Earth: Tentacle Breeding Ground – Chapter 10

Sarah and the others watched from the shadows as the unexpected group of strangers moved down the mall walkway in precise, practiced movements. They kept to a tight triangular formation while checking their surroundings, guns at the ready. Some of them wielded assault-rifles, while others simply held handguns, but all of them seemed comfortable with their firearms. Sarah wondered why they even bothered carrying such weapons given how ineffective they were against the Krinis, but perhaps it simply bolstered their courage.

Despite them all wearing bulletproof vests, face bandanas, thick layers of sleek, water-proof clothing, and other concealing, defensive garments, their body shapes and movements suggested that the group was composed of four men and four women. Each of them also carried large canvas duffle bags over their shoulders, all of which were so bulging with items that their zippers were threatening to burst.

As the squad filed past the windows of the shoe store, the man at the front of the formation meticulously checked the corners ahead of them all. Instead of speaking, he gestured to the rest of the group with various, swift hand signals. The rest of the strangers followed him silently, matching his steps as if he had several shadows.

The formation leader finished surveying the area, and, apparently satisfied that the zone was clear, gave a sweeping hand motion to direct the group towards an outdoor seating area that was well-hidden within a circle of trees and decorative structures. Their hushed voices could just barely be heard through the broken window near Sarah’s head.

“Shit, what the hell happened?” One of the men whispered angrily in a strained voice. “We snuck by the ‘Behemoth’ no problem, so why did it suddenly send out an alarm call?”

“Could there be other survivors around?” A woman replied. It was hard to tell if her tone was worried or hopeful.

“More likely to be other raiding parties,” another man responded gruffly. “I hope it got ’em; less competition for us.” He snorted and spat on the ground.

“It may be related to that loud crash in the woods we heard earlier,” the man who was leading the group scowled. “Though no need to waste time on conjecture. What’s certain is that our position has been compromised. We need to return to base immediately. We managed to gather enough supplies to get us through the next week, at least.” He gently placed his duffle bag down and zipped open the top of it, taking stock of the contents, which proved to be a hefty pile of canned food.

“We could just blast all these fuckers away if it weren’t for them morphing to protect their cores,” the woman next to the leader growled. Unlike the other members of her group, she wasn’t wearing a hat or helmet. Instead, she just opted to have her raven-black hair out in the open, done up in a messy ponytail that still allowed several dark strands to fall around her furrowed brows. She spoke with a very subtle Indian accent.

“Cores’?” The first woman stared at her, aghast. “Those are people! Living humans! We should be thankful that they are at least being kept safe while… imprisoned.” She shifted her feet uncomfortably. The dark-haired woman rolled her eyes and turned towards the group leader.

“Remind me again why we brought the naive new girl along, Cutter?” She asked, impatience building in her voice with every word.

“We already went over this, Priya,” the leader – apparently named Cutter – sighed. “She knows this area better than the rest of us. This is her chance to prove herself useful.” He then pulled Priya closer and the two of them began to quietly argue amongst themselves in low voices.

“What are they talking about?” Zoey whispered, eyeing the strangers warily. “‘Cores’? Surely, they aren’t suggesting killing the humans captured by the Krinis in order to, what, immobilize them?”

“Most likely…” Adam sighed, shaking his head. “I think it’s safe to assume that those guns aren’t meant for the Krinis themselves.”

“Horrible…” Sarah gulped. She couldn’t imagine herself being driven to such a disturbing act.

A’luhr looked away from the others, remaining silent. Not too long ago, she, too, had once contemplated this same strategy. It was effective, efficient, and freed the captives of their fates while protecting others. It had been the go-to method during the early days of the Krinis war back on her own planet.

However, something had changed within her after spending so much time with the humans who cared for one another even if not bound by blood. If it came down to it, she would still need to do what had to be done, but she was now determined to find other ways of dealing with the invaders. Besides, now that the Krinis were evolving to no longer need constant energy from human “batteries”, this strategy would no longer prove effective anyway. She steeled her heart and looked back towards her human companions, nodding in agreement with Sarah.

“The guns are probably for fending off other raiding parties, too,” Steven suggested.

“Huh? Why would people be fighting each other?” Zoey scoffed.

“Obviously you don’t watch a lot of zombie movies,” Steven sighed in a patronizing way. “This is pretty standard stuff.” Zoey clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“Obviously I know what you’re talking about; I just had assumed… hoped… that was all just fictitious nonsense to enhance the drama. People can’t really become that uncivilized so quickly, right?”

“In a world of limited resources, lust isn’t the only human instinct that may overpower otherwise rational thinkers,” Sarah replied wistfully. “People are just as easily dominated by greed, anger, fear, or other powerful emotions. Honestly, we’re lucky we haven’t had to experience starvation or any real medical emergencies yet. I’d like to hope that we would keep our humanity even if driven into a corner, but you never know what you’re really capable of until pushed…”

The rest of the group fell silent for a few minutes, contemplating Sarah’s words and mulling over their own thoughts.

“Regardless of what they’re using the guns for,” Adam whispered, breaking the silence, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to just stroll over there and introduce ourselves. Not when we don’t know how they’ll react. People do stupid stuff in times of stress.”

“Agreed,” A’luhr chimed in. “It is best to reduce the variables of our mission. While they may prove to be valuable allies, there are just as many potential scenarios where they may prove to be enemies. Let us continue to observe for now, and if fate would have us cross paths, then so be it. We shall just have to prepare ourselves for such a situation.”

Everyone else murmured in agreement, turning back to look out at the huddled strangers who were checking their weapons while Priya and Cutter seemed to be coming to a close on their argument.

“Look,” Priya continued with a huff. “All I’m saying is that I’d rather Jenna’s little ‘trial by fire’ wasn’t a scenario where her mistakes could get us all fucked!”

“As I said, we don’t have a choice,” Cutter responded with a steely voice. “The areas closest to us have already been picked clean. We can’t just walk around blindly with all the advanced ‘Harvesters’ wandering around these days. It’s best if we-” he suddenly shut his mouth and spun on his heels to look behind him, holding a hand up to shush Priya whose mouth was already open for a retort. “Speak of the devils…” He growled, hunkering low while raising his handgun, finger at the ready with impressive trigger discipline. He quietly gestured for the rest of his group to do the same as he peered out from the foliage surrounding them.

Sarah followed his line of sight and grimaced in disgust as she saw a large slug-like creature nearly the size of a minivan slithered out from an alleyway in the direction the strangers had been headed. Like many other juvenile Krinis forms, it appeared to be made up of a weave of interlocking tentacles that were covered in thick, syrupy orange slime, which oozed behind the monster in a sickening trail of mucus.

