Earth - Tentacle Breeding Ground Ch. 11

Sarah was about to suggest they use one of their last two impulse detonators, regardless of A'luhr's concerns, when Adam suddenly ran forward past a surprised Priya.

"If we need something that can fit in an ear, we have these!" He cried, reaching into his suit pouch and pulling out one of the sparkler sticks they had taken from the Fiestaville. Without stopping, he snatched up Cutter's lighter, which had been flung to the floor nearby, and practically skidded next to the thrall, who looked up at him with a lewd smile, causing her intoxicating drool to swing away from Cutter's sweating face.

"Ohh... another cute guy!" She giggled, licking her moist lips. "It's my lucky day!"

"Not quite," Adam replied, lighting the sparkler and moving it up to her ear before she had time to react to the sudden blinding flare of sparks. There was a 50/50 chance that he had chosen the correct ear, but it seemed to be Adam's lucky day instead, as sure enough, the woman suddenly let out a scream and recoiled her hand from Cutter's crotch. She writhed on the ground and contorted in pain as a small, shriveled worm slipped out of her ear with a tiny shriek before falling away in a wisp of ash.

"No! Nooooo!" The woman cried out, clawing at her head and flailing on the floor as Adam hurriedly helped Cutter to his feet. "Let me back in! I can't feel them! What have you done to me!? Let me back in!" She repeated her crazed ramblings in a growing pool of drool and tears while Adam and Cutter quickly reunited with the group.

"See?" Cutter panted. "Told you I'd be back" He looked at Adam and exchanged another "man nod" while taking his lighter back from him. "I guess I owe you, huh?"

"You reckless-!" Priya began, her face softening. A'luhr cut her off before she could continue.

"We can exchange our emotions after we vacate the area," A'luhr said, propping the door open with her hip for them all to leave. "Listen, our distraction has died. It is time to go. Now!" Sure enough, Sarah could no longer hear the chaotic pops and hisses of the firecrackers. Given the noise that the female thrall was making nearby, it was safe to assume that the rest of the thralls were heading their way at this very moment.

Understanding the situation, everyone dashed out the door, diving behind a parked truck just as the swarm of thralls made it to their fallen comrade. Sarah couldn't hear what they were saying through the closed door, but they seemed to be worrying over the woman as she grabbed onto the legs of one of the other thralls with a pleading demeanor.

One of them presented another little worm creature to the shuddering woman, who quickly snatched it up and pressed it into her ear. After a moment, she sank to the floor and began to furiously masturbate, her face awash with the relaxed expression of a drug addict who finally got her hit after days of withdrawals.

She seemed too preoccupied to explain anything to her fellows, who had taken to looking around the rest of the store and glancing out the window of the doors. It didn't take long for some of their hands to start to wander back to their engorged genitals and begin masturbating as well as their corrupted minds turned back to pleasure and the squirming captives that were still helplessly exposed in the darkness deeper within. One by one, the thralls shuffled back into the depths of the Macy's where they were no doubt resuming their endless orgy.

Sarah let out a sigh of relief, joined by the rest of the group. She didn't realize just how much her legs had been shaking all this time, and all at once her hunger and fatigue crashed into her as her adrenaline started to wear off. It felt like she would never be able to stand up again, but A'luhr gave them no time to rest.

"We must continue. It is too exposed here should another one of the larger Krinis forms come this way."

"She's right," Cutter replied in a calm voice, already having brushed his close call behind him. "We aren't totally out of danger yet. Aside from the Harvesters, we still need to clean this slime off us. The longer we are exposed to it, the more it will affect us. We don't want to be caught with our pants down - willingly."

"You're joking at a time like this!?" Priya spat in disbelief. "You almost got taken!"

"I thought you were going to just leave me, though?" He smirked at her.

"I had everything under control."

"Clearly." He eyed her gun, which she still held in her hand. They stared at each other for a moment before Sarah tried to break the ice in her trademark, clever way.

"Get a room you two." It sounded stupid even as she said it. Anxious humor was never really her strong suit. Cutter laughed and Priya scoffed.

"I'm not her type. Trust me," Cutter grunted as he stood up next to A'luhr. Adam did the same and moved to hand him back the bag of food. "Eh, keep holding onto it for me. I need to stay limber." Adam blinked in surprise but then cracked a thin smile. He shrugged and tossed the bag back over his shoulder.

"Listen," Priya said, holstering her gun. "I don't fully trust you all yet, but that doesn't change the facts that you did help us despite a bit of a rough start."

"That's an understatement," Stephen grumbled.

"But I do trust Cutter, and he seems to trust you, more or less, so... yeah." She crossed her arms and looked away, grinding her teeth.

"Anyway, shall we all go take a nice bath?" Cutter suggested, patting Priya on the shoulder.

"That would be a wise course of action," A'luhr replied, nodding her head and turning to begin planning a path across the parking lot. "While having the nectar on us would offer a certain level of camouflage from any Krinis we may come across, it is true that it would be more prudent to deal with the more guaranteed threat of the mind-altering effects. We shall need a source of water to cleanse it."

"How about that gym over there?" Zoey offered, pointing towards a large building on one side of the parking lot. "I used to go there sometimes. They have pretty large showers. I doubt they'd be warm, but probably better than the river."

"I like the idea," Cutter sighed, "but clearly you haven't been trying to take any showers lately. The Harvesters have dug huge tunnel networks under the city, which has damaged some of the plumbing infrastructure. Even if the pipes do work, there's a chance their aphrodisiac fluids will have already polluted the water within, making it dangerous. It's best to just find a river or pond, and there happens to be a river nearby."

Sarah and the others exchanged knowing looks. If they got back to the river, they could easily follow it back upstream to ship. The problem now was how to split away from Priya and Cutter without raising suspicions. Sarah wasn't even sure that continuing to chase after The Queen was the right call anymore. What were the odds, realistically, that their little group could take on the Krinis Queen alone and win? Wouldn't it be nice to just settle down with another group of humans -- the first they would have talked to in a while you weren't trying to mindlessly fuck them?

These thoughts and more tumbled through Sarah's tired mind as they all began to carefully weave between cars towards the edge of the parking lot. It seemed like every other step was punctuated with her stomach rumbling. With not a single Krinis Taker in sight, Cutter spoke up quietly.

"How about when we reach the water, we have that little ice breaker picnic I mentioned?"

Sarah's legs suddenly felt lighter than ever as she began to practically skip towards the river, her thoughts now occupied with the luxuries of a cold river soak and canned food.

"Things are looking up!" Sarah whispered giddily. Steven cringed with a groan as he felt the jinx settling over them.