A meteor crashed into my farm and now its the end of the world

I stood at the edge of the field looking down at the scorched earth, there was a crater in front of me made by something that fell from the sky. My mother screamed of revelation saying that the world has finally ended but all I could see what a rock that was pulsing heat. I stood there looking down at the smouldering rock, the soil around it melting from the heat. It was 4 am when this thing fell and I could feel the cold slowly creeping away from the field, the frost of early winter making my breath fog despite the heat of the thing.

I waited for the sheriff to arrive; there were others who also came to see the thing. Soon I was joined by farmers and their hands looking and discussing the rock that was still radiating the heat. My mother remained at home praying like the world depended on it, I was here trying to find a way to get off the field. My neighbour Jacob forbid me to tough the damned thing on account that the sheriff would throw me in jail for tampering with such a thing. When the sheriff arrived, we all made way for him and his deputy to have a better look at the rock. He took one look at the rock and ordered us to leave; I informed him that this was my land I will stay. He got angry but did not argue with me, the others left without a word leaving me and the sheriff. The deputy returned to the car to radio in the find, sheriff Hodges wanted to get close to the thing but commented on how it was still so hot.

It had been on the ground for more than 2 hours before the sheriff had arrived and it still was too hot to approach. I asked Hodges if I could use my digger to haul the thing out, he refused stating that doing anything right now without permission from higher ups would be tantamount to treason. I reminded him that this was my land and he reminded me that the government was still the final word. I wanted to argue but was cut off by the deputy.

“Chief, I was informed by Sally that a team from government are on their way to check this thing.”

Hodges raised his hands like he was expecting a hug and smiled at me, “see Park, I told you the higher ups will be here to take what ever that thing is. Listen why don’t you go back home and start your day. The deputy and I will watch over this here thing and when it’s removed, I will let you know. Let’s not spoil our day over who gets what.”

I was fuming at this but relented knowing that any further argument would lead me to spend a few days in the cell. I did not care for the rock but was still curious what it really was. I walked back to my bike and left, riding back to my house I could not get the sound it made when the thing hit the ground out of my head. One minute I was sleeping and the next it felt like a tanker exploded next to my house, the dust storm that blew through the property reminded me of the tornadoes we got during storm season. I got back home and entered the front door to find my mother standing in front of me, she wore a face of utter fear.

“Did you see the demon that fell on to our land, did it have wings and carry the staff of ruination?”

“No mama, the thing that fell was a rock. I saw it with my own eyes. Now quit your bible talk and let me clean myself up. I need to check on the cows and feed them.”

With that I left her mumbling her verses, I wasn’t the religious type and never liked church with all the doom preaching of the priest. The hot shower felt good on my skin and felt my blood warm back to life. After making a cup of coffee I made my way to the shed to check on the cows, they were still jittery from the morning crash but when I placed food in front of them it was like nothing happened. I fed the lot and then checked the chickens, by the time I was done with my chores it was closer to 12 and I decided to check on the sheriff and see if they managed to remove that damned rock.

I drove my truck out to the place to find the car and 2 vans parked near the spot. I got out hoping to see them moving the rock but there wasn’t anyone around. It was like they vanished, I check to see if the rock was still there and it too was gone. I stood there confused, I checked the sheriff's car and heard a voice on the radio. It was Sally, I picked the receiver and tried to speak.

“Sheriff, are you there? Wait who is this. Park, is that you son? Where is Hodges?”

I told of what I found there and she told me that she lost contact with the sheriff over 2 hours ago and was hoping that they were just busy with the meteor. I was about to ask what a meteor was but realised she was talking about the rock, I told that it was gone and so was everyone else. I told her about the 2 other vans and she informed me that they were from the government, I shrugged and asked if I should check them in case anyone was inside. She told me to do that and report back, I felt like a deputy now and smiled at the prospect of that. I walked over to the closest van and tried the door, it was open and inside I saw it was empty. No one was inside and there was nothing in the back except some cases, I check the other and it was the same. Checking the cases I saw they were all locked and since I did not have the keys did not bother in case I got into trouble for opening them.

