Jamie