" Honey... did you hear that?" " Hear what?" "Barbara?" "Did you hear that?" "I could have sworn I heard whispering." "You're reading my mind, that's all." "My thoughts sound like whispers." "Yeah?" "What were you thinking?" "I love you, Doc." "You sure make it fun to wake up before dawn, I'll tell you that." "Frank?" " Did you finish last night?" " No." "Honey, it's a quarter to 6:00." "It's important." "Okay." "Thanks." "Okay." "That's everything." "Helium for the balloons!" "I'm picking up a tank at Harold's right after I drop you off... per your instructions." "Did I think of that?" "Cool." "I must be starting to get this delegating authority stuff." "Well, Mrs. Magoo, I guess that's why they made you principal." "I guess so." " Honey, don't smoke." " Come on!" "You're going to make me crash." "I'll quit smoking when you decide to get pregnant, all right?" "Guys!" " Hi!" " Hi." " Be careful." " Here I come." "Watch your step." "You all right?" "Jill!" " Who's the chef?" " Oliver." "Great, I love burnt hot dogs." "Thanks." "So when's Ben coming home?" "Six weeks, four days and nine hours." " Okay, watch the edges." "Don't spill it." " I got it." "Let's take it over here." " Callie, how are you?" " Frank." "Good." "Good to see you." "Where's my helium?" " Say you love me, baby." " Not until you get me my helium." "Righty-o." "I'll get right on it, dear." " You go here." " Okay." "There's Jill." "I've got those receipts here." " How you doing?" " How the hell are you?" " All right, bye." " Bye." "See you later." " Barbara!" " Frank!" "Good morning, Sam." "And you must be Cindy." "It's nice to finally meet you." "Do you want to take a look around?" "You'll really love this place." " Harold." " Morning, Doc." " Frank." " Doc, how the hell are you?" "Heading over to the school fair?" "I have to go to Butler County and make my rounds at the hospital." "You've got to try this muscle machine I made." "Show everybody how strong you are." "I don't know." "I should probably sit in the shade and watch you young guys do it." " See you, tough guy." " Right." "Okay." "Thanks, Jill." "We need finger paints." "Okay." "I'll get them." "Just put it on the table." "Finger paints." "Okay." "Yikes." "Well, a civilian pilot spots the smoke." "Then I get here and find two of my officers passed out like babies." "Everything on that side of the white line is out cold." "So somebody starts talking about chemical weapons... and somebody hits a panic button, and then you people are calling." " There you go." " Look, there is no research lab." "There is no chemical plant." "There is no toxic waste dump." "There is no nuclear plant!" " There's no nothing around here." " Okay." "Nothing on the news channels or news services." "Nobody's got it yet." "Good." "I'm just going to take myself in there and get a look-see." "Ed." " That's Frank McGowan's truck, right?" " What's left of it." " Lucky you weren't in town today, Doc." " What's going on here?" "Nobody knows anything, not even that fed doctor down there." "She brought this whole circus with her, and they don't have a clue." "Go on out there and see what the hell's going on." "Be careful." " Stay here?" " Yeah, we're just waiting." "All right, good." "Pull him back!" "Get him out of there!" "Let's go!" "Get him down!" " Stay back!" " Excuse me." "Hits him like a hammer." "That's all we know." " Some kind of chemical gas?" " No, it can't be." "The edges of the affected area are well-defined." "Stationary." " Doc, this is Dr. Susan..." " Vurner." "Like Turner, with a "V."" "Epidemiologist, National Science Foundation." " Alan Chaffee." " MD?" "He's breathing." "Good pulse." "I think he just fainted." "Is Midwich affected by this?" " My hunch would be, yes." " My wife's in Midwich." "We tried calling for the last six hours." "Nobody picks up or calls out." "Could somebody please get me some blood and urine samples?" " What's the call?" " 98." "You going?" "Okay, all right." "Just take it easy." "Somebody get him a blanket." "What happened?" "Barbara?" "Thank God." "Are you all right?" "Sweetheart, are you okay?" " I'm cold." " All right, come on." "Let's go home." "No." "Heavenly Father... we mourn these lives cut short... without warning or apparent purpose." "We search for a reason and find none." "We have become accustomed to the power of science... so when we were struck down, we turned to science and asked, "Why?"" "But it could not answer." "So now we turn our eyes toward Heaven... and seek our comfort in God's infinite mercy." "Let us pray." ""Our Father, who art in Heaven..." ""...hallowed be Thy name..." ""..." "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done..." ""...on Earth as it is in Heaven." ""Give us this day our daily bread..." ""...and forgive us our trespasses..." ""...as we forgive those who trespass against us..." ""...and lead us not into temptation..." ""...but deliver us from evil." ""For Thine is the kingdom, and the power..." ""...and the glory, forever and ever." ""Amen."" "Did you ever hear of Charles Fort?" "He wrote The Book of the Damned, about unexplainable things." "Like frogs