I let Sally know what I didn’t find and she sounded confused but told me to wait a minute. I looked around the place to see if they might have used a tractor or something to move the rock or meteor but there were not tractor trails anywhere. This was confusing me and I did not like it one bit, I radioed Sally to have someone else come and check this place and she informed me that the other deputy was at another farm. She told me that the farmer called saying that something slaughtered he entire herd of cows, she asked me about mine and I told her that mine were alive and well. The thought of something harming my cows was scary and now wanted to check in on them, I asked her if there were any other officers who could come and check on them. Sally said there would more government people on their way but it would take longer. I didn’t care about that so I told her to check on them and that I was heading back to my shed to check on my cows.

I got back into my truck and drove back to the shed, on the way I was listening to the radio and began hearing the local announcer talking about strange things happening around the area. People are reporting strange things moving around their places and their livestock being attacked. This made me speed up, my farm could be next and there was no way in hell I was going to allow that to happen. I reached the shed and I could hear the cows making odd sounds so I rushed in to fond something worse than I could have ever imagined. A tall tree like being stood in the centre lane of the shed, it was black in colour and the head was like a long sharp pencil. I saw the 4 arms and they were long and shaped like stakes, it was looking at the scared cows and shrieking at them. I stood there frozen in fear, the thing moved forward and shot out an arm that pierced closest cow through the forehead and lifted the body up effortlessly. That broke the trance and I ran back to my truck and picked up my shotgun. I ran back into the shed to find that it had killed another cow, I aimed and fired a round at the thing and it let out a loud scream. I cocked the shotgun and aimed again, the thing turned to look at me and I could feel the anger radiating towards me and it lunged at me. I let out another round and that did not stop it, jumped back while cocking the shogun again and ran out the shed. I waited outside for it but it did not come, I waited a little longer then took a step forward to check where it went.

I peaked inside the shed and found only the scared cows moving around their pens, I looked up to see if it was hiding above me and saw nothing. I walked in to see where it could have gone, the thing was gone and I walked to where I first saw it. There I found shards of black glass or stones on the ground, no alien blood. Standing up and trying to find out where it could have gone I heard sounds of trucks stopping outside the shed. I walked out to find a group of soldier, they were armed to their teeth and rushed past me into the shed, one of them who was their superior stopped in front me and asked me what happened. I told him everything and he listened without a word, when I finished he told me go back home and wait for them. Whatever the thing was could move fast and they needed to stop it before it wiped out all the people and animals in the area. I wanted to protest but he held up his hand and asked me if I wanted to face it again with the pea shooter I was holding. I got the point and walked back to my truck and got in. I sat there looking at the soldiers move around the place looking for that thing and I listened to the radio for more info. The radio was silent, they were just playing music. It felt like the announcer was told to just play music and not talk about what was happening.

The frustration of not being able to do anything was getting to me so I drove back home to find my screaming mom who was now wearing her Sunday dress with a bible in her right hand, she was holding it up and screaming about revelations. That would have driven any sane man to shoot himself rather than the thing. I ignored her and tried to find something to eat, I turned on the radio in the kitchen hoping that there would be something about whatever was going on. After a few minutes the music stopped and a flat tone came on, then an emergency broadcast was announced.

“This is an emergency broadcast, there have been numerous incidents of meteors crashing down on earth in many parts of the world. The government is trying to control the situation. We are advising you to remain indoors and contact your local authorities if there is an emergency near you. We are doing our best to keep you safe. Until the next broadcast please keep your radios on…”

I heard mama calling me to the front and I rushed to find her point at the sky, it was raining fire and I saw one falling towards us. I grabbed her arm and rushed us to my truck, getting in I started it and gunned the truck away from the house. We just managed to get some distance before the meteor crashed into our house blowing it into dust. My mother was crying her eyes out screaming that we were all going to die, I kept telling her to shut up but I was too scared to raise my voice. More crashes were occurring all round us, the earth was shaking and I was having trouble controlling the truck. I found other cars rushing to safety, the radio kept repeating the message and I saw fear in the eyes of people running on the side of the roads. This was the end.