn't notice the rumble until it began to crescendo. It was similar to thunder, something Ray hadn't heard for what seemed like years.

"Is that the lightning?" Rachel asked fearfully, staring at the grimy basement ceiling.

Rachel's question was answered only by the crack of the lightning. It landed like a whiplash to the basement floor, splintering the concrete floor as if it were wood.
Ray buried his face in the side of his shoulder, throwing his arms over himself. Rachel screamed and buried herself next to her brother. Even Robbie had hid. Ogilvy was pounding to the other side of the basement. Ray heard his mantra even over the second crack of lightning.
"Not my blood, not my-….not my blood….not my blood!"
Ray gripped Robbie's shoulder, and reached around to hold onto Rachel's arm.

"Come on!"
He dragged his children around the back of the sofa. Rachel tucked herself under Robbie's arm, her hand planted over her mouth, screaming into her fingers. Ray held onto the pair of them, the heat of the lightning so intense he thought his hair might be singing.

"Daddy!"
The lightning stopped.

"We've gotta go,"

"Dad!"
"Robbie get up!"
Ray pulled Robbie to his feet, a painful process for the injured teenager who groaned with the movement. Rachel ran ahead of them, up the shaking stairs above the sofa and onto the second floor. They found their way to the front door, Ray half dragging Robbie who was yet to regain full sense.

"Ray where are we….Dad where's my cap?"

Ray had the offending object pushed into his pocket but had no time to say, "Go! Rachel, through that door Rach,"

Rachel pulled open the door under the hall stairs. It was to the other end of the house, and Ray hoped it was just far enough. Ray ducked in. He became blind as the sheer black cut into his eyes.

"Robbie!"

He could just about see Rachel's wide eyes and her pale, frightened face.

"Robbie get in!"
Robbie was stood in the hallway, watching the stairway to the basement that they had just clambered up.
"Robbie get in here now!"
"Robbie!" Rachel screamed. The horse strung around her neck was being garrotted in her trembling hands, "Robbie come here! Don't go Robbie!"
"He's not going anywhere," Ray hushed. He leant out into the hallway. The dim light the world was pasted in allowed him to see Robbie's right shin which he grabbed and pulled on. Downstairs, there was an even more ominous rumbling than there had been. They could feel the ground way down below them belch and grumble and break. Ray yanked on Robbie regardless of the boy's injuries and pulled him to the hopeful safety of the cupboard. Ray shut the door on them, blocking out all light. Robbie sat heavily down in between him and Rachel. He was talking but Ray couldn't identify the words. The sounds downstairs were ear splitting. There was a scream of metal grinding upwards. The ground shook. Their small rickety sanctuary shook, the door banging in it's frame. Rachel held tightly onto Robbie.

The stairs to the basement caved in. The trembling in the ground grew until they knew it was directly under their feet. There was a pause so silent it deafened Ray momentarily. Then a mechanic whirr, and something broke up through the floor just outside the cupboard doorway. It ripped up the hall floor, wood crashing against their hiding place's door. The lock groaned under the weight. Above them the stairs began to crumble. The sound of a wall falling. There was the banging of metal upon metal. Something even bigger than the first thing moved up through the floor, breaking the house up the middle. Their part of the hallway was tipped, thrown towards the front door that had snapped under the strain of the rest of the house crumpling.

Their little world of darkness spun around them. Ray saw Rachel's purple t-shirt close to his face then gone again. The peak of Robbie's cap dug into his hip. He grappled for his kids.
"Rachel! Robbie!"
"Daddy!"
The world went even blacker than the before, and stiller than Ray thought was natural.

Ray opened his eyes. There was red sash of light in front of him. He frowned, watching dust swirl in it.

"Dad,"

Rachel's wide eyes appeared in the cut of light. Then he saw the whole of her face, white and frightened.

"Hey darling, you OK?"

She nodded. But what were they doing here? Where was here?

"Did we roll out of the house?" Rachel asked, in a whisper.

"The house? Oh…we…"

Ray sat up, working on a brutal kink in his neck and wrist.
"The lightning came back,"
Ray was beginning to remember, "The lightning. The lightning came back,"
"It was one of them. It came up from under the ground. That was what it was, wasn't it Dad?"
"Where's Robbie, Rach?"

She pointed down to a dark corner of the small pit they were in.

"Is he OK?"
"He's awake. He's talking weird though,"
Ray nodded. He moved up into a crouch, and inspected the ray of light. It came from a small hatch shape in the ceiling. No, wait, it was the door. The door in the stairs to the shelter they were in. They had been tipped upside down. He tried the lock, and pushed the door open with his shoulder.

Outside the green grass of Virginia had turned to a red carpet was weeping weeds. Ray lifted himself out of their hidey hole. The scene was one covered in red, but also wood. Carpet, foam, metal, concrete. He stepped over a concrete chunk and turned to see how they had survived. A piece of the staircase, the one with the cupboard latched to it, had broken off. They had rolled away from the house on a huge plank of wood Ray assumed used to be the staircase.