The semi-transparent viscous fluid also acted as slippery, ample lubricant for the half dozen or so human cocks that sprouted from the creature’s back like spines, clearly from men trapped within. The glistening erections were all completely coated in the slime, which squelched wetly as small tendrils growing up around them rapidly stroked and swirled around each engorged shaft and spongy glans. The cocks would periodically twitch before spurting out plentiful loads of creamy cum, which the thick slime captured at the tips of each phallus in bulbous, water balloon-like pockets, before being absorbed into the rest of the fluid coating the beast.

Tentacles with brush-like tips began to aggressively scour the over-sensitive cock heads of those who had just ejaculated, forcing even more of the whitish spunk out of the men who were no doubt moaning and howling inside the creature’s slimy, writhing body. The front of the otherwise amorphous mass had four tendrils sprouting out of its “head” like two large pairs of snail eyes, though instead of eyeballs at the tips, each one sported puckered sphincters in their place.

As the slug creature messily glided closer towards where Cutter and his group were hiding, the four sphincter tentacles periodically reared back and clamped tightly around some of the twitching cocks, apparently suckling cum from each swollen shaft while simultaneously re-coating them with a fresh layer of orange goo, which splattered around the monster as the tentacles noisy slurped back up into the air.

Cutter, seeing the nectar-laden slime splashing nearby, motioned for his group members to cover up their skin with their waterproof garments. Before they slid goggles over their eyes, it was clear to see fear and confusion in some of them, likely due to being unfamiliar with this particular Krinis form. Despite the clear unease in their demeanors, they all seemed prepared to defend themselves from the Krinis’s dangerous projectile fluids. However, their levels of experience were blatantly uneven.

As the group braced themselves for the Krinis to pass by their hiding spot, one of the men moved to shift his duffel bag in order to ready his gun, not realizing how close he was to one of the trash cans. The bag grazed the receptacle, bouncing some of the cans within. It wasn’t even loud enough to be heard from where Sarah watched, who herself was covering her mouth and nose to muffle her breathing, but even still, the Krinis slug stopped in its slushy, gurgling tracks.

Sarah felt her companions tense up next to her, slowly reaching for their weapons just in case those four eye-like tendrils suddenly swerved in their direction. The other group was understandably even more on edge. Priya was already aiming her pistol at the creature, the barrel tracking its every tiny movement. Cutter held up a fist, apparently indicating for his squad to hold their positions, while his eyes scanned the area for new exits.

Suddenly, the four tendrils began to wildly wave in the air, spraying even more of the aphrodisiacal slime around the area. Some of the droplets arched high through the air and splattered onto Cutter’s shoulder, who remained motionless as the goo slid ineffectively off of his sleek waterproof jacket.

He breathed a visible sigh of relief, motioning for the rest of his group to maintain their positions as they warily waited to react to whatever the disgusting creature did next. As they watched, the slug ceased its flailing motions, apparently satisfied that there was no prey in the area. However, instead of beginning to move away from the hiding humans, it started to exhibit some different behavior.

The puckered sphincters on the monster’s tendrils suddenly gaped open. At first, nothing seemed to happen, though Sarah continued to observe it intently with both trepidation and wonderment. The group of strangers were all waiting on Cutter to give any sort of signal, but he seemed confused by what he saw, still motioning for everyone to stay put as he tried to analyze the situation.

After a few moments, a thick pink haze began to exude from the slug’s open orifices, swirling down the sides of the creature like dry ice before expanding and rising up to fill the walkway area, slightly obscuring Sarah’s vision through the gas. Even with the rosy filter painting the world outside, she managed to spot Cutter and the rest of the group doing their best to flee from the gas as stealthily as possible, trying to make a dash for one of the adjacent alleyways before the pink mist could catch up to them.

Cutter, Priya, and another man, hastily led the group towards the alley, but abruptly halted as they seemed to notice something at the other end. In a controlled panic, they doubled back as Cutter issued hand signals, leading them into the nearby Fiestaville just as the pink haze was about to engulf them.

It initially looked like they had made a clean getaway from whatever potential danger the slug posed, but suddenly, the five people in the back of the group began to act strange. They stood just inside the glass doorway where some of the mist had managed to waft in, and started to tremble madly while grasping frantically at their crotches as if attempting to rip the clothes from their loins.

Sarah couldn’t hear what was being said within, but it was clear that the other three other people were trying to pull the five of them deeper into the store, but their efforts were in vain. The five strangers, who Sarah surmised must have inhaled some of the gas, pushed away from their comrades and burst back out into the walkway, now fully sucking in the whirling gas as if taking their first gasps of air after a long dive.

All at once, the five of them began to rapidly strip off their protective layers of clothing while awkwardly stumbling towards the slug creature that continued to emit the mist. Their bags of food hit the ground, quickly followed by pants, jackets, face masks, goggles, and helmets until they were wearing nothing but their underwear. Not that those garments remained on for much longer either. Boxers, briefs, bras, and panties were all practically torn apart as the now nude strangers lurched towards the slimy monster with unsteady, zombie-like motions, as if their minds were being controlled by the noxious gas they continued to inhale.

Each of them were very fit, all sporting tight, toned stomachs, muscular legs, and firm asses, clearly the results of their active, survivalist lifestyle, The three women had chest of varying sizes, ranging from pert little peaks on one, tender, jiggling mounds on another, and heavy, swaying tits on the last, which bounced as the women lunged forward onto the back of the slug, burying their limbs in the writhing tentacle flesh as they clamored to get at the fountaining cocks on its back.

It didn’t take long before each woman was covered in slime, which mixed with the juices gushing freely from their needy pussies. When they finally managed to position themselves up near the captive men’s manhoods, they slammed their hips down onto their chosen rods without hesitation, desperately shaking their hips up and down while sucking and stroking any nearby cocks they could get their shaking lips and hands on. The orange goo surrounding the shafts messily sloshed up and down around each woman’s slender fingers and moist mouths, further coating their skin with glistening, sloppy slime.

The two men from the group also leapt onto the slug, both sporting impressive erections that were so stiff that their bulging veins seemed ready to burst. Instead of hungrily attacking the other men’s penises, however, they simply seemed to giggle to themselves, giddy expressions on their faces, as they allowed the tentacles making up the creature to slowly absorb them into its flesh until all that could be seen of them were their two twitching members.

Seeing that their companions had joined the rest of the captive men, Jenna took it upon herself to masturbate each of them, one cock in each hand, as she continued to messily ride the thick phallus between her legs, which unceasingly pumped her full of a slurry of cum and slime. Moments later, her fingers were joined by small tendrils that rose up to polish any parts of the men’s turgid flesh that was not yet being stimulated. The women laughed madly while tears poured down their cheeks, looks of horror and disbelief in their reddened eyes even as they continued to madly suck and fuck and cocks they could get near.

