Faking Apocalypse (The Apocalyptic Games Book 1)

by Damien Steinfield

“What’s taking it so long for the score’s paper to come out?” Zoey asks irritated.

  “I’d rather I didn’t have to look it up at all.” Brianne scoffs dissatisfied. Somehow, after all sorts of tests, all she does is complain, but when the results come along, turns out that she’s done better than all of us.

  “I was about to play hockey with my pal, but my parents compelled me into coming up here.” Josh tells us. “I mean, I don’t dare misbehave, when it’s them giving all the money.”

  “It’s weird.” Carter seems to be drenched into his own world, which at some point is intangible form ours.

  “What is?” I ask.

  “The game. I came across the last level and still something seems not convincing. I mean, I’ve heard there will be a second version coming out soon.”

  “I still haven’t managed to get past the final level.” Zoey says. “What’s it like.”

  “I mean, not that much different form the level before that.” He frowns. “The tree lightens very scintillatingly and it says that its data will create a humanoid. But there’s no such thing in the first volume.”

  “Weird.” Zoey reposts.

  “Well, what is to be expected form a game strangely delivered from an unknown entity on the door to our houses?” he tells.

  He’s right for that.

  That delivery was the strangest thing ever.

  But as far as I know everything that followed up kept getting stranger.

  The dean come out of her office and attached a paper to the wall. We all ran to it.

  It was all messy and occupational as all the students gathered around and looked up for their scores. Some turned around excited, others not so much.

  Point is, our posse seemed all delighted at the results.

  I mean, Josh was the only one who hasn’t passed the test, but he expected that anyway and such thing didn’t bother him.

  After this, the lights turned down.

  We were all left in shock.

  There were men dressed up in uniforms that entered the foyer. They threw something on the floor that released a great dose of mist that could get the ambient all fuzzy.

  I was coughing and eventually losing my attention.

  But before I drowsed off, I could see them getting at each student one by one and somehow, I thought they were selecting them. My thought was mainly fueled by the way how they put some tech derive in front of each student’s face and somehow gathered the preferable ones, while the others were left quietly lying on the ground.

  I didn’t know what this was, but I had a feeling it was about to change the normal current of things.

  My heart was raising when they approached our posse.

  They picked up Josh but after checking his face to the tablet they put him back on the floor.

  After that I saw them picking up Colin, and Cody, Avery and Carter, Brianne and Zoey.

  When it was my turn I think, I must’ve drowsed off or something. Because I don’t remember anymore.

  30

  We’ve passed through metallic corridors and gates before the detector beeped so loud it could hurt our eardrums.

  We took the elevator and summoned it to top of the tower.

  It was a green field. There were plenty of spaceships lying there. We ran towards the nearest. Caden told us it could fit ten people. Well, we were only six. Good thing Caden had been trained, as a posseman that he was, to control one of these things. I mean, I don’t think that any of us would have gotten a clue how to control a spaceship. If it weren’t for him, even if we could’ve made it to the top of the tower all by ourselves and managed to have gotten past the guards safe and sound, we’d be just lying here trying to figure how this thing worked.

  We hop in and Caden steps to the router. He pressed something and the door behind us closes.

  I grab Zoey’s hand. We finally made it. And to think we’ve come near the point where I thought there was no hope anymore.

  Turns out I was wrong.

  Delightfully so.

  I mean, we could get back to Earth now.

  And boy, it feels so good getting back home.

  The spaceship hoists up in the air and that’s when I realize that we’ve actually made it. I don’t even need to pinch myself to realize that this is not a dream. Don’t get me wrong, this has been the weirdest journey and if I weren’t a part of it, I wouldn’t have believed it for a second.

  The others are trying to gather themselves from the tiresome process to the booth.

  It was exhausting both mentally and physically.

  Good thing it was over.

  I never wanted to visit another planet that wasn’t Earth for the rest of my life. This had been enough. It made us appreciate things we take for granted.

  And it’s even funny, ‘cause we were still muddled and didn’t remember much of home.

  But we were excited to go back there nonetheless.

  I decided to lie there for a couple of minutes and Zoey joins me.

  Maybe now it’s the right time to pour my soul to her. Who knows what happens next? Maybe we lived on opposite sides of the planet. Maybe we lived adjacently, but hated each other so much and never shared a word. I should take advantage of this moment while I still could.

  “Zoey,” I grab her hand and look straight to her eyes. “I’ve been meaning to tell you something. And I know it’s weird and maybe not the right moment. But I just want to tell you anyway. I mean, we’re almost in conflict all the time and are so different, but still there’s something about it, there’s something in the air when you’re around. Something I cannot comprehend but know that it feels so good and I don’t want to let go. I don’t want to get go of these feelings. Don’t want to let go of you…” Obviously, I could go on if it weren’t for her interrupting me.

  She approaches me on an enough-with-the-silly-talk way and our lips touch. I mean, it’s weird how familiar her lips feel.

  It’s something I cannot explain.

  But at this point, everything it’s bizarre in this world… until it isn’t anymore. We get adjusted to things. We become familiar to them. And somehow, we tend to swirl around our peers like in an orbit.

