Chapter 19

“Wait, we need to hit the breaker first.” Donna looked around frantically. They needed to get this over with sooner rather than later. The breakers should lie somewhere around the main line.

“Right.” Patrick rested the hacksaw on the fat cable. The thing was maybe as thick as his dick. If he sawed it while it was live ... Well, he wouldn’t have to worry about the thing in the water anymore. He scanned the far wall and spotted a metal rectangle mounted on a masonry wall. “There.” He pointed.

“Right.” Donna raced over to the box, her chest heaving. If she wasn’t careful, she would start perspiring again. And then what hope would they have? She tried to slow her heart as she flipped all the switches. The overhead lights went out, and she was cast in gloom, the only light coming in from a transom above the lake-access door some ten feet away. The machines around them ground into silence. How odd to suddenly be free of the beating heart that was the pump station. She heard the sound of sawing. “Pat, cut it closer to that machine over there. We’re going to need plenty of slack.”

“Right.” Patrick stopped and moved several feet to his right. He sawed quickly, the first beads of sweat popping out on his forehead. He felt Donna’s soft hand on his shoulder. “Will this work?”

“It should.” Donna’s knees went weak and her nostrils flared. “Hurry, Pat.”

“Done.” Patrick dropped the saw and picked up the cable. He had a sudden urge to forget the whole thing and just bury himself in Donna’s waiting pussy. He reminded himself that the whole town depended on them. Step by step he moved toward the door with the jagged end of the cable, careful to keep his hands on the insulated exterior and away from the exposed wire. “Hit the breaker again and meet me outside.” It wouldn’t hurt if they split up for a minute. He could smell her growing musk. Maybe the outside air would do them both some good, too.

“I’ll be right there.” Donna watched her boyfriend open the door and take the powerline out with him. She ran back over to the circuit box and flipped them all back to the closed position. The machines whirred to life around her and the lights flickered back on. Over the cacophony in that giant space, she could hear Patrick shouting for her outside. But she couldn’t make out the words. Donna turned and ran as fast as she could through the open door, leaping over the suspended wire, now coursing with electricity. “Oh, my.” Her feet came to an abrupt halt. The coarse wood pulled at her bare soles. “What are they?”

“Other than evil looking, you mean?” Patrick stared at the translucent globes, floating on the water in a semi-circle around the little dock. Each sphere was about the size of a man. And inside squirmed large shapes that seemed faintly reptilian. The malicious looking things moved slowly over the water to where Patrick stood on the edge of the dock. “What should I do?”

“Fry them,” Donna screamed. A fog descended upon them. No, Donna realized that wasn’t right. Her glasses were steaming up. She removed them and looked at Patrick’s blurry form hesitating at the edge of the water. Several of the globes were within a stone’s throw of him. “Fry them now.” The end of the wire hissed and sparked a foot or so out in front of Patrick. Donna wiped her glasses frantically and put them on, just in time to see him plunge the end of the line into the lake.

It seemed to Patrick that he had plunged a bolt of lightning into the water. There were several bright blue flashes, a sharp crack, followed by a sizzle, and then a shriek went up from the closing semi-circle. And just like that, it was over. Patrick could hear the machinery from inside the pumping station shutting down again. He looked up at the globes. Beautiful branching forks of electricity still shot through them. The dark shapes inside went suddenly still and then each sphere burst like a bubble and dropped its contents into the lake with a plop. Patrick stood there, still holding the line so that its end was submerged, and let the silence fall over him. The dark shapes sank into the water and were gone. He’d killed whatever they were.

“Did we do it?” Donna walked up next to Patrick and looked down into the water. “We must have broken the circuit. Was that enough electricity to kill them all?”

“Yeah, I think it was.” Patrick dropped the wire with a dull thunk on the wood below. There was only their rasping breath and the lapping of the waves against the pilings. Everything else was silence. “We killed the thing in the water, Donna. That was ... amazing.” He turned and hugged her tightly, breathing in her scent. He leaned up and planted a kiss on her soft lips. Suddenly they were making out. They had won, why not celebrate? Patrick worked to pull Donna’s heavy boobs out of her dress.

Whatever had just happened, Axcix didn’t like it. Not one bit. She’d felt a surge and then several of her systems cycled through restarts. When everything was up and running, she replayed the events of the last few minutes. Her tough and loyal sentinels were dead. The vital pump station stood idle. It appears those members of the dominant species were more resourceful than expected. They had rerouted the flow of electrons from pump functions to her home. The ions in the water had carried those electrons to do their vile business upon her sentinels. She moved to release some perimeter drones to return some security to the situation, but her outer bay doors wouldn’t open.

At the muddy bottom, Axcix was just far enough away from the event to sustain only limited damage. What to do, what to do? She needed to deal with this threat. But her sentinels were gone. And the creature Smith had gone silent. She scanned for the electron current, but found none. The surge must have caused a safety cutoff within the pumping station. She moved about her chamber, changing the configuration of her sphere.

