keep out of sight,' I said suddenly. 'Don't go out and don't let anyone in.'
'Where you going?' she asked anxiously.
'To get Rob and Siobhan. I don't care what condition they're in, I'm going to get them in the car and bring them back here.'
'You can't leave us!'
'I can't take you with me, can I? We can't risk moving Penny.'
'But you can't leave us...'
'I have to,' I sighed. 'I don't want to but I've got to go. I need to know that Rob and Siobhan are safe. They're all I've got left.'
I walked over to Clare and held her tightly. Leaving the relative safety of the house really was the last thing I wanted to do but I didn't seem to have a choice. I couldn't bear the thought of Siobhan being alone with all of this going on. Even if she was still in the same desperate condition when I reached her today, at least we would be together again. I didn't think she'd offer much resistance. And as for Rob, my duty to him was just as strong.
'I'll be back as soon as I can,' I said quietly.
'Okay,' she said, still holding on to me tightly.
'Just promise me that you'll keep the door locked and that you won't let anyone else in.'
'I promise. But what if...'
'No buts.'
'Okay.'
Deliberately moving quickly so that I didn't have the opportunity to change my mind, I grabbed my coat and headed for the front door. Clare followed close behind me.
'See you later,' I muttered and, with that, I went outside and pulled the door shut behind me.
Chapter 28
It was half-past six. As I fastened up my coat and shivered in the icy-cool air of early morning I walked to the end of Clare's short drive and looked up and down the street. It was deserted. No doubt those people who were still capable of functioning rationally were curled up in fear deep inside their homes waiting for whatever was going to happen next.
My car's remote central locking wasn't working.
I tried the key in the lock and managed to open it manually. Once inside I quickly pulled the door shut and started the engine.
Nothing.
I checked the immobiliser, checked I had the right key and even checked that I was in the right car. I tried again.
Nothing.
It was completely dead.
I looked back at Clare's house and could see her standing in the shadows of her living room, watching. I got out of the car and gestured for her to get out of sight. I didn't wait to see if she'd understood, I just started to jog back towards the village and then, ultimately, home. I had no idea how I was going to reach Siobhan's house without the car. Maybe I could find a bike or something else to use so that I could...
A sudden change in the light and shadow around me made me freeze. I looked up into the turbulent sky directly above me and watched in terrified awe as one of the immense alien ships carved a silent passage through the swirling clouds over my head, heading in the general direction of Thatcham. As it cruised powerfully forward, a bright opening appeared in its otherwise featureless belly and from it swooped a fleet of seventeen sleek, grey-silver shuttle crafts. As each one of the shuttles dropped down into the morning air a single pulse of brilliant white light appeared from their engines and they raced on ahead of the mother ship.
Although the entire fleet was gone in seconds I knew that I couldn't afford to drop my guard. No matter where I was standing, I could always see at least one other alien ship somewhere in the sky. I had no option but to keep on moving towards home. I hoped that my insignificance would be my saviour on this bitter and desperate morning.
The streets of the village were silent and dead.
I had a thousand and one unanswerable questions spinning round my tired mind as I ran and then walked towards my house. Why was I the only person stupid enough to be out in the open? Where was everyone else? I searched pointlessly for the answers to the most serious questions of all - why were the alien ships here? There was no point in avoiding the obvious - this was a full scale invasion. But why? And how had it happened? I didn't get any comfort from knowing that my long held mistrust of the aliens