  I know. It’s quaint, but amazing nonetheless.

  Just as our lips untangle, I hear a voice that sounds so pestering at the moment. It’s Caden’s.

  “Guys, there’s something going on. They must have figured we took the spaceship.” He tells us.

  “Well, at some point they would’ve.” Brianne scowls. Like, that was such a dumb thing to say. We all knew sooner or later they’d figure out. But we’d rather later than sooner.

  “Anyway, what’s the matter, we’re past the Eatonii’s orbit now, aren’t we?” I ask him.

  “Well, we are, but the point is, they can control all the spaceships since they’re theirs to control.”

  “But how could they do that?” Zoey frowns. “We’re way past their jurisdiction now.”

  “Well, they’ve got sophisticated technology to interfere with their aircraft, and if they come through it, it could end us bad.”

  “Bad how?” I ask him.

  “Well, the system may malfunction. And no matter what I do, the spaceship would somehow land itself. And that’s not even the worst part.”

  “Wait, there’s worse?” Zoey’s eyes open the size of a lime.

  “They can’t control the spaceship, only get through the system. And soon as they hack into it, it’ll tangle with my commands and needless to say we will land to a hazardous stop.”

  “Hazardous how?” she keeps asking, terrified.

  Just when we thought we were past the troubles, they kept haunting us like ghosts.

  “Enough as to kill all of us in the blink of an eye.” He tells her.

  “Wait. No, no, no.” She gets on her feet and tries to waddle around the spaceship. But there’s only so much space she can waddle into. “We didn’t go through all this trouble to get killed at the end. No! I refuse to take it!” she
pressed her foot on the base like a spoiled child.

  “It’s not a matter of take.” Caden tells her.

  The others seem befuddled. They hadn’t gathered themselves from the previous fuss, when something just as bad decides to pop up.

  “Oh, God!” Caden holds his head with both hands.

  “What?” Zoey seems impatient to find out.

  “They’re into the system. Somehow they’ve managed to get through.”

  “Well, do something with your hands instead of holding your head with them.” God, she’s so stubborn. She really thinks she can control anybody.

  Just remind me. Why do I even like her?

  Anyway. That’s not the point.

  We’ve got other issues in hand.

  Brianne howls and we all tremble forward as something seems to be going wrongly with the spaceship.

  “Caden, do something.” Zoey tells him.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t think there’s anything I can do.”

  “We can’t just end up like this. On the space. That’s like the worst kind of death.”

  “I don’t think there’s a pleasant kind of death.” I tell her. And realize how funny this sounds. We’re talking about matter of survival here and yet I’m willing to have philosophical conversations with her. Like, what’s wrong with me?”

  “But there’s something.” Caden points his finger in the air, after what seemed like an idea to have popped up on his mind.

  “What is it?” she asks.

  “We can jump out.”

  “What? Are you crazy? We’ll shatter to pieces. We can’t just jump out on space just like that. That’s like, crazy.”

  “We’ll use the parachutes.” He tells her and she comes at a contemplative point.

  “That’s great. Why didn’t you tell this before?”

  “I mean, we’re nearby the Earth’s atmosphere, it seems only logical if we jumped out.”

  We keep hearing him explain how we’re to proceed.

  “Okay, so you’ll wear this suit,” he tells us and points at someplace on the back of the craft. “There a button on each suit that you are to press when near the Earth which will make the parachute open up and take you to a safe landing.”

  We wear the suits one by one.

  Zoey is holding my hand. I look at her. We don’t need to talk to realize that we’re doing this together.

  Caden opens up the back door and we’re standing right there, excitement drenching us entirely. I’m trying to decide whether I’m scared of heights right now. But there’s no time. Zoey pushes me forward and we jump together. Somehow our hands detach while in the air.

  Wow. This is… scary and exciting at the same time.

  “Greyson,” she yells but it’s hard to hear up here in the open air. “It doesn’t work. It’s not working.” It takes me a while to realize that she’s referring to the parachute and I see her pressing repeatedly that button that Caden talked about. But why on Earth did she decide to press it so early? I mean, she’s Zoey. You can expect anything from her.

  I’m scared. I don’t know what to do and willingly press the button to my suit.

  The parachute opens up above me.

  Instead of feeling safe, I’m swept up in jitteriness and horror.

  Zoey!

  ~.~.~

  I open my eyes.

  I’m lying on the ground. Both arms open as if hugging the thawed relief beneath me. I’m fuzzled. Soon, I take in gander the parachute that is lying deflexed adjacent me. I get on my own feet and pore over the area.

  It’s all caramel brown and monotonous. It’s all the same all around. There are plenty of rooted lines underneath each course that makes it look like a labyrinth.

  I’m back on earth.

  I just want to jump up from the excitement. But then in a flash it drenches away.

  “Zoey?” I howl. “Zoey?” I howl louder.

  “Carter? Braine? Colin? Anybody?”

  The only response I’m getting is that of my sound shuttering around the air. And it doesn’t take long for me to realize that I’m all alone in a brown-to-madness field.