Final Exam by Rob Astor (free novel 24 .TXT) 📕

over. Cars began shaking.
“What the hell…?” Logan held his arm out to steady himself, looking all about. “What’s going on?”
“It’s them….” Xack’s voice was a whisper. “They followed me.” Inquisitive glances were momentarily exchanged between the group of friends and Xack.
Objects inside houses began shifting. Things toppled and glass broke, hitting hard floors. The tremor swelled from a mild rumble to a shaking Xack guessed could only be matched by the intensity of an earthquake. Except that the intensity grew even more violent.
Far in the distance to the south, a sound similar to a jet engine reached them, however, the sound was amplified, and a thousand times more intense. A wall of wild orange-yellow flame filling half the sky approached, trailing inky black smoke. Undulating blossoms of fire, created by atmospheric friction, blew backward from the object’s velocity.
Xack fell backward, landing on his butt, holding his pained stomach. His pale blue eyes never left the unimaginable spectacle.
Pavement cracked, mailboxes fell over, windows shattered, houses swayed, shifting on their foundations. Walls buckled. Utility poles fell, snapping power lines. The live ends crackled with sparkling electricity. Tree roots popped through well-manicured lawns, ripping up grass and rich soil. What began as excitement for the group of teenagers was no longer a curious anomaly. It gave cause for confusion. Fear.
As the craft slowed, the fires dissipated like Moses parting the Red Sea. The ship’s shielding systems protected it from searing heat. Breaking thrusters vibrated loudly through the atmosphere, slamming the area with sonic blasts shattering every remaining window in every house and every car. Xack blocked his face with his arm while the others dropped to their knees and tried to shield each other with their bodies. A dark shadow cut off the sunlight.
The leading edge of the ship was a split arrowhead shape, charcoal black in coloration with a central flashing red light. It was impossibly huge. Impossibly real. Utility buildings lined the mammoth undercarriage. Ports and openings created a surreal pattern of alien construct. Beyond the forward section was a netted webbing of superstructure wrapped around a series of cylinder-shaped storage tanks placed in sections of four.
Immensely long, the mothership floated high above, a parade of devastation. The rumbling drowned out all sounds. Xack held his hands over his ears as it intensified. They didn’t touchdown in Ann Arbor before. Why are they here? It’s not even one of their warships.
The ground, squeamish below them, buckled and rippled. Water jetted high in the air from fractured lines. The snap-whoosh of exploding gas from ruptured mains belched orbs of orange-red fire high into the air. And still, the ship crawled endlessly overhead.
Amid the insanity, people ran. Vehicles tried to navigate slithering lanes. In a denser residential district, Xack watched in horror as taller apartment buildings toppled over or collapsed in on themselves like deflated accordions. He scarcely grasped people had just perished.
At long last, the stern of the ship passed above, a split wedge widened at the tip of the stern. The sun was allowed to shine as the sound gradually lessened. Exhaust ports glowed a brilliant gray-green.
Eventually, other sounds combined with the titanic rumble. Car alarms wailed, horns were blowing, sirens screamed; even the weather alert alarm howled in the distance. Above that, people cried; injured, scared, or both.
The New Zimlliaan ship vanished from their line of sight leaving behind a blue sky filled with towers of billowing black smoke and a populace racing around in utter confusion. Eyes wide, Xack looked at Logan, Tandem, Jessica, and the others. Logan’s eyes were cold, trying to find a way to blame this on Xack. Tandem came over to Xack. “You okay, dude?” He helped pull Xack to his feet. Xack barely nodded. But, he wasn’t okay. Somehow, he knew he was responsible for the aliens being here.
* * *
“How did you know about them?” Logan demanded. “You even knew what their names are.” He was right on Xack’s tail as Xack raced down the lopsided stairs, clad in his hoverskate uniform, backpack strapped over his shoulders.
In the wreckage of the living room, Tandem was waiting with Jessica. Xack’s parents were seated on a couch. Andy tried to tune in a transistor radio. “Andy, is there any news about what’s happening?” Carol asked.
He turned the dial, ear pressed to the back boom box. “I can’t get anything in, dear.”
Xack and Logan reached the landing. Jessica came over to Logan, placing her arms around his neck. She began crying. “My mom and dad aren’t home yet.”
Logan’s expression went soft for a second. He hugged her. Stroked her hair. Then he pulled away, going after Xack once again. He grabbed Xack’s shoulder, forcing him around. “Tell me what you know!”
“Lo, that’s enough,” Andy said forcefully.
“He’s holding out. He knew everything. Let me beat it out of him.”
“Logan Kydd, we do not resort to violence in this house,” Carol said firmly.
Xack turned to his parents. His voice was pleading. “Why aren’t you guys packing? We have to leave.”
“Honey, everything’s going to be all right.” Mom was reassuring.
“You don’t understand. They came through the atmosphere that fast to cause as much damage as possible. When the clean-up crews are dispatched, a lot of people disappear.”
