The Deadliest Lifeform in the Universe Loves Me-Volume 1: Alpha-03, Chapter 1.8

The Deadliest Lifeform in the Universe Loves Me-Volume 1: Alpha-03, Chapter 1.8

The next few days were a little nerve-wracking for all of us—except Eve who didn’t seem concerned with anything but how much chocolate she could sneak out of the cupboard without getting caught. I woke up every morning dreading hearing a helicopter flying over, and every time I walked out the front door I was cringing expecting a firing squad. But so far, we were in the clear.
I went to work another day and finished up the training, then they put me to work on the floor assisting customers—it was all pretty basic stuff, nothing to worry about. My mind was free to wander to think on what I wanted to do with my life from this point on. But so far, nothing really grabbed me—no solid future in mind, save for taking care of little Evie.
Thankfully, Eve understood our warnings, and the next time I came home from work, she waited for me inside the house right at the front door. Once again the adorable little thing leapt up into my arms, but the sweet-thing had behaved and followed our instructions to stay indoors. Made us all wonder how much we could end up teaching her—if we actually could teach her English.
While Gram and Eve were getting dinner ready one night, Gramps and I went back out to the henhouse to fix up the fencing that had been pulled at by a fox family that rudely broke its promise with me to find a new home.
“How much do you think she really understands of what we’re saying?” Gramps asked me.
I snipped away at some of the old wire and pulled it away and handed it off to Gramps, “I almost feel like she chooses what she understands, like when she wants to understand something, she will.”
Gramps nodded along, handing me the new fencing, “Seems no rhyme or reason when she listens to us—completely random really.”
“Cause for concern?”
Gramps just chuckled, “Oh, I doubt it; she’s a stubborn little thing, bit of an attitude hiding underneath all that cute. Honestly, she might be taking advantage of the gap in communication to get her way more often.”
I laughed at that, “Yeah, you should see her when I get us ready for bed; we can be lazing around watching TV for hours doing next to nothing, but when I say it’s time for sleep, suddenly she has a million other things she wants to do.”
Gramps barked out another laugh, “Every bit the kid, that one. If we didn’t know any better, I’d say she’s pretty much the same as any other human brat.”
I finished putting in the new fencing and gave it a couple tugs to make sure it was all in tight, “Question is, how long will this stage in her development last? She always going to be like a little kid? Will she go through a teenager phase—alien
puberty
?”
Gramps let out a content sigh and placed a hand on my shoulder, “Your mother, God rest her soul, was the sweetest little kid just like Evie. But when she entered high school, she became a terror to your grandmother and me like nothing I’ve ever seen before—an absolute menace. I pray—I mean I am
praying
Eve doesn’t suffer through any kind of puberty like that.”
We finished on the fence and then spread some feed out to the chickens, then started our way back to the house in the dwindling December light. There hadn’t been any heavy snowfalls yet, just a permanent layer of frost coating the farm so far, but the cold was quite biting as night approached.
“You know son, I’m proud of you.” Gramps stopped at the front porch, looking at me with those kind eyes twinkling at me with barely contained mischief.
“For taking care of Eve?”
Gramps shrugged, “All of it, Adam. I know you guys don’t like hearing it, but you absolutely were a hero—put over a decade in EMS, and it chewed you up and spit you out, enough that would’ve destroyed lesser men. But you pulled yourself up, and you’re moving on—yeah, thanks to Evie, but you’re risking your safety and security taking care of her.” He said earnestly.
I pulled off my beanie and swept a hand through my damp hair, “You guys are risking just as much as I am taking care of her.”
Gramps shook his head, “You’re the one who found her in the woods, took it upon yourself to save her—and Evie knows it, that’s why she clings to you so much. But boy does she really love you. I don’t know what she is or where she’s from, but there’s no doubt in my mind…” His words trailed away as his gaze grew distant.
“Gramps?”
Instantly, the color drained from Gramp’s face, and he pointed out behind me. I turned around to see—
Six black SUVs come racing up the dirt driveway.
My veins froze like there was ice pumping through my heart, and I knew right away this wasn’t going to be a search with a warrant kind of situation. In the distance, I could hear a helicopter heading closer. The SUVs stopped abruptly, and several people in full black tactical gear and assault rifles started filing out and rushing up towards the house.
Before I could even react, Gramps shoved me inside and grabbed the shotgun by the door, “You get her outta here now, Adam! Don’t look back, don’t stop for anything. You take care of that sweet little thing!” He insisted, then slammed the door in my face.
“Gramps what are you going to—” But he cut my words off as he cocked the shotgun and ran out to confront the intruders.
“Get off my property you sons of bitches!” He roared.
There was so much I wanted to say and do, didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye, but I knew I had to act fast. I rushed into the kitchen when I heard the first few gunshots crack out.
“The hell is going on?” Gram demanded, with Eve hiding behind her apron, scared from all the noise.
“The government agents—whatever the
fuck
they are, someone’s come for Evie.” I said quickly.
The hard as steel country woman didn’t even flinch; Gram’s face darkened, and she quickly limped over to the gun rack and picked up Gramp’s hunting rifle and loaded it up and headed right for the front door. “Go on get out of here like we planned. Head to the cellar and take the tornado shelter to the old barn, you get in your truck, and you don’t even look back.”
