A chorus of voices echoed from within the bunker of Yosemite Square as two pilots finally made contact.
"Gold Base do you copy over" came through the makeshift radio, staticky and almost unintelligible. The receivers button was pressed down and sparks flew as the improvised contraption attempted communication
"Loud and clear over" came the voice of Alice Fletcher. She leaned in to the microphone and radioed back
"Come in Gold Leader. Do we have confirmation of interception over"
A beat, as radio transmissions were being sent at high speed.
Alice took a sip from her mug, a bitter tasting coffee that spent more time making her gag than it did keeping her up, supplies were low however and this was the best she could do before the morning run.
She'd been stationed there since the second full day of their lockdown, manning the makeshift desk sitting at the front, adjacent from the elevator. At first it had seemed like a huge honour, and Alice had accepted the position with excitement. Lately however she had come to see it for what it really was, a glorified receptionist role. Alice felt like nothing had changed, even in their post-apocalyptic scenario, she was still seen as nothing more but the pretty young thing behind the desk. Nowadays she sat there, doodling in her notebook and communicating with any of their men sent out there for supplies. Though these days she found she was doing a lot more doodling and a lot less radioing, as most of the men sent out never got very far.
Static. Noise now as the radios lit up
"Interception successful Mrs Fletcher. Package is secured. Rendezvous 2 minutes out"
Alice pumped her fist into the air and let out a quiet cheer.
This caught the attention of the rest of the bunker, eyes moved over to hers and the General came charging over
"Miss Fletcher"
"General Sharpe"
More of the officials began to move in, and soon her desk was now crowded with old white men trying to do her job.
"We need to make contact with Gold Leader again, bring them back" said General Sharpe
Dr Malkins, seen peering over everyones shoulder exclaimed, "Ask them if they've acquired the package!"
Alice turned around to face them all, "they have, they have. Everything is fine and they are on their way ba-"
Static and muffled noises as more transmissions from Gold Leaded began to be received.
"We m ay have a slight problem out here gold base over"
Professor Hale, another one of the older gentlemen who all but preferred to be in charge barged past Alice and grabbed the microphone.
"Repeat Gold Leader repeat. What seems to be the problem" Alice's heart leapt as the watched the cords and wires groan and stretch under the pressure of the yank, if Marcus had seen how his baby was being treated she was she he'd have had a few choice words for them all.
Thrust aside by them all, she was cast out. Her own comfortable boring desk now a hive for people deemed more important than her. Alice heard the familiar sound of the static transmission from the radio and held her breath, preparing for the worst.
"Mayday mayday I repeat mayday. Intel was wrong, the tripods still scour the city. We're attempting to flank around them but they've seen us over"
Bated breath now from the entire square. General Sharpe stepped back, hand on his head and tapping his hip with the other.
"Just get the package to us now over" cried Hale just a little too loud into the microphone. A small moment of unsure silence and then one last buzz of static from the radio receiver.
"No orange coming from the vessel this time. A sort of deep blue ring. Don't know what it-"
And just like that ended the last transmission from Gold Leader. The transmission went dead and the lights on Marcus's makeshift radio receiver went dead.
Alice turned and left the room as the men began squabbling with each other, bringing up half laid plans and pulling out large pieces of paper with scrawled on text. This was the most excitement she had had behind this dull desk in days, and she'd just lost it all.
In the last two weeks they had made almost zero progress. Large machines from origin unknown were destroying their beautiful planet up above and man couldn't take the time out of their day to stop arguing, sort out their differences and win this new breed of war. It made Alice sick.
She left the large square room that had been designated as the war room and walked through the corridor off to the side.
The entire bunker was encased in a thick layer of white painted bricks, and being enclosed into this tight space nine or ten stories under the earth, claustrophobia had begun to become a reoccurring friend of hers.
