11 A New Home

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

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

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

"Mmmnn… that feels nice…" Sarah murmured. "...Th-thanks…"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

KRAKOOM!

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

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

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

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

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

KRRRRACKKKKOW!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I-I'll go look for towels or something for us to dry off with…" She stuttered.

"I'll help!" Zoey quickly chimed in.

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

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

"Y-yeah… do that." Adam sheepishly mumbled.

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

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

"E-excuse me?" Sarah responded, flustered. "We're just colleagues, that's all!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"All the more reason to work quickly before night falls," Sarah replied. She started to rummage through the cabinets in the room, taking a few moments to admire the fancy, multi-headed shower and gigantic Jacuzzi in the corner. Zoey tried some of the taps in the sink. They sputtered out dirty water for a few seconds before running dry.

"It was worth a shot," she moaned. "Man, I'd kill for a hot shower."

"You and me both." Sarah agreed. "Ah here we go - get a load of these fluffy towels!" She playfully threw a large, soft towel at Zoey, which hit her in the face, knocking her glasses off. "Oops! Sorry! I meant for it to hit lower!"

"I'll forgive you some day," Zoey replied with a laugh, picking up her glasses and pressing her face into the comforting folds of the towel. "This is a good way to start getting back into my good graces!" She wrapped her still-soaking hair up in the absorbent cloth as Sarah began to produce more items from the cabinets.

"Zoey! Look!" Sarah shouted excitedly.

"What!? What is it!?" Zoey frantically pulled another towel away from her face to look at what Sarah was holding in her hands. Sarah grandiosely flourished several unopened boxes of menstrual sanitary products.

"I know Adam meant well with his bunker… but it was clearly not made with women in mind, as you probably realized."

"Oh god…" Zoey whispered, almost in tears. "No more having to burn through wads of single-ply toilet paper…"

The relieved women celebrated for a short while before gathering up several towels and puffy white bathrobes.

"Let's get out of these soaked clothes and enjoy these beauties!" Sarah suggested, passing Zoey a robe.

"I could get used to this!" Zoey replied before going into the shower and closing the frosted glass door behind her. Even though Sarah couldn't make out Zoey's blurred form whatsoever, she still politely averted her eyes.

"I'm going to quickly change out here while you're in there, okay?" Sarah said, starting to slip off her drenched lab coat.

"Mm'kay," Zoey answered in a muffled voice, struggling to get her waterlogged hoodie over her head.

Sarah pulled off her own wet t-shirt and stepped out of her grass-stained sweatpants, socks, and shoes. She chuckled at the pitiful sight of herself in the mirror. Crazy, unkempt hair, blue checkered boxer shorts, and a plain white bra that was getting more and more stretched out by the day.

She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Zoey was still in the shower before letting the bra straps slide down her shoulder, spinning the whole thing around her chest eighteen0 degrees, and then unclasping it to allow the well-worn garment to fall to the floor. Her plentiful breasts gently spilled out as she savored the delicious feeling of no longer having an underwire digging into her sensitive skin. She ran her fingers over the indents on her shoulders left by the tight straps and groaned in relief.

Approaching the mirror, she studied herself again, grabbing a nearby comb and attempting to wrestle her hair back into a respectable shape. She had mixed success. Wrapping her arms around her chest, she gently squeezed her boobs to make them bulge slightly.

"I'm still attractive… right?" Sarah thought to herself. She wondered what Adam would do if he walked in on her right now. Would he be shocked and turn away in embarrassment? Or would he tenderly join her, delicately using his skillful hands to do more than just massage her shoulders? She shuddered at the thought.

"Hey, are you almost done?" Zoey asked through the shower door.

"Ah… yeah! One sec!" Sarah hastily replied, being yanked from her fantasies. She decided to keep the boxers on as they weren't too wet, but she kicked the rest of her piled up clothes to the side as she slid the robe over her otherwise naked body, rejoicing in the sensation of being swallowed up by clouds. "Okay, I'm decent."

Zoey cautiously exited from the shower holding her dripping clothes. Sarah noted that her underwear was not included in the pile, so she must have been too shy to remove even just her bra. Sarah completely understood. She remembered how awkward stuff like this was at her age.

"Here, give me your stuff and I'll hang them up to dry." Sarah said, taking the articles of clothing from Zoey and draping them over a nearby drying rack alongside her own garments. As she did so, something next to the jacuzzi caught her eye. "Ooh! Candles!"

"Nice! Now we can set up a romantic dinner for you and Professor Sparhawk!" Zoey teased.

"Orrrr," Sarah slowly responded, rolling her eyes. "We can just use them as regular light sources."

"I guess." Zoey blew a raspberry. Sarah laughed. Zoey looked too adorable in her current attire. She had removed the towel from around her head and let her ponytail down, allowing her golden bangs to wildly cover her face. The robe was a size or two too large, so she was practically swimming in a sea of fluff. Her glasses were also slightly askew, but she fixed them as she brushed the strands of hair from her eyes.

"Let's go show the boys what we found," Sarah chuckled. With that, they headed back the way they came, carrying their discovered treasures with them. The sounds of their idle chatter were washed away by the pounding rain outside.

***

The sun had only just started to set but it was already getting pretty dark due to the thick clouds in the sky. The storm continued to rage outside while the group sat around a large coffee table in the living room. Flashes of lighting occasionally illuminated the various bookshelves and furnishings around them, but the atmosphere was warm and cozy due to the several candles they had lit.

