this,' he pleaded as he slowly dragged himself back up. 'Don't waste your time.'
'You take my life and now you want pity?' I hissed, stunned by the creature's gall.
'I don't want anything from you. You haven't got long. Just get away from here and...' I ran at him again, grabbed him by the neck and pushed him out into the hall. Still holding tight, I swung him round and slammed him up against the wall. I clenched my fist and hit him square on the jaw. He crumpled to the ground at my feet again and began to crawl towards the front door.
'Fucking bastard,' I yelled as I ran after him. He turned and looked back at me and I could see that there were tears running down his face. Thick, dark blood was pouring down his chin from a spit in his lower lip. The bloody thing was crying and begging for mercy.
'Please,' he sobbed. 'This isn't my fault. I didn't plan any of this.'
For a fraction of a second I felt some pity, but all it took was for me to picture the friends and family that I'd lost to bring me back to feeling nothing but hate and despair.
'What good is your perfect fucking society now?' I sneered as I picked him up by the collar and held him against the wall again. I looked into his pathetic, whimpering face and then closed my eyes and concentrated my thoughts on all that had been taken from me. 'Where are the others to protect you?'
'Please...' he croaked. 'I've got work to finish...'
I was never going to hold Siobhan again or hear her tell me that she loved me. I was never again going to walk along the beach with her at dusk and make love all night. I would never go drinking with Rob again or run through the village or watch a film on TV or listen to music... One last look into the alien's eyes.
'You've taken everything I had,' I hissed.
I lifted my right hand and covered the creature's face with it. I squeezed tightly and could feel his chin, cheeks and forehead beneath my fingers. I squeezed hard, hoping that it was hurting. I pulled his head forward and paused for a second.
One last whimper.
Letting go of all my hate and anger, I slammed the fucker's head back into the wall. He slumped. I pulled his head forward then smashed it back again. Forward then back again. Forward then back again and again and again until I felt the fucker's skull crunching and splitting. I let the body go and it fell to the ground.
Back in the living room, Rob had rolled off the sofa and now lay face down on the carpet. I thought for a second that he had made a conscious movement but it was obvious that he had not. I owed it to him to make one last-ditch attempt to revive him and to try and snap him free from this dire lethargy. I picked him back up and sat down on the carpet in front of him. I looked up into his expressionless face.
'Rob...' I whispered. 'Rob, it's me, Tom.'
Still no response. With every second that passed so the pain I felt increased.
'Can you hear me? If you'd just say or do something then at least I'd know you were there and...'
It was pointless.
'I just wanted you to know that...'
I couldn't even bring myself to finish my sentence. There was nothing I could do. My brother was gone. Wiping tears of sadness, confusion and fear from my eyes, I walked towards the door. I stopped and turned back to take one last look at what remained of Robert Winter. I knew that Siobhan would be in exactly the same desperate condition, and that made the pain even worse.
I knew that I had to get back to Clare, and until I was with her I would be completely alone.
My family and my life had been taken away from me.
Rob and Siobhan had been the last ones to have mattered.
Chapter 31
I threw open the front door and nervously tripped down the uneven pathway which spiralled back down towards the centre of the village. The gradient was steep and it was hard to control my speed. I wanted to sprint back to Clare but I knew that I had to conserve my energy. I just hoped and prayed that when I got back to her house she would still be there