Alice walked past the different rooms, each room identically fitted out with a small bunk bed and desk to work on. A cabinet off to the side was their only opportunity to personalise or add some sort of flair to their otherwise dull new world, and as you passed each room the cabinet gave you a quick introduction or sense to who the person living in that room was. As she reached the end of the hall she turned left into one of these rooms, the cabinet decorated with pages of paper. Some torn, others with notes scribbled on. Drawings of UFO's and blueprints of radio transmitters covered the floor
"They kicked me out. Just when shit was getting good" she exclaimed as she entered, striding over the papers and falling onto the bed, leaving herself in a starfish position staring straight up at the white bricked ceiling. Accompanying the bricks on their daily routine was one lone light bulb, trying with all its might to light the room, its current pulsing every so often giving the room a feeling that almost felt alive.
As she lay there on the messy unmade bed, Marcus turned around from the desk where he had been seated, in one hand a pen and the other a pocketwatch. He set both down and removed the glasses from atop his nose.
"What's up? What happened again?"
"They kicked me out" Alice repeated, rolling over to face him
"Like a sack of bricks they dumped me the moment they realised I was having a little excitement for once"
Marcus leaned back against his chair, grabbing one of his notes and placing it amidst the pile in his shelf.
"Was it the stuff Gold Leader went to get? Did you find out what it is they're so dead set on finding? Whatever it is it's got Dr Malkins very excited"
Alice frowned and shook her head,
"Na, they're keeping it top secret still. All I can tell is that it's some sort of dossier from London. Don't know what sort of dire information London has to offer but it seems important"
She grabbed a piece of paper off from the floor, folding it a few times until it resembled a poorly crafted plane. She aimed and launched it at Marcus, it veered off to the right something awful and landed close to the doorway.
He smirked, "Top marksmanship Miss Fletcher"
She grinned and playfully punched his shoulder "Shut up".
Comrades down in this military base were limited. There were a few she liked, but she never felt quite as comfortable as when she were with Marcus. Even though the Earth was currently staring down the barrel of a gun, Alice was glad to be able to spend it with someone she had come to consider a close friend.
Alice sat up on the bed, peering over his shoulder and taking a look at what he had been writing, scrawled into the paper in a less than neat style of writing had been words such as I Love You, Missing You Tonnes and Your Dearest Marcus.
"Who's the love letter to?"
Marcus chuckled and instinctively turned the page face down.
"It's..." He stammered, trying to find the right words.
"It's to my family"
Alice was taken aback. In the two weeks that they'd been stuck down here, she'd never once thought to ask Marcus about his family. More specifically, she'd never even bothered to ask if he missed them.
Alice felt herself go uncomfortably hot and she shuffled atop the bed.
"Oh Marcus I'm sorry. I never thought to ask"
"Its ok" He interrupted, turning the letter back over. He picked back up the pocket watch from the table and unclasped the latch on the top. The small, weathered and worn bronze pocket watch gave way to reveal the expected clock on one side, and on the other a photo of two elderly people smiling and looking directly into the camera.
"Your grandparents?"
He nodded "Yeah. My parents both died when I was four, great depression meant they only had enough money to feed one mouth. Went to stay with my grandparents and they've been looking after me ever since"
Alice felt incredibly awkward, such an integral part of her friend's life that she hadn't even bothered to ask about.
"I thought you said your grandma died last month?"
He shook his head, "my other grandma"
Marcus continued speaking, placing the letter in the bottom drawer of his desk and turning the chair round so he was facing Alice.
"Im praying they escaped into the country when these things landed. They live fairly close to the centre of town, I can't imagine they would've survived this long in the city..." His words began to trail off and they sat there for what felt like an uncomfortably long amount of time for Alice.
Thankfully her prayers were answered, another younger woman Abigail ran into the room, breaking up their moment.
"General Sharpe's having a fit. He's sending people out there. Come look"
and just as quickly as Abigail had barged in, she was out, running like a school girl with fresh gossip down the corridor letting all the girls know.
Alice turned to Marcus, he shrugged and placed the pocket watch into his pocket, the clasp clicking satisfyingly back into place.
"Worth a look I guess" he said.
* * *
The main room of the bunker was alive with activity, Alice and Marcus had to squeeze their way past the crowd to get a good look, General Sharpe was discussing plans with some of his other associates when they saw her coming. He pointed to her and gestured for her to come closer.
