Chapter 9: The March Forward Part 1

“Ugh...,” Dean tried to say. His vision was blurry. His body felt like it was moving. There was no strength. He blacked out...

Darkness. There was a struggle. His body was being moved ... no, it was being pulled. He was on the ground. The burning sun was eating any hope for him...

“Chuck ... is that you, Chuck?” He tried to say, but it was muffled. He could see the towering wall of the canyon.

His body was being lifted slightly. He collapsed again into the dirt. Somebody was trying to move him, but it was difficult. His vision went out.

Dean was once again engulfed in darkness. How much time had transpired? His eyes opened up again. He swore he saw the head crested alien looking at him. Her reptilian eyes were piercing into him.

“Axe ... Aksren ... Itrean babe...,” he said in his delusional state. “Water ... like ... water...”

He could briefly see that the Itrean woman had lifted his body. It wasn’t enough to clear the sand, but it did register in his mind. The vague image of the beating sun could be seen.

“Help ... human,” he swore he heard her voice. It had the same sound as most Itreans, but hers was lighter in tone. Her accent was thick.

“Umm ... like ... so hot, man ... where...?” Dean remarked.

“Move ... human,” she called out to him in the same jagged voice.

Dean seemed to understand. This Aksren woman seemed to understand English. She could have killed him. Maybe she was a T’rintar Aksren? Just like Bekra. This was different. He was uncertain. All he knew was that he had to move or he would die.

Her scaly hand grasped onto his chest. One of her talon fingers pressed against his pocket, the one that had his smoking pipe.

“Ugh ... whoa...,” Dean almost chuckled in his weakened state. “You should of ... like ... asked. I would have ... shared.”

His vision went dark again. She began to tap onto his helmet as if she was trying to knock some sense into him. He was coughing. The heat was so immense.

“Weed...,” he coughed. “Aksren ... Aksren sister,” he struggled to say. “I need ... I need my weed.”

The Aksren woman was pulling his body through the desert sands. She heard his cry for help but didn’t seem to understand. She stopped as she continued to tap his helmet to keep him awake.

“Need ... weed,” Dean said. He stretched his hand out to her. “It’s the ... only thing, man.”

She cocked her head. “Help me ... human,” she said with several clicks in her voice. “Save you.”

“Oh...,” Dean realized. He slapped his hand with his last ounce of strength. “My pipe, man. Like ... need more. Smoke.”

“Smoke?” She asked, not knowing what the word meant.

He was looking upon the Aksren woman that seemed to think that this man was the most unusual human being ever to exist. Was this human like every other human, or was he just nuts? Whatever the case was, she could note that he needed help.

“Help ... human,” she again called. She pointed at the sun. “Hot...” she pointed at his face. “You die ... no help.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dean remarked as he shifted his body a little bit from the ground. The heat continued to bore into his body. “Like ... you’re right, Aksren sister. We like ... got to get out of this. Otherwise ... it would be a total bummer.”

He shifted his body upward. It was just enough. The Itrean woman would use her strength to add to his. He was moving, but slowly.

His brain only registered a moving landscape. He coughed a little bit, but his mind knew that it had a chance. It must use this chance to find refuge. His brain also acknowledged another important factor. If he gave up now, if he dropped dead, then he would never get to smoke his prized weed again or anything else. It was more than enough to push him to move more.

“Got to move,” he said with a little extra strength. “Like ... got to make it.”

His vision would go in and out. He would occasionally breathe hard as his body was working at half capacity. The Itrean was doing her part. He was leaning onto her as she moved him. It finally registered in his mind that her arm was wrapped to encompass his armpit. She was practically carrying him to safety.

The visor was still open in his helmet. The dust stung his eyes, but the thought of having more weed provided clarity. Dean was determined to go where she was going.

“Like...,” Dean remarked. “I think ... we need to find shelter or something.”

“Come...,” she said. “Help you.”

Even with the help, Dean could feel his body growing weaker by the second. His eyes thought that he could see a cave coming up. Was it the same cave that he passed back?

“Oh man...,” he remarked. “That thing ... like it’s a total mirage, man.”

Again, she didn’t seem to understand all of his words. Dean had momentarily blacked out a few times, but it appeared that his body was still on the move. Perhaps his brain had concluded that only his legs should keep working. Finally, his eyes opened up to see the mouth of the cave. They were right next to it. However, this time, he fell unconscious. His body had enough, and it was already drawing upon the energy that it didn’t have.

