by MJ Ware
I took Zoey's hand and made for the nearest lunch table. Most of the teachers had disappeared, but a few were trying to fight off the aliens with protractors, history books, anything they had.
The jetpack aliens were herding kids into the path of the light beams. Ms. Brass, armed only with her ruler, was taking whacks at any alien who got in range. "Leave my students alone!" she shouted. "If anyone's going to eat them, it'd better be me!"
From beneath the table where Zoey and I had taken refuge, I realized what the aliens were doing. They were targeting the fat kids. For the most part, the skinny kids had all managed to run away. But the fatties were being picked off one by one.
I felt helpless as I watched kids being slurped up by those beams.
At least it’s over, I thought. The aliens were heading back to their ships when one seemed to spot something in the sandbox. Mostly covered with sand, it was a huge lump, and anyone with half a brain—even half an alien brain—could tell it was a kid. Not just any kid, it was Toby, the plumpest morsel on the playground.
"Mmmmm," one of the aliens sang as he swooped down toward Toby.
Toby rolled out of the way right as the alien, mouth completely open, smashed into a pile of sand. Toby jumped up and ran.
"Toby, here, over here!" I waved.
But several other aliens had spotted him and raced toward Toby as if he were the last eggroll at the All-You-Can-Eat Chinese Palace. I didn't know what to do. I looked around, desperate to help him. One table over was our P.E. teacher, Coach Greene. He was one of those coaches who acted all tough, claiming stuff like when he was our age he could do a hundred chin-ups, or calling us lazy little sissies. Yet, there he was, all six foot three, crying into his own shirt. Next to him sat a big bag of those cheap, red, jelly balls they pass out at recess.
I don't know what came over me. Without thinking, I jumped up, ran over, and grabbed the bag of balls.
I took a big one and hurled it at an alien. The ball bounced off his head.
"Aahhh!" Toby yelled as another alien swooped down on him. When those alien monsters opened their mouths, they really opened them, like 180 degrees, completely unhinged opened.
One had his mouth like that now, advancing on Toby, ready to scoop him up. Seconds before the alien reached him, I threw a ball as hard as I could, right in his mouth.
The alien made a gagging sound and smacked down with enough force that the blacktop buckled beneath him.
Toby's chubby little legs twitched back and forth like a pig in one of those races at the county fair. Three more aliens were hot on his oversized rear. I took another ball and lobbed it into the first one's mouth, then another into the next. I've never been very good at basketball, but for once, I was all net. The aliens choked on the balls and fell to the ground.
Toby passed me right as the last alien, Admiral Nut-Bag himself, came into range. His wide-open mouth revealing rows and rows of sharp, pointed teeth. It was more a meat grinder than a mouth. I aimed the last ball and launched a perfect shot. Except this time, the alien was ready for it. Nut-Bag zagged to the left as the ball flew harmlessly by.
Zoey had grabbed another ball, but it was too late. Admiral Nut-Bag flew right over me before either of us could get off a shot. Toby screamed, "Zack, HELP ME!" And then the admiral gulped him down in one bite.
Two of the aliens rolled around on the ground, writhing in pain. They'd managed to regurgitate the balls, but were gasping for air.
The other alien had almost finished barfing up enough sand to build a full-sized castle (a really disgusting, alien-mucus-covered sandcastle), and he seemed pretty ticked.
Most of the kids had already retreated into the school building. Zoey clutched my hand, and we made it inside a few seconds later.
Bob, the school custodian, locked the doors behind us, but there were tons of windows. All of the aliens flew straight for us.
Zack & Zoey's Alien Apocalypse will be available on 8/15 from Amazon.
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About the Author
MJ Ware lives in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains with his wife and two daughters. When not writing about aliens, monsters and ghosts, he runs a company where he designs award winning video arcades. He’s currently polishing his latest novel, Zack & Zoey's Alien Apocalypse.