"Miss Fletcher! Do you recall Gold Leader saying anything else before they stopped responding"
Alice shook her head. The heat within had been dwindling, hanging out with Marcus in their room. But just seeing General Sharpe and the others again did something to her, she felt the heat rising back up.
"No sir. Just that they had intercepted the package with an ETA to rendezvous of two minutes"
The general nodded, and someone behind him leaned in to whisper words into his ear. The General quickly turned back to reply before clearing his throat.
The room went quiet, as all eyes fell on the General.
"Right. At approximately oh nine hundred hours one of our men went down carrying some very precious cargo. This cargo is integral to developing some sort of leverage over these behemoths and ascertaining the Earth back for humanity as we now know it. We have calculated that this cargo should have landed approximately here"
Doctor Malkinsn was now holding up a large map, with a few coordinates and a large red circle emblazoned in the upper left corner of the parchment. Alice squinted, recognising that the cargo was only seemingly an hours walk from where they now stood.
"We need a group of people to go back up to the surface and retrieve the cargo for us"
Murmurs from the crowd as people near the back began dispersing quietly, moving away before they the General could volunteer them
The General continued his spiel "Our intel suggests that the Tripods have moved south of us"
As if to reiterate this notion, Dr Malkins haphazardly used a ruler as a makeshift pointer stick to gesture to the very bottom of his large map
"Therefore, there should be no tripod interference"
Further murmurs and Alice felt her heart begin to race. This might be just the opportunity she needed to prove herself, a simple excursion trip and an opportunity to leave the compound for a time.
She could picture it now, returning down the elevator shaft with the golden dossier in her hands. The doors would open to reveal loud shouting as people embraced her, the entire bunker chanting her name as she personally hand delivered the pages to General Sharpe. He'd have a shocked expression on his face and she'd say something witty like "Sorry sir, traffic was hell" then walk away towards her room, not daring to look back.
Alice was far too busy in her dream state, practicing her thank you speech when General Sharpe made the call to arms.
"If anyone would like to venture out and make contact with the pilot and their cargo, make yourselves known to us now"
The bunker was silent, if one were to drop a pin the sound would've echoed across the entire room. No one made a sound, no one made a move. Marcus stood beside her, chuckling quietly to himself. Were they really expecting people to volunteer? The terror that the outside world represented, or more specifically that in which the tripods represented, had become the stuff of nightmares for most people. No one in their right mind was prepared to go on such a perilous journey that would almost certainly end in death.
Alice Fletcher raised her hand
"I'll do it"
Marcus groaned internally. His friend had gone mad, she was crazy. No way was she seriously expecting to survive such a trip.
Alice's free hand suddenly grabbed his own, lifting it too into the air.
"And Marcus wishes to join me"
* * *
In the end, a few other courageous souls had stepped forward, willing to brave the outside world in return for humanities hopeful triumph. A 22-year-old named Elijah Wood and a 26 year old named Hayden Baxter, two soldiers of war with a varying degree of expertise. Dr Malkins had also ended up tagging along, much to his chagrin. They all had agreed that they'd need a scientific authority to survey the land, and with intel suggesting the above ground area was safe it meant they could afford to send off one of their experts.
Her heart was in her chest, the elevator jolts as it ascended barely breaking her concentration. She was focused and ready to go, to prove herself. Alice turned to one of her cohorts, a tall man with a large scar running down his right cheek. He wore his old soldier uniform, the green camouflage hiding nothing against the cold grey colour of the elevator wall.
"Do you ever wash that thing?" Alice asked.
He turned to her and raised an eyebrow, the scar moving almost comedically along with his facial muscles until it more or less resembled that of a question mark.
"I mean" Alice continued "You've been wearing that thing almost exclusively since the incident. What's the point? We're not exactly an army anymore"
He grunted and looked straight ahead. His flat top he was sporting the first day she'd seen him had begun to grow, giving off a sort of unkempt yet short appearance.
"We may not be in the military as of late, but don't underestimate things. We are still well and truly at war with someone"
She shrugged, he had a good point. There was something about Hayden that she liked. It may have been the gruff, no two shits given attitude, or maybe just the badass soldier motif he had going for him, no matter which way you swung it she had known a small moment of glee when he had raised his hand only an hour earlier.
