Chapter 97: S#16. The Cave (4)

This was the womb of an alien.

The ‘enemy of the nation’ we had to eliminate with a bomb in the cave was actually a giant alien fetus.

So that’s why they didn’t disclose details of the mission – it was too dirty a job to assign to soldiers.

I turned and exited through the opening. Thinking of it as a cervix felt strange.

As I emerged with the bomb bag, Agent Frank’s eyes widened.

“What are you doing, Woodman?! You need to plant the bomb!”

“I have no desire to perform an alien abortion.”

The strange creatures that attacked us in the cave were actually giant ova and sperm.

Was the alien a hermaphrodite? It hardly matters now.

Agent Frank sighed.

“Woodman. Do you know how much budget it takes to feed an alien lifeform? One alien is enough for America’s alien population. We can’t afford to raise another.”

“…”

“Besides, if we lose control, we’re done for. Imagine a 500-meter alien rampaging through downtown New York. America could fall. No, humanity could fall. That’s why that fetus is an ‘enemy of the nation.'”

I descended using the loop connected to my axe.

I set the bomb bag at Agent Frank’s feet.

“Even if it’s alien… it’s a sleeping baby. I don’t think I could sleep well after killing something like that.”

“Are you feeling guilty? I doubt it. You’re cold-hearted. The monsters you’ve chopped up with your axe so far could fill this cave.”

“……”

“Don’t assign human meaning to it. It’s just alien offspring.”

Just then, Indian stepped forward and picked up the bomb bag from the ground.

“Blowing up a baby in the womb with a bomb goes against nature. I absolutely cannot allow it.”

The Indian’s eyes were resolute.

“We must remember that we’re hum-“

Bang-! The Indian’s words were cut off by gunfire.

It was Agent Frank who fired.

He said no firearms were allowed, yet he brought a pistol himself.

The Indian collapsed with a bullet hole in the center of his forehead.

“We don’t have time for an abortion debate. The owner of this womb will wake up soon. It won’t be pleased to find intruders in its v*gina.”

Plus, the bomb’s timer was already activated.

If we hesitate, we’ll all die in the blast together.

Agent Frank holstered his gun and picked up the fallen bomb bag. He held it out to me again.

But Bob Bojangles approached and grabbed the agent’s wrist.

Frank scowled fiercely.

“What are you doing, cop?”

“Cop? Wasn’t I nurse?”

“No matter how many times I tell you, you don’t get it. You’re cop.”

“Right, that’s it. I was a cop. A police officer. And as an officer, I can’t allow the killing of a fetus. It’s not right.”

Agent Frank sneered.

“A moron who can’t even distinguish between cop, nurse, and woodman is lecturing about ethics now?”

“You’re right. I don’t know what’s what.”

Bob said.

“But you don’t know if that alien baby will grow up to be a nurse, a lumberjack, a police officer, or a cowboy either, do you?”

Agent Frank hesitated.

I had an epiphany. It hit me like a hammer to the head.

I grasped the bomb bag the agent was holding.

The decision I had to make became crystal clear.

“…I’ll detonate it now.”

My job was to blow up the fetus and kill it.

Bob was aghast.

“Summer, you…!”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, officer. That alien baby can never become a nurse or a police officer. As Agent Frank said, it’ll only be an ‘enemy of the nation.'”

Humans come first, no matter what.

If it means protecting those dear to me, I must kill alien babies hundreds of millions of times over.

Even if I’ll never sleep soundly again, I can’t indulge in empty sentimentality.

Agent Frank smiled in victory.

I entered the cervix again.

I swam through the amniotic fluid with the bomb bag.

The massive alien fetus came into view. Its head was as big as a school playground.

I was supposed to shove the bomb bag into its mouth.

But suddenly the fetus opened its eyes. They were as black as space.

The fetus parted its lips slightly.

“…Mama…”

The heavy voice that echoed through the vast womb was that of a baby.

Mama……

What the hell am I doing…?

Only then did I realize I was doing something wrong.

I came out of the cervix with the bomb bag.

Agent Frank shouted.

“Why are you coming out again?!”

“Agent Frank, I just can’t do it.”

I threw down the bomb bag.

Even if the giant fetus in the womb is harmful to humanity, I can’t kill it with my own hands.