falling from the sky, blue snow, red rain..." "Are you suggesting I read him?" "No." "It's just that..." "Sometimes mysteries don't get solved." "I mean, what if something like this happens again?" "I don't know." "What do I do?" "Can I call you?" "Well, of course, you can call me." "By the way, I suggest you read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." "Sherlock Holmes once said:" ""When you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable..." ""...must be the truth."" "it's not possible." "You made a mistake." "Do it again." "Well, I don't have a problem running the tests again..." "I have felt like this before in the morning." "It is just some kind of bug." "Melanie?" "What's the matter?" " Maybe I can help." " No." "You can't." " There they are!" " Hey, guys!" "We're empty!" "We need some more here!" "Hi, how are you?" "It's good to see you." "Hi." "Ben, this is fantastic." "Callie, look up and smile." "Ben, after a year in Japan... did you ever think you'd have to get used to being a dad?" "Hello, Doc." "I said, "Hello."" " How long have you been standing there?" " Ages." "Liar." "Big boy." "Why are you kissing me like that?" "I wanted to know first, so I used a home pregnancy kit." "Honey, you know those are unreliable." "And that's why I went to see Dr. Cornright just to make sure." "Are you going to open it?" "Alan?" "Hi." "You got a minute?" "Sure." "Everything's positive." "You are pregnant." "We'd been trying, you know." "Look." "I wanted to tell you something before you hear it from somebody else." "There are a lot of pregnancies." "I mean, a lot." "Much more than would normally be expected." "What do you mean?" "Is something wrong with my baby?" "No, it's nothing to indicate that." "You're a normal, healthy young woman..." "Alan, don't talk to me like a doctor." "Okay." "All the pregnancies seem to date from the day of the blackout." "No!" "Dr. Susan Vurner has flown in..." "This is all because of that blackout, isn't it?" " Just come out and say something!" " They don't know for sure!" "They are all going to be deformed!" "Wait a minute." "That's not true!" "Excuse me!" "That's not true." "There's no reason to believe that." "Barbara and I are pregnant." "We know how you feel." "We know what you are thinking, so let me say right now... the same thing I've told a lot of you individually." "The standard tests have not revealed one abnormality." "Anywhere." "Not one." "All right?" "Let's listen to Dr. Vurner, please." "She's come to talk to us." "Dr. Susan Vurner, ladies and gentlemen." "I want to start off by saying we are all very concerned about your well-being." "But ultimately it will come down to individual decisions." "And I understand that these decisions will be probably the most intimate... personal, difficult decisions that you ever make in your life." "However, because your pregnancies have attracted intense scientific interest... including the National institutes of Health and National Science Foundation... those of you who decide to have your child... will have all prenatal expenses paid." "You'll also receive $3,000 monthly as an allowance." "If you allow your child to be examined and tested on some sort of regular basis." "Is that $3,000 a family?" "What if your wife and your daughter both have kids?" "Then you would receive $6,000." "$6,000?" "I don't want you to interpret this allowance as some sort of a pressure." "It isn't." "It's your decision." "If you decide to terminate then, of course, you have the right to do that." "You can do it privately." "Or if financially unable, a medical team will be brought in next week." " The choice is yours." " That's killing babies." "Are you okay?" "Ben's moving out." "He won't believe me." "What are you going to do?" "I can't keep it." "I mean, it can't be Ben's." "I just don't..." "I just don't understand." "Something very strange is happening to all of us, Callie." "You know, they say... the Roberts' girl is a virgin." "What are you going to do?" "I don't know." "I don't know." " You all right?" " Yeah." "It was just a dream." "Okay." "Let's go back to sleep." "What's going on, doctor?" "Nothing." "They have apparently decided to keep their babies." "All of them?" "Why?" "That's a very good question." "Keep pushing!" "Push!" "Okay, here we go." "Here we go." "Almost." "Almost done!" "Good, Mom." "That's good." "Push, push, push." "That's it." "That's it." "You're doing great!" "Take a deep breath." "Deep breath and push!" "Push, push, push!" "Come with that." "Push a little more." " Push, Barbara, push." " A little more." "A little more." "Push." "Push." "Help me!" "We've got a problem!" "ICU, now!" " Push, push, push!" " Come on!" " There we go!" " Good, Barbara!" "And there we go." "Beauty!" "Looking great, sweetie." "Good job." "It's a girl, honey." "She's fine." " There we are." "Clamp this." " Look, here's your baby." "He's beautiful." "Ben." "Come on, just breathe once." "Oxygen." " Watch the BP." " Just relax." "You're hyperventilating." "Push." "Doctor, get your ass over here and help me!" "Bear down on her!" "Push!" "All right, here we