“Ugh ... like ... water...,” Dean commented. He felt the odd sensation of coolness. It was dark, and yet his eyes were open. Then, he heard a click, and his helmet fell off of him. It landed with a thud on the stone-covered floor.

His breathing was staggered. There was enough light from some sort of artificial source, but it was unknown as to what was causing it. Nevertheless, Dean could see that he had to have been in a cave.

“Calm...,” the Itrean woman said. She appeared to try to say something else, but it either didn’t register in Dean’s mind, or she didn’t have a full grasp of English. What he could tell, however, was that her hands were checking his neck and head. His tied-up blond hair was exposed. Dean was past the point of sweating now, and dehydration was taking its toll. Only the fact that shelter was available did he have a chance at survival, but it didn’t seem promising even then.

The Itrean woman pressed her scaly hands to Dean’s neck. She undid the Velcro on Dean’s uniform and opened it up. It was enough to expose the top portion of his chest and properly vent.

Dean was in and out of consciousness. It was unknown if he was delusional or stoned, most likely both.

The cave wasn’t the most comfortable of places. It was deep enough to provide shelter from the sands, but even then, a small amount of the dust would momentarily flow in. Dean was on his back. He could feel the soothing touch of this stranger.

And yet, a part of him wondered as to what was going on. Surely, something in his brain had to conclude that this was an alien combatant. There was no way that this was some helpful Aksren. Was she going to eat him? Did she bring him to this cave to butcher and carve him up? Or was she taking him, prisoner? At this point, Dean didn’t care, and it simply didn’t matter. There was little that he could do.

“Itrean...,” Dean grumbled. “Help ... a bro.”

“I here,” she replied in her same light reptilian voice.

Dean’s body was on the edge of having a seizure. There were a couple of times that he was threatening to shake. His body was too hot, and the Itrean only knew so much about how to take care of him properly. However, there was one thing that she did know in what to do. She lowered herself to the stone floor. Her brown-covered clothing could be briefly seen. She began to position her legs into a cross-legged position. Her tail and butt were pressed slightly outward. This caused her covered breasts to push heavily upon Dean’s chin.

It was here that the Itrean’s instincts in caring for others had kicked in. She had to save his life. She undid a portion of her dress enough that she exposed her breasts. The light didn’t do enough to reveal the event entirely, but she took one hand and pressed it to the back of Dean’s head. The alien breasts were enormous for such a small figure as she. The light texture of smooth yellow scales could be seen. In addition, there was a faint tan-colored areola that could be seen in the light.

By now, Dean was unconscious again. It was possible that he wasn’t going to wake up again unless he received immediate medical help. The Itrean raised Dean’s head and mouth and placed it to her right nipple. She opened up his mouth and applied it directly onto his lips. She then took one hand and began to make a slow pumping motion for her breast. The gentle message that she made caused a small amount of milk to flow into Dean’s mouth.

Liquid ... Dean’s body could feel it. It was warm. It was both food and water at the same time. His body and brain were craving it. It was just enough that the need to go into shock was averted. This Itrean was doing what she could to save the man’s life. Her act of desperation was paying out. She continued to repeat the steps as she continued to pump her breasts gently. She would use her other hand to move his throat and cause him to swallow the milk that her breasts carried.

There was a slight grown from Dean. His body was accepting the contents eagerly. Natural instincts began to kick in. She no longer had to help force-feed him. Like a baby that had been introduced to breastfeeding for the first time, his brain registered that water was being given to him. His lips began to suckle upon her breast. She could feel more of her milk being poured into the human’s body.

It was enough, fortunately, to save Dean from death. It was as if she had been generating the milk of life. She closed her eyes and could only hope that the human would continue to do so. It seemed to have been working. She lost count of time as she breathed lightly. It was still unknown how much the human would need. From what she could gather, this person was going to need a lot more.

He started to cough a little bit. He wasn’t aware, but his body was craving so much that it threatened to choke him. She lightly tapped his body. Her parental instincts seemed to have found a sweet spot near his chest that caused his suckling motion to slow down. Then, finally, he was firm. Dean was stabilizing more and more. All she had to do now ... was wait.

“Ah...,” Dean remarked. “Like ... that was such ... a sweet dream, man.”

How long had it been? He had no idea. His eyes opened up to fully register the environment. He was in the cave and was comfortably cool. He shifted a little bit onto his side. It was here that he could see the alien woman.