Agent Frank clenched his fist.

“You’ll regret this, Woodman.”

Suddenly the flesh walls undulated. The entire cave began to shake as if hit by an earthquake.

The cervix stretched wide open. Yellow amniotic fluid gushed out.

Like a waterfall from a burst dam, the fluid swept over us. The space filled with liquid.

Beyond the cervix spewing fluid, a round head emerged.

It was the alien fetus.

“Ma… ma…!!”

Its thunderous voice reverberated through the cave.

As the fetus moved its body, the cervix opened wider.

Birth was imminent.

—
Raei Translations
—

“Run!!!”

We ran for our lives.

The alien fetus was emerging from the womb. If that massive body crushed us, we’d be flattened.

The cave was already soaked with amniotic fluid. The water level up to our calves made it hard to move properly.

Even while running, Agent Frank didn’t let go of the bomb bag.

“Frank, that bomb’s about to go off! Just drop it!!”

“Do you know how valuable this alien life form is?! We absolutely can’t damage it!!”

He was an agent with an incredible sense of duty.

As we ran, dodging the fetus forcing its way through the cave, we soon reached a cliff section.

But the cowboy’s rope was gone.

Instead, there was a rope connected to an axe. I threw the axe, embedding its blade in the opposite cliff face.

We crossed quickly.

The cave contracted and relaxed repeatedly, pushing the massive fetus towards the exit.

It crawled forward, its enormous size ignoring the gap of the cliff. It was cosmic horror incarnate.

We ran through winding, reddish tunnels.

Amidst this, we saw a roundly swollen wall. A woman’s silhouette was faintly visible through the mucous membrane.

I slashed the surface with my axe blade.

A familiar face emerged.

“Reiko!”

“Summer… can you get me out of here…?”

It was Ishikawa Reiko.

Thankfully, she wasn’t dead. She’d just been buried in the flesh wall.

It was a welcome reunion amidst the urgency. After cutting Reiko out of the flesh wall with my axe, I scooped her up in my arms.

We hurried out of the cave entrance.

The concrete space of the underground base was filled with the sound of sirens.

Soldiers and scientists were evacuating urgently. The atmosphere was like World War III had broken out.

The alien baby finally emerged from the v*gina.

It easily smashed through the artificially created entrance like a sandcastle.

“Ma…ma!!”

The alien newborn, smeared with blood and amniotic fluid.

Its overwhelmingly large body floated in the air. It seemed to be using telekinesis.

The alien baby, hovering with its mysterious power, broke through the underground base’s ceiling and rose upward.

Boom-

Crash─────

Like an uppercut smashing through multiple wooden boards, the baby broke through the underground levels and finally reached the surface.

“Good God…”

It was a literal ascension.

We stared blankly at the ceiling, now punctured all the way to the surface.

The giant alien baby was flying in the sky above.

“Looks like we’re f*cked…”

“It’s alright. You made the right choice.”

Bob placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Look at that child flying freely like a bird. It’ll surely become an astronaut.”

He spoke proudly, watching the colossal alien baby floating in the sky. I nodded.

Not planting the bomb was clearly a choice that transcended species.

“…But Agent Frank, where’s the bomb bag you were holding?”

Boom─────────────────

A flash of explosion lit up the sky. The sound of the blast shook the earth’s axis.

The alien baby had exploded.

It burst into pieces less than 5 minutes after birth. The flames that swept across the sky and crushed the clouds were like a beautiful fireworks display.

Agent Frank reported over the radio.

“Final report. Successfully eliminated the ‘enemy of the nation’. I repeat, successfully eliminated the ‘enemy of the nation’.”

Burst internal organs and flesh chunks rained down.

As we looked up at that absurd sight, someone approached us.

It was an old man wearing sunglasses. He was surrounded by burly bodyguards and armed soldiers.

Agent Frank was flustered when he saw the old man.

“Mr… Mr. President…!”

The old man was the President of the United States.

The blood scattered by the explosion fell like rain. A bodyguard took out an umbrella and held it over the President.

“Lovely weather, miss.”

The President spoke to Reiko amidst the falling blood-red rain.

The black umbrella held by the bodyguard had an old-fashioned ‘W’ emblem engraved on it.

Area 51 was soaked with alien blood.

—