Chapter 10

Cold drops of rain began to patter on the nearby pavement as Sarah and the rest of the group continued to creep through abandoned yards and streets, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the creatures raiding their previous home. They all came to a stop behind some shrubs along the yard of a modern-looking mansion, gasping for breath and wheezing on their knees from the exertion of sprinting for almost 5 minutes straight.

Sarah collapsed to the grass with a wet thud, clutching at the stitch in her side. Her legs felt like jelly, her dry throat screamed out for liquids, and her chest was on fire from her large breasts widely bouncing during the run. She chastised herself for not wearing a sports bra, but then again, why would she have thought to wear one to class in the first place? She tried to reach her sore back to massage it, but she was too tired to apply ample pressure. She let out a frustrated sigh, opening her mouth and looking up to the clouds in an attempt to catch some precious drops of water on her dry tongue.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of firm, strong hands press into her shoulders, and two thumbs between her shoulder blades. The hands squeezed into her tight muscles and instantly relieved some of her pain and stress. She looked over her shoulder to see Adam behind her, trying to maintain a serious, neutral, expression while he massaged her shoulders. She closed her eyes and relaxed her muscles as he did his best to apply the right amount of pressure through her lab coat.

“Mmmnn ... that feels nice...” Sarah murmured. “ ... Th-thanks...”

“I noticed you seemed to be in some pain,” he replied, blushing a bit. “It’s better if everyone is in top shape, right?” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself. The rain had begun to push his dark hair messily over his face, highlighting his stormy grey eyes. Sarah wasn’t sure if her heart was beating this fast because of the intense exercise or if it was due to ... something else.

“Hey!” Steven loudly gasped. “I’m hurting here too, man! Why don’t I get a massage!?”

“Shush up, moron!” Zoey slapped her brother. “Do you want those things to find us again!?” She was clearly better at reading the mood than he was, seeing as she had just been wearing a knowing smile only a moment before while watching the two professors interact.

“If it is muscle strain that you need assistance with,” A’luhr said to Steven while calmly breathing, “I know several pressure point techniques that might help. Though they were designed for members of my species, I believe they will be sufficient for use on your human tissue as well.” She turned to Steven, extending her delicate-looking hands that still managed to radiate an inhuman strength. Her sudden motion made her voluptuous bosom jiggle within her skin-tight suit, causing Steven to instinctively glance down at her ample assets.

“Y-yeah... !” Steven eagerly replied, still struggling to control his breathing. “That ... that would be nice!” He turned around to reveal his back to the alien woman. She shuffled towards him, hands at the ready, but just before her soft chest could press into his trembling back, Zoey pushed between the two.

“Here, allow me,” Zoey said in an icy voice. She reached out a hand and deliberately put a tight squeeze between his shoulder and neck, causing him to wince and jerk away in pain.

“Ngh! Hey! Not so hard!” Steven complained. “I need a soft touch!”

“Yeah, I’m sure you do.” Zoey glared at him, stealing some annoyed glances at A’luhr’s shapely breasts.

“Hmmnn... ! Yeah ... that’s good...” Sarah lustfully moaned next to them, still being massaged by Adam and clearly lost in the sensation. Her relaxed eyes quickly shot open and she covered her mouth in disbelief that she had just uttered such a lewd noise in front of the rest of the group.

“Do you two need to find a room?” Steven asked dryly, with a look of jealousy and annoyance on his face.

“Erm ... I think I feel good now, thanks.” Sarah gently croaked, awkwardly pulling away from Adam’s touch. “We ... actually should find a room though. The rain is really starting to pick up.”

“Yeah. We should.” Adam grumbled. He turned and shot a bloodcurdling glare at Steven, who didn’t notice it. He was busy looking up at the house they were in front of.

“We could always crash here.” Steven suggested. “Looks like the owners aren’t around.” Sarah inwardly agreed, finding that to be a pretty reasonable assumption, seeing as there was a large hole in the side of the building leading to what appeared to be a dining room. There were still several cars in the parking lot, so either anyone living here had been taken away by the Krinis without having the chance to drive away ... or they just had a lot of cars. It was hard to know for sure. There were certainly no signs of life inside, nor anywhere else for that matter.

“We could try and keep going,” Zoey suggested. “Did you notice that we haven’t seen a lot of Takers out on the streets? I wonder wh-”

KRAKOOM!

An ear-splitting rumble of thunder shook the sky and the rain started to pour down harder in a deafening torrent. Everyone scrambled to their feet and ran towards the mansion’s porch for cover. They huddled near the doorway and began to fix their hair and squeeze the water from their clothes before noticing that A’luhr was not with them.

“The Krinis must be hiding from this loud weather phenomenon!” A’luhr shouted through the din, still standing in the yard. Her long silver hair fell back against the rain and she happily ran her hands through it, sending droplets of water flying. “The sound must interfere with their tracking ability; I have never seen anything like this!” She held her arms out and spun in circles.

“So much water!” A’luhr looked up into the falling raindrops and smiled in amazement, reaching her hands up to feel the impacts on her skin. She let out something akin to a laugh and seemed to savor the feeling before speaking again. “We should take this opportunity to rest here. They will not be able to locate us within the cacophony of these falling drops of water and exploding clouds! If only we had such natural events on my own planet ... maybe we would have had more of a chance...”

The child-like glee faded from her face as she recalled painful memories. She quickly brightened up again as a mild rumble of thunder echoed overhead.