Adam and Steven had managed to find some lighters among an impressive collection of BBQ equipment near the back door, along with a couple of flashlights, so their worries that they would have to spend the night in total darkness were put to rest. They also still had their phones, but now that their only reliable source of electricity had been lost, they needed to use their charges sparingly.

Everyone sat around on the couches and chairs in their comfy bathrobes, reveling in the delightful feeling of finally being dry and able to lounge in comfort after such a disastrous day. A'luhr had initially hesitated to strip out of her bodysuit, despite it already being considerably damaged, as it efficiently carried what remained of her equipment. However, once she touched the plush sleeves of the robe, she quickly changed her mind. She had started to strip naked in front of everyone before Sarah quickly spun her around and pushed her into a side room, instructing her to get changed away from the curious gazes of the men.

"So this is what we have to work with," Adam said, arranging some of the items that he and Steven had collected onto the coffee table. "There's an entire pantry full of bottled water. I guess the rich folk here didn't like tap or filters. We found a few days worth of canned and dry food, but most of it was rotten in the dead fridges and freezers. We might be able to boil some of the bottled water over the propane grill in order to cook pasta and stuff, but we should use that sparingly."

"It doesn't seem like we will be in danger of starving over the next couple of days," Sarah remarked. "But we might need to consider the possibility of locating other food sources pretty soon."

"Mm," Adam agreed. "We can search other houses around here, but to be honest, I'm nervous about moving around too much now that the enemy knows our general location."

"Are we even gonna' be safe staying here, assuming that's the plan?" Zoey asked. "This place clearly didn't hold up at all against the monsters."

"Good question," Steven replied. "I think these might be able to help!" He flopped a large piece of black styrofoam onto the table. "Check it out! Acoustic dampening pads! It looks like whoever owned this place was some sort of recording artist. They've got tons of this stuff lying around and even several recording rooms already lined with it!"

"The Krinis would easily penetrate this flimsy material," A'luhr sighed, poking at the porous slab of foam.

"It creates nearly soundproofed spaces," Steven explained. "Seeing as they primarily hunt via sound and vibrations, I figured that these could create some safe areas around the house - at least covering enough of the space for us to comfortably live in for now."

"Ah, I see!" A'luhr exclaimed. "Very clever!"

"Well… I use them myself at home when I stream." Steven grinned, blushing from the compliment. "Maybe that's why I wasn't found in my bedroom back then."

"We should install these in strategic locations around the house while it's still storming out," Adam suggested. "We only have, at most, a couple hours of sunlight left in the day and it will be difficult to do this in candlelight… so let's quickly get to work people."

Everyone agreed and started to grab armfuls of the styrofoam pads. Steven demonstrated how these particular types had adhesive strips on the back for easy installation and how to best position them on a wall before the group split up to soundproof the most important, connected rooms and halls.

After almost two hours of working tirelessly, they finally managed to apply the dampeners around a relatively small but spacious segment of the large mansion, even allowing for them all to finally have their own bedrooms. They reconvened in the living room, guided by their flashlights, and ate a delicious meal of nuts, crackers, canned vegetables, and jerky. It was simple, but compared to the endless meals of just canned food they had endured over the past two months it was fine cuisine.

"Well," Adam spoke up after they had finished eating. "As much as I'd like to stay up and keep talking, we should probably hit the hay so we don't waste precious light source fuel."

"I do not think now is a good time for combat training, but if you insist…" A'luhr slowly responded in an unsure voice.

"He means we should go to sleep." Zoey giggled lightly.

"It is ridiculous how often knowing the words of your language does not aid in comprehending it," A'luhr sighed, shaking her head. "I agree, then. Today has taken a great toll on our minds and bodies. When the sun arises, we can begin to formulate future plans."

"I could definitely sleep," Sarah agreed, stifling a yawn. "These robes almost made me nod-off a few times already." She buried her face in her soft sleeves and almost salivated at the thought of sleeping on a high quality pillow tonight.

After cleaning up their dinner, the group all split up and went to their separate rooms. They were all well stocked with large beds covered in luxurious sheets and blankets, vanities, walk-in closets, shelves, televisions and like. Assumedly the old owner enjoyed having several guests over at a time. Sarah sat on the bed in her robe, listening to the rain strike against the large window and watching the lightning outline the distant city skyline.

She sighed deeply. Today had not been particularly good. They had failed to stop the alien creatures, lost their home, and had been betrayed by old friends… even though they clearly weren't in their right minds. She fell backwards onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling, watching the shadows cast from the candle on her bedside dance around the room.

"We don't know what tomorrow is going to bring…" Sarah murmured Zoey's words from earlier back to herself. She used to bemoan being stuck in the endless cycle of work and bills a couple months ago, but now she wanted nothing more than to hear her 6AM alarm going off and be able to start the day with a hot shower without having to worry about tentacles ravaging her naked body.

"Hmnn…" Sarah moaned slightly at the thought, realizing that she was slightly aroused. She was tired of feeling this way. Ever since she had been toyed with by the Krinis she had felt enslaved to that sensation… to them. She needed to take control back, and for the first time in months, there wasn't an eighteen-year-old girl sharing the bedroom with her.

Sarah started to slip a hand down into her robe and towards her tingling crotch, spreading her thighs to give herself access to her most intimate area. Her questing fingers were briefly obstructed by the elastic waistband of the boxer shorts Adam had leant her. Now with him on the mind, she hesitated to go any further. She gulped and looked around the room at all the sound-dampening pads, finally finding her resolve.