There was the Aksren. She was sitting a little bit distance away from him. Her right breast was exposed to him, but it didn’t seem that she was being provocative. Her reptilian eyes were closely scanning him. In her hand was a rifle perched and ready to fire at him if need be. She even had his pistol, but it was tucked away near her tail. She was sitting cross-legged and was at the ready if he were to attack her.

“Um...,” Dean remarked in his calm stoned-like state. “Like ... did you save me?

She cocked her head again. The human had a smile on his face. He wasn’t making any sudden moves on her. She seemed to have understood enough of his words that she nodded her head a couple of times in quick succession.

“Sweet, man,” he replied. “Oh ... like ... I just remember getting really hot. It felt like I was on some sort of acid trip. Like ... I had some bad weed or something.”

“I ... no ... understand,” she replied with her heavy accent. There were a couple of clicks in her voice.

“Oh, I’m sorry, nice lady,” he replied. He shifted his weakened body to sit up. He was breathing normally and turned to look at her. “My name is Dean. Like ... what’s your name?”

He gestured to himself when he greeted himself. It was enough that she clearly understood it.

“Iz’tre,” she commented. “I ... Iz’tre.”

“Izzy...,” he happily nodded his head. “I like that name, man. Umm ... so ... you’re like helping me. Are you T’rintar?”

“My Engrish,” she paused. “My English ... bad. Speak ... slow. Sorry ... bad English.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem, Izzy,” Dean remarked. “Like ... I’ve met some Itreans already. Your English is not bad, you know?”

She nodded her head as Dean was touching his head. “Whoa, man ... that was rough. I think ... like ... I almost died or something.”

She paused as she tried to understand his wording. “Yes ... no die ... hot outside ... sleep.” she pointed her thumb at herself. “Save you.”

“Ah ... thanks, Izzy. I owe you my life. Hmm ... like ... how did you save my life or something? Like ... you have water?”

Iz’tre looked at the interior of the cave. She took her brown shawl and wrapped it over her exposed breast. She made a brief nod but didn’t know how to answer it.

“Whatever the case is, man ... thanks.” Dean was looking at the interior. “So like ... you’re Aksren?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“You’re T’rintar clan?”

She understood the question and shook her head. “Don’t know ... leave clan. Leave Aksren.”

“So ... you’re alone?”

“Alone? Yes ... You alone?” she asked him.

“Um ... I don’t know. Like ... I was part of this big attack.” He paused if he was going to say the whole thing to her. But then again, she saved his life, so he was convinced it was safe. “I’m with the marines ... you know? Like ... retaking Cipra from the Aksren clan and stuff.”

“U ... H ... N ... come ... Cipra?”

“Yeah, man. It’s awesome.”

“UHN,” there was a couple of clicks in her voice. “UHN here...?” she tried to compose the words as she closed her eyes. “UHN here.”

“Huh?”

“Humans ... here...,” she reached into a small pocket of her brown shawl. She pulled out what looked like a typical human tablet. Even Dean recognized that Itreans typically used tilons. It was their version of the mobile computer tablets. With this, however, she was holding onto something that was clearly human-made. Moreover, there were signs that it had been cracked, almost as if it had been shot. She tapped a few buttons to turn on the device as she scanned for the words. She then found the word she needed to say.

“Humans ... here, Dean,” Iz’tre stated. “On Cipra.”

“Yeah, man. I’m already here. Humans are like ... going to take New Hong Kong.”

“No...,” she waved her hand at him. “Not ... don’t know words.”

Dean coughed a little bit more. His body was still pretty woozy. He slipped into his pocket as Iz’tre quickly lifted the barrel of her rifle towards Dean. She was still concerned that this man was a possible threat.

“Whoa, man,” Dean calmly replied. “Like ... relax, Izzy. I won’t hurt you, man. You saved like ... my life and all. I’m just reaching for something ... it’s medicine.”

“Med ... cine,” she made a couple of clicks in her voice. She lowered her rifle as she could see that Dean pulled out a couple of small hypo syringes. He then pulled out his computer tablet that was like what she was holding.

“Heh ... stims,” Dean remarked. “I think these are like ... supposed to help me when I get ... really sick and all. I like ... should have taken one of these when I was out there. I think it would have ... really helped out in my situation.” He shook his head. “I think that I’m ... pretty good. Besides ... these just aren’t as good as my weed.”