“Jenna! No! I can’t lose you too!” hollered the man inside the Fiestaville with Cutter and Priya, leaping out from within and running towards the thrusting women while seemingly holding his breath. Jenna looked over at him with an ecstatic smile painted on her slime-covered face as she pulled away from the glistening cock that had been filling throat, a strand of ooze still connecting her lips to the rigid shaft. She stared at him with pleading eyes as he got closer, her tongue hanging from her panting mouth, but suddenly her hopeful expression became one of despair as she noticed what was behind him.

The man didn’t even have time to react as a mature, bipedal Krinis dashed out from one of the darkened store entrances, its thick, long tentacle fingers swiftly reaching out to ensnare the struggling man while a second evolved Krinis lumbered into view alongside it.

The man turned to face his assailant, using his free arm to aim and unload his entire handgun magazine straight into the creature’s chest, the bullets sinking deep into the mottled, reddish flesh as the loud bangs echoed through the mall and shook the glass windows.

For a moment, a look of triumph flashed across the man’s face, as the projectiles had proven to penetrate more than he had apparently expected. Perhaps these newer Krinis forms were somehow less durable than the younger ones? Unfortunately for him, a few seconds later, the Krinis’s flesh began to writhe and ripple as the small metal bullets were expelled from its body one-by-one, clattering to the pavement below the unharmed monster.

The man snarled in anger and fear, attempting to beat the creature’s fingers back with the butt of the handgun, but his assault did nothing to hinder the Krinis as it lifted his entire body into the air and began to haphazardly rip off his many layers of clothing with vicious, tearing sounds. Soon, the flailing, lean man was completely nude, his once protective garments now lying as tattered on the ground next to his equally useless bullets.

The pink fog still filled the area, though it had begun to disperse as the slug seemed to have ceased releasing it. The man, unable to hold his breath any longer, began to inhale the mist with deep, unsteady breaths. Soon, his eyes glazed over as they turned towards the slug monster, a giddy smile now stretching his lips. His penis was now standing at full attention, the swollen shaft now pulsating and oozing precum as he started to squirm and reach towards the slug.

The creature holding him paid no mind as it carried him over towards the slug alongside the other Krinis, both of which seemed to watch the display of the three women frantically fucking as many of the slimy cocks they could reach. Jenna noticed them approach, her eyes immediately locking onto the thick cock of her comrade. She eagerly reached out for it, but one of the Krinis’s arms suddenly reached out and grabbed the other woman around the waist, blocking her hand.

The Krinis plucked the woman off of the slug with a loud, juicy “shlop” sound as her gushing cunt slid away from the huge, throbbing shaft that popped out of her tight hole. A slurry of semen and slime oozed freely from her gaping womanhood, splattering to the ground as she was held up next to the man, who still seemed fixated on reaching the slug’s gelatinous body.

The second Krinis grabbed the other two women, one in each large hand. The women hung limply, their plump chests heaving as their glistening naked bodies shuddered and dripped with lewd fluids. Both creatures began to strap their held humans into their monstrous bodies. The one with the man pressed him into its chest, arms above his head and legs up to his shoulders, all of which were quickly bound by tentacles that snaked out of the creature’s back. The man drooled and gasped as one of the monster’s two cocks thrust up into his muscular backside as if it had a mind of its own. The man arched his spine and pushed his head back to nestle in between the Krinis’s gigantic, sagging tits. Before he could slump back over again, the woman in the monster’s other hand was pressed up to him, her own tender breasts pressing into his firm, hairy chest. Her face pressed up to his, and after a moment of shared, passionate breathing, they locked their lips in a deep, messy kiss.

Tentacles held the woman tightly bound to the Krinis and the man between them both, with her round ass on full display as it was lowered by the tentacles until her gushing cunt was pushed down and around the man’s rigid shaft. The monster’s second, warty phallus stretched out like a snake and easily slid into her stretched ass, pushing her hips up slightly to keep her at the perfect angle for the man’s penis to continue to penetrate her as the Krinis began to lumber away. Every step it took jostled the man riding its first cock, bouncing him up and down on the girthy rod, while also causing his own manhood to pump up and down into the quivering woman bound to him.

The second Krinis had decided to use its slender tentacles to attach its two female captives to its chest in a 69 position, with Jenna tied to its chest and riding its first phallus, while the second upside down woman was forced to deepthroat the other dripping shaft. Her hair draped down and tickled against a semi-transparent, basketball-sized sac of nectar that dangled between the monster’s thick legs, swinging and jiggling like a man’s balls. This reserve of nectar was clearly already being pumped up through the twin cocks and into the women’s helpless holes.

Up above, the creature’s tentacle snouts were busy filling Jenna’s mouth and the other woman’s swollen pussy, which twitched and squirted into her companion’s blushing face. The Krinis turned away from the slug and followed after its partner, bouncing the bound woman up and down, who gagged and moaned into their respective appendages.

Sarah and the rest remained dead silent, half expecting the other two survivors to burst out of the party store and engage with the monsters, but they, too, remained hidden, clearly determining it to be a lost cause. They all watched, horrified, as the two bipedal Krinis vanished down a side path while the slug finally slithered away out of sight, the array of human penises sprouting from its back still freely ejaculating endless loads of cum to satisfy the monster’s disgusting needs.

Sarah counted to two minutes in her head before she finally let a breath out and turned to look at the rest of the group, who were similarly shaken – save for A’luhr who was simply holstering her daggers.

“What the heck was all that!?” Steven quietly groaned, sliding to the floor. “What, they’ve got gas attacks now, too?”

“They seem to not only be developing biologically, but also socially…” Sarah muttered. “They’re clearly showing more signs of teamwork and intelligence now. Fascinating.”

“Our definitions of ‘fascinating’ are very different,” Adam replied, raising a brow at Sarah. “But that’s what I find so fascinating about you.” Sarah shrugged with a frown. She looked over at Zoey who had a worried look on her face.

“Um, those two people who managed to escape went into the Fiestaville…” Zoey whispered, doing her best to peer into the party store across the walkway despite its windows being heavily obscured by an assortment of festive sticker decals. “Should we still go in there? They have guns, and that Priya woman seemed a little… on edge.”

“Normally I would hesitate to enter an unknown, enclosed area with minimal optics where potential threats are armed and have the element of surprise on their side,” A’luhr muttered, stroking one of her r’emuli. Sarah wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic or not, but given what she knew of the alien woman’s personality, she had to assume she was being serious. “However, we do need that helium – which you claim is just sitting out in the open in some marketplace of frivolities – so we may not have much choice.” A’luhr sighed, clearly showing signs that she still wasn’t entirely convinced of the precious helium’s presence.

“Can’t you just beat ’em up if they attack us?” Steven asked, looking at A’luhr with a sparkle in his eyes. She let out a heavy chuckle and shook her head.

