CHAPTER 4: REACHING HOME

Finding the Deputy was my first priority, but by the time I reached the Sheriff's office, it was obvious that Deputy Skipson was already well aware. Maybe she had been watching the live broadcast and saw it cut out when the Heat-Ray took Moosos Alexander, or maybe one of the other mammals fleeing Horsell Meadow had told her. Sharla arrived not long after I got there, hearing the tail end of my story. She had been at home, also watching the live feed, and had come to the conclusion that Stent had been killed before she had even heard what I had to say.

"Tentacle aliens bigger than bears, and Heat-Rays," Skipson remarked with a shake of her head. "Sounds like some sorta science fiction tale."

"It's very real," Sharla replied gravely. "Poor Stent and Buckshaw…"

"The first thing they did was wipe out as many of us as they could reach," I said. "It sounded like they were building something down there, and then…" I stopped, remembering that hellish heat unleashed upon the mammals closest to the Martians.

"Ain't no way they're gonna get out of that pit," Sharla shook her head. "They can't stand on those thin… legs? Arms?"

"Go with tentacles," Skipson offered.

"Right," Sharla nodded. "Anyhow, Earth's gravity is over two and a half times of Mars, and it's also a lot warmer here. They must be feelin' right uncomfy."

"What if what they're making in the pit is something to get round that?" I asked. Sharla and Skipson exchanged worried glances. "They built a Heat-Ray, for fluff's sake!"

"Kinda obvious their technology is miles better than we thought it would be," Skipson said.

"What's the next thing we do?" I turned to Sharla. "We can't just leave them out there, doing fluff-knows-what!"

Skipson shifted uncomfortably.

"The military is already on their way," Skipson told me. "I got a call before you arrived that they are planning on camping at the edge of the Meadow. They'll deal with it."

"Great, the Army in Bunnyburrow," I shook my head in disbelief. "I bet they wanted to just shoot a rocket straight into Horsell Meadow."

"Prolly," Sharla agreed. "Glad they ain't. Even if they kill them, we can study their remains, learn more about them. Be ready for them when the next one comes."

"Not to mention the possibility for collateral damage," I added.

It was at that point I remembered that there had been a flash in the sky from Mars for ten nights straight. And if each flash represented a cylinder, then that meant this was only the first. The next cylinder would be due very, very soon.

Quickly, I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Nick. Straight away, I was met with a tone, before the call dropped. I tried again, and the same thing happened. A dread crept up on me, and I decided to try calling another number. I tried calling home. Again, that tone, and the call ended.

It was then I noticed that my phone's signal was gone. I swiped at the screen, only to be met with a message that chilled me:

Cell network unavailable.

"Can I borrow your phone?" I asked Skipson. Surely the landlines were still working.

"Go right ahead," she indicated to the landline on her desk. I reached for it, and dialled Nick's number again.

And again, I was met with that same thing.

I tried Precinct One. And again, that sound.

I even once again tried calling home, and was met once more with the same result.

I held the phone away from my ear, my head shaking slowly, struggling to take in what was happening.

"Judy?" Sharla stepped forward, one of her hooves outstretched in an attempt to reassure me.

"There's something really wrong…" was all I could muster. "I… I gotta go home."

I turned to leave, and once I reached the door, the smell of smoke reached my nostrils. The Meadow was still on fire. I ran, heading straight home. My weary legs protested even before I made it halfway there. It might have looked to others who saw me that I was staggering drunkenly.

Once I got home, I dashed inside, heading straight past a few of my siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews before getting to the burrow's kitchen, where Mom and Dad were.

"Judy! Where's the fire?" Dad asked. "I mean, aside from the fire in the Meadow. What happened out there? Did somebody light a campfire again?

"You look like you've been dragged through a bush," Mom added. "Sit down, I'll get the first aid kit."

I sat down as Mom rushed out of the kitchen to get the kit. Dad sat beside me.

"Been some strange things going on today, haven't there?" Dad said. "Mammals running away from Horsell Meadow as if they've seen a ghost. I tried catching Steve Leapington on his way back, but he wasn't making any sense. And now, even the TV and the radio aren't working."

Again, the image of the Heat-Ray incinerating Stent, Buckshaw and the others swam to the surface, and I felt an urge to vomit that I fought back.

"What happened out there, Judy?" Dad asked, as Mom came back with the kit. She opened it up and pulled out an antiseptic, rubbing it on a cut on my arm I didn't even know I had gotten. The attention made me wince in discomfort.

"They… killed them… burned them alive…"

"Who did?" Dad pressed. "Did something come out of whatever's out there? Is that what all the fuss is about?"

"Martians…" I replied. "They look nothing like anything I've ever seen. No bodies, big heads, tentacles… and then they burned Stent, Buckshaw and the reporter to death with a Heat-Ray, and so many more… And now I can't even get hold of anybody…"

Mom and Dad exchanged worried looks.

"They're out there, making something," I carried on. "They can't even stand up on their own… Maybe something they can use to move around here."

"… Judy, are you feeling alright?" Dad asked cautiously.

"No!" I flipped my arms into the air, startling both Mom and Dad. "I just watched a lot of good mammals die! And for what? All they wanted to do was tell the Martians they don't have to fear us!"

Then, I heard the sound of rapping chopping through the air above. I knew exactly what that meant. Getting up from my seat, I ran for the front door, my parents following me out with concern. Outside, I could see three large helicopters – Chinooks, unless I was mistaken – and each was carrying a tank on cables attached to the underside of their hulls. Then my ears picked up the sound of tyres, and three large military trucks drove past. They were all headed towards Horsell Meadow, no doubt to put down the Martians before they could finish whatever it was they were building.