“Gram—”
“Go now, dammit! We do this because we love you—both you and Evie!” She snapped, then barred the front door, busted out the window, and pointed her rifle outside.
I couldn’t take any more time either; I grabbed up the shivering Evie and put her on my back, and she wrapped her arms and tentacles around me so she was secured in place like a backpack. I rushed upstairs to my room to grab my go-bag, and by the time I was heading back down towards the cellar my grandmother was firing at the intruders—we were in a full-blown firefight now over our little alien.
My heart was hammering in my chest; I’d run into burning buildings before, had a gun pulled on me a couple times by some drug addicts, even got stabbed in the arm once when a perp broke free from the police and charged right after me. But I’d never felt fear like I did right now—there was no comparison. This was gonna be some black-site government shit; shoot first ask questions later. I could end up some smear on the wall and whatever agent did it might not even blink. But more than that, I was so terrified at the idea of Eve getting taken and experimented on, dissected, cold and alone in some underground dungeon.
I had to save her.
I slammed down the stairs into the cellar and headed through the tornado shelter towards the old barn. Whoever built the house connected the barn and the farmhouse with a tornado or bomb shelter and a couple tunnels. I’d used it as a cool hangout when I was a teenager—lost my virginity to my first girlfriend down here. But now I was just thankful there was some stealthy way I could get out of the house the agents might not know about. I had to get to my truck as fast as possible, I knew there was no way I could outrun that squad on foot. And for that matter, I knew I couldn’t exactly outrun those SUVs in my truck, I was just hoping if I could hang on long enough to drive into town, they would back off to not draw too much attention to this mess.
That’s all I had to go on for now—it was our only chance.
Evie as shivering like mad now, sad little trills that almost sounded like sobs as we climbed up into the old burnt barn. I shushed her gently, telling her she needed to stay quiet while I headed towards the barn door and peaked out to plan my next move.
It looked like Gramps was sitting on the porch with his hands behind his back—detained, but alive thank God, couldn’t see if he was injured though. The front door to the house was bashed open, the agents had gotten inside. There was no gunfire now; both my grandparents had already been taken and detained, it was just me left.
I looked over and saw my truck towards the end of the driveway, somewhat clear of the black SUVs. It was about a hundred yards from the barn to my truck; I would be able to swing around left and head back onto the drive without obstacles, then turn onto the country road easy. Problem was, could I get to the truck before I got shot? I didn’t have much time to think over the best plan; the agents would surely have found the cellar tunnel by now and would be making their way towards me.
Sneak past or run? Sneak or run?
I decided to try a little bit of both, I walked as fast as I could while keeping as low as possible, and so far none of the agents by the house noticed—
“There he is! And he’s got the anomaly!” An agent called out.
“Fuck it!” I broke out into a full sprint and pushed my body harder than I ever have in my life. My blood was on fire, I felt dizzy and sick, I couldn’t even feel the cold outside, the air in my lungs was burning with every breath. I had my keys out and clicked unlock desperately, getting closer and closer, almost home, almost free!
Suddenly, my leg was swept out from under me, and I fell to the ground with a solid thud and rolled and tumbled along the ground. I looked up to see agents rushing out of the barn with their rifles aimed right at me, but when I tried to stand back up, there was no strength in my left leg. I looked down to find a rapidly growing red spot on my jeans, and an exit wound staring at my face on my thigh.
I’d been shot.
Shit.
I flailed around for a couple seconds, tried to move towards the truck and stand up all together, but couldn’t do either properly. All the while Evie was trilling fearfully, and I was trying to calm her down by saying soothing things to her as the pain suddenly started spreading like fire through my entire leg.
In no time at all, the black-clad tactical agents surrounded me in a wide circle, their guns all aimed at me and Evie.
“Freeze!”
“Stay on the ground!”
“Release the anomaly!”
I put one hand on my leg to try to stop the bleeding and stop the pain, the other hand waving around to try and placate the agents any way I could.
“Please, please she’s just a child—gentle and innocent, don’t hurt her, please don’t hurt her!” I pleaded desperately.
“Take them!” Someone commanded, and two agents stalked forward towards us.
“I’m so sorry Evie, I’m sorry, I love you, I won’t let them take you.” I insisted, delirious with tears in my eyes, I pulled out a pocketknife and brandished it foolishly at the highly trained government agent wielding a fucking assault rifle.
“If he resists, take him out.”
So, this was it? Well, I said I would die for Evie, so I guess I kept my word—hadn’t pussied out or anything, so at least I hadn’t lied about that. Although, I did tell her I would keep her safe, so I guess that part was a lie. Shit.
I waved the knife out dumbly once more and one of the agents took a step to the side—like I was only a mild inconvenience. The other raised his rifle and pointed it right at my head and pulled—
An ear-shattering shriek erupted behind me, and it was so loud and debilitating it took me several seconds to realize it came from Evie. It sounded like a dozen voices screamed in unison—shrieking to the absolute limit of what our human ears could comprehend, echoing wildly, ethereally, hauntingly. I dropped my knife and tried to cover my ears and felt blood dripping out. The impossible shriek went on and on and on, seconds passed into what felt like minutes. I looked up to see all the agents around us freaking out, pressing their hands against their tactical helmets to try and do all they could to block out the noise. The two agents right in front of us stumbled and looked like they were about to fall over.
