Alien Breed

I didn’t know it until now, but I think…

I think I love him.

Nine

Turin

“It’s okay,” he murmurs. “I’ll heal. Give it time.”

She wipes an endless stream of tears from her eyes. “You look like E.T. when they find him in the ditch.”

I smile because, even when I’m this close to death, she’s cute as hell. “Who?” I groan.

A shock wave of pain leaves me floored. I clench my teeth and moan, holding her to get through it.

“Never mind,” she says.

For an hour, we sit in the cave. She talks about Earth. She explains to me entertainment. Movies and books. My creators taught me, but I can’t understand many of their customs. Earth sounds like a carnival ride into Hell.

Our rest is a little like earlier, except without the hard, fast pleasure. Our talks are deeper. And though I’m injured, we don’t worry too much. We just keep on pushing.

After some time, she stops crying. “I’m sorry,” she says.

I arch my neck to see my wounds. They’re almost healed.

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t know he’d gun me down,” I say.

“No, that’s not what I mean,” she says.

“Hm?”

She wipes the sweat from my forehead and kisses. I close my eyes and feel cared for. It’s probably the first time in my life I’ve ever felt anything like this.

“I’m sorry for being so fearful of you. I’m sorry for hating your species,” she says. I’m tense.

“You were right about humans,” she continues. “We are evil. And I’m just like them.”

There’s one thing I might never disbelieve. Humans are evil. I can’t get my head around that, but it doesn’t change the fact that this woman is different.

Is my biology clouding my judgment?

I have enough strength to sit up and take her wrist. I trace my finger over a small cut that has healed.

“You’re nothing like them,” he says.

A million traits point to her goodness.

“You are kind, unobtrusive, and your core desire is to trust people. You have had the world taken from you, but you still hope that you can right those wrongs. That takes selflessness. That takes goodness,” I say.

It actually pains me to say it because it goes against my core belief that humans will do or say anything to get what they want. Although I was designed to kill and breed, I wasn’t designed to go against the truth.

Interesting?

? She has taught me.

Her empathy has bled into my subconscious, altering my brain to house more of it. I have absorbed it. I have changed.

Oh, fuck.