The other soldier they had with them piped up
"So this is all safe right? Just wanting to double check"
"Double check for the fourth time" replied Marcus, adjusting his holster atop his belt.
"I'd just really like to be certain that this thing is safe. I get we're all supposed to be macho soldiers ready for anything but realistically..."
Hayden started talking now
"I'll tell ya what kid. Stick behind me and you'll be fine. That's a promise"
Their two physiques when compared next to each other like thy were now, made it very clear who was the more experienced soldier. Elijah, better known by everyone as Eli, was a tall and a tad chubby for his age but that didn't matter too much.
Eli continued to mumble off to himself as the Elevator shuddered and came to a rest.
They all let out a breath they hadn't noticed they'd been holding as light began to seep into the room.
The elevator doors slowly unfurled, unveiling a totally new landscape that seemed majestically foreign to Alice. The above ground façade that had once stood as Yosemite Square was in ruins. Wires hung from ripped out ceilings and the sky was clearly visible through a multitude of holes in the ceiling culminating in a gigantic crater not metres from their own point of extraction.
"Jesus Christ"
"Fuck me"
"Oh god"
Taking tentative steps outside the safety of the elevator, the five moved out onto the rubble. Crunching rubble with their boots as they all stumbled across the destroyed landscape. The basic structure of the building was gone, hallways were absent and the entire upper level was gone. It was as if someone had come with a great big butter knife and sliced the building horizontally down the middle.
They made their way quickly and as quietly as they could through what could only be described as what was left of the building. Most of it had become completely recognisable and if it hadn't been for the huge gaping hole in the roof pointing the way, Alice would have become lost in a combination of emotion and debris. Hayden was the first of them to speak
"They've definitely done a number on this place haven't they. Should really fire their re-modeler"
This got a chuckle out of a few of them and lessened the mood for a moment.
"So" started Alice "What exactly are we looking for"
"A crashed plane right?" interjected Eli
"Not quite" Marcus now.
"The intel suggests it crashed a few clicks in this direction" Marcus pointing now towards the road and just outside of the city.
Hayden nodded, pressing onwards and being the first of the group to enter the streets
"So let's get moving. In an out, simple extraction"
Hayden then went quiet, abnormal for the type of soldier that lived for performing rallying speeches. The others all took their first steps out onto the streets to join him, and took in the scenery.
The entire city had been levelled. Not quite down to the ground, but enough that you could clearly make out the horizon in the distance. Buildings were destroyed and destruction lay everywhere. Bodies filled the streets. A combination of corpses laying burnt, crushed or maimed by falling debris. Faces frozen in terror, dried blood painting what remained of walls and an ungodly amount of suspicious ash now littered the streets.
What had seemed to thrive in the past two weeks they'd been underground was a strange sort of weed. Crimson coloured vines curled their way proudly up concrete beams and slinked their way across city streets, interweaving themselves within the destruction. Finding a comfy new home within the doom. It was everywhere, dense and heavy similar but not quite the same as a thorn bush.
The air was silent. A horrific tense sort of silent that only meant death and destruction. A silence that wanted to scream out, warn the world to stay away. Stay far away, for something horrific has happened here.
Dr Malkins had stayed relatively quiet so far, and Alice was more than intrigued to pick his brains on what they were seeing. The scientist in her was starting to overtake her adventurer side and she yearned for knowledge on this new type of alien flora.
Her enthusiasm quickly vanished when she noticed the body lying close to the entrance of Yosemite Square. She recognised what remained of it, but barely.
Images came flying back to her, bumping into the body on her made dash effort to find Marcus on that fateful day. The fear, the panic in the old ladies eyes as she ran towards the exit door. She'd obviously not made it very far.
This however, was not the culprit of the now growing feeling of sickness that had found itself in her stomach.
The red weeds had latched onto her body like a parasite, twisting and turning itself through a gaping wound where her leg had been broken. Alice could see a bulge going up her body where the weed had gone, squirming its way through her body and continuing out through a hole in the corpses chest.
