Dead London

There were a dozen dead bodies in the Euston road, their bodies softened by the black dust
All was still, houses locked and empty, shops closed but looters had helped themselves to wine and food
And outside a jewellers some gold chains and a watch were scattered on the pavement

Ulla!

I stopped, staring toward to sound
It seemed as if that mighty desert of house had found a voice for its fear and solitude

Ulla!

The desolating cry worked upon my mind
The wailing took possession of me
I was intensely weary, footsore, hungry and thirsty
Why was I wandering alone in this city of the dead?
Why was I alive, when London in state in its black shroud?
I felt intolerably lonely, drifting from street to empty street, drawn inexorably towards that cry

Ulla!

I saw, over the trees on Primrose hill, the Fighting Machine from which the howling came
I crossed Regents canal
There stood a second machine, upright, but a still as the first

Ulla!
Ul-!

Abruptly, the sound ceased
Suddenly, the desolation, the solitude, became unendurable
While that voice sounded, London had still seemed alive
Now, suddenly, there was a change, the passing of something and all that remained was this gaunt quite
I looked up and saw a third machine
It was erect and motionless, like the others
An inane resolve possessed me
I would give my life to the Martians, here and now
I marched recklessly towards the titan and saw a multitude of black birds was circling and clustering about the hood

I began running along the road, I felt no fear, only a wild trembling exultation, as I ran up the hill towards the motionless monster
Out of the hood hung red shreds, at which the hungry birds now pecked and tore
I scrambled up to the crest of Primrose Hill, and the Martians camp was below me
A mighty space it was, and scattered about it, in their overturned machines, were the Martians Dead!
Slain after all mans devices had failed, by the humblest things on Earth, Bacteria, Minute, invisible bacteria!
Directly the invaders arrived and drank and fed, our microscopic allies attacked them
From that moment they were doomed!