Invasion

I could never get over the exhilarating feeling of being on that field. The smell burned through my nose as I remembered how the crowd was roaring with excitement. Everyone stood on their feet waiting for the next pitch. The score was tied at two as I looked over at the third base coach for the sign. With one out and a runner at second base, the coach would call for a hit and run.

I was right as I nodded at my coach and entered the batter’s box. With the two runs I had driven in earlier, I was pumped. I knew the pitcher was tired and worn out. The pitch came and I waited.

“Ball one.” The empire stated. It had been low and outside. Just barely a ball though. As the blood pumped through me, I was itching to hammer the baseball. However, I knew I had to be patient and wait for my pitch. At that point, all I could do was smile.

“Ball two.” The empire called out. It had been low and inside. As I fouled off the next two pitches, I waited. Ball three had come and gone. The pressure was growing even more now. Every one was anxious and waiting for the next pitch. I knew I could hit the ball out of the park from the way the pitcher had thrown the last several pitches.

I stepped out of the batter’s box and called for time. I took a deep breath and swayed the bat back and forth. I remember the look on the pitcher’s face as I stood tall and stared him down. Then I pointed towards center field. The hometown crowd cheered as the pitcher glared at me with frustration in his eyes. It was the bottom of the tenth inning and I knew it was time for me to end this game. Just one run. That’s all we would need.

I re-entered the batter’s box. The pitcher nodded and started to wind up for my last pitch. I watched the ball all the way to the plate. My timing was perfect as I smashed the ball past the center fielder and over the fence. We had won the game. The night sky filled with hoots, hollers and cheers from the home team crowd.

As I made my way to home plate from third, my team stood there waiting to congratulate me. Everyone patted me on the back and hollered in my ear. My father stood at the third base fence with a huge grin on his bearded face. I could hear him calling out “that’s my boy! Way to go!” No one even noticed how the wind began to pick up. No one seemed to notice how the stadium lights grew brighter and then began to flicker. Soon, it was hovering above us.

All became quiet when someone had shouted out. We all looked into the sky and saw the alien ship. Everyone froze in place not sure what to do. Some had the urge to run away but the phenomenon was just too great. We all watched the flying saucer as it stayed hovering just above the outfield lights. I remembered thinking that it was slightly smaller then the baseball field. I, along with so many others, held there breaths as a small part of the ship began to open.

Screams then filled the air as fiery blasts started to fill the field and stands. People panicked. Some ran to the wounded and tried to drag them out of the way as others ran as fast as they could. I then saw my father on the ground with fire surrounding him. Before I could run to him, Coach Patterson grabbed my arm and dragged me in the opposite direction.

“We have to get out of here! There’s nothing you can do for him now!” Tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks. It was a sad day to remember.

“No! I have to help him!” Coach Patterson was tall and muscular. He looked more like a football coach. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t escape his grip on me. I could feel him continuing to drag me to safety as I struggled.

After getting several yards away, I ran on my own keeping pace with the coach as tears blurred my vision. Knowing that we were to far away to do any good now, I forced myself not to look back. I just kept running. My mind was going a mile a minute with everything that had happened. It was too much for me to take in. The whole town had attended the game and now most of them were dead. Pain, anger and sadness filled my heart.

We had stopped running and turned to see that the alien ship had receded back from where it had come. It was gone. The coach was on his cell phone, calling the police. From the aggravation in his voice, it sounded as if the police operator on the other end didn’t believe him. I watched as he shut his phone angrily.

“Well kid, they think it’s a prank, but there gonna send out a patrol car anyways. I’m not sure what the safest place might be. Maybe we should head to the basement of the school just in case that ship thing comes back. What’d ya think?” I cleared my throat as the coach looked me up and down waiting for a response. I moved my eyes from the ground to the stadium where I was forced to leave my father and teammates to suffer this unrealistic disaster.

“No. I don’t think they’ll be coming back. Maybe we should see if there are any survivors.” I started my way back to the field. I tried to not let negative thoughts enter my mind as we edged ever closer to the stadium. Small sized craters filled the ground from the blasts.

I made my way past the dead bodies towards my father. I kneeled down next to him. Hope filled my heart as he reached out for my hand. He looked completely dazed. Blood poured from his cold pale body. I knew it wouldn’t be long now before he would pass on.

“Son, listen to me. Leave this place. It is your only hope.” He looked past me to the sky above, coughing as he continued talking. “Earth is no longer safe. You must leave.”

“What? How? Where exactly am I to go? Father, you are talking nonsense. Please, just hang on. Help is on the way. I need you father. Please, don’t leave me.” My father didn’t listen to me. His body finally gave in and his spirit left. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to look into the eyes of Coach Patterson.

“Eric, the police are almost here.” It was then that I heard the sirens getting closer.

“Do you have any idea what my father was talking about? He told me to leave.” I watched the reaction on Patterson’s face, but he only looked away. “He said earth was no longer safe. How are we suppose to leave? There aren’t any planets that can habitat us! What in God’s name is going on?!” At that point, I was very frustrated. All of a sudden nothing made sense. I felt like I was in a very bad nightmare. Unfortunately, it was no nightmare at all.

“Your father worked for the government right? Maybe he knew what was coming.” It took a moment for that statement to sink in. What if he did know something? The government was always pretty good at hiding information from the public. Maybe they knew what was going to happen. Maybe there really is a planet out there that could habitat us.

I watched as the police, just for a brief moment, looked around at the disaster that had occurred. “I need a bus here immediately.” The police officer spoke into his radio as he made his way towards us in utter terror. He did his best to act calm. “You two! Both of you need to get to safety. If this was a terrorist attack they may still be here. Come with me. I’ll put you in the back of my car for now.”

I looked at the coach for guidance and he only nodded. We followed the officer to his car. He had parked it in the nearby grass where the coach always parked during home games. When we reached the nearby police vehicle, the officer kept his eyes on us momentarily. His face was distorted like he thought we had something to do with this massacre.

“Did either of you see anything? How did this happen?” The officer asked as he eyed us.

“Some kind of ship came down and hovered above the lights above the field. It had a weapon of some sort. Before we knew what was happening, it annihilated just about everything and everyone.” The officer gazed at Coach Patterson before shaking his head. He opened the back door to the police car and we both climbed in.