Book 1: Chapter 12, What I Saw of the Destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton Summary

The two decide it is not safe to stay at the house. The soldier convinces the author it is not prudent to take chances by taking a direct route; they must take the long way. They begin stuffing all of the food they can find into their pockets and filling a flask with whiskey. On their way out of town they run into a lieutenant and a couple of soldiers who had not seen the Martians and do not believe the accounts of a large tripod-machine and the heat-ray weapon.

They tell the author to go to Weybridge to check in with the soldier in charge of evacuation. They get to Weybridge and see people calmly packing their houses. No one...