“Once again, I am flattered by your high evaluation of my skills, and usually I would agree with you, however our current armaments are those designed to incapacitate Krinis, and would likely do little harm to a human, other than my blades, of course. However, I noticed that both the unknown humans are wielding firearms. Rudimentary as they might be, I am not perfectly confident in my ability to overcome them should they meet us at range.”

“I doubt they’d want to fire off their guns and alert all the Krinis in the area again, right?” Zoey offered.

“It’s a gamble to be sure,” Adam mused, stroking his beard. “But I say we go for it. We’ve come too far to return empty-handed, and we might not have another chance at coming back here given how many Krinis seem to be roaming around, so we need to jump on this while we can.”

“We could also probably grab some of the dropped bags of food on the ground over there and use them as a peace offering should we bump into those two,” Sarah suggested. “Best case scenario, we don’t run into them and get to keep all the food for ourselves.” The rest of the group all looked hungrily at one of the bulging canvas bags nearby, which, other than a few small splotches of fluid staining the fabric, appeared to be in good shape.

“Let’s hope they left a can opener in one of them,” Steven said while massaging his empty stomach.

“If we are going to move, we should do it now while the enemy has recently surveyed this location and assumes it to be clear,” A’luhr replied, standing up and scanning the area outside to make sure that none of the creatures had decided to double back.

“Steven, you and I can both grab a bag of food so that the ladies can move faster and keep their hands free in case of trouble,” Adam instructed, looking over at Steven who nodded in agreement. They all quietly gathered around the shoe store’s side entrance, where Adam gingerly pushed the door open. He tensed up, fearing that some sound might give them away, but fortunately their exit was a silent one.

He and Steven moved ahead of the group while keeping low to the ground. They were passed by the women as the two of them knelt down to heft a couple of the dropped bags of food over their shoulders, being careful not to shift the contents too much and risk being heard. They all continued to beeline for the door to the Fiestaville, keeping their senses on full alert for any sign of danger.

Sarah briefly considered breaking away from the group to go grab some of the discarded weapons that had been thrown by the strangers, but they were all covered in thick slime and likely of no use anymore. There was a faint, sweet scent in the air, likely the lingering residuals from the pink aphrodisiac mist.

Sarah could feel her lower abdomen begin to heat up, wondering just how intense the gas must have been for it to be this potent – weak as it was now – even after so many minutes since it had wafted away. She hoped that her outfit’s waterproof qualities also worked on the inside, as she could tell that things were starting to get a little slick between her legs. Glancing over at the others, she could tell that they were all doing their best to awkwardly hide their own states of mild arousal.

The 20-second trek to the Fiestaville felt like 20 hours. Every minor scuffle of their footsteps sounded to their ears like earthquakes, their breaths like roaring winds, and their heartbeats like thunder. Sarah was sure that at any moment, one of the bipedal creatures would come storming out of a nearby doorway and drag them all back to the hive, this time for good. She kept her hand next to her vibro-wand at the ready, just in case she needed to fend-off any aggressive tentacles that were looking to disrobe her.

However, her vigilance was for naught, as they managed to reach the garishly decorated door of the Fiestaville without anyone being stripped naked. A’luhr looked down the alleyway to ensure that the coast was clear before taking a moment to analyze the dark interior of the store. Though the power was off and the windows were covered in stickers, enough sunlight still managed to shimmer into the abandoned building to allow them to at least get an understanding of the general layout.

The interior, though mostly painted with the unnerving, fluttering shadows of draping streamers, was still dimly lit thanks to the sun filtering in through the mall entrance opposite of the front door, which seemed to be just below a large skylight. Tall shelves were lined with various party favors and decorations of various themes, while stiff mannequins displayed an array of goofy costumes that looked eerily out of place against the apocalyptic backdrop around them. Items were strewn about the floor, creating an intricate maze of potentially noisy landmines that led towards the long checkout counter that bordered the left wall. The counter was still covered with incomplete purchases at dead scanners, creating a snapshot in time.

“Do you see anything?” Steven whispered, trying to look in the window past A’luhr and Sarah.

“I see many ‘things’,” A’luhr replied, eyeing the mannequins with suspicion. “However, none of them appear to be living.”

“I remember the balloon-filling station being behind the counter,” Zoey whispered as A’luhr cracked the door open. “That’s probably where the helium tanks are.”

“Alright,” Sarah sighed nervously. “Let’s head in; but everyone be careful not to trip on anything, and keep an eye out for movement.”

A’luhr slid silently into the building, holding a dagger at the ready, while the rest of the group followed. Adam was the last person to enter the store, and he carefully eased the door shut behind him so as to minimize the sound it made.

They shuffled past a few aisles of Halloween-themed goods, which must have been put out as early as possible just before the invasion had begun in September. Sarah laughed inwardly seeing the plastic replicas of what used to be considered frightening. Now that humanity had come to learn what true desperation and horror looked like, she wondered if such goofy masks and yard decorations could ever be looked at the same again.

Adam looked longingly at the far wall, where a plethora of impressive-looking prop swords were hanging. For a moment, he seemed as if he was going to break away from the group to go grab some loot, but quickly thought better of it and forced turned his attention away from the glimmering plastic and onto Sarah’s round ass, which was bobbing just ahead of him in all of its glory in her skin-tight suit. In another life, he would have loved to see her tight body standing next to him in a sexy couple’s costume – maybe a buxom policewoman and a well-equipped robber. He spotted some handcuffs on a nearby shelf that would be perfect…

He was so distracted by his lewd thoughts that he nearly bumped straight into Sarah’s butt – not that he would have complained – when they all came to a stop at the counter.

“This is the location, correct?” A’luhr whispered over her shoulder to Zoey. “What am I looking for?” Zoey peered around the side of the counter with the alien woman and squinted into the dim light. Her eyes nervously panned the area before suddenly lighting up.

“Those right there!” Zoey quietly replied. “I think those pink tanks right there are the ones!” She pointed to a couple of salmon-pink canisters that were each about two feet tall with thin nozzles positioned on top. As their eyes adjusted to the light, they could make out the title, “Balloon Zone” written on them in zany, bubbly letters.

“Are you sure?” A’luhr asked, sheathing her dagger and raising a long, skeptical brow. “It is hard to fathom something so valuable just being left out in the open unguarded like this. Much less with such… ‘spirited’ letters emblazoned on the side.

“That’s it all right,” Adam confirmed. “Now do you believe us when we say how relatively common it is here on Earth?”

“I am still finding it hard to digest,” A’luhr sighed, stepping over to the two tanks and hefting both of them up over her shoulders with a delicate reverence. “But given that these containers do indeed read ‘helium’ on them, I suppose I do not have a leg to stand on.” She smirked triumphantly, turning around and expecting to hear Stephen giving his approval of her latest idiom. However, the rest of the group were rigidly turned away from her with their attention on something behind them. A’luhr froze as well once she saw the silhouettes of two humans aiming their pistols at her.