go!" "Come on, push!" "Give me one big push!" "Come on, here we go!" "Come on!" "I'm sorry." "It's stillborn." "Get some fluid in her." "How we doing?" "Everything all right?" "We lost the Roberts' baby." " God." "How?" " Respiratory failure." "Umbilical asphyxia." "Where did you take the baby?" "I saw you take Melanie's baby outside." "I took the baby for an autopsy." "I didn't want the other mothers to see." "I baptize thee... in the name of the Father... and the Son and the Holy Spirit." "Amen." "I got you." "Yes." "Let us pray." "Heavenly Father, we thank you that by the water of the Holy Spirit... you have bestowed upon your servants, the forgiveness of sin... and have raised them to the new life of grace." ""Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit." ""Give them an inquiring and discerning heart..." ""...the courage to will and to persevere..." ""...the spirit to know and to love you..." ""...and the gift of wonder and joy in all your work." "Amen."" "Amen." "Good girl." "That's a good girl." "Note how the section of hair is flat on one side then arced on the other..." " ..." "like a capital "D."" " Right." "The texture is..." "I don't know." "It's unusually soft." "What did you think when you looked at her nails?" "Narrower than normal." "Any results yet from the DNA testing?" "Common genetic characteristics." "Almost as if they are siblings from the same parent." "It's way too early to have anything conclusive." "Baby." "What are you doing?" "You can spell your name." "How can you spell your name?" "How can Mommy's... smart little boy spell his name?" "Sweetie, was the soup too hot?" "Okay, baby." "We're going to go see our friend Mara." "Barbara?" "Are you crazy?" "Honey, can't you tell me what happened?" "Don't!" "No!" "God, no!" "I understand there are recent developments at Midwich." "Yes." "The children are beginning to interact more with the general community." "There have been casualties..." "I should say accidents, suicides... that might be related to contact with the children." "But no direct physical violence was involved." "I have also been trying unsuccessfully to get Dr. Chaffee back on the program." "His daughter's the leader, isn't she?" "He's probably got his hands full." "Personal considerations aren't important, are they?" "I think that the opportunity to study these children should take precedent... over any considerations." "Let's cut to the chase here." "It's now of interest to national security that we continue... to carefully monitor their developing powers." "I ask for another year's grant." "Good afternoon, children." "Why do you smile?" "You're trying to hide your thoughts from us." "Just how deeply do you see?" "Everything active in your mind." "But the process that leads to the spoken words eludes us." "Why do you speak some thoughts and not others?" "Wouldn't it be a noisy world if we said everything we thought?" "Okay, I'm going to put a drop of this in your eyes; it won't hurt." "I'm sorry." "Calm down!" "I'm going to wash your eye out!" "Okay, open your eyes!" "It's all right!" "It's okay!" "How's the doctor?" "Corneal scarring." "Most likely permanent blindness." "How did it happen?" "Doesn't remember much." "It will be listed as an accident." "It was the children." "There's no proof of that." "What I want to know is... are the people in this town safe?" " What are they going to do to us?" " Alan." " Hi." " This has got to stop." "They don't belong in regular classes." "It's getting dangerous, the other children can't learn." "I was thinking maybe you could teach them." "They seem to respect you." "Respect?" "No." "They don't even know the meaning of that word." "Why bother?" "It doesn't make any difference what we do." "We need you." "What am I going to teach them?" "What am I possibly going to teach them?" "Humanity." "Humanity." "Hello, sweetheart." "Come on." "There's no need for you to become emotional." "I'm old enough to do things by myself." "Do you want to talk about what happened at the clinic today?" "Why should I be experiencing emotion at this moment?" "What is that word you're thinking?" "What is "empathy"?" "So if I have felt pain..." "I should be able to identify with others who feel pain." "Yes." "Good night." "What's the matter?" "You want some?" "I'm sorry." "I just can't hack it." ""God said..." ""..." "Let us make man in our image..." ""...after our likeness."" "But "image" does not mean outer image... or every statue or photograph would be man." "It means the inner image." "The spirit, the soul." "So we gather here today... to remember the inner beauty... of one who lost her hold." "Melanie Roberts... somehow lost that image of herself as a creature... made in God's bountiful spirit." "But what of those in our midst... who do not have individual souls... or spirits?" "They have one mind... that they share between them." "One spirit." "And they have the look of man." "But not the nature of mankind." "What are you doing here?" "Looking for the baby." "The one who was born with us." "The one who died." "How do you know about that?" "The baby's not here." "She was