Chapter 37
The Devil's Peak had always seemed to be a short distance away when I had looked at them from the mainland but, out here on the water, the jagged rocks didn't seem to be getting any closer. The light continued to improve and the temperature continued to rise. By half-past one it felt less like a winter night and more like a gentle summer morning.
Clare was asleep. With no other distractions I divided my attention between getting to the rocky outcrop and keeping a close watch on the skies overhead. There was still an incredible amount of activity taking place above the countryside that we had left behind. I wondered how many people were left alive there. An hour or so ago I had stood and watched thousands upon thousands of innocent lives being ended in seconds. It seemed possible - no, it seemed probable - to think that the land we were running from might now be devoid of all human life.
As if to reinforce their complete and unarguable domination of the planet, as I watched the heavens above me I saw countless new ships arrive. Different in shape and size to those I had seen before but somehow still familiar, I guessed that each one would have a specific part to play in the alien's work to change, modify and mutate the land which I had once called home.
Clare began to stir. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
'Okay?' I asked. She shrugged her shoulders.
'Suppose,' she grunted.
I stopped rowing and sat and watched her.
'Sure you're okay?'
She nodded, looked at me, and then looked away again.
'I'm fine...' she began.
'But...?'
She took a deep breath and sighed.
'What are we doing, Tom?'
'Making the most of what's left,' I quickly replied.
'But why? What good is it going to do?'
I didn't answer. We both knew that we were just delaying the inevitable. 'Where are we going to shelter on these rocks?'
'Joe Porter said that...' I started to say.
'I know what Joe Porter said,' she interrupted, 'you've already told me. But what are we going to do long term? What are we going to do for food? Where are we going to sleep? There's nothing there.'
'We've got supplies in the rucksacks, that should be enough for a few days at least.'
'Okay so we can eat for a day or two. What next? What if we're still alive and all the food's used up? Then what are we going to do?'
'We could fish,' I said, instinctively and foolishly.
'You going to make yourself a bloody rod and sit on top of the rocks fishing are you?'
'If I have to, yes.'
'Oh, come on...'
'What's the matter with you?'
'What are you going to make this rod from?'
'What?'
'There's no f*cking wood on the rocks. What are you going to make the rod from?'
'Don't know. I'll use this paddle if I have to.'
'And if you catch any, how are you going to cook the fish?'
'We've got matches, we could...'
'I know that,' she snapped, 'but what are you going to do? Burn the f*cking boat?'
She was right but I couldn't bring myself to respond. I picked up the paddle and began to dig deep into the water again. We'd find a way to survive. We had managed so far.
Joe Porter had been right.
We eventually reached the rocks and, just as he'd told me, on the farthest side of the largest rock we found a small shingle shore, no more than fifteen feet square. I dragged the boat as far up the shore as I could and wedged the hull between two large boulders.
Clare and I found a little sheltered area where we could sit and wait together and watch.
After we had been sitting together for a short while I asked her how she was feeling. She shook her head but didn't answer.
By three o'clock that morning it was as light as day. I watched hundreds of alien ships crawling high through the perfect clear blue sky like ants. Hundreds more were working tirelessly close to the surface of the planet. I saw more ships like the one that had flown close to us while we had been in the boat. Even though it was light I could clearly see that they were each dragging behind them a brilliant curtain of energy. I saw several of them flying together in slow unison. Their purpose was clear. They were cleansing the face of the planet. Burning away the last traces of man. Sterilising the land.
Epilogue
Over the next nine days Thomas Winter watched the world around him change.
The morning after reaching the rocks, Clare and Tom watched the sky change colour. The familiar icy blue slowly became tinged with purples and pinks. The atmosphere gradually thinned. By midday on the third day thousands of stars were visible. As the day wore on the sun too changed colour from deep orange to light yellow, to white and finally monochrome grey.
Over the next three days the tide went further and further out until the water had completely disappeared. Where once there had been cold ocean there was now nothing - just a vast and silent tundra.
The temperature increased.
The air became drier and started to taste and smell different.
On the sixth day every alien ship drifted upwards into the sky and hovered silently at an unimaginable height.
On the eighth day Tom left the rocks in search of food. He ran across the dry sea bed from the island to the shore. Tired and weak, his fear kept him moving forward.
Once I was running I was fine.
The nervousness, the trepidation and apprehension all disappeared in seconds. I just kept putting one foot down in front of the other.
I knew that they were watching me but I didn't care and I knew that they didn't care either. I was of no interest to them.
I ran back towards Thatcham but I couldn't find it. The whole village had just disappeared, as had every road, building, animal, car, tree and person. In its place I found an unending blue-green blanket of what looked like grass. It was finer though, and shorter - almost a moss of sorts.
I was there for just over an hour but I couldn't find anything to eat or drink. I knew it was pointless to keep searching and so turned to head back to Clare.
I stopped for a while when I was up high on the hills again. I looked down over where the ocean had once been and watched the moss which had covered the land slowly spreading out over the drying seabed. It was moving as I watched - creeping out towards Clare.
I rested for a minute or two.
Looking up above me I could see thousands of alien ships just sitting and waiting. I didn't dare think about what they might be waiting for.
I ran back to Clare and sat with her.
We held each other and talked about all that had happened and all that had gone. She went to sleep that afternoon and didn't wake up again.
No matter what they had done to the rest of the human race, they hadn't beaten me. I hadn't fallen in line with their program. I had kept control. I knew that it wouldn't be long before I died, but I would die knowing who I was and why.
For another seven hours Thomas Winter was the last man alive.