“You won’t be standing on any of your legs in just a moment unless you put your hands up and do exactly as I say,” a man’s gruff voice hissed. “Drop what you’re holding and turn this way.” It was the voice of Cutter from the other group of humans, which naturally meant that the female-looking shape next to him was Priya. Up close, it was clear that she was indeed of Indian descent, with dark brown eyes that carried just as much ferocity as her leader’s commanding tone.

“Okay, I admit it: your instincts were right again, Cutter,” Priya grumbled, keeping her eyes and firearm focused dead ahead at Sarah and the others, who were slowly raising their hands. “We were being followed.”

“I’m surprised that they managed to make it this far,” Cutter scoffed. He had removed his face-coverings to reveal a hardened, middle-aged face with a gray-streaked beard adorning his broad jawline. He squinted at them with gray eyes that wrinkled around the edges. “Only amateurs would alert a Behemoth like that. So, what group are you from? Sullivan’s? Answer me quickly and keep those hands up where I can see them. That’s it… nice and easy…”

“H-hey man, just chill, okay?” Steven stammered, sweat starting to bead on his forehead.

“Everyone calm down,” Sarah added. “Look, we’re cooperating. Let’s just all take it easy.”

“I asked you what group you’re from!” Cutter spat angrily. “Not whether you wanted to sing ‘Kumbaya’ with us!”

“G-group…?” Adam carefully replied. “We aren’t a part of any ‘group’; it’s just us.”

“Bullshit,” Priya snorted, keeping her gun steadily trained on him now. “What, you expect us to believe that you weren’t following us and that this is just coincidence? Can’t help but notice you stole some of our supplies.” She gestured with her chin towards the bags of food that Adam and Steven were still carrying.

“You drop-!” Steven blurted out, but was quickly cut-off by Priya snapping her aim towards his head.

“Shut the fuck up; I wasn’t talk to you, was I?” She turned back to Adam, a look of scornful bemusement on her face, as if begging him to do his best to try and explain this.

“Look,” Adam responded, still keeping his hands above his shoulders. “We admit that we saw you drop these bags, but it didn’t look like you were coming back for them, and we really need the food. We even said that if we ran into you guys that we’d give them back as a sign of good faith, right guys?”

The rest of them all frantically nodded in agreement – other than A’luhr, who remained still. Sarah could almost feel her yellow eyes scanning the room from behind her, looking for any opportunities to make an escape.

“Oh, is that right?” Cutter chuckled ruefully. “Then you will be all-too happy to very slowly drop the bags and push them over to us with your feet, right?” He made a show of cocking his pistol as a warning.

“You’re bluffing,” Adam retorted. “You wouldn’t dare fire those loud guns in here with all the monsters outside.” Cutter shrugged.

“I’d be willing to gamble that we could get away from the Harvesters while your crippled bodies distract them as nice, helpless playthings. So, what’ll it be? You taking that bet?” Adam remained silent. “Smart choice. Now then…” He gestured for them to slide the bags over.

Adam sighed. He nodded at Steven, and together they eased the heavy satchels down to the floor before awkwardly pushing them towards the two raiders. Neither Cutter nor Priya made a move to pick them up.

“Check them, Priya.” Cutter growled. “And you all, don’t even think about moving, or that thought will be the second to last thing that passes through your brains.” Priya moved towards Adam and the rest, keeping her gun trained on them. Adam, nervous that she was about to do a full-body search, instinctively squeezed his legs closed.

“Don’t worry, big boy,” Priya laughed. “I’m not after your little worm down there. I’m looking for your little worm in here…” She turned on a flashlight attached to her handgun then aimed it down Adam’s ear before peering deep into it. He flinched, but she grabbed his head and held him still.

“What are you looking for?” Sarah blurted out, unable to contain her curiosity any longer as she watched Priya move from Adam to Steven to check his ears as well. Cutter whirled his gun towards her, but simply raised a brow at her.

“You serious?” He replied, disbelief dripping from his words. When Sarah simply stared blankly back at him, he sighed heavily. “Huh. You really must be amateurs. Or idiots.”

“My vote is both,” Priya added with a smirk while moving over to Zoey next.

“We’re checking you for earworms. Making sure you’re not being controlled by the Harvesters. Did you really not know that? Or perhaps playing dumb?” He narrowed his eyes with suspicion.

“We’ve been hiding out in a bunker cut-off from the outside world this whole time,” Adam said, thinking quickly. “We had to leave because it became compromised. We don’t really have any idea what’s going on out here other than there being all these creatures around, which I am assuming are what you are referring to when you say, ‘Harvesters’.”

“What else?” Cutter rolled his eyes. “Those tentacle fuckers take control of people with little worms in their ears. Not really sure how, but once they’re in there, they’re a bitch and a half to get out. Much easier to just put the host of their misery.” Zoey gulped as Priya’s intense stare pierced through her eardrums.

Sarah was pretty sure that none of them had such “earworms”, seeing as they appeared to be thinking normally, but it’s not like she had thought to look recently. Thinking back on how the thralls they had met before acted, it wouldn’t be impossible to imagine that they could easily pretend to be normal in order to lure unsuspecting prey into a trap…

Sarah eyed Priya nervously as the intimidating woman moved towards her. Sarah gave every intention that she would willingly comply with the search, but even still, Priya grabbed her by the hair and painfully jerked her head around to inspect her ears. Sarah held her breath, her heart beating in her chest, but Priya seemed satisfied after a minute.

“These ones are clean,” Priya reported, clicking her tongue. Sarah detected a note of disappointment in her voice, as if she had been hoping to have a good excuse to use the pistol she was now aiming at A’luhr. “You. With the cow udders. Take off the helmet nice and slowly.”

Sarah and the rest exchanged worried glances. There was no telling what would happen if A’luhr’s identity was revealed.

“Listen,” Sarah spoke up, her body tense. “She’s been with us the entire time. Obviously, she’s not with the, uh, Harvesters.”

“Then she has nothing to hide,” Cutter grumbled. “Not that those cute little uniforms allow you to hide much anyway. I admit that I’m impressed by your lack of shame.” Zoey could be seen blushing in the dim light, her raised hands aching to cover the tight fabric around her full, perky chest. Cutter had been surveying all of their bodies carefully as Priya conducted her search, but his eyes were filled with distrust, not lust.

“She has a really bad burn!” Steven blurted, his eyes clenched. “She doesn’t like people seeing it… she kinda has a meltdown if that happens – a trauma thing. You wouldn’t want to risk that and draw the Kr- Harvesters to us, right?”

“Hm,” Cutter sniffed. “That’s true.”