“Why are you all hiding from this fantastic sensation!?” A’luhr yelled over to the rest of the group. “Certainly we can take a few moments to enjo-”

KRRRRACKKKKOW!

A powerful clap of thunder shattered the air as a huge thunderbolt streaked through the sky, illuminating A’luhr’s suddenly terrified eyes. She let out a surprised yelp and scrambled over to where the humans were amusedly watching her.

“I...” She gasped. “I did not know that such deadly things would be waiting to catch me off guard! I admit that I am impressed your species managed to survive this long within this extreme environment.” No one explained the storm to her. Instead they just giggled a bit and began to quickly move around the side of the house towards the large hole in the wall, seeing as Steven had already found the front door to be locked.

“Everyone in!” Adam yelled as they approached the gaping wound in the wall. The wind had picked up and was sending various objects flying around the exposed dining room. Seeing the chaos inside, the group hesitated to enter. However, the rain started to come down even harder now, so waiting was no longer an option. They all carefully stepped through the splinters of the wall and their billowing clothes dripped with water.

Sarah ducked to dodge a painting that was knocked from the wall and ushered the rest of the group across the room and through a pair of French double doors that lead further into the house. She noticed piles of rotting, uneaten breakfast food on the floor next to several smashed dishes. Sarah had to assume that the people living here were captured while enjoying their breakfast.

The wet spray of rain and howling wind came to a stop once they got to the hallway and Sarah closed the doors behind them, keeping the almighty power of nature contained to just the dining room. They shook their limbs to get off the excess water and laughed in relief now that they finally felt safe again.

Steven whistled, “Wowee look at this place. I mean, our house was nice, but this place is NICE.” The mansion’s halls spread out in all directions, with numerous doors lining the walls and several abstract art installments positioned in strategic spots. The fancy carpet beneath their feet had already been totally ruined from exposure to the rain, but it was still likely more valuable than anything Sarah owned.

“We should take stock of what provisions and supplies we have here,” Adam said, wiping his wet hair from his face while his beard dripped water to the floor. Sarah absent-mindedly bit her lip seeing this. She had to force her wandering eyes away from the wet bulge in his grey sweatpants, pressed tight around his legs from the rain. She coughed to clear her thoughts.

“I-I’ll go look for towels or something for us to dry off with...” She stuttered.

“I’ll help!” Zoey quickly chimed in.

“Great,” Adam responded, “Steven you’re with me, then. Let’s go find some food and anything we can use for tools or weapons. A’luhr, you go-”

“I shall search the perimeter of this large domicile to ensure that it is secure,” she cut him off. “If I encounter danger, I will signal to the rest of you. Stay alert.” She brandished her daggers and walked off down the hall, checking corners as she went.

“Y-yeah ... do that.” Adam sheepishly mumbled.

“C’mon, let’s go find the kitchen!” Steven said, clearly excited to go exploring. He jogged down the hall and Adam hurriedly rushed after him.

“Let’s go check upstairs, hm?” Zoey suggested. She grabbed Sarah around the arm and yanked her towards the nearby grand staircase that spiraled up to the next floor. As they climbed up the marble steps, she turned and gave Sarah a coy smile. “So ... Professor Sparhawk, huh?”

“E-excuse me?” Sarah responded, flustered. “We’re just colleagues, that’s all!”

“Mmm ... I’m sure.” Zoey rolled her eyes knowingly. “Please, I see the way you’ve been looking at him lately. You’re so into him!” She shrugged. “He’s a bit rough around the edges, but you could do a whole lot worse.”

“I mean ... he’s certainly ... easy on the eyes.” Sarah admitted. “But now is not a great time to begin a relationship.” She sighed. “Not that I had time for one before all this anyway...”

“Now’s the perfect time!” Zoey squealed. “Think about it - we don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring, so stop hesitating and go get what you want!”

“I thought I was supposed to be the teacher here.” Sarah joked, laughing appreciatively.

“You may have an advanced degree in biology, but you still don’t understand your own heart,” Zoey replied. “It’s more common than you think. I read a lot of romance novels.”

“Really?” Sarah asked in surprise. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you tend to come off as a bit ... innocent.”

“W-well...” It was Zoey’s turn to be flustered. “Reading pretty words on a page isn’t quite the same thing as witnessing a bunch of aliens impregnate people...” She coughed in embarrassment.

“Fair enough. What about you, then?” Sarah slyly probed. “Are there any strapping young men that caught your fancy back in school?”

“Wh-what does that matter anymore? There aren’t many strapping young men in the area nowadays, in case you hadn’t noticed!” She looked away in embarrassment. “Umm ... hey let’s try this door!” She changed the subject and started moving down the hall, opening doors to peer inside as she went.

Sarah laughed and followed after her. She had considered splitting up to cover more ground, but she had seen enough horror movies to know that it was always better to stay in a group. She checked the rooms on the opposite side of the hall from Zoey, revealing several bedrooms, some offices, a den, a game room, a room full of musical albums on display in glass cases, and several other such spaces, until eventually they found what they were looking for.

“Here’s a bathroom!” Zoey said, pushing the door fully open. It was rather dark inside as the heavy rain running down the solitary window blocked out most of the dim sunlight. Zoey felt around for a light switch, found several, and flipped them all on and off several times. Nothing happened. “The power must be out.” She sighed.