The sun shone brightly through the window, warming Merrick's face as he yawned, one arm going toward Aleigha's side of the bed, only to feel the smooth sheet of paper that was neatly folded into fours and nothing else.

The dark pit of fear seeped into every bone in his body as he picked the paper from the pillow, unfolding it to read.

My Dearest Merrick,

I left the dome to try to defuse the situation. Only a human can do that in this situation. I heard what Mia said. She's always right. I was a zombie once. I know how it feels. I can use that to help calm the situation. Care for our baby boy while I'm gone. I will return to you as soon as I can. With all my heart and soul, I love you.

Aleigha.

Merrick jumped out of bed, his body trembling in fear for his mate. She had left to confront the group outside the dome. It was a group that had already proven to be hostile. He grabbed the comm link and called Council Leader Vorik in panic.

"Sir, we have a problem. Aleigha is gone. She left the dome to confront the people in front of the east gate," he told his leader without letting him speak. His voice was strained as he explained, each word shaking with fear for his mate.

There was silence on the other end of the comm link for several moments before there was a reply. "Meet me in the council chamber," Council Leader Vorik ordered. His voice was hard. He didn't sound happy, either. He sounded pissed. Merrick could feel the anger through the comm link.

Merrick quickly dressed, then headed for the infant in the bed beside his own. Pulling the baby from his bed, he quickly cleaned and changed the tiny form. Filling a bottle, he put his son in the carrier and fed him with the bottle. He tried to hurry, but there was nothing he could do but let the child eat at his own pace. When his infant son finally finished, the child burped and then cooed, peering at his surroundings in wonder as infants tend to do while Merrick filled a second bottle, preparing it for later. He didn't know how long he would be gone.

Once everything was ready, Merrick grabbed the extra bottle and diapers and headed for the council chambers, with the infant in a carrier in one hand and the bag of infant supplies in the other. He hated that he was going to show up with a baby with him to the council chamber, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had no time to make other plans.

Arriving at the council chambers, the door slid open, and he stepped inside, carefully pulling the carrier with him, trying not to jostle the infant inside it. Council Leader Vorik was pacing behind the large table. His jaw ticked in agitation. He turned, eyeing Merrick with anger.

Merrick set the carrier on the floor, rushing up to his leader; First, giving the gesture of respect before handing him the note he had found on Aleigha's pillow when he woke up. His hand trembled as he handed it to his leader.

Council Leader Vorik read the note, then handed it back. "I don't know how she left the dome. I called all the gates, trying to find which one she had left out of, but none of the gates had been deactivated to let her out. She has got to be inside the city somewhere. No one saw her leave. The dome has to be deactivated to let anyone in or out."

Merrick tensed, remembering how she got in when she was a zombie. "She got in before. She even showed me how. She used her staff and created an opening in the plasma," Merrick reminded him.

Council Leader Vorik turned and faced Merrick, his eyes twitched, filled with anger. "Not with the blast shields up. It doesn't work. I even had her test it. The staff doesn't split the blast shields to create a way out. She had to have gone through one of the gates."

"So what can we do?" Merrick asked. "I know her. She had to have found a way out. She's resourceful enough to find a way out of the dome without going through the gates. We just need to figure out how she did it."

Council leader Vorik started pacing again. "We need to drop your child off to be watched by someone while we figure out what happened to her. We can have Carrie babysit for you."

Merrick nodded; he hadn't thought of that. He felt like he should have done that before arriving at the council chamber. He didn't feel like he had time to stop and find someone to babysit for him while they figured out how to deal with the situation.

Council Leader Vorik headed for the door, stopping only long enough for Merrick to pick up his son and the bag with extra diapers and bottles.

They rushed to Carrie and Shadick's home. Council Leader Vorik had already pressed the call button before Merrick had arrived at the door himself. Shadick was the one who opened the door. Without being let in, Vorik brushed past Shadick. Merrick at least waited to be invited in.

Carrie stepped out of the back room with her child in her arms. Vorik, his features tight, looked at Carrie. "I need you to babysit Merrick's child," he told her. "Aleigha is missing. She went outside the dome to confront the group outside."

Carrie gasped, quickly handing her own child to Shadick and taking the carrier from Merrick. "Go," she told them. "Go find her before they hurt her. I'll watch your son for as long as you need me to," she assured Merrick. "Go find your mate."

Merrick started to head out of the house, then stopped, turned around, and went back to his infant son. After kissing the infant's small forehead, he looked at Carrie. "Thank you, Carrie," he told her before rushing back out of the small home. Council Leader Vorik was right behind him.

Merrick followed Council Leader Vorik to the East gate. Seeran had already arrived for his shift. He didn't know yet of Aleigha's absence.

He turned to see Council Leader Vorik and Merrick rushing up to the gate. Without saying anything, they both passed him, pulled out the binoculars at the station, and peered through, scanning the camp of humans.

"They haven't moved around yet," Seeran told them. "At least not that I've seen."

Council Leader Vorik turned to Seeran. "We're looking for Aleigha. She left the dome last night to confront them."

Seeran's face paled in shock. Without another word, he rushed to the comm panel and contacted all gates. "Report!" he demanded. "Has anyone seen someone exiting the gate or walking outside the dome in your area?"

All gates reported in. All with the same answer. "No, sir."

Seeran frowned, his jaw going tight as he pressed the comm panel again. "Were the blast shields out for any length of time after it was ordered to keep the blast shields up at all times?" he asked them. There was panic in his own voice. He couldn't help it. Like everyone else, he had grown attached to the sisters. He worried about her safety.

It took several seconds for the individual gate guards to check their sections before they could report in. All gates reported in. All with the same answer. "No, sir."

Seeran looked again at Merrick. "Her staff can't penetrate the dome with the blast shield. How did she get out of the dome?" Seeran was truly baffled. He was one of the few whom she had shown that trick. They had even tried it with the blast shield up to see if it worked. It didn't. The blast shields had to be down in order for it to work.

"We don't know, but we know she got out, or she wouldn't be missing since late last night," Merrick responded. He and Council Leader Vorik were still scanning the cluster of tents, trying to glimpse Aleigha. They saw no movement near the tents at all.

As they scanned the tents, suddenly, someone left one of the tents on the side of the camp where the man had shot at the gate on the previous day. They had determined that the man who fired the gun had to be the leader of the group. They watched as the man left the tent. It was the same one they figured was the leader. He moved toward another tent with purpose. His features were stern, angry. Another man came out of the tent that he was heading to. It was the one he kept talking to on the previous day.

The one they thought was the leader looked up at Council Leader Vorik and Merrick as they peered down through the binoculars at them. He paused for a moment before turning and entering the tent with the other man beside him, disappearing out of view.

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