Alice gagged, catching herself before she was to vomit on top of the corpse. The old lady had already been desecrated well enough, she had no right adding more to the mix.
"What the fuck is this stuff" Eli asked, trying to move. His feet had become momentarily tangled in the thick web of red vines and he stumbled out of it rather ungracefully.
"Some sort of plant life, must've originated from the tripods. But why?"
Marcus was now examining it. The vines seemed to be pulsating. Throbbing and pulsing as if it were alive, as if something was being transmitted inside. Alice joined him, getting down low and trying to rip a stem off for closer analysis. Yet, it was as if it had come directly from the root. The vine would not budge, Alice losing her grip and falling on top of Marcus in the process.
They both smiled awkwardly at each other and got back up
"Some plant huh" Alice muttered.
"Doesn't matter what it is" came from Hayden, up ahead and already making a move down the street "We came up here with a mission to accomplish and that's what we're gonna do. Let's go"
And so off they went, trudging through the debris of a dead city and stumbling across the invasive red weeds that had claimed the corpse as its new home.
Every so often, Dr Malkins would make some sort of remark about the structural integrity of the city, or Marcus would make some dumb joke. Eli continued to mutter to himself the rest of the journey, complaining about the blisters developing on the heel of his foot and that disgustingly slimy feeling that the red weed had when it brushed up against the exposed section of his legs.
They had begun hearing something, a loud droning sound in the distance. They'd made their way outside the city now yet the weeds still crept, as if a perverted sort of yellow brick road, leading them towards their destination. The droning sound had progressed now from random outbursts to a rhythmic order, and it sounded as if it were getting closer. This sense of time made the hairs stand on the back of Alice's neck, it was just the sort of drive she needed. Adrenaline was well and truly coursing through her system and she was ready for anything.
"We all agree its Aliens right" came from Marcus.
No one from the group replied, it was all the response Marcus needed.
Sooner or later, in what felt to Alice like more of the latter, they arrived at the crash site.
An amalgamation of twisted metal and throbbing vines, the plane lay a torn mess scattered across the ground like a play toy that had been thrown out and forgotten by the child.
Strewn along the dirt alongside this was more dried blood, a trail leading itself away from the wreckage. At the end of such a path, lay a man miss one leg and half of his face. What remained of his skin was bruised and his hair had been pulled out in clumps. It was difficult to tell which was from the accident and which had occurred afterwards.
Eli turned away from the sight and vomited into one of the red weed bushes. Dr Malkins pressed towards the crash site, calling forth Hayden to lend him a hand with the heavy lifting. That left Alice and Marcus to survey the sight laid bare before them.
"I talked to him"
Marcus frowned, "huh?"
"On your transceiver. I talked to him" she pointed to the body.
"His name was Bob Litchfield. He was on his way back with the package. British, super excited to see America"
She trailed off, a tear managing to escape. It had all become a bit too real for Alice, and she was beginning to feel her mortality.
Marcus took hold of her hand.
"Careful buddy" she remarked jokingly, laughing and sniffling back some snot
"It's ok" he said, and they stood together.
* * *
Alice knew something was off when Dr Malkins returned to them empty handed, and a scowl on his face indicated that something had indeed not gone as planned.
"Its gone"
She blinked, and Marcus took in a short breath.
"What do you mean its gone!" they both exclaimed together.
"Its just... Its missing. Its not there. Kapoot"
As if to affirm the terrible news, Hayden showed up now from behind the wreckage and silently strapped up his backpack, Eli trailing behind him.
"This is bullshit" Eli was muttering, "utter bullshit. We've risked our lives for that lot and they cant even give us half decent information? Who's in charge of the intel reports anyway"
All eyes turned to Dr Malkins now, and he frowned.
"Why the fuck is this turning on me now. All I can do is survey the information, which was all but pointing to it remaining inside the wreckage and intact. Don't shoot the messenger children"
Eli grunted something unintelligible as Hayden surveyed the sky. The sun was now high above now, looking down at them.
The commotion regarding the intel had removed all shreds of emergency, and as they all continued to argue none of them noticed the groaning sound getting evermore closer.
