okay...'
'I didn't think you were coming back,' she sobbed, forcing out her words between breaths. 'I thought something had happened. I thought I was going to be left on my own here and...'
'I said I'd come back, didn't I?' I smiled, doing my best to hide my own fears from her. 'Where's Penny?'
At the mention of her little girl's name Clare immediately began to cry again. 'She's gone,' she said, her voice full of confusion and desperate emotion. 'I don't know where she went. I was sitting next to the bed waiting for you to come back and...'
'And what?'
'She'd been lying there for ages and she just got up and walked downstairs. I tried to stop her but I couldn't. I asked her where she was going but she didn't answer. She just kept walking...'
'What about the door? I told you to keep it locked, didn't I?'
'It was locked. The key was in the lock and she opened it. Christ knows how she did it, Tom. She's never been able to turn the key before. It's always been too stiff for her.'
'And what happened then?'
'There was nothing I could do. I kept trying to stop her but I couldn't. I shouted and screamed at her but she didn't even hear me. I grabbed hold of her arm but she was too strong for me. I followed her out of the house and it was the craziest thing I've ever seen. Everyone was out there. Everyone who lives in the road just walked out of their houses and went down towards the village. And you should have seen it. They were in perfect fucking formation! Penny just joined the line and marched with them like she'd been rehearsing for bloody days.'
'When was this?'
'About an hour ago,' she replied. She was beginning to sound calmer and more lucid. 'Did you see anything while you were out there? Do you know where they went because we might be able to...?'
I shook my head sadly and Clare's voice trailed away.
'I saw the same thing in the village. That's where they all are, but there's nothing we can do...'
'There must be something?'
'There's nothing. Believe me.'
The conversation died, and for a while the only sound was that of Clare's constant tears.
'What's wrong with your car? Why did you walk?' she suddenly asked.
I shrugged my shoulders.
'Don't know. Wouldn't start.'
'Did you see Siobhan?'
'How could I? I couldn't get to her house without the car. It was all I could do to get back home.'
'And what about your brother? Was he there?'
I nodded but didn't want to speak.
'Why didn't you bring him back with you?' she pressed.
'Because he was in the same fucking state as Penny,' I interrupted. 'He was just a fucking shell. And now he's stood there in the middle of Thatcham with the rest of them and they're all fucking comatose.' Silence.
'What's happening?' Clare asked minutes later, finally plucking up the courage to ask the ultimate obvious question of the morning.
'Don't know,' I answered awkwardly. Much as I didn't like lying to Clare, I couldn't see that any good would come of her knowing the truth. She was terrified and heartbroken already and there didn't seem to be any point in adding to her pain and confusion. In many ways I wished that I hadn't spoken to the alien and that I was still ignorant to the hopelessness of our situation. It reminded me of something I remembered reading at school that said animals don't fear death because they don't know it's coming. I wished I knew less than I did.
'I want to go and look for her,' she said suddenly. 'I want to go and find Penny and bring her back here.'
'There's no point,' I replied.
'But I can't just leave her out there, can I? She's just a child, for God's sake. She's on her own.'
I shook my head and held her tight.
'Believe me, Clare,' I sighed, 'there's no point. If we find her we won't be able to do anything. You won't be able to bring her home, she won't come. You've got to accept it, Penny's gone.'
'But she's still out there...' she sobbed.
'Penny's long gone, Rob's gone, Siobhan's gone, they're all gone. We're just about the only two left.'
I knew that I would have to explain everything to her at some point, but my instincts told me to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. I wrapped my arms around her as tightly as I could and stood there with her while