“Weed?”

“Yeah, the good stuff, man.” He tapped the pipe that was in his pocket. “Helps me work.”

Iz’tre only understood half of his words and instead relied on his hand gestures as a way to convey his words. She could see more and more that the man was harmless and meant her no harm.

He took the cap off of one of the syringes as he went and injected it into his neck. The medication helped boost his body and revitalize him, but he only seemed to sniff a little bit.

“Hmm ... not a good hit,” he commented to himself. He closed the vial up before putting both of them away in his pocket. “So like ... Izzy. How did you get here?”

“How?” she asked.

“Yeah, man. You’re alone. You’re in a desert on Cipra. Like ... where are the other Aksren?”

“I leave them. Won’t fight. Humans ... humans no bad. No kill. Scared ... yes. No kill.”

“Oh!” Dean remarked. “So like ... you’re a deserter ... whoa, man.”

She seemed to understand what she said. “I leave. Aksren clan give gun. Say ... shoot humans. I kill...” she seemed to show a sad face. “Iz’tre ... hate kill. We fight you ... you ... good. All human ... good. I take from human ... human I kill. Learn human. Teach ... English.”

“Hey, man.” Dean happily commented. “I hate killing too. UHN like ... wants me to kill Itreans ... I like flying ... I ... love flying. I would prefer to always fly.”

“Fly?” She pointed her scaly finger at him. “You fly...?”

“Yeah, Izzy,” he replied. “I fly planes.” He gave a little stoic gesture as if he was flying behind a cockpit. “Feels so free and all ... like ... I just love it. I was a part of the whole attack and all. I think ... I got shot down. I was heading northeast,” he pointed. “Then ... before I knew it ... the desert ... the heat ... the hot temperatures. It was just too much and all.”

She continued to understand and try to register his rather odd way of talking. “Humans ... like you?”

“Like me? Nah ... I’m Cebravin ... heh, heh ... well ... I’m Cebravin, but I’m Dean. Not many are like me. I like to be happy and be stoned and be in the wilderness and to love and to ... well...”

“Stoned?”

“Ah...” he had no answer for that question. “Yeah, man. I smoke this pipe. It makes me see funny things. It makes me happy. I don’t worry about bad things. Like ... I agree with you, Izzy. Make love, not war.”

“Love ... no war,” she smiled as she understood those words.

“Yeah, man. Make peace, not war.” He gave a peace sign to her with his hands. She looked at her hand as she looked closely at it. He was giving an affirmative nod to her. She finally held her fingers closely and gave the signature v-shaped sign back. She had an inquisitive look as he seemed very happy. His personality seemed infectious, and she smiled again.

“See? Like ... you’re my friend, Izzy,” Dean commented. “Friends like ... save other people’s lives and all. You did that for me. Now ... like ... I think that we need to move.”

He tried to stand up, but his body was too weakened down from the severe heatstroke. However, the medication he took was helping. He tried to get up, but there wasn’t much energy to initiate it.

“Sleep, Dean. Rest,” Iz’tre said.

“Whoa ... like ... I think you’re right. Hey ... if you have any more water. I would really appreciate it.”

“Water?” She commented as she looked at her chest. “You ... like?”

“Well ... I don’t remember much. I remember you bringing me close to your chest ... your ... boobs. I just remember getting stronger and all.”

She seemed to have taken it as a genuine compliment. She pressed her hand to her breast as she looked back at him. “I feed...” she pointed at her covered breast. “Food ... water ... here.”

Dean was trying to understand what she meant, but he could make out more of the area as he looked around the room. The interior of the cave was made for a single dweller. In calmer weather, the cave did provide adequate shelter. It would be safely assumed that if it weren’t for the massive sandstorm going on outside, the place would be an excellent place to live. There was a makeshift spear that she made. It was crafted out of metal and had a sharp tip to it. A piece of woven rope was tied to it. There were also signs of tiny bones in a corner. She had been hunting the local wildlife for nourishment. At the same time, there was a little bit of a green fungus and mold that had grown on the sidewall. While this might not have provided adequate water, there were signs that she scooped up a little bit of this mold to eat. Dean didn’t know how much water the Itreans needed to live. Supposedly, the Itreans were incredibly resilient towards harsh environments. If she had enough, it could give her enough to survive in this area. It would prove to be a good hiding spot and far away from New Hong Kong.