"We've been out too long. We need to get back" came Haydens voice, cutting the argument short.
The rest of the group agreed, and so begrudgingly they all decided to head off, bidding farewell to the nightmarish site that was the crash site.
The journey back was quicker, as all five of them had subconsciously quickened up their pace tremendously. They were 20 minutes out from the city when the first rustling from within the red weed was heard. It was Eli, his ears perking up as if he were a cat. He shushed the group quickly
"What the fuck is that. Do you hear that" hissed a frightened Eli.
Alice turned around, her head on a swivel surveying their surroundings. They'd been corralled into some sort of canyon. Artificially created through the red weed. It was thick, and the narrow path ahead boasted light at the end.
The rustling occurred again, having moved to another unspecified location, though definitely close by.
"I don't like this" Eli repeated over and over again.
Hayden raised the weapon he had brought with him, an automatic rifle capable of taking down the Nazi enemy, though he supposed the enemy they were soon to face would be of an entirely different calibre.
The pulsing of the weed was getting to Alice, it throbbed hypnotically, surrounding them on both sides as if it were taunting them. The rustling occurred again, this time right next to both Alice and Marcus.
He grabbed her hand. She frowned, but didn't let go.
Suddenly, a small mechanical being burst forth from the wall of entangled crimson. It landed in the middle of them all, Marcus taking a step back and pulling Alice behind him.
Eli and Dr Malkins were in front of the creature, Alice's heart began to race as she realised freedom was now being blocked by those two and this new thing.
It stood there, wobbling and swaying from side to side as it slowly lost the momentum it had seemingly built up. It seemed no taller than a large dog, a miniature tripod. Its oval shaped chassis supported by six spindly legs, three on each side.
Two bulbous green eyes, similar to that affixed atop the large tripods, sat atop the front of this new thing.
The strange Martian machine continued to watch them, swaying back and forth. Alice felt uncomfortable, it reminded of the way her cat had loosely swayed moments before it'd pounce.
No one in the group spoke, they were all too terrified. This was something completely new, and if it were anything like the tripods, then they were in quite mortal peril.
Maybe Alice had been right in her summation with that of a cat. For just like a cat, when its prey refused to move, the machine moved for them. It sped forwards on its six legs straight towards Eli and Dr Malkins.
The pair of them screamed, and the next few moments occurred to Alice as if in slow motion. The machine pouncing on its prey, Hayden firing off his weapon and the machine quickly turning around, clearly enjoying the thrill of the chase. Then Marcus's grip tightening around her own and finally the pair of them running off back the way they had come.
Alice dared to turn around, but Marcus hissed at her through bated breath
"Don't look back, just run"
And so they ran, as fast as they could back through the canyon of thick red weed. Their feet crashing hard against the dirt floor.
An ear shattering screech, originating back from where they had just been pierced the air, and suddenly more of these Martian machines were appearing out from within the walls. They began to chase after the two of them, quickly and efficiently gaining ground on them.
Alice was struggling, they'd been walking for hours and this race for her life only worked to strengthen the fact that her legs hurt tremendously. They panted and groaned as they continued to run, trying with all their might to somehow outrun these new mechanical predators.
Alice couldn't see them, but the noise she could hear made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Dozens of soft padding, the sound of metal hitting dirt rearing its ugly head right behind them. There was most certainly more than one.
All she remembered next was a soft tug at the hem of her pants, and she went down. Her body crashing into the ground as she went sprawling. Her head mad a cracking sound and white flared in her peripheral as she felt a terrifyingly heavy entity leap on top of her.
Alice's vision came back, yet she wished it hadn't.
Her arms were pushing to the sky, keeping the beast at bay. She was using what little energy was left within her to hold off the attacker, but knew she only had moments left. She could feel her arms failing her and the machine getting closer and closer.
On the backside of the creature, it sported a black hole. Alice struggled to focus, noticing two hypodermic needles protruding out from within the hole. Whatever liquid they held, it oozed out from the tip down onto her face.
Alice screamed.
