There was silence in the bunker, no one speaking. Jamie and Alice had packed a bag, ready to go to the tunnels. Shadick and Zack hadn't even gone out to find the patrol yet.

The fact that they were already packed and ready to go didn't bode well with the rest of the group. It was clear they were anxious to leave their friends and brother behind.

Shadick and Zack walked toward the big metal door, blasters in their holsters, a sharpened set of machetes strapped to their back. They may not have to worry about aliens, which was yet to be determined, but they did have to worry about zombies and marauders.

Carrie closed the door, leaving a crack to keep an eye down the tunnel. Jamie and Alice waited on the sofa next to the big metal door. They all waited for Shadick and Zack to return with the news.

***

Shadick and Zack walked down the tunnel toward the hidden entrance; their goal was to find Xant, Keirn, and Vernisa so they could see about adding Alice and Jamie to Xant's mate's group of survivors.

Climbing through the hidden entrance, they peered up at the sky, waiting for any sign of the shuttle that would drop the three patrol privates off. They could go to the tunnels and ask the survivors themselves, but they decided that they might be mistaken for marauders who were after their supplies. They didn't want that.

A loud humming sounded. Zack and Shadick looked up. The shuttle was descending. They backed away into the shadows, careful not to be seen, and watched as the shuttle landed.

The three patrol privates exited the shuttle, then it flew back off, leaving the three aliens standing, looking up at it.

As soon as the shuttle was out of sight, Shadick and Zack headed toward the three patrol privates.

As they got close, the three patrols heard them; turning quickly, they raised their blasters as one. Once they saw who was heading their way, they re-holstered their blasters and then walked toward them, meeting them halfway.

"We didn't mean to startle you," Zack began. "We came out because we needed to talk to you."

Keirn stepped forward. "You didn't startle us," he said. "It's too dangerous to respond to unknown sounds any other way."

Shadick crossed his arms, one eyebrow raised. "Ok," he couldn't keep the sarcasm out of his words. "We have a human couple that wants to join Xant's mate's group. The female is having difficulty with our kind. The male wishes to take her away to appease her," he continued. "We were wishing that Xant would speak with his mate about allowing them to join them."

"Yeah, I'll ask her. They have children with them, so it is doubtful they will want outsiders. I will vouch for them if that helps," Xant offered.

The group turned and headed for the tunnels. Just before getting there, Xant stopped. "Wait here; I'll go alone first."

The rest of the group watched as Xant ran through the tunnel entrance and then disappeared out of sight.

Twenty minutes later, he reemerged with a short red-haired girl.

The girl eyed Shadick and Zack. "Are you two a couple or something?" she asked.

Zack chuckled. "No. This is Shadick, my sister's mate. My mate is also like him; her name is Shelia," he said, smiling. "We have one human couple and three mixed couples amongst us. Our human couple is having issues with our non-human mates. Mainly Alice. Jamie is annoyed with her behavior but believes that the only way to appease her is to get her out of there. We wanted to see if you would let them join you."

The red-haired girl studied him for a moment, then her hand shot out. "I'm Tina. I lead a small group totaling 13. Take me to your friends. I want to talk to them first; then, I want to talk to my people. If I don't like them, then no. If I do and my people don't like them, then no. All decisions are brought to our entire group," she said firmly.

Shadick smiled at hearing this. "Zack is our leader. He runs things the same way. Everything goes through the entire group before a decision is made."

Tina looked up at Shadick; he was the tallest that any of them had encountered at an impressive seven feet six inches. She smiled widely and then made a shooing motion with her hands. "Let's go, take me to them; I don't got all day," she said, urging them forward.

Zack chuckled again; he liked this girl. He could tell that she was a really good leader. Zack and Shadick led the girl, Tina, down the secret tunnel up to the giant metal security door.

"Oh, this is cool," she said, eyeing the bunker door. "I'm impressed. Somebody was ready."

The door opened wide, and Carrie came out, going straight to Shadick. He wrapped her in his arms, bending down and kissing her gently.

Tina watched, longing in her green eyes. She wanted to be open like that, too.

Zack walked through the security door, ushering the rest to follow; once in, he yelled. "Everyone in the control room! We have guests!" Zack looked at Tina and shrugged. "Our bunker is small."

The first one in was Shelia, who went straight to Zack, who wrapped his arm around her and bent up slightly to kiss her in greeting. Tina watched the two couples with interest. She liked their closeness and how gentle they were with each other.

Next came Joe and Nisa, who nodded slightly at the guests and then sat on a sofa together. Joe kept a hand on Nisa but didn't move to kiss her like the other two couples. Tina noticed how he gently stroked her hand with his thumb. He loved her. She wondered if they were just shy and didn't like PDA. (Public Displays of Affection.)

Last came Jamie and Alice. They came in together, not touching like the other three couples. They sat on one of the sofas after they acknowledged the new arrivals. They sat together but did not cuddle up like the other three. It made her wonder if the two were even still together.

Zack looked at Tina, smiling. "This is my group. The blond is my twin sister, Carrie; Her mate is Shadick. Those two on the sofa are Joe and his mate, Nisa. This is my mate, Shelia. The human couple over there is Jamie, Joe's brother, and his girlfriend Alice. It's Jamie and Alice who want to join your group. Everyone, this is Tina. She leads the other group," Zack introduced.

"Hi, y'all," she said, waving. Then she looked at Jamie and Alice. "Why do you want to join my group?" she asked them. She rested her hands on her hips as if the question was a challenge.

Jamie looked at her. "I don't really, because I don't want to leave my brother."

Tina smiled at that; her eyes moving to Alice. Alice was folding her arms defiantly. "I don't want to be here anymore," Alice spat out.

"Why?" Tina probed, not letting her get away with her non-answer.

Alice moved her eyes over the alien/human couples. "That's why. It's not right to mix like that," she said evenly.

Tina intentionally moved to Xant and put her arm around him. "This one is mine," she said firmly. "You would be leaving one set for another," she said, her voice challenging.

Xant couldn't help himself; he bent down and kissed her on top of her head, and pulled her closer. Alice watched with disgust.

Tina kept her eyes trained on Alice the entire time. "So, is it that you don't like us mixing, or is it because you're jealous?" Tina asked, one eye raised.

Tina wasn't the only one watching Alice. Her face turned red as she looked away from Tina's scrutinizing green eyes.

"That's it, isn't it? It's not the mixing; it's because you're jealous, isn't it?" Carrie asked.

Alice's face turned redder as she looked away.

"Wow!" Tina told her sarcastically. "I'm looking at your man there. I don't see shit wrong with him. I'm surprised he even stays with you. You're kind of a bitch."

Alice tried to stand up, getting defensive over Tina calling her out. Jamie pulled her back down. "Stop it!" Jamie hissed at Alice.

Tina chuckled. "I've seen enough," she said. "I think y'all should work out your issues. I don't want to bring that shit back home with me. It's hard enough living right now as it is; I got to say no."

Tina watched the relief wash through Jamie's features before he quickly hid it. It made her smile. He was willing to sacrifice his happiness to make his girlfriend happy. She liked that. Too bad the girl would never be happy. She hoped he would find someone more worthy of him.

Keirn, Vernisa, and Xant walked out of the bunker; Tina was tightly clutched around Xant as they headed out of the secret tunnel and back outside.

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