The War of the Worlds

After a night of poor sleep, the narrator awakens to a world that seems surprisingly unchanged. His neighbor informs him that the army has arrived at Horsell Common, but that they hope to avoid killing the Martians there. The neighbor also speaks of the arrival of the second cylinder and the military’s intent to destroy it before it can open. The narrator heads to the common but encounters troops who prevent him from getting close. These soldiers, who have not seen the Martians yet, are very curious to hear about the narrator’s experiences. As not much is going on, the narrator returns home, almost pitying the Martians whom he expects the military will soon eradicate.

That evening, the Martians crawl out of the pit and mount an attack on the narrator’s hometown. Panicked, the narrator prepares to flee with his wife to her cousin’s home in Leatherhead (about a dozen miles east). He rents a cart from a clueless local landlord, and the couple escapes.

They arrive at Leatherhead, but, having promised to return the cart that same night, the narrator heads back to Maybury alone. He is eager to find out how the situation has progressed, even worrying that he may have missed the expected military victory.