taken away." "Where?" "I don't know." "Do you have a memory of the baby?" "But it bothers you." "It hurts to lose a loved one." "She was to be with me." "We were to be together." "How do you know that?" "You've lost someone too." "I think I can teach them." "Anyway, I'll try." "I never told David about the Roberts' baby." "Right." "And then he said, "she was to be with me"?" "What did that mean?" "I don't know." "Are they paired up... like a mate?" "What can I teach such bright young students?" "What about human physiology?" "That's at least something I know a little bit about." "For example, does anybody here know how the eye works?" "Do you mean how do we see, or..." "Well, what else can the eye do?" " The eyes are..." " The eyes are the windows of the soul." "Yes." "That's right." "I see that you've been reading proverbs." "I was speaking to Robert." "The eyes are the windows of the soul." "All right, if you'd rather talk about philosophy instead of..." " ...physiology, let's talk about the soul." " Alan." "Sorry." "Can you come to my office for a minute, please?" "Yes." "I'll be right there." "While I'm away, why don't you each take out a volume of the encyclopedia... and try to learn a little something about our culture." "I know your game." "I know what you're up to." "Ever since you got here, I've been watching." "Watching people leave this town." "Watching things die." "You aren't right." "None of you." "And one of these days, somebody's going to do something about it." "I don't like the way you're looking at me, boy." "I got a gun, too, and I'm not the only one." "One day somebody's going to get up on a rooftop... and start picking you little bastards off." "One by one by one." "Aren't you going to do something?" "Aren't you going to bawl like all the other little pissants?" "Well, do something, damn it!" "There are going to be changes." "God help us." "The children did it." "I know they did it." "And my daughter was involved." "Now, who are they?" "It was their communal consciousness..." "Some abrupt evolutionary jump." "It was their communal consciousness... but I couldn't explain the blackout." "Or the mass pregnancies." "Midwich isn't the only colony of such children." "In a township in northern Australia, 30 infants were born in a single day." "They all died within ten hours of birth." "In an Inuit community near Anchorage, a group of 10 children were born." "There were 20 births in a small village near the Turkish-Iranian border." "Each location was remote... isolated, and each had a blackout the same as Midwich." "And how long have you known about this?" "The way I see it, there are three possibilities." "Number one: parthenogenesis." "The development of a fetus without fertilization." "I know." "I don't buy that, either." "Two: we do know the CIA slipped doses of LSD to men without them knowing it... in order to study the effects of psychotropes on gene structure." "Maybe the government engineered the blackout... then artificially inseminated your women with super sperm." "First they knocked them out, then they knocked them up." "And what's the third possibility?" "Xenogenesis." "Implantation." "The production of an offspring unlike that of the parent." "Or should I say host?" "Come back to the project." "Not just a matter of protecting your daughter." "As you can see, it goes... far, far beyond that." "You have to put this in the back of your mind." "Don't think about it when near them." " Don't ever let them know that you know." " Why didn't you tell us?" " I mean, why didn't you warn us?" " Because I couldn't." "Well, I couldn't." "If anybody else knew, the children would know." "Look, I have spent years of my life building a wall around this." "Hiding it, so they couldn't read what was in my mind." "But as their powers grow stronger, they keep looking deeper and deeper." "I need your help." "Would you please just... come back to the project." "We've made our decision." "Discussion will not change our plans." "We will live in the abandoned barn outside of town." "You will bring us supplies." "You can't stop us, you know." "Don't try." "You've been discussing us with Dr. Vurner." "What did she tell you?" "You are hiding something." "I'm not letting you go." " You haven't been given an option." " Have you?" "You know, you don't always have to do everything they tell you." "We are the same." "You're not." "You're David." "You're different." "I've come to get Julie." "Have you seen her?" "Is she at the barn?" "Fine." "Are you all right?" "I'm sorry." "You're okay, aren't you?" "Julie doesn't want to come with you." "Damn it, I don't care what Julie wants." "Her mother's frantic." "I'm bringing her home." "Some kind of big accident, Doc, out by the barn." "Alan, wait!" "I was just told that the other towns with blackout children were destroyed." " What?" "All of them?" " Everyone in them, the adults and children." "They couldn't evacuate without the children knowing." " The governments gave no warning." " God." "What about Midwich?" "I've been told to pack and get out." "I'm leaving tonight." "Do the same." "Get out while