By the time Bernie and Rupi had reached home, and Colin had reached Dave’s house, buses were being driven down the High Street, and soldiers with guns slung over their shoulders were evacuating the gawping people with grim persistence. Radio, television, jeeps with loud-hailers, electric road-side signs: everything blared the message that an emergency evacuation of Chapel Topping was underway, and that people should cooperate in leaving the area immediately or suffer Death By Alien.
In Bernie’s bedroom there was a crisis.
On the road outside, a vehicle with a loudspeaker was passing by, ‘This is an emergency warning. You must evacuate immediately! Leave all your belongings, take any vehicle you can find and head north, west, or south. Check on the old and immobile and take them with you.
