Author's Note: I do not own War of the Worlds.
It was over now.
The days they'd spent in this basement had slowly blended into weeks, until little by little, all the noise stopped. They'd looked at each other, half fearfully, half hopefully, unsure what to expect. Then one morning, while she was still fast asleep, he'd gone up into the world above, looking for some clue as to what had happened, but there was nothing up there but wreckage. Some of it was alien, most was manmade. He could tell that the invaders had been vanquished somehow, but there was absolutely no sign of life. There were a few buildings luckily intact- a supermarket, a library- but nothing else. He couldn't go very far in any direction, as all avenues of escape were cut off by rubble.
He was back before Rachel woke up. He knelt by her side, stroking her hair softly. Slowly she opened her eyes.
"Dad?" she whispered, her eyes wide.
"We have to stay here, baby," he said, trying to sound reassuring. "There's just nowhere else to go. I want you to know that no matter what, I'll always take care of you, okay, darling?"
Slowly, she nodded, the hope fading from her eyes. "Are we ever going to see them again? Mom and Robbie?"
He gave her hand a squeeze. "Yes, Rach, one day, a long, long time from now, we'll be with them again. I promise. I'm sure wherever they are now, they're thinking of you."
She looked at him, her eyes tired, and she shivered as she realized what he meant. She gave a small sob and buried her face in her father's chest.
He wrapped his arms around her. "Rach, baby... it's okay. I love you so much. I'll always be here for you."
She held onto him tightly, tears falling onto her horse toy as she held it to her chest. "Just hold me... please."
And he did.
It's been a long time since then. They've lost count, because time doesn't matter anymore. It may have been weeks, months, or even a year. They've come to learn how precious just being alive is, and that's all they need now. Just being together, feeling each other's arms around them, knowing that they're safe and alive, is all they could wish for. This whole house is theirs now, but they still spend most of their day down here. This basement is where they've spent the most important days of their lives, where they learned how much they mean to each other.
Each day is the same. They wake up and eat, then he gives Rachel a bath in a little tub in one of the side rooms. Sometimes they go outside for an hour or two and sit in the yard, watching the leaves fall, feeling the gentle air on their faces, then they come back down here and just sit and talk. Some days he brings home a picture book from the wrecked library and he reads to her. A few weeks ago she would have protested that she was too old for picture books, but now she loves them, as she yearns for anything that reminds her of how simple her life used to be.
They're sitting on the couch now as the sun sets. He's reading to her in a whisper, guiding her hand over the page, and she leans against him, hardly thinking about what the words mean, just enjoying being with her father, enjoying the feeling of being alive.
For Rachel, this room feels like heaven. She's always found the world kind of scary, but down here everything is calm and orderly. There's nothing to scare her. She doesn't need to go outside, she doesn't need to go upstairs. This one room is enough. She feels completely at peace here, listening to the soft drip of water, looking at the warm sunshine slanting in through the windows. To her it almost feels like being back in the womb.
The basement is her world now. She loves the comfort of the quiet and the dark. It's the place where she learned just how far her father would go to keep her alive. She feels protected here, insulated from the rest of the world. She likes to look around and take in every detail of this place, the couch, the chairs, the gentle cobwebs, the water that still covers the floor. To her there seems something oddly magical about it.
She hardly even remembers life before all this. It helps to just close her eyes and forget about reality, to imagine she's drifting through the sky, or riding her favorite horse, in a fairy tale kingdom, with her father at her side.
"It's time to sleep, baby," he tells her, and she nods silently. He gently guides her down and wraps the blankets over them, cuddling her tightly. This is their favorite part of the day. The part when they can just rest together on this couch, safe in each other's arms. He wishes they could just sleep forever.
She turns to look at him and tries to smile, wrapping her arms tighter around him, her prized horse ribbon still clutched in one hand. He rocks her gently, singing one of her lullabies.
He looks into her tired face, and feels tears come to his eyes. He knows this won't last forever. They might have weeks, or months, or a few years left, but some day their food will run out, and then the end will come for them both, just as it already has for everyone else.
He finds it doesn't worry him. One day this will all be over, and they'll be in a place where there's no war or fear or pain. Until then, he's just going to treasure every day he has with her.
"Rach?" he whispers, his fingers exploring her hair.
"Dad?"
He holds her in his arms, pressing a kiss into her hair, and tells her the only thing that matters.
"I love you, Rach."