"What in the blazes is going on?" Dad wondered.

"I was just about to come and inform you," came a voice from the side, and we all turned towards it. Deputy Skipson was walking toward us with a grave look upon her face.

"What's up, Deputy Skipson?" Dad asked. "Why is the Army here? What's going on out there?"

Skipson looked to me, perhaps hoping I had already explained.

"The Army has come to destroy the Things that came from the cylinders," she explained. "And that's why I'm here. They're deploying at the edge of Horsell Meadow. I've been told that we have to evacuate the homes closest."

"Evacuate?" Mom and Dad repeated.

"There's almost three hundred of us here!" Mom protested.

"We won't be able to get them out quickly," Dad added.

An idea came to me. Many years ago, when he was much younger, Pop-Pop – Mom's dad – had dug out a series of tunnels and rooms underneath the house. It was a darker time, when animosity between predator and prey was much higher, but Pop-Pop had always carried an air of conspiratorial suspiciousness with him. In particular, he had been expecting foxes to band together and attack the Burrows. He had always been suspicious of them. As he always had liked to remind us, he believed that 'foxes are red because they were made by the devil'. Maybe if he had lived long enough to see me partnered with Nick, even mated, he might have changed his mind. Maybe not. Sadly, we'll never know, but I was sure glad he wasn't around to bear witness to the Martians.

"What about the tunnels?" I suggested. "Aren't they fire-proof?"

"Well, yes… they are, but…" Dad began.

"Get everybody down there," I told Dad. "Get them to safety."

"But… surely the Army…" Mom began.

"Please, Mom, Dad," I begged. "You didn't see what I saw. Those things came on cylinders from Mars that they made. They had a Heat-Ray weapon. Whoever the Army sent might lose."

"She's right," Skipson agreed with me. "This isn't something we've ever seen before."

At that moment, something else soared overhead, breaking us from our conversation. It wasn't one of ours – a green mist followed it. It landed with a loud bang on the far side of the Meadow.

I knew then that it was the second cylinder, launched on that second night. And following it was the sinking feeling that things were about to get so much worse for us.

"Get the family into the tunnels," I repeated. All Mom and Dad could do was gape wordlessly at the sky, so I cleared my throat, bringing their attention back to ground level.

"Oh, uh… right…" Dad finally said.

"You take the first and second floors, I'll take the third and fourth," Mom said. Dad nodded in shaky agreement and the two headed back inside.

"What about you?" Skipson turned back to me.

"I'm not going down there until everybody else is out," I answered. There was no question of me running away with the rest of my family before they were all safe, and that included Mom and Dad. I might have been off-duty, two hundred and eleven miles away from my beat, but I was still a police officer. I would make sure that everybody else got to safety first before I took cover myself. And that also included anybody else near the Meadow, not just my own family.

"How many more houses are there to warn?" I asked.

"Two," Skipson replied, "The Greys and the Leapingtons. Sharla already warned her family, and they're already on their way out."

"I can take the Greys," I said. "You go to the Leapingtons. We can get them both out quicker that way."

"Would you?" Skipson breathed in relief.

And so, I set out for the Grey home. As I made my way, the boom of tank turrets reached my ears. The Army was attacking the Martians. My hope was, of course, that this meant it would be over soon.

I got to the Grey household, and Gideon was outside with his mother.

"Judy, what bring y… holy foxtail, are ya okay?!" Gideon noticed the state I was in.

"The Army is telling us to leave," I told them.

"Leave?" Gideon's mother repeated.

"I was gonna go back and see what all the hullabaloo was about," Gideon frowned. "But then I saw all those folks runnin' away from the Meadow. Then the Army turned up, and… Judy, what's out there?"

"You're lucky you didn't go back out there," I shook my head. I then explained to Gideon what had gone on out there. The look on Gideon's face changed into one of horror as I recounted witnessing the tentacled monster emerging, the sounds of the deer boy trying to escape suddenly falling silent, the group of mammals led by Buckshaw and Stent being incinerated by the Heat-Ray, and then running, running…

I was sure that, while they couldn't move from the pit in their current state, the Martians would surely have come equipped for that and would soon find a way to move out from it. And if that happened, then we'd all be in danger.

Our only hope was that the cannons firing into the pit would be enough.

"Ma, grab Grandpa and a few clothes," Gideon said finally. "I'll clear the back of the van out."

Within minutes, Gideon had cleared the racking, usually used to keep his baked goods for delivery, from the back of his van, and had packed up a few essentials. Gideon's mother returned with his grandfather, and they got into the van.

"Keep safe, Judy," Gideon said as he got into the van. "Ya hear?"

"You too," I nodded back. I took off back towards home again. Dad was there waiting for me.

"Everybody's down in the tunnels," Dad told me. "We're just waiting on you."

I followed Dad back inside the house. Seeing it empty, devoid of any of the life that normally sprung around it, was so weird. We headed into the basement, which was where the doors leading to the large network of underground tunnels were. Dad took a torch and handed it to me, and we descended into the darkness, hoping to wait out the nearby assault.

And that's the end of another chapter! A fairly big change I made from the novel is that there are several chapters of life just continuing on before the Martians finally leave the pit in their Fighting-Machines. No, don't rush, people. Just have your tea and your newspapers while your doom builds its means of crushing you. So, obviously, I wanted to condense that a bit, especially looking at this from a more modern perspective.