you can." "Another man is dead." "Why do you hate us so much, Mara?" "It isn't a matter of hate." "It is a biological obligation." "You are thinking of what happened to the others." "Then our actions shouldn't surprise you." "We have to survive no matter what the cost." "We are the only ones left now." "I don't see why we can't reach an understanding." "Why can't we just live together?" "If we coexist, we shall dominate you." "That is inevitable." "Eventually you will try to eliminate us." "We are all creatures of the life-force." "Now it has set us at one another to see who will survive." " That's a cruel sport." " Life is cruelty." "We all feed on each other, exploit each other in some way to survive." "I don't agree with you." "I think that adaptation is the key to survival." "Cooperation and symbiosis... and compassion." "Why do you think your own survival depends upon emotion from us?" "Should we pity you?" " Empathize with your plight?" " You should feel!" "You should feel something!" "Without feelings, you're nothing." "You're just second-rate mimics of a higher organism." "That's right, a higher organism." "We're your superiors in our capacity to love." "Without compassion, you're a doomed species." "Emotion is irrelevant." "It is not our nature." "I'm not so sure you're right about that." "Still, you are aware of the other colonies." "So you must be, in some basic sense... aware of who... what we are." "Yes." "So the question becomes... should you be allowed to live?" "You're suddenly thinking of an ocean." "You're blocking your thoughts rather effectively with this image." "We must leave here, spread out, disperse." "Soon we will have reached a stage where we can form new colonies." "You will arrange a method of getting us away from here." "What if I refuse you?" "You are a prisoner of your values... and you won't be able to deceive us." "You know that." "Don't you?" "Father?" "Yes." "Yes, I know that." "Make your arrangements." "We must leave tonight." "You're thinking of the one who died." "She was to be my partner." "Yes, it's true." "Without a mate, you are of less importance to us." "And your development of emotions is disturbing." "We can't leave you behind." "It is time we resolved this." "Hurry up!" ""Begone, everyone who is proud, and bring him low..." ""...and tread down the wicked where they stand!"" " This is the last of it." " All right, get going." ""Bind their faces in the world below." ""Then will I also acknowledge to you..." ""...that your own right hand can give you victory!"" "I'm glad you're here." "I wanted to talk to you." "I really think that I can help you." "You've got to stop!" "Please stop!" "You got to stop!" "Sarah, please!" ""Hast thou eyes of flesh?" ""Dost thou see as man sees?"" "A state of emergency has been declared." "Please return to your homes... and remain there until further notice." " Come here!" "Grab my hand, quick!" " Come on!" "People will be arrested." "This is a state of emergency." "Please be home." "The children murdered Sarah." "Susan too." "I just found her at the clinic." "The police are on their way to the barn." "They're going after the children." "We've got to stop them." " You can't go." "You'll get hurt." " We've got to try!" "No." "The state police can't do anything to stop the children." "It'll be a bloodbath." "Now, listen to me." "Listen to me." "There's another way." "Now, look, something happened today." "I was able to block Mara from reading my thoughts." " How?" " I suddenly thought of the ocean." "I suddenly saw the view in front of our house." "You know how Barbara and I used to dream our dreams there?" "We used to stand on the cliff and... right in front of us was something so much more powerful than we'll ever be." "That image came to me." "That image came to me, and they couldn't see past it." "I know I can do that again." "I can build a wall." "I can build a wall and deceive them." "What are you going to do?" "The only thing that we can do." "No." "Not David!" "He's not one of them!" "No!" "Multiple suspects." "Possible 417." "All units respond and echo your 10-4." "41-A." "41-A, do you copy?" "Echo, 41-A." "Do you copy?" "We're in position." "Send them in." "Roger, this is 2-A." "I copy." "241 in progress." "Stand by." "What are you waiting for?" "You got your orders." "Get out!" " More death." " Survival." "Tell us what arrangements you have made for us." "Well, I haven't had much time." "It is 11:22." "What are you anxious about?" "The arrangements." "Yes." "Actually, I..." "I left my notebook out in the car." "I wonder if somebody could go out and... get my notebook from the front seat of my car." "No." "I am unable to see what you're thinking." "Well, I'm... just wondering who's going to go out and get the notebook from my car." " David." " No." "You are successfully blocking your thoughts." "You are thinking... of a brick wall." "Why do you keep looking at the clock?" "Come on." " We're going now." " Mother, no." "Take your place." "Stop it!" "Leave her alone!" "Take him!" "Go now!" "Go!" "Don't worry." "We'll go someplace where nobody knows who we are."