Finally, the shriek seemed to die away, but the echo lasted in the air like a wound—stuck in my brain as though it had been a physical mark. To their credit, the agents were recovering faster than me, and already the one before me turned his gun back towards me. I was dizzy, could barely hear, that shriek had physically drained me, but it wasn’t enough to save us. I closed my eyes and waited for the end.
Instead of the gunshot I was expecting, there was a terrible snapping and crunching sound, and suddenly I felt Evie remove herself from her spot on my back. Confused, I opened my eyes to an even more confusing sight.
Evie’s arm had elongated and grown a large mouth and bitten off the agent’s head, chewed it up, and swallowed it. The man’s dead body fell to the ground in a pile of useless flesh in a dark pool of blood.
And then all hell broke loose.
“Contain, contain, contain!” One of the commanding agents shouted.
I could barely keep up with what happened after that. The agents all started shooting at us, but Eve manifested dozens of tentacles to shield us from the gunfire. The bullets bounced off her tentacles like they were made of hardened steel, causing sparks to fly around as they were deflected. She stood before me as I lay bleeding on the ground, and slowly those tentacles started growing in size, shielding more of the area around us. Once she had a sufficient shield around us, some of her tentacles started snaking out after the agents, impaling or slashing into them. I watched with horror as she pulled one apart, and several mouths with terrifyingly sharp and jagged teeth started consuming parts of the agents—their gear, blood bones and flesh, Eve ate it all.
I noticed then when she started eating the agents, her form started growing inside—pulling the bloody chunks into her core body. The cute kindergartener slowly grew larger, looking like large tumors the size of bowling balls formed up from her body. In horror, I watched her form elongate, and sprout more legs like a spider at the bottom. Then her torso grew, spindling up in the air like an armored centipede. Next, several preying mantis-like scythe arms ripped out from her sides, and several scorpion tails grew from her rear. Her eyes started multiplying on her head, she soon had over a dozen on the ends of tentacle eye stalks, gazing around at the terrified government agents. Then, she unleashed a terrifying screech as her mouth grew down to take up a large portion of her face and torso—at least 10 feet long with rows and rows of vibrating, jagged teeth. Two more arms ripped out of her side, looking like hairless bear arms with claws so long they looked like swords. The transformation seemed to happen in mere moments, and when her form solidified, Eve stood over 20 feet tall, screeching and roaring with terrible alien fury.
The government agents had backed up significantly now to get more room, but kept firing at Eve all the while, but the bullets didn’t seem to bother her in the slightest. She ripped and slashed into the agents like they were made of wet paper, moving so fast I almost missed it between blinks. With several tentacles coming from her entire back, Eve picked up the human remains and pulled them into her mouth to consume them, growing larger and more solid with everyone she ate.
I was scooting away from the horrifying scene as best I could with my leg wounded as it was, crawling my way towards the truck. The agents didn’t seem concerned with me now, focusing all their attention on Eve’s alien fury.
An explosion erupted against Eve’s head, but she barely flinched back against it. She turned to the sky to see the helicopter in the air training its guns on her. In response, Eve swept out one of her mantis scythes towards the chopper, having no problem reaching it hundreds of feet away as her limbs elongated to whatever task she needed. She cut the helicopter in half with ease, and its parts spiraled down into the nearby woods.
The agents were growing desperate now—they had no chance against her. They radioed for back up, for the heavy artillery—for anything they could use to stop her. Eve cut down and through all the agents that had surrounded us, and now moved on to the ones guarding the house.
“No, Eve!” I croaked, no idea what I was even going to say—how I could reason with such a monster. The cute little alien I’d rescued and bonded with was gone now, replaced with this terrifying, abominable mix of aquatic and insectoid parts. Was this who it was all along, just waiting for right time to consume people and grow its form? Was it sent to our planet as a weapon, here to kill and consume? The entire area around me was absolutely drenched in blood, and I was growing more and more dizzy and sick surrounded by all that death, unable to escape.
But a stupid part of my brain kept trying to defend Eve, saying how she only unleashed her fury on the agents after they’d threatened us. After all, she was always so gentle with me.
I finally crawled to the truck, but I was feeling so weak now, I couldn’t lift myself up to open the door. I looked back to see a heavy trail of blood from the path I took; I was bleeding out.
I looked back around to see Eve still tearing after the agents—a couple army looking Humvees had arrived on scene, and straight-up soldiers had engaged her now, but they stood no chance.
I couldn’t watch anymore, wondering if I was to blame for all this destruction—if it was my fault her fury had been unleashed. I started getting rather lightheaded, and it looked like the area around us was bathed in a brilliant bright light—so bright, I could hardly see. Was this it, was I dying? Well, I guess I kept my promise with Evie after all, for whatever that was worth.
No more strength to hold on, I fell into oblivion.

Volume 1: Alpha-03, Chapter 1.8