“Pathetic.” Priya huffed. “I wear my scars with pride; they remind me of what I’m fighting for.” She approached A’luhr and seemed about to remove the helmet herself before suddenly backing away. “Whatever. Crazy that even with all these alien bastards fucking everyone that some people still choose to be huge pussies.”

“What’s with the getups, anyway?” Cutter asked, finally squatting down to pull the bags of food towards their side of the store while still keeping his gun trained on the group.

“These are simply some tactical garments we found that are easy to move in,” A’luhr replied, playing along.

“Oh, the bitch can talk!” Priya replied with mock surprise. “I thought maybe all her brains had gone to her chest.” She snorted. “And where’d you find these? Comic-Con or something? Well, that’s not important.” She glanced down at the various alien weapons the group had dropped on the floor, along with the daggers strapped to A’luhr’s hips. “What do you make of these, Cutter?”

“Looks like some shitty toys that came with the suits,” Cutter replied, eyeing the rods and orbs with disinterest. It was clear that he was more of a gun guy.

“Those blades on ‘Big Tits’ over here look nice enough,” Priya whistled softly.

“Good eye. Grab those and let’s get out of this shit hole.”

“Her tits?”

“The knives,” Cutter groaned. Priya chuckled to herself for causing the man such distress. She turned back towards A’luhr and held her free hand out. “Give them here. Don’t make me test whether that precious helmet of yours is bullet-proof.” A’luhr remained motionless, save for her shoulders, which were shaking with barely-contained anger.

For a moment, Sarah was worried A’luhr would attack and complicate things more than they already were. But her worries were for naught, as the trained alien warrior quickly but carefully slid the daggers out of their sheaths and handed them over to Priya, who took them and returned to Cutter.

“So, let’s say we believe you for now that you just happened to run into us here.” Cutter continued, motioning for Priya to inspect the contents of the bags. She hunkered down and began to inspect the canned goods for anything suspicious. “What were you doing here then? This is a pretty dangerous place. I can’t imagine you’d risk it just to throw a birthday party.” He gestured towards the helium tanks that were on the floor next to A’luhr’s feet.

“Maybe they needed the helium to keep their balloons inflated,” Priya snorted again, eyeing the women’s unusually large breasts. Sarah was starting to get a little pissed-off. It’s not like Priya was a chalkboard herself. Though she wore a Kevlar vest, it was pretty clear that her own bosom was rather impressive in its own right.

“We’re using it for fuel,” Steven explained.

“…Oh, really?” Cutter replied slowly, raising a brow. Adam also blinked in surprise at this, but did his best to put on a sincere smile. Before Cutter could continue, Sarah spoke up.

“Listen, we know you’re down some men,” she said, doing her best to speak quickly without fumbling over her own dry tongue. “It will be difficult to carry all of this back to your base. We can help you bring them to your camp and then be on our way if you let us go.”

“What, and then you’ll go tell your other friends in hiding where we are?” Priya scoffed. “Not likely.”

“Well hold on now, Priya,” Cutter remarked, holding up a gloved hand. “The woman’s not wrong. We could always put them to work back at camp…” He seemed lost in thought for a moment. “Unfortunately, I don’t trust any of you, and we don’t have time at the moment for you to gain my trust. So how about we just go our separate ways here and you just keep hoping we don’t run into you again? Sounds good to everyone?”

Sarah sighed, and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

“We’re just letting them go!?” Priya snapped in a terse whisper.

“They’re as good as walking sex dolls for the Harvesters with their skills,” Cutter replied, picking up one of the bags and slinging it over his free shoulder. “Now, grab the other bag and let’s leave before we join them.” Priya opened her mouth to argue, but simply opted to grumble in annoyance while glaring at Sarah and the rest. She hoisted the other bag onto her back and began to move towards the main entrance alongside Cutter, both keeping their guns and eyes trained on the others.

Suddenly, a giddy, inhuman shout broke the tense silence.

“GYAHAHA! STEP RIGHT UP… IF YOU DARE!”

Everyone in the store jumped and wheeled around in surprise to see that one of the Halloween decorations on display, a clown animatron, had suddenly burst to life with glowing eyes, hideously distorted laugher, waving arms, and loud, creepy circus music. Priya had apparently stepped on the battery-powered mat on the floor that activated the clown. Startled, she accidentally fired-off a single, deafening gunshot.

The bullet pierced through the clown’s colorful costume, and a moment later the laughter and music crackled out in a mixture of static and garbled noises before the whole machine grinded to a quiet halt. For a few seconds, everyone stared at the plastic charlatan’s eerie painted smile in shocked silence. Cutter was the first to snap out of it.

“Find cover!” He barked, swiftly grabbing Priya by the arm and pulling her behind the counter where Sarah and the others were already diving to the floor. A moment later, the front door of the store suddenly crashed open as an evolved Krinis thrust through it with a tree-like arm before lumbering into the dark building.

As the sound of falling rubble died away, it was replaced with the soft, lustful moans of the woman strapped to the creature’s chest. It was Jenna. Her partner had been removed, likely taken away by another grotesque beast, leaving her alone to bounce up and down on both of the monster’s huge, rigid shafts each time it took a lurching step.

The snout-like tentacle on the Krinis’s face was stuffed down the woman’s bulging throat, which was clearly being filled with orange nectar. A series of thin tendrils had branched off of the creature’s sides near her chest, and had tightly coiled around the base of both her taut breasts to such a degree that the exposed peaks were starting to turn a dull shade of purple while more feelers flicked and teased her erect nipples.

Jenna’s tearful eyes were half-closed and partially rolled back into her head as her helpless, limp body was forced to endure orgasm after orgasm while the monster began to wander around the store’s interior.

Sarah and the rest watched from behind the counter as the Krinis approached the destroyed clown figure, feeling around the dark aisles with its long, tentacle fingers while scanning the area with the beady eye-like organs on its mottled head. Cutter and Priya held their pistols at the ready, but everyone else remained unarmed, too scared of making even the faintest of noises to reach for their weapons that remained on the floor only a few feet away.

Sarah was surprised to note how the humanoid creature investigated its surroundings with obvious intelligence, grabbing individual items from shelves and lifting them up to its sensory organs to inspect each one, even going so far as to deftly open some packaging now and then. As it moved back around towards the row of creepy clown animatronics, it, too, happened to activate one.

“GYAHAHA! STEP RIGHT UP… IF YOU DARE!”

The Krinis lunged a malformed hand at the gyrating decoration, yanking it into the air, tentacles seemingly poised to strip it nude as if a real human, before the creature appeared to understand what the clown was. To Sarah’s astonishment, the Krinis began to go around the section of the store while purposefully activating the various battery-powered surprises. It was hard to get a read on its simplistic expression, but the way it cocked its head to the side displayed a sense of curiosity and entertainment.

