Council Leader Vorik rushed up to the east gate. If the camp's dome side guard was infected, he didn't have much time. When Aleigha collapsed, she had become pale only seconds before. If they had been even seconds later in getting her treated, she would not have survived.

When he arrived, Seeran turned to see him approaching. "Sir, the man collapsed."

Council Leader Vorik lifted his comm link. "I need medics to the east gate for a collapsed human."

"On our way," a response came. The voice sounded rushed. It was clear that whoever the medic was, he had probably grabbed his bag and was already heading toward them.

Council Leader Vorik did not recognize the voice. Medic Kaul and Medic Renn were working on the line that had been assembled in the clinic. The medic who was on his way, he did not know.

"I need a team with shields, now!" Council Leader Vorik ordered, stepping toward the gate. "I need to go out there and offer assistance."

Seeran handed Mikiel a shield, then one for Council Leader Vorik. He pressed his own shield into his palm. "I don't think there's time to wait for a team," Vorik stated, looking down at the camp. The man on the ground looked still, like he was already dead.

Two other guards rushed up, affixing their palm shields and readying their blasters. They were preparing to escort the Council Leader out of the dome to allow him to offer assistance to those outside. Besides the fact that those in the camp came to try to kill them all, Council Leader Vorik still wanted to offer them help.

Council Leader Vorik scanned the group, ready to go outside the dome to offer help. "Let's go."

A guard opened the gate slightly, just enough for Council Leader Vorik and the four gate guards to exit. The medic rushed up with his kit, barely making it outside the gate with the team. Mikiel moved his shield to protect the medic as they headed toward the camp.

As a group, they went to the collapsed human. Just as they reached him, three humans from the camp rushed out, guns held up, aiming at them, ready to shoot.

"Get away from him!" one of the humans shouted.

Council Leader Vorik turned to the three men. "Your guard is infected with a virus that needs medical attention immediately. We can save him, but there is very little time. His organs will shut down if you do not allow us to help him."

"We don't need your help!" another of the men yelled. His anger boiled with each word.

"Yes, you do," Seeran told him. "Unless you want this man to die. If you have others that are ill or even collapsed, we are the only way to save them."

The medic bent down and discreetly scanned the man lying in the dirt. Letting the banter between Council Leader Vorik and his team confront the human men.

Once the scanner beeped, the medic looked up. "It's too late. He's already dead."

Council Leader Vorik looked at the three men facing them. "If you hadn't stopped us from helping this man, he would not be dead." He told them evenly. "We will keep a medic at this gate in the event you change your mind about getting help. This virus is aggressive. The one infected dies quickly. Only moments after they collapse."

"Then they die!" the first man yelled.

"Even if it's you?" Seeran asked, challenging the man. "You would rather die than get help from us?"

The man's face paled. "Yes!" he spat. It was clear he was speaking out of anger. He didn't want to die. He wanted to be saved. He wouldn't admit it to himself, his men, or those who came to help.

"As your people die, remember we can help them," Council Leader Vorik told them. "Come to the gate and request it. Bring your fallen to the gate, and we will do what we can to save them if it is not already too late."

"We don't need your help!" one of the men yelled, lifting his gun to shoot.

The team protected Council Leader Vorik and the young medic with their palm shields as they backed away from the dead human guard. They kept their shield between the men and themselves, not wanting their human weapons to injure them.

Seeran and Mikiel flanked Council Leader Vorik, their shields up as they backed toward the gate.

The three men started with their guns raised, then began to shoot. The loud bang each time the men fired echoed around them. The sound was so loud it boomed through their ears. Seeran remembered Zack telling them that the guns only had a specified number of bullets. The average was six, but it can go to fifteen in a regular magazine. He knew that if they stopped shooting, they were most likely out of bullets. He hoped they would be out quickly.

With each shot, the projectile hit the shields, flattening on the surface of the shield before falling into the dirt. The ping of the flattened bullets sounded as they fell and bounced in rapid succession.

As one of the men ran out of bullets, his face paled before he collapsed. The other two men ignored him as they continued to fire their weapons. They didn't seem to care that their friend was already dying. They were letting their anger and hate consume them.

The guard team pulled Council Leader Vorik into the dome; Seeran and Mikiel were the last to enter before the east gates were closed. The sound of bullets continued to hit the dome, followed by the sound of pings of the projectiles as they fell to the ground and bounced.

Council Leader Vorik looked through the dome at the men outside. There were only two standing. The third was on the ground. Even in the short length of time it took them to go back into the dome, the man who had collapsed was probably already dead. They couldn't see the man breathing; he lay still, his skin turning a slight grey.

Council Leader Vorik turned to the medic. "I need a medic to be stationed here at the gate in the event that they request help." Then turned to Seeran. "I need extra guards at this gate to protect the medics if they need to go outside the dome. I want all precautions taken to ensure their safety in case asking for help is a trap."

"Yes, sir," Seeran stated.

The medic nodded. "I will let Medic Kaul know a medic needs to be stationed here."

The young medic stepped back as Council Leader Vorik went to the lookout with Seeran and Mikiel.

"Sir, Council Leader Vorik wishes a medic stationed at the east gate. One of the men outside the dome in the camp has died. Council Leader Vorik wishes a medic to be ready at the east gate in the event they request help."

Medic Kaul's voice came through the comm link. "Stay at the east gate. I will send someone to relieve you as soon as I can."

"Yes, sir," the young medic responded and headed toward the lookout.

Hearing him approach, Council Leader Vorik turned to him.

"I am to stay here until another comes, sir," the medic stated. "I am Medic Dran," he introduced himself.

Mikiel took Medic Dran to an alcove near the gate so he could set up a medical area, so it would be ready in the event it was needed quickly. Mikiel helped him set up the station before going back to the lookout. Medic Dran sat in a chair inside the station so he could wait for either his replacement or for the humans outside the dome to request help, not feeling comfortable going back to the lookout to see what was going on outside the dome.

As Seeran and Council Leader Vorik watched. The men in the camp dragged their two dead to the back of the camp. They started digging a hole.

"Why are they digging a hole?" Seeran asked.

Council Leader Vorik looked over at Seeran. "Humans bury their dead."

"I didn't know that. I thought everyone burned them," Seeran stated quietly, watching the men dig.

As they watched the humans dig. They realize that they were digging one large hole. Hours later, when they were finished, they pulled the two bodies from the gate into the hole, then entered a tent at the far end of the camp. They dragged out four more bodies, adding them to the hole as well.

"They will have no one left if they don't let us help them," Vorik observed, watching the humans push dirt back into the hole. "There will be more. It would be easier for them to either burn them or wait to fill the hole. They will only have to dig another."

"You offered to help them, sir," Seeran said quietly. "We can do nothing more unless they allow us to help them."

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