Suddenly, flames erupted from the red weed. The creature went sprawling to the side and Alice's arms flopped. Another high-pitched scream began to emanate from the creatures as a new figure burst through the thick entangled mess of red vines.
Alice's vision was getting blurry and she found she struggled to see clearly, but she was sure she recognised the person behind the flames.
They stepped forwards, in front of Marcus and aimed their weapon at the machines. Another screech from them and then they were doused in orange flames. The metal first singed, then began to melt. Whatever material they were made out of, it seemed to be substantially weaker than that of the tripods.
The person with the flames took another step forwards, continuing to exude flames onto the terrifying creatures as they slowly but surely crumpled into a flaming heap onto the dirt floor.
The person turned around, and Alie struggled to recognise him. Her eyesight was still blurry from the hard hit it took moments earlier and the light from the flames had done nothing to help.
It was Marcus who first came to the realisation of who their mystery saviour was. He gasped and stepped forwards in disbelief.
"Pops?"
Pops smiled at Marcus, the barrel of his weapon smoking profusely and hissing as it made contact with the ground
"The very same"
* * *
They were rushing through the tangles web of red weed, every so often risking a look back behind them. Whatever these new machines were, they had been well and truly thwarted thanks to Pops and his weapon.
Alice had so many questions. She wanted to know what... why... and most importantly how. But now seemed like no time to talk, she was well and truly puffed and her mind was too busy focusing on survival.
This old man, that she'd talked to day in and day out half out of pity for his old soul was now in complete control of their safety. This day was one for the history books, she was sure of it.
The dense forest of crimson was beginning to lessen now, and as Alice and Marcus followed Pops through the singed path he had himself created, she began to make out the unmistakeable image of a cabin.
They continued to run, and just as quickly as they had delved into the thrush they were spat out back into the fresh air. The three of them , standing at the doorstep of this cabin.
Marcus collapsed onto the dirt, panting. Alice felt her breakfast coffee rear its ugly head, she turned around to vomit.
It was Pops who first spoke, his hands on his hips and the flame gun left sizzling on the ground.
"It aint much, but it's mine"
"What?!" Alice spluttered.
"The cabin" he replied proudly. "Built it from the ground up... just in case. She's all mine"
Marcus staggered back up
"What the fuck were those things?!" he yelled, pointing back the way they had came, back through the singed hole in the red weed.
"Martian Roaches I call 'em" Pops said, grunting as he lifted back up his flame weapon and gesturing for the pair to follow him up the front steps of the cabin.
"Nasty little fuckers" he continued, "Will follow ya to the ends of the earth, and can hear ya coming a mile off. Tip for ya-"
he put his hands up to his mouth and enacted a pincer
"If those little blighters get ya, they'll suck ya juices out. You'll be left all drained up like a dried-out raisin once they're through with you"
Marcus's eyes lit up with delight, Alice frowned.
"I'm sorry" she interjected, "but did you just say Martian?"
Pops smiled, opening the front door.
"Why don't you two come on inside"
Alice's head was clearing somewhat, which meant she could finally take in fully where they were.
The cabin stood proud, a circle of red weed surrounding them. It was as if the cabin had been simply popped down amidst it all.
The place looked rickety, it definitely came with some wear and tear. Moss was beginning to grown at the base of the home and more than a few cobwebs inhabited the windows. For the most part however, it seemed to serve as a safe and reliable base of operations for Pops.
The pair of them followed Pops indoors, the unmistakeable smell of alcohol lingered in the air and Marcus coughed slightly.
The place was a mess, liquor bottles lined the floor and planks of wood were scattered everywhere. Something felt off about the place, and Alice couldn't quite put her finger on it. She studied the living room for quite some time, before finally grabbing what had been on the tip of her tongue.
There were no photos anywhere.
The cabin had no personal touches or belongings, it was a mess of wood and weapons and beer but there were no family photos. No posters, no books not even a couple of seats. Just a dingy old couch that had its cotton poking out the back through a couple large tears.
Pops sat down on the couch. He groaned as he did, slowly lowering himself down and applying pressure to his back. Once he was comfortable he let out a deep sigh and turned to Marcus and Alice.