Sarah recalled observing that some of the outrageous sex acts performed by the Krinis didn’t seem too efficient in terms of breeding, and that perhaps this was simply a form of sick entertainment for them. This newly witnessed Krinis behavior certainly gave credence to the notion that not only were the alien invaders quite sentient, but they were also in need of entertainment – and perhaps sex wasn’t the only thing that interested them.

Though, even as Sarah had that thought, the creature stumbled into the back area of the store, which had signs reading “ADULT” above the shelves. Like many other novelty gift and party stories, Fiestaville, too, seemed to have a section dedicated to sexy, if goofy, sex-themed trinkets, cheap “slutty” costumes, and all manner of plastic party favors celebrating dicks and tits. Sarah was never bold enough to actually buy anything from these sections in the past, but she certainly was no stranger to curiously perusing their wares with a look of calculated bemusement on her face, as if to tell everyone else in the store “Ha! These items are so funny and charming; I’m not interested in any of this stuff, much less aroused.” Despite everyone, including herself, knowing this was a lie.

The Krinis seemed to have no such inhibitions. It openly gazed at the pictures of burly men and busty women barely clad in the skimpy outfits that they were advertising. The alien moved towards the costumes, but its body was too large to easily slip between the aisles, and it ended up knocking over a rack of cheap, sexy party favors.

Small, plastic vibrator wands clattered to the floor, and apparently had batteries included, as evidenced by some of them buzzing to life as their “try me” buttons were hit. The flimsy toys seemed to have barely sufficient vibrating power to mix a drink, much less pleasure a woman, but it was still enough to catch the Krinis’s attention.

The creatures snatched up three of the little wands that were humming softly, holding each one individually with serpentine fingers. It delicately touched the vibrating ends to its own flesh, flinching back in surprise as the mild sensations rippled through its slippery skin. Seeming to now understand what it was dealing with, the Krinis moved the tips of the vibrators towards Jenna’s exposed clit and nipples before aggressively pushing them into her sensitive flesh.

She squirmed and groaned louder as the new vibrating sensation assaulted her, however the toys were too weak to make much of a difference. The Krinis appeared to sense the woman’s positive reaction to the trinkets, but found the strength of the vibrator to be wanting as Jenna seemed to quickly grow accustomed to the buzzing plastic.

The Krinis dropped the toys to the floor, where they continued to rattle about noisily. For a moment, Sarah wondered if the creature had simply grown bored of them, but as she watched, it became clear that it had actually been inspired by them.

Though the various Krinis forms had sometimes displayed the ability and knowledge to use vibration to stimulate human erogenous zones, they were usually very specialized or clumsy. The humanoid Krinis before them seemed determined to rectify this, as its writhing fingertips began to compress until they were like tiny, boney rods, no more than the width of a pencil, which all began to vibrate. Powerfully.

Jenna’s eyes filled with realization as they flickered down towards the buzzing protrusions that were now approaching her throbbing button and tender nipples. All at once, the stiff little rods made contact with her sensitive skin, sending intense, concentrated vibrations deep into her very core as they began to knead and massage her three stiff buds.

She gurgled and screamed with pleasure into the tentacle still filling her mouth. Her limbs were buried in the creature’s flesh, but her entire exposed torso began to shake and spasm uncontrollably as sweat sprayed from her glistening skin. Seemingly pleased by the woman’s reaction, the Krinis began to pump its twin phalluses up into her with increased vigor, delighted that it had found a new way to play with its unwilling passenger.

Sarah was so transfixed on this scene that she didn’t even notice that more humanoid Krinis had started to enter the shop, likely drawn by the unfamiliar noises. Most of them had no humans sticking out of their bodies, but one of them near the front had a man positioned similarly to Jenna, whom Sarah recognized as the man who had initially run out to save the cumming woman. Like Jenna, he, too, was now alone within his Krinis host, which was rutting into his gaping ass with one of its meaty shafts while slurping up his straining hard cock with its tentacle snout.

“J-Jenna…!” The man managed to weakly wheeze, noticing the woman as his Krinis moved closer to the adult section to investigate what the first one was playing with. He groaned and drooled in rapture as an orgasm visibly rippled through his toned body, but still he seemed determined to hold onto his sanity while in front of his female friend, who for her part, was staring at him with shocked eyes whenever they weren’t rolling up into her head between the thrusts that shook her abdomen.

“Godammit, Sean,” Cutter whispered in a gravelly voice. “You should have just let her go.” Priya also clicked her tongue in annoyance upon seeing her two companions reduced to such a pathetic, helplessly cumming state.

The Krinis in which Sean was absorbed watched with apparent fascination as Jenna was pleasured by the other one’s new adaptations. As other Krinis began to curiously swarm around, those with human captives slowly started to copy the first Krinis’s idea, turning their fleshy tentacle fingers into vibrator-tipped appendages, before experimenting on the writhing people trapped in their bodies.

Men let out lustful howls as the vibrating protrusions tickled over their nipples, danced around their spongy cock heads, and poked at their tight ball sacks. A couple of the monsters even started to slip the thin tips of the vibrating rods down into some of the men’s urethras, eliciting choked gasps of pain that quickly melted into pleasure as the powerful sounding rocked their quaking bodies. Those whose dicks weren’t swallowed by suckling tentacles began to erupt thick spurts of semen into the air like living party poppers.

Women whimpered and panted as their hard nipples, plush tits, and swollen clits were worked over by the turgid fingertips that buzzed and dug powerfully into their most sensitive parts. The Krinis holding Jenna removed its penis from her yawning cunt, letting her wet hole freely gush alien spunk before filling her with its vibrating fingers, grinding them into her g-spot as they worked in and out of her quivering pussy in tandem.

The lewd sounds of orgasming humans became practically deafening as they echoed between the aisles and filled the store. Cutter glanced over towards the main entrance, where more Krinis were continuing to file in, then back towards the mall entrance near the back of the store, which was still unobstructed, but too near the adult section to risk using.

“We’ll be joining the party too if we don’t get out of here soon,” Priya hissed under the din of yelps and moans, bouncing on her heels as if contemplating just running and gunning her way out. Cutter put a hand on her shoulder to steady her, then turned towards Sarah and the others, who were now more concerned with the numerous giant aliens filling the store than with the two raiders next to them.

“You all wanted to earn our trust, right?” Cutter said, giving Sarah a stern look. “Here’s your chance. Distract those Harvesters while the two of us make our way towards the back. If we ever meet again, I’ll consider taking you in.”

“Wh- how are you expecting us to do that!?” Zoey gasped, an appalled look on her face.

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. You’re certainly well-equipped to draw their attention.” Cutter’s eyes around to the various bodies in skin-tight suits that crouched next to him. Zoey hugged her arms across her chest and puffed out her lips in annoyance.

“That’s a suicide mission,” Adam replied. “You’re basically asking us to sacrifice ourselves!”

