Alien Disaster Read Free Page B

mausoleum that hid it. And in front of them …
    A crater half a kilometre wide had been punched into the centre of Highgate Cemetery by the two small but amazingly accurate meteors. There was nothing but a great pit full of rock, dirt and smoke. Flashes of metal showed where the top of the roof of the hidden laboratory was.
    They paused only for a moment. ‘Keep running!’ Brandon urged.
    They ran away from the crater, heading for the distant shelter of the trees and tombs that were still standing by the cemetery wall. A third meteor flashed down from the sky and into the crater, finishing the job that the first two had started. The blast sent Brandon, Kat and Jason flying through the air. They landed in an ancient grove in a tangle of arms, legs, nettles and ivy. Brandon hit his head on a gravestone. His vision blurred and he tasted blood.
    It was Kat who pulled them both, dazed and bruised, to their feet. ‘Come on!’ she urged. ‘This isn’t the time to rest in peace!’
    They scaled the wall, left the cemetery and ran through the nearby roads without any destination in mind, wordlessly agreeing to simply put some distance between themselves and the crater. More meteors were falling out of the sky all over London. They could hear the impact explosions and could feel the ground shake. People were running about shouting and crying. They passed police cars, fire trucks and ambulances all heading in different directions.
    Eventually they emerged on Hampstead Heath and collapsed on the dry grass of the park at the foot of Parliament Hill. Jason and Kat were staring in shock at the clouds of smoke that were rising on every horizon. Brandon tried to call his mother back: no reply. He called his father; the line connected, and then …
    He saw it clearly this time: a hot white fireball speeding out of the clear blue sky. It crashed to Earth less than two kilometres away. Brandon didn’t feel the heat or the shockwave this time, but he felt a much more violent reaction in his gut.
    ‘No,’ he gasped. ‘Dad …’
    The meteor had hit home: Brandon’s home.

 
     

     
     
     
     
    Brandon sank to his knees. All around him more and more meteors were falling over London, but he could hardly hear them. His mind, usually so sharp and clear, was clouded with shock and grief. He couldn’t make sense of why his whole world had been turned upside down.
    His phone was buzzing urgently in his pocket. He fumbled for it: it was his sister Gem calling.
    ‘Brandon, where are you?’
    ‘I’m … it’s …’ He took a deep breath. ‘I’m on the Heath.’
    ‘Listen to me, Bran, we’re in big trouble. These meteors … they’re not random; they’re targeting our family! They hit Mum’s lab three times ! They also took out some army and communications stuff too. This isn’t a natural meteor shower—it’s some sort of attack!’
    ‘Mum and Dad, Gem, they’re …’
    ‘I don’t know, Brandon. I’ve no idea where Mum is, but Dad left the house just after you did. He said he was going to the gallery to move his precious paintings, so hopefully he’s okay. I’m in the chopper with James. You have to get somewhere safe until all this is over, okay?’
    ‘Okay,’ he agreed, relieved, but still bewildered. Gem obviously had no idea that he had just been to the lab.
    ‘Gem, what do you think this—’
    He stopped mid-sentence and involuntarily ducked as another meteor streaked overhead at an unnaturally low angle. It landed about four kilometres away, smashing the top off the British Telecom Tower as it went by.
    ‘Gem?’
    There was no reply; his connection had been lost. Jason was looking at his phone like he’d been cut off mid-call as well. Kat’s fingers were moving around her phone’s touchscreen. ‘Internet’s down too,’ she reported.
    The barrage of meteors started to slow down. Plumes of smoke were rising all over London. There was a haze of dust in the summer sky. Then one more meteor flashed across the