"Sit down if you want, it's much more comfortable"
Alice was still in complete shock at the events that had previously occurred. Her mind went back to the three they had left behind, Eli, Hayden and Dr Malkins. She felt guilty and wished them good fortune on their survival.
Marcus had too much energy, adrenaline was still coursing through his system. He paced back and forth behind the sitting Pops.
"We lost them" He said. "We lost all three of them and still couldn't even come back with something to show for it. The intel should've been there, all the geographical calculations confirmed its survival". Marcus was bunching his fists and his voice was raising. Marcus looked to Alice, with pleading eyes.
"What do we do now Alice"
Alice walked over to him and grabbed him.
"Its ok" She said. We've got this. All we do is lay low with Pops for a while, then when the cost is clear and those..." She made an effort to use his terms, the name getting caught in her throat
"Those Martian roaches are gone we can head back to the crash site and recover the intel. The planes still semi intact therefore so should the package".
Alice sat down beside Pops, this man that she had previously felt so comfortable to be around, now felt like a total stranger to her. She gave him one of her smiles that said I don't understand.
"Pops... How have you survived this long"
"And how do you know they're Martian!" Marcus interjected, still on edge and peeking through the dusty windows.
Pops sighed and gestured towards a dusty shelf towards the window of the living room.
"Marcus, hand me that shoebox over there"
Marcus obliged, finding a surprisingly non-dusty shoebox resting on the top of the shelf. It had scuffed markings around the edges, whatever was inside was definitely looked at often.
Marcus came to rest the box on Pops lap, and leant back against the side wall behind them.
"I'd seen em before" Pops started, pointing towards the window out into the horizon.
"Them tripods. Ghastly things, swore I'd never talk about it again. But when we saw them lights above. Well I knew they'd been on their way"
Marcus got closer and Alice frowned in her most respectful way possible. She leaned forwards to catch Pops attention, but he wasn't looking at her. Pops was staring straight ahead, transfixed in a memory he'd often vowed never to return to.
"1899. Hell of a year. They came down from above like they've done now. Blasting and killing. Stealing people through the night and spreading their sickness"
Alice felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise.
"I fought in the war against them you see. I was stationed on a torpedo ram that ended up being swept up by the bastards. Barely made it out alive myself"
He now turned to them, Alice could swear his eyes hadn't previously been bloodshot.
"We couldn't kill em. They killed themselves. Doomed by the air and the soul of Earth. Im thinking now that they're back, its cause they've finally figured out Earths weakness"
Marcus was engaged, all his theories had meaning now.
Alice wasn't convinced. To her, all she was doing was humouring the broken mind of an old man. There was no outcome to this where the United States military managed to keep this sort of a story covered up for nearly fifty years.
Her eyes were now drawn to the shoebox. Pops caught on to this and nodded, his story shifting gears.
"Just now, you both talking about planes and cargo and whatnot. Is this what you were after"
Pops lifted the lid of the shoebox, revealing a beige dossier with the clear label of Yosemite square emblazed on the front.
Alice's heart leapt and Marcus did a double take.
"The intel!" they both exclaimed.
Pops nodded. "Poor soul was dead by the time I got there, but I found these here papers. Recognised the logo being the place I used to clean so I decided im best to hold on to it"
Marcus grabbed the intel and unwrapped the string binding it together. He scanned the pages, his speed increasing as each page passed him by until he reached the back cover of the dossier page. Alice noticed he was white as a sheet.
"Alice, read this"
He handed her back the dossier, and now it was her turn to read.
She flipped through the first couple of pages, a simple plethora of redacted nonsense.
A page caught her eye and she stopped, it was a photo of a couple soldiers smiling together on some sort of vessel.
The heading of the page read the words
MARTIAN TRIPOD ATTACK #7 DOCUMENTATION POST BRIEFING 1898
Under that, Alice noted the subheading of the photo. Now it was her turn, she felt her blood run cold and she went as white as a sheet. Pops mumbled something to himself
SOLDIER JIMMY 'POPS' CLARKE AND UNIDENTIFIED OTHERS ABOARD THE HMS THUNDER CHILD