“Correct.” Cutter nodded matter-of-factly. “Unless you want to just speed things up and die right here and now.” He gestured his gun towards Adam.

“If you discharge your firearm, it is sure to attract the attention of all the hostiles in the vicinity,” A’luhr reminded him, nodding towards the growing group of Krinis that were now stalking through shelves. “Do you truly wish to risk that?”

“I’m still a gambling man,” Cutter growled. The two groups stared silently at each other for a minute, trying to calculate what to do. Before anyone had a chance to do anything rash, Steven suddenly spoke up.

“Wait…” He whispered, slowly crawling towards a shelf under the counter next to him. Cutter turned his pistol to follow his movements, but let him say his piece. “Nice! I don’t think anyone will be needing to sacrifice themselves! Check these out!” He reached into a box on the shelf and pulled out several small packets filled with cylindrical objects. Fiery red words adorning the plastic read “Dragon’s Breath Firecrackers”.

Everyone else’s eyes lit up with understanding.

“Good find, kid,” Cutter snorted. “I guess you’re not as brainless as I took you for.”

“Oh, whoa!” Zoey gasped quietly, also looking through the bins next to her now. “Jackpot!” She pulled out a small handful of sparkler sticks.

“As for you, I’m not so sure…” Cutter sighed, looking down at the patriotic party favors with disinterested confusion.

“Huh!?” Zoey gaped. “But we can use these to-”

“Light up dark rooms like flares,” Sarah cut her off. It didn’t seem like the raiders knew about the effects of magnesium oxide on the Krinis. She was determined to maintain at least some of the status quo, even if the other two people didn’t realize it yet.

“Hm. Doesn’t seem very efficient,” Priya scoffed. “But sure, do whatever. Just hand those firecrackers here.”

“No way!” Steven argued, grabbing the box of them and holding them to his chest defensively. “We’ll be the ones handling these.”

“Oh?” Cutter replied with raised brows. “Do you have a lighter I don’t know about? Because I do.” He pulled a silver cigarette lighter from his pocket and flashed it in the light. “And we also have the guns. So how about you quit with the herorics before I reevaluate my opinion of you?”

Steven held firm. Cutter sighed.

“Listen, we’ll all get out of here together. You’re right – we could use some help carrying this stuff.”

“Cutter!” Priya remarked in surprise.

“The longer we waiver here with our thumbs up our asses, the more likely it is that things go south. More south. Let’s do what we have to do for now and get the fuck out of here. Understood?”

“…Understood,” Priya slumped her shoulders and huffed. A’luhr cocked her head in mild confusion, inspecting her thumbs.

Steven looked at the others, who all nodded to him. He sighed, shrugged, and handed the bags of firecrackers over to Cutter, who quickly began to open them up and dump their contents onto the floor.

Through the glass of the counter, Sarah could see that the tearing of the plastic seemed to have caught the attention of one of the nearby Krinis, who suddenly turned towards them and began to slowly wander in their direction to investigate. Sarah said nothing, worried that any more, distinctly human noise might raise the creature’s alertness levels. She simply gestured towards the incoming threat to draw everyone’s attention to it.

Cutter, noticing that time was running out, handed the firecrackers to Priya, who continued to open them as fast as she could while Cutter worked to click his lighter to life. After several tries, nothing happened.

“C’mon you piece of shit,” Cutter mumbled under his breath. “Not now…” Just when it seemed like the Krinis was upon them and about to peer over the counter, a spark of light illuminated the darkness around Cutter’s hands. The glow immediately caught monster’s eyes, but before it could react, Cutter had already thrown several of the lit firecrackers towards the front door.

One by one, they began to loudly pop with blinding flashes and swirling smoke. The nearby Krinis jerked its tentacled face towards the source of the noise and stomped away in that direction, quickly being joined by the other creatures in the store. Cutter continued to hurl the strings of explosives over his shoulder as he motioned for everyone to head for the mall entrance, keeping low behind the counter for as long as they could. A’luhr picked up the tanks of helium while the others grabbed their dropped weaponry. Priya gave them weird looks at how obsessed they were with their strange-looking “toys”, but they simply shrugged back at her.

When they reached the end of the counter, Cutter was no longer able to throw the firecrackers far enough to reach the front entrance, so he did his best to fling them into various corners of the store away from them. Quietly, he passed his bag of food over to Adam and instructed Priya to do the same to Steven. Once Satisfied that the weight was equally distributed, he gave them a “I’m watching you” sign with his fingers before beginning to focus on the movement around the room with cold, precise eyes.

As they waited, Cutter held up his clenched fist to signal that they should keep still and wait for his mark. The moment that he noticed all of the Krinis’s heads turned away, he gestured for them all to move.

Sarah and the others took deep breaths before silently sliding out into the open behind Cutter and Priya, doing their best to quickly weave between the displays and fallen items while keeping to the shadows. They approached the adult section, and passed by the last of the aisles, seeing Jenna’s Krinis marching towards the front of the store to join the rest. Suddenly, Jenna’s hanging head swiveled as she noticed Cutter and Priya.

She began to struggle and let out muffled shouts towards them, her pleading eyes glinting in the dim light, wordlessly begging the group to help her. Fortunately, the Krinis binding her was still focused on the firecrackers and had not spotted the other humans.

“Shit,” Priya whispered. “We’ve been spotted. Guess I might as well put her out of her misery.” She cocked her gun and took aim at Jenna, who suddenly lurched and bucked her hips as yet another orgasm ravaged her.

“Are you insane?” Cutter spat, grabbing her pistol and pushing it down. “We’re this close to escaping. We can’t risk drawing their attention at this point. We go. Now. Besides, it looks like she’s enjoying herself with her boyfriend.”

As he spoke, Sean, who was in the Krinis next to Jenna, reached climax as well. His cock was no longer within a milking tentacle, so it was free to ejaculate his hot seed all over Jenna’s trembling, firm abdomen, where it dripped down and mingled with the Krinis’s fingers that were still rapidly fucking her cunt. The sudden sensation of his hot fluids touching her skin seemed to push the woman to another consecutive orgasm, her eyes turning white as her head filled with overpowering, mind-melting pleasure.

“It’s what those two would have wanted,” Priya agreed with a rueful chuckle. Without another word, the group turned away and pushed on the glass double doors that led into the mall. The doors were momentarily held shut by some sticky strands of alien ichor, but they snapped apart with a little effort.

“That’s not a great sign…” Sarah breathed as they shuffled deeper into the mall. Once their eyes adjusted to the sun shining through what was still visible of the tentacle-covered skylight, her suspicions were confirmed.

“Out of the frying pan and into the fire…” Adam groaned tiredly, then closed his mouth to focus on silently navigating through the fleshy, writhing maze that spread before them.

TO BE CONTINUED…