where just over a thousand people had been standing minutes earlier.
'I said it's a cull,' I repeated. 'I found out about it this morning. I didn't bother telling you...'
'You didn't think you should tell me that those bloody things up there are planning to get rid of us all? You didn't think that I might have needed to know what's going to happen to...'
'I didn't tell you because there's fuck all you or me or anyone can do about it. The aliens need the planet but they don't need us. It's as simple as that.'
'But they can't. They just can't...'
'They already have.'
Too tired to argue I dropped the heavy sports bag and leant against a metal gatepost.
'But those people were...'
'Save your breath,' I sighed. I pointed up into the sky. 'Go and tell them how pissed off you are about the whole thing if you want to, but it won't do you any good. You do well if you manage to find one of those cowardly bastards.'
I picked up the bag and started to walk again.
'We'll be okay if we keep out of their way. We'll keep our heads down and keep out of their way.'
I took one last look at the field as we carried on down the road. It looked perfectly normal - untouched and unspoilt as if no-one had ever been there. One thing was certain, there were no hidden escape routes and no alternative explanations.
Over a thousand people had been destroyed in seconds.
Chapter 36
Part V
CULL
36
The driving rain and bitter, swirling wind continued with an increased ferocity. The desperate conditions only served to add to the confusion and disorientation of the night. Despite knowing full well that every step we took was pointless, Clare and I continued to press on. More than anything it was the only sensible option - we could keep moving or we could sit and wait for the apparently inevitable. As the world around us began to change and be adapted by the aliens for their own use, I was thankful that I was finally able to recognise the stretch of road that we followed. I knew that it would only be a short while before we reached the ocean.
We eventually left the relative certainty of the road and began to walk along a muddy, uneven and well-used public footpath. We found ourselves walking across the exposed peak of a high hill and, momentarily, we paused to try and get our bearings. I turned to look back towards Thatcham and could see the exact point on the coastline where I had stood and witnessed the arrival of the first alien ship last summer. The village itself - normally an obvious bright cluster of street lamps, car headlights and homes - was hardly visible. Thatcham was as black and lifeless as the rest of the beaten world around it. Save for the gusting of the wind through the trees, the only visible movement came from the alien ships powering through the turbulent sky. The only light came from their brightly burning engines.
Christ, seeing the shell of the village was painful. I felt the same cold and inescapable fear and uncertainty then as I had when I had stared into Rob's dead eyes earlier that morning. Obviously feeling as battered and hurt as I was, Clare moved closer and gently took hold of my arm.
'Come on,' she shouted, struggling to make herself heard over the driving wind and rain. 'Let's keep moving.'
Ahead of us was the ocean. The often still and placid waters were churning and vicious waves crashed against the shore. I could just about make out the shape of the Devil's Peak in the near distance. Although closer than it had been all night it still seemed a million miles away.
'Not far now,' I said, trying to keep us both motivated. Clare's face suddenly froze with fear and I span around to look at whatever it was she had seen. A massive alien ship was drifting over the rolling hills and towards the ocean and, from its vast and sleek belly, a phalanx of silent shuttles dropped into the night sky and tore through the air towards us. We held each other tightly and instinctively braced ourselves for attack. Seventeen ships raced through the sky less than fifty feet above our heads. Within seconds they were gone. We watched them disappear into the distance.
'Jesus...' Clare sobbed, shaken by the alien's sudden closeness.
For the first time that night the myriad of machines