A monstrous tripod higher than houses strides over pine trees, smashing them aside in its terrifying career.
The narrator returns alone through a gathering storm to Maybury Hill after leaving his wife in Leatherhead, only to witness the terrifying appearance of Martian tripods—massive three-legged war machines that stride across the countryside destroying everything in their path. After his horse is killed and he narrowly escapes, he finds the body of an innkeeper and struggles through the storm to reach his home, traumatized by what he has seen.