After pulling Rachel out, and digging Robbie out of his inaccessible corner, something he remembered doing so many times when the boy was little, the three of them sat on the concrete slab and took in the scene.

"We survived this?" Robbie asked, quietly. Ray didn't seem able to say much. He stood up and jogged over to the hole in the roof of the basement. He peered down into it. There was a hole in the basement floor directly beneath him. Something had come up from under the ground. He knew exactly what that was too. He had seen this happen before, although he had never been trapped right above it. He took in the size of the hole and frowned. That was way too small for a Tripod to come up through. Maybe it had been a baby Tripod.

"I'm going to go down there, for only a few minutes. Wait for me here, OK, Rach? And look after your brother,"

He tucked a strand of her slightly matted blonde hair behind her ear.
Down in the shattered basement, there was no level down. Ray moved carefully, so that he didn't risk breaking his ankle. He could hear Rachel talking to Robbie up above on their little concrete island. The sofa was still there, although the stairs had been smashed around it. Even so, the roof above it was in tact. It looked pretty solid too. Maybe he should risk bringing the two of them back down. He crossed the water logged floor to where Harlan had been sat. He wasn't there anymore. Ray rubbed his forehead and kept moving. What was he to do? He had to save his kids, he couldn't have gone back for Harlan.

A hand snatched out, grabbing his ankle.

"Ah!"
"Ray!"
Ray yanked his foot away, staring down at the blackened figure of Harlan.
"Ogilvy?"
"Yeah," Harlan spat blood onto the floor. He stood, stretching his limbs.

"That Tripod big enough for ya?"
"How…how did you survive?"
"I'm the resistance Ray," he said. Ray noticed the gun was still in his hand, "I'm as resilient as you can get,"
Ray nodded slowly, "OK,"
"Where are your kids?"
"Up. Outside…whatever you want to call it,"
"I ain't got all day Ray. Get them down here and help me build up our fortress again,"

Ray didn't appreciate being bossed around by Harlan and so ignored the large Virginian.
"Hey, Ray! You ain't helping, get over here!"
Ray didn't dignify Harlan with a reply to that so kept on working on Robbie's cut in his head.

"You hear me Robbie?"
"I haven't gone deaf Dad,"

"Yeah, yeah alright smart guy," Ray smiled.

"Hey Ray! Look, here come ya little buddies! Like I say, maybe they'll train you as their pet. Pet you, train ya how to do tricks!"
Ray frowned, "Harlan…"
"Here they come Ray," Harlan said, gleefully. He cocked his gun. He fitted it into the gash of a window.

"Harlan what are you doing?"
"Here they come Ray,"
The distinctive sound of Tripods, far off.

"Harlan-"
"I got 'em in sight!"
"Harlan they're too far off! Stop it, what are you doing!"

Ray yanked Harlan's gun.

"They'll find us! They'll find us and kill us Harlan, stop it!"
Harlan snapped his gun off him.

"We need to kill one Ray. Kill one, and the rest will be easy,"
"What are you saying!" Ray bellowed.
Rachel gripped Robbie's hand.

"You can't kill these things!"
Harlan sneered.

Ray looked over to Rachel and Robbie.

"You understand what I'm gonna have to do? I can't let my children die because of you,"

"Daddy what are you doing?" Rachel cried, as Ray pulled the blind fold over her eyes.

"Whatever you hear, don't take this off,"
"Dad?"
"Rach?"
"Dad,"
"What was that song? That lullaby that I didn't know?
"Hushabye mountain?"
"Sing it,"

"A gentle breeze,"
"Don't stop,"
"Oh Hushabye mountain,"
"That's my girl,"
"Softly blows over Lullaby Bay,"

Ray kissed her hands and put them over her ears. He stood up. Robbie was watching him wide eyed from the sofa.
"Dad, what are you-?"
"It fills the sails,"
"Turn away Robbie. Whatever you hear, don't come over,"
Robbie shook his head, "Dad,"

"Don't look Robbie. Turn away,"

Robbie took hold of Rachel. He pulled her down next to her, her hands still over her ears. He gave his Dad one last look before he closed his eyes and buried his face into Rachel's hair, his free hand over his left ear.

"Of boats that are waiting. Waiting to sail Your worries away,"

The sounds of Ray's footsteps echoed into the water and around the basement. The door to the small coal shed where Harlan had been attempting to fire at the Tripods shut. Robbie screwed his eyes shut tighter.

"So close your eyes, on Hushabye Mountain, wave goodbye, to cares of the day. And watch your boat, from Hushabye mountain, sail far away from Lullaby Bay,"

After Rachel's singing, they couldn't hear a thing. There was a swish and groan of the coal shed door opened. Rachel pulled her blindfold off. Robbie took his hand from his ear, and opened his eyes. He let Rachel go.
Their Dad appeared. He sat down heavily next to the sofa. Rachel sat herself on his lap, closing his arms around her. Robbie closed his eyes and relaxed into the sofa.

AS: Hi! I put in another part from the film, as I'm sure you moved it, but changed it a little. I've kinda changed the geography of the basement too but I can't be perfect! This chapter may have been a bit boring but I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for the reviews I've had so far!