The three aliens walked down the hidden tunnel and away from the hidden bunker. They needed to find a way to broadcast to the survivors. Not that if they did find a way, it would work. The humans would probably believe it to be a trap.

In the meantime, they would do their patrol, killing toxics and trying to help any human survivors they found without getting themselves killed. They liked what Shadick said they were calling them. Somehow it fits. Zombie was a good description.

Keirn walked ahead of the other two, scanning and surveying the area. A movement by the city's underground tunnel system caught his eye. He sniffed the air, trying to see if it was a zombie. It wasn't.

"There's someone over there. I can't tell if it's ours or humans," he told the others.

The three aliens carefully moved toward the entrance of the tunnel system, blasters at the ready. Right as they got to the entrance, a high-pitched scream sounded. A human girl came running toward them; she had a knife in her hand.

Xant and Keirn quickly disarmed her, trying like hell not to hurt the girl. She looked like she was eighteen in human years. They couldn't tell for sure. Her torn-up jeans and hiking boots were covered in dirt and grime.

"Easy," Keirn whispered gently to the young human. "We're not going to hurt you." He tried to keep his voice gentle.

The girl kicked out, desperately trying to get away. And then it happened. She made eye contact with Xant. Against her own will, she relaxed, her eyes not wavering from Xant. Keirn heard Xant gasp. "My mate," Xant whispered, nearly too low for them to hear.

Xant moved next to Keirn, bending down to look at the girl. "What is your name?" he asked gently.

Keirn and Vernisa watched him intently, not saying anything. This girl was Xant's, fated mate. They hoped they would find theirs too.

The girl swallowed hard. She was frozen in place, her eyes fixed on Xant. "Tina, Tina Hicks," she said quietly. Her eyes still were not wavering from Xant.

"We won't hurt you," he told her softly. "We have orders to help human survivors. Our mates are among your people. It appears that you are mine," he told her gently.

The girl suddenly squirmed, trying to sit up. Keirn helped her to sit but kept a firm grip on her so she wouldn't run. "Take your female," he told Xant.

Xant took Tina from Keirn, pulling her forward and closer to him. She eyed him wearily but didn't try to get away.

Xant smiled, trying not to scare her. She looked up at him, her green eyes turning dark with desire. "Are you alone?" he asked her softly. "You can come back with me if you want to. I won't force you to, but I want to make sure you're safe wherever you're staying." He told her, moving a strand of her bright red hair out of her green eyes. He loved her green eyes.

Tina swallowed hard again, not saying anything. She kept her eyes on Xant. Her gaze did not waver. She was finding it difficult to look away.

Xant sighed. "The three of us are assigned to this area. You can watch for us. We won't hurt you," he told her gently, absently stroking her hair. He slowly released her, and he stood up, no longer touching her. He felt the loss immediately. So did she.

Tina stayed on the ground, looking up at him. Xant bent down and gently pulled her up to her feet, then released her. He wasn't sure if she was going to run or not. He hoped she didn't. It didn't feel right forcing her.

Xant put out his hand; it was the moment of truth. "Will you come with us?" he asked gently. "We won't force you."

Tina looked at his hand, with clear conflict in her eyes. She wanted to take his hand, but didn't want to trust him. After what his people did to hers, he didn't blame her. Her face suddenly turned red, then she turned and bolted down the tunnels, disappearing from their sight.

Xant pulled his hand back slowly, disappointed. He stared at the ground.

"You'll find her again," Keirn told him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "This is our patrol. She may come out again."

"My mate didn't want me," Xant stated quietly. "She doesn't want to be with me because of what our people have done."

Xant, fighting the disappointment, turned and walked away silently.

With one last glance at the tunnel entrance, Vernisa and Keirn followed.

***

Tina Hicks stood in the shadows watching the three aliens. She watched mainly the one who called her his fated mate. She saw it. She felt it. It wasn't a lie.

Everything in her wanted to turn and run to him. She couldn't do that, though. She had to protect the others.

The tall, beautiful alien may be her fated mate, but she couldn't guarantee that he or the others would extend their help to those she protected. They had told her that this area was his patrol. She could watch him from a distance and decide if she could trust him to protect the others, too. With the others' lives at stake, she couldn't trust it until she knew for sure.

They had told her that they were helping the survivors. She wasn't sure how true that was. She hoped it was. She was tired of running scared. She had to worry about those zombie things, aliens, and other survivors that wanted what she had. She didn't have much, but they came in with weapons, wanting to take everything she had. Supplies were too hard to come by.

As she watched her alien's disappointment, something in her made her snap. She ran toward him, past the other two, and stopped a few feet away from him.

"I'm not alone," she called to him. "I have to protect the others."

Xant instantly stopped, turning slowly toward her. "We are to protect everyone we find, not just our fated mates," he told her quietly.

"Wait here," she told him, then ran back into the tunnel.

Xant, Keirn, and Vernisa waited for nearly twenty minutes before Tina reemerged.

Behind her were several other people, all looking incredibly scared. There were both adults and children present. They were all sucked in, all skin and bones due to a lack of food. Xant counted 13 total.

Lifting up his wrist, he spoke into his com unit. "We need a shuttle with food and supplies for a group of 13. One of them is my fated mate," he said, making sure they knew why he was going so far as to help them like that. He didn't really trust his people with his fated mate, either.

Another twenty minutes later, a shuttle arrived. The entire group kept their distance; Tina also, not wanting to leave her charges.

The shuttle landed, and the large door of the shuttle opened wide. Crates that were loaded on a hover device floated down to the ground. It was a hover deck. Several of the aliens began pulling boxes off the hover deck and setting them on the ground.

One of the aliens from the shuttle scanned the group. "Which one is your fated mate?" he asked Xant.

Xant couldn't help but smile in pride. He pointed to Tina, her bright red hair glistening in the sun.

The alien bowed to her. "It is nice to meet you. When we were told our mates were among your people, many of us were skeptical. Seeing it for ourselves is something entirely different. It gives us hope."

Other crew members in the shuttle peered out of the shuttle's wide door, looking at Xant's fated mate. They all wanted to witness it for themselves, too. What they had heard seemed too good to be true.

One of the crew members stuck his head out the open door and yelled from inside the shuttle. "Private Xant, is your mate coming back with you?"

"No, sir, she wants to stay with her people. She is responsible for them," he told the officer.

The officer nodded, then went back inside, out of sight.

After unloading all the boxes from the hover deck, the shuttle door closed, and the shuttle ascended back into the sky, disappearing out of sight.

Xant, Keirn, and Vernisa helped the small human group take the boxes back down into the tunnels. While they were down there, they made sure that they could close and lock barriers to keep marauders or zombies out if they needed to.

"I'll bring you a com unit tomorrow. I should have asked for one. You need to be able to get a hold of me," Xant told his mate. He gently pushed a strand of her red hair out of her eyes before turning and leaving. He wanted to do more, but he wanted to give her time to adjust.

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