Book 2 - The Earth under the Martians: In Book Two, the narrator and the curate witness a Martian machine seizing people and tossing them into a metal carrier. The narrator realises that the Martian invaders have plans for their victims. When a fifth Martian cylinder lands, both men are trapped beneath the ruins of a manor house. Hidden in the wreckage, the narrator observes the Martians in the impact pit and learns that they feed on blood, taken now from humans, and that they appear to communicate with some type of telepathy. The curate falls into despair. When he tries to eat their remaining food, the narrator knocks him unconscious. A mechanical tentacle probes the smashed house and removes the curate's body, but the narrator is able to escape and hide.