War For The World

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Tentatively, Joan opened her eyes.

It was dark, impossibly dark. She was breathing however, and the lack of any screaming pain meant all her vital organs must still be in check.

The hand still gripping tightly to Louis could feel his pulse rushing. This was also a good sign, they'd made it out seemingly in one piece.

"Is everyone alright?" Alex hissed from somewhere to Joan's right.

"Yes!" Louis replied.

Joan could feel a crushing sensation against her waist. Moving proved to be difficult, and the sudden feeling of claustrophobia began to swamp her mind right up until Alex pressed his legs against the lid of the Martian coffin and kicked outwards.

Light.

Air.

Sound.

They all burst through as the lid clanged to the ground beside them.

Alex went stumbling out of the pod first. Gasping for air he tumbled up and over onto the harsh metal ground of the Martian hull. Louis went next, hoisted up and out by Joan as she followed close behind.

The three sat in the empty dormant room. The row of pods had now become a jumbled mess of debris as wires had come undone and some of the pods had been lifted entirely from their position. The people inside still lay sleeping, motionless.

"The people" Joan started, heading over to the glowing coffin containing her ex-husband.

"Do you think..."

"They seem alive to me" Alex interrupted, meeting her by her side.
"They're still simply sleeping Joan"

Her lip trembled, hands shaking as they pressed against the glass. She couldn't decide how best to proceed. She turned to face Alex, her eyes begging for the answers.

"it's the right thing to do"

His hands skimmed the machinery before coming to a rest beside the buttons and levers. Pressing the main one that Joan had done earlier proved to be the right one, as the lights inside began to dim and steam slowly began to seep out from within.

"We need to let them out. Once he wakes he'll wake the others. For now, lets go get some fresh air aye"

She nodded, moving on back to her son.

Though Joan couldn't put her finger on it she could tell something was off. The shape of the hull, the way the angles reflected the light, something about their room was different than before. It wasn't until young Louis pointed out the obvious that Joan finally realised.

"we're upside down mama!"

So they were. The tripod must've collapsed upwards, tumbling onto its back after being shut down by their workshopped radio. A fickle thing, for such a monstrous creature to be taken down by something so little and harmless.

The three slowly made their way back into the open hub area. Stepping over the limp bodies as they went they made their way silently back the way they had come.

Slowly but surely their path became clearer, and before too long they were walking directly towards the trap door that had opened up to envelop them earlier that day. Only now it sat above them, hanging down lifelessly and in the process teasing them with the tantalising sound of bird song and rustling bushes.

"whole things dead" Alex surmised "makes sense the trap door would be dead too"

Joan turned to Alex and smiled. She hadn't had any time for it to sink in, to truly let the events sink in. They had defied all odds and beaten one of the great Martian war machines. Not only that, but she had a sneaking suspicion such a radio wave in such a specific point may have had a domino effect onto many more around the world.