[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]
I suddenly noticed the body of a Parson lying on the ground in a ruined churchyard. I felt unable to leave him to the mercy of the Red Weed and decided to bury him decently. I gazed down sadly at his ravaged face and then reeled with shock as his eyes flickered open. He was alive!
[Parson Nathaniel: Charles Davis]
What does it mean? What do these things mean?
[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]
No one knows. It all happened too fast.
[Parson Nathaniel: Charles Davis]
Morning service was in progress, those good peoplе were praying, and then firе, earthquake, death! Why? What sins have we committed?
[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]
I realised he'd been asking these questions since long before I arrived.
[Parson Nathaniel: Charles Davis]
We built this church ourselves only 3 years ago with love as well as bricks. Now it's gone! Why have God's messengers done this to us?
[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]
They came from Mars, not from God.
[Parson Nathaniel: Charles Davis]
Wasted! My work, my whole life, gone for nothing!
[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]
Now pull yourself together, man! What good is religion if it fails you in a calamity?
[Parson Nathaniel: Charles Davis]
It was I who failed? After all my promises? I couldn't help the people when they needed me?
[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]
Take heart. You'll have the chance again. We must leave here. Let me help you.
We took shelter in a cottage, and black smoke spread, hemming us in. The next day, a Fighting Machine came across the field, spraying jets of superheated steam that turned the smoke into thick, black dust...
Look, we can move on now.
[Parson Nathaniel: Charles Davis]
No, I want to stay here. You must leave me here, please.
[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]
I set out alone. But soon he hurried after me, and we walked in silence along roads lined with overturned carts with pathetic possessions all covered in black dust. In the rubble of Hornchurch, there were a few people scurrying in the distance, and here, too, were Martians... The Parson again refused to go on, then again changed his mind, and in the confusion, we came perilously close to a Fighting Machine.
[Parson Nathaniel: Charles Davis]
Oh, dear God, dear God!
[Narrator: Richard Burton ("The Journalist")]
Look! Look, a house still standing. Come!
In the kitchen, we found food and drink, and I set to with a will, wonderfully comforted by four strong walls and a full belly. Now, however, the Parson was only interested in pressing on.