“See? Xackster’s full of nonsense,” Logan pleaded his case.
“No. It’s true. It happened before.”
“Xack, this has never happened before.” Andy was calm, searching for a way to make sense of everything. “We never talked about it because we’re so happy you’re back home, but, maybe you better tell us what happened to you while you were gone.”
Confused, Xack wasn’t sure how to continue. “Dad, you have to trust me. We have to leave. Now!”
“Where would we go?” Andy asked. Something in the way his father spoke made Xack think Andy was just humoring him.
“What about Uncle Mike’s cabin. It’s far away from any major cities.”
“Let me knock him out. Pretty please?” Logan was jittery, too anxious.
“Logan!” His father’s voice made Logan back down. Logan’s expression towards Xack was seething. “Xack, I think you better tell us what’s going on.” Andy’s fatherly voice was now calm.
Carol leaned close to her husband, keeping her voice very low. “Do you think he…?” She couldn’t finish her thought, scared by its implication.
“I don’t know, Carol.”
“I came here to escape them,” Xack began. “I didn’t know they’d follow me.”
“You haven’t been home for over a year, Xack.” Carol presented only a fact. “They’ve never been here. How can they follow you?”
Xack’s mind raced as he paced nervously around. “What year is this?”
“He’s crazy,” Logan interjected softly.
Logan gained a scolding glare from his father. “It’s twenty fifty-two,” Andy said.
“I… I…” Xack fumbled. How are they ever gonna believe this? “I came from two thousand fifty-three.”
Logan sighed loudly.
I came here to escape what the New Zs did to my planet. I figured out how to do it with their technology. I missed all of you so much. I needed to be back home. None of the words would leave Xack’s mouth. “I’m not from this Earth. I came from another one where the New Zs have caused a lot of trouble.”
Not a sound came from anyone. Their expressions were blank, trying to get a handle on Xack’s words. After a few prolonged moments, Andy spoke softly. “I think you need to see a doctor, son.” Xack recoiled, shaking his head, his emotional state escalating. “We never had you checked out when you came home.”
“No! I don’t need a doctor!” Xack pulled his wallet from a pocket and took out his driver’s license. He handed it to his dad. “I’m sixteen. I just got this in the spring of two thousand fifty-three. Look where it’s issued from. The State of New York.”
Studying the plastic card and the information, Andy turned it over in his hands before handing it back. His face was expressionless. “I didn’t make some kind of fake,” Xack insisted. He pulled his Fifth Dimensional Spatial Trigonometry book out. “This is one of my classes. Have you ever heard of this one being offered anywhere? What about my hoverskates? You’ve never seen those anywhere before either.”
Xack put the book away. “On this other Earth, one of the ships landed in Jackson. The New Zs made it a spaceport city. You guys enrolled me into the Intercity Exchange Student Program they hosted. When I left, I never got to see any of you ever again.” Xack’s words suddenly slowed. “When I could come back home, everyone was gone. I never knew what happened.” Xack was on the verge of tears. His throat was tight. “I’ve missed you all so much. I had to come back.” He wanted to embrace them. Xack needed their comfort. He needed their understanding. He needed their love. “I didn’t think they’d come here. I thought I could change things somehow.”
“You changed things all right.” Logan was bitterly sarcastic.
“Please… Mom. Dad. You have to believe me. We have to pack up and leave. They’ll come and take us all away or worse.”
Sounds from outside filtered into the tomb-like quietness of the house. There were loud voices, yelling and screaming. Xack followed his dad and brothers to the porch. Xack gasped.
Smaller saucer shaped New Zimlliaan ships had landed at the end of the block. Soldiers in black uniforms and elongated helmets advanced on men and women set to defend their neighborhood. Shots rang out. Laser blasts of purple energy outlined in green, tiny orbs connected to one another, cut through the first line of defense.
People began running, terrified. “It’s too late,” Xack whispered. He bolted through the room, heading to the back. “C’mon, we gotta go!”
Xack paused in the backyard, frantic. He quickly looked in both directions. Andy, Tandem, and Logan caught up to Xack first. Jessica and Carol were close behind. The next street over underwent the same chaos. A wall of people and alien soldiers drifted by, leaving the broken street clear.
“Oh my God, what are we going to do?” Xack’s mother was filled with fear. Andy gazed, dumbfounded. He had no quick answers.
“We can get one of their ships and get out of here,” Xack said. “I know enough to get it airborne.” Xack hadn’t really thought the plan through before he began sprinting.
“Xack, no!” Andy’s words echoed after him.
From the corner of his eye, Xack saw a group of New Zimlliaans. They spotted him. One fired. Red colored rings of energy rushed at Xack, expanding. They stuck him with numbing force, breaking apart as they knocked Xack to the ground.
Mind whirling, Xack couldn’t think. He could barely breathe. Xack’s whole body was wracked with pain. It took great effort for