Direct contact is not forbidden. Direct contact is discouraged. Use your tools. Remain hidden, distant. You are the only thing that cannot be replaced. Those words the makers had bestowed upon her during training before she pierced the veil of space. What she was about to do was not forbidden, only discouraged. She sprung from her hull, six arms with tertiary joints. The great sphere pushed off from the bottom, releasing a cloud of sediment. Quickly, Axcix rose to the surface.

They were still a good mile away from home, when Sally noticed them. A line of women walked briskly down the middle of the street about two blocks back. “Come on, Mr. Farmer. Walk faster.” Those women were catching up. What’s worse, Sally could tell their arms weren’t quite right. It was the same thing that had happened back in the hotel. Despite Adeline’s support, Susy stumbled down the street. And Mark would only mumble something about his lady over and over. His dumb feet wouldn’t move faster than the pace of an evening stroll.

“My lady, my lady, my lady,” Mark mumbled.

Sally looked over her shoulder. They were closer. The line of women in crisp swing dresses, their heels clicking on the pavement were now only about a block and a half behind. “We’re not going to make it home. Look behind us, Addy.”

“Oh, no.” Adeline’s eyes shot wide when she saw the things that were chasing them. Those terrible arms swung like rubber and their hands passed their knees as the pursuing women walked. Adeline looked around frantically. “The church.” She swerved to her right and guided her mother through the church parking lot. “We’ll be safe there.”

“Okay.” Sally doubted the church offered much safety. But it had lockable doors. She pushed Mark toward the great cross, hoping beyond hope that those things behind them would leave them alone.

They crossed the parking lot quickly. The pursuing things stepped out of the street toward them as the Lannits and Mark entered the church. “Where’s the lock?” Sally said frantically. “Goodness, we need a key.”

Pastor Neilson looked up from his bible and stood when he heard the commotion. “Molly? Molly? I could use your help. We have some parishioners.” It had been so quiet at the church lately. Pastor Neilson had no idea why the town seemed to have gotten so shy. He hurried to the vestibule and saw the Lannits, plus a man he didn’t know. “Come in, come in. What can God do for you today?”

“Pastor, you need to lock the front door. We’re being chased by some devil women.” Sally stepped back and pulled her family into a corner of the small room. She let Mark stand blankly where he was. She knew the walk had made her sweat quite profusely, and she needed the pastor to move quickly. She hoped he couldn’t smell her.

“Chased you, you say? Well, that’s no way for women to behave.” Pastor Neilson frowned. “Oh, there you are, Molly.”

“Hello, dear.” Molly affixed a bright smile to her face, but she had a bad feeling about what was happening. In her hand, she fiddled with the ring of keys. “I heard something about locking a door.” Gertrude Cobb walked up and stood next to her.

“Hey, you’re that doctor that went missing.” Sally eyed the short blond woman. She had a dribble of some white liquid on her chin. Sally looked over at Molly. She could see the wife’s dark right nipple through a wet spot on her dress. Was she feeding this woman? She shook her head. “Never mind, just lock the door. Quickly.”

“Nonsense. These women, whoever they are, just need the word of God.” Pastor Neilson smelled something odd in the air. He felt a little fuzzy, but nothing that would prevent him from doing the Lord’s work. He strode out of the church into the bright sun.

“No.” Sally watched him go. Before the door swung closed, Sally caught a glimpse of several women standing not ten feet from the door with their heads down, their shoulders hunched, and their arms dangling horribly. The door shut and everyone in the vestibule stood perfectly still. They could hear the pastor’s voice muffled through the door. He was saying something about behaving themselves. Then, his voice cut out and there was the most horrific splattering sound. That was followed by a liquid thud that shook the whole door. It was like someone had thrown a huge water balloon at them. “Lock the door, please,” Sally whispered.

Molly nodded and raced across the room. She fit the key in the lock and turned. Not a second later the doors shook violently. The shaking stopped. Everyone in the room backed away from the door. Then a loud thump sounded from inside the nave. Then another. “Oh, no.” Molly trembled in fright.

Slowly, Sally walked toward the entry to the nave and looked in. The horrible women were now throwing themselves against the windows that ran down the left side of the pews. Panes of glass rattled in their housings. Green slime smeared itself where the women came in contact with each window. “That’s not good,” Sally said. “Does this door lock?” She pointed to the door between the vestibule and the nave.

Molly shook her head.

“Okay.” Sally tried to breathe calmly as she looked around at her family. “We’ll think of something. Right?”

Her bare breast dropped out of confinement. The freckled pale skin caught the sunlight and radiated. Such a beautiful thing. So full of life. So eager to give life. Patrick thought of their future children. Donna would someday feed them with those dark nipples. He grabbed a handful of that spongy flesh and squeezed. All thoughts of their present situation fell away from his mind. They had won, but he didn’t even really care about that anymore.

“Patrick ... Patrick... Patrick!” Donna’s voice went from dreamy to alarmed. It took every ounce of strength, but she pushed him away. The center of the lake bubbled and churned. “Look.” She stood there with her tits hanging out and her mouth wide open in shock.

“Oh, no.” Patrick pulled his pants back up and tried to stuff his dick away. He was partly successful. The dark purple top stuck out of his waist band and over his shirt in the outdoor air. Patrick watched the thing rise out of the water, like a great, metal spider. “The wire.” He bent down and picked up the electrical line, but it was dead. “The breaker, Donna. Flip the breaker and we’ll fry that thing, too.”

Without a word, Donna ran back into the station, her exposed breasts bouncing uncomfortably side to side and up and down.

Over his shoulder, he watched her red hair disappear back into the darkness. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and looked back at the thing, now looming almost twenty feet above the surface of the lake.

“Commmme tttto meeeeee, annnnnnthropoid.” Axcix paused. Even with the power off, she didn’t want to approach that wire. She looked over to the right of the building. More electrons flowed through wires along a series of posts, dipping into the building. The cutoff was local then. And the female had disappeared quickly. Either in fright, or to fight. Better to meet these creatures away from the building. “Cccccccome aaaaaand mmmmmeet meeeeee hhhhhhhere.”

Patrick shook his head. The strange slurring voice entered his brain through some shortcut, bypassing his ears entirely. Bypass, he thought. He looked back at the external line that brought power into the station. There would be no circuit to break there. More than enough power to kill this hideous robotic arachnid. But how could he cut it safely? He shook his head, forgetting about that powerline. It was impossible. An electric line in hand is worth two in the bush. There would be enough juice when Donna flipped the switch. “I hope,” Patrick muttered under his breath. His knees shook as he waited.

“Llllllet mmmmme shhhhhhhow youuuuuuuu. Commmmmme.” Axcix held out one of her robotic arms to Patrick in a gesture of friendship.

“No, thanks.” Patrick shook his head. “Why don’t you come here?” He gritted his teeth. “But not yet,” Patrick quickly added. The pumping station was still silent behind him. What was taking Donna so long? The thing took several lumbering steps toward him and then paused, as if unsure of itself.

“Youuuuuu arrrrrre Paaaaaaatrick?” Axcix banged at one of her screens as it suddenly went dead. She was going to have to go through some serious repairs after this. She had to hand it to this one. She hadn’t expected to ever find herself in such a situation. “Commmmmmme fffffffffor aaaaa rrrrrrrreward.”

Patrick shook his head again. As much to get the buzzing voice out of his head as to tell the monster no. “Donna? Hurry up, please,” he called over his shoulder.

“She’s here.” Roy’s voice carried more of a sneer than usual.

Patrick went from nervous panic to all-out-panic in an instant. He looked back and his eyes bugged out of his head. He saw David, tall and imposing, with that stupid grin that had become his trademark lately. Next to him, Roy looked more disheveled than ever, staring at Patrick with pure malice. Both eighteen-year-old boys had faint smears of something bluish or greenish covering their clothes and skin. And their skin shone with moisture. Patrick could see sweat staining Roy’s pits. Roy stood with one hand on his prodigious belly, and other entwined in Donna’s beautiful red hair. This was, sadly, because Donna kneeled before him. Roy’s pants were around his ankles, and his long dick playfully knocked against Donna’s freckled cheek over and over again. Donna’s eyes were glassy and her expression filled with hunger. Her breasts were still exposed, and they wobbled slightly every time Roy hit her face with his dick. She looked impossibly vulnerable and helpless. “Get away from her,” Patrick screamed.

“Um ... no.” Roy laughed. He looked over at David and his friend joined in with an awkward, mirthless chuckle. “How about you do as I say and I don’t resize her ass right here and now?” Roy let his laughter die away and he raised his eyebrows. “Oh, she wants it, Pat. She was begging me to give it to her back there by the circuit breakers. But I told her she’d have to wait. So, you gonna be good or is she gonna be bad?” He slapped her with his dick a little bit harder, and then lowered his hips, put the dark head of his dick under her chin, and raised her face up so Patrick could get a good look at her.

Patrick’s mind raced. The giant, metal spider hadn’t moved. It was probably curious about this new development. That meant, he had time to figure something out. “What do you want, Roy?” Patrick dropped the now useless power line and stood half-turned to Roy, so he could keep an eye on the lake.

“Is that the thing that made me a king?” Roy pointed up at the giant spider with his long dick.

“I mmmmmmmmmade youuuuuuuu betterrrrrrrrr,” Axcix replied.

“Oh, cool.” Roy nodded, still grasping Donna’s hair.

“I’m sorry, Pat.” Donna’s body wouldn’t obey her. “I didn’t mean –”

“Shut up.” Roy cut her off with another dick slap to the face. “Mr. Meteor, sir? That’s the guy that’s causing you problems.” He nodded at Patrick. “We’re on your side. You can grab him and do whatever you want with him. Just let us take the dame and go. Sound good?”

With a rush of water, Axcix moved her sphere near the dock. She reached down with a robotic arm and gently picked Patrick up in a claw. Such a plucky one, she would do something special to him. “Yyyyyyyou mmmmmay gooooooo.” She said to the other members of the dominant species.