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It took et back to the little house on the other side of the village I had given up running soon after leaving the centre of Thatcha and I guessed that before the day was out I would be running again Panic and fear see me to move faster It took more deterht necessary just to keep my pace level

I walked slowly down Clare&039;s street within my chest It was as cold and e anxiously from side to side Ithe bell Fucking idiot There was no power I knocked but there was no response Nervous and feeling increasingly uneasy I tried to force the door open but it wouldn&039;tthat I would be able to see Clare walking up the hallway to let ers anxiously through my hair and looked around I felt more exposed and vulnerable than ever But I wasn&039;t concerned about my safety, instead I orried that ht alert the aliens to the fact that Clare and Penny were hiding there And I knew that they were as insignificant as I clearly was, but that didn&039;t stop

Still no response from inside

I walked across the front lawn and peered in through the living rooh the lace curtain but it was clear that Clare wasn&039;t there I banged on the glass with htened that the sudden noiselare and reflections froes of Clare and Penny buried deep a the faceless crowd I&039;d just seen flashed into ate at the side of the house and crept cautiously into the back garden As I passed I peered in through the kitchenbut still neither Clare or Penny were anywhere to be seen Reaching out a cold, tre hand I tried the back door handle but it was locked That was a good thing, I decided, because if both the front and back of the house were locked, Clare was most probably still in there somewhere I took a few hesitant steps onto the back lawn before droppinginto the door It shuddered and rocked but didn&039;t open RubbingOn my third attempt the wood around the lock splintered and cracked and the door flew open, crashing into the inside kitchen wall I rushed inside and blocked the door shut by dragging a heavy pine table across the roo for a second to catch an to walk further into the cold and silent house Hesitant and reluctant at first, I was alht find

&039;Clare?&039; I hissed &039;Clare, where are you?&039;

There was no reply My voice echoed eerily around the e room, the hall and even the cupboard under the stairs but I couldn&039;t find any trace of either Clare or Penny Was I too late? Dejectedly I began to cliain

Penny&039;s rooirl&039;s bed and surveyed the devastation around me In spite of all that I had seen and heard already this , I still found it hard to believe that Penny had done sothere I heard the sound of

&039;Is that you, Clare?&039; I shouted

Not waiting for an answer, I turned and ran, desperate to see ain Her bedroom was e in a crumpled heap in the shadows in the darkest corner of the darkest rooainst the side of an empty wardrobe, wrapped in an old picnic blanket When she saw ed herself up onto her feet She staggered over and fell intoin a mass of bewildered tears

&039;Coainst ently stroked her hair &039;It&039;s okay&039;

&039;I didn&039;t think you were co out her words between breaths &039;I thought so to be left on my own here and&039;

&039;I said I&039;d co my best to hide my own fears from her &039;Where&039;s Penny?&039;

At the an to cry again &039;She&039;s gone,&039; she said, her voice full of confusion and desperate e next to the bed waiting for you to come back and&039;

&039;And what?&039;

&039;She&039;d been lying there for ages and she just got up and walked downstairs I tried to stop her but I couldn&039;t I asked her where she was going but she didn&039;t answer She just kept walking&039;

&039;What about the door? I told you to keep it locked, didn&039;t I?&039;

&039;It was locked The key was in the lock and she opened it Christ kno she did it, Tom She&039;s never been able to turn the key before It&039;s always been too stiff for her&039;

&039;And what happened then?&039;

&039;There was nothing I could do I kept trying to stop her but I couldn&039;t I shouted and screarabbed hold of her ar for me I followed her out of the house and it was the craziest thing I&039;ve ever seen Everyone was out there Everyone who lives in the road just walked out of their houses and went doards the village And you should have seen it They were in perfect fucking formation! Penny just joined the line andfor bloody days&039;

&039;When was this?&039;

&039;About an hour ago,&039; she replied She was beginning to sound cal while you were out there? Do you knohere they went because we ht be able to?&039;

I shook my head sadly and Clare&039;s voice trailed away

&039;I saw the sae That&039;s where they all are, but there&039;s nothing we can do&039;

&039;ThereBelieve me&039;

The conversation died, and for a while the only sound was that of Clare&039;s constant tears

&039;What&039;s wrong with your car? Why did you walk?&039; she suddenly asked

I shrugged my shoulders

&039;Don&039;t know Wouldn&039;t start&039;

&039;Did you see Siobhan?&039;

&039;How could I? I couldn&039;t get to her house without the car It was all I could do to get back home&039;

&039;And what about your brother? Was he there?&039;

I nodded but didn&039;t want to speak

&039;Why didn&039;t you bring him back with you?&039; she pressed

&039;Because he was in the sa state as Penny,&039; I interrupted &039;He was just a fucking shell And now he&039;s stood there in the middle of Thatcha co?&039; Clare asked e to ask the ulti

&039;Don&039;t know,&039; I answered aardly Much as I didn&039;t like lying to Clare, I couldn&039;t see that any good would co the truth She was terrified and heartbroken already and there didn&039;t see to her pain and confusion In many ways I wished that I hadn&039;t spoken to the alien and that I was still ignorant to the hopelessness of our situation It re at school that said animals don&039;t fear death because they don&039;t know it&039;s coo and look for her,&039; she said suddenly &039;I want to go and find Penny and bring her back here&039;

&039;There&039;s no point,&039; I replied

&039;But I can&039;t just leave her out there, can I? She&039;s just a child, for God&039;s sake She&039;s on her own&039;

I shook ht

&039;Believe hed, &039;there&039;s no point If we find her on&039;t be able to do anything You won&039;t be able to bring her hoot to accept it, Penny&039;s gone&039;

&039;But she&039;s still out there&039; she sobbed

&039;Penny&039;s long gone, Rob&039;s gone, Siobhan&039;s gone, they&039;re all gone We&039;re just about the only two left&039;

I knew that I would have to explain everything to her at some point, butas possible I wrapped htly as I could and stood there with her while she tried to htmare My loss was still raw and painful I couldn&039;t even begin to iuish that Clare was suffering She had been Penny&039;s sole guardian and the care of that little girl had been the prime focus of her life froh no fault of her own, her precious daughter was lost forever

For a long time we held each other and silently re for alhty hty years I felt like a convict sitting on death roaiting for the execution order to co I could do And there was no point in doing anything

Clare and I sat together in a corner of the spare room From our position ere able to look out of thebut it was i to the world outside I could see the tops of trees being blown around in the breeze and, occasionally, birds would fly in and out of view With increasing regularity I also watched countless silent alien ships busily drifting to and fro through the swirling clouds

Shortly after three o&039;clock an unexpected noise came from outside the house Clare was the first to react

&039;What was that?&039; she asked, ju up anxiously &039;Don&039;t know,&039; I answered truthfully

&039;Sounded like a gunshot,&039; she whispered She walked away and I followed as she crept through the silent house towards one of the front bedroo care to hide behind the curtain at the side of the , she peered down onto the street below

&039;Bloody hell,&039; she hissed &039;Come here and look at this, will you?&039;

I stood behind her and looked down over her shoulder A single figure was stu breathlessly down the dotted white line which stretched along the ed man, perhaps in his late-thirties, and as he moved he looked constantly from side to side In his arms he held a heavy rifle It was obvious that, like Clare and I, here was another hura that had systematically destroyed the rest of mankind I wondered how much he knew

A silver shuttle craft flew overhead The le badly-aimed shot

&039;Come on you fuckers,&039; he shouted, his voice dry and hoarse &039;Show yourselves Fucking show yourselves!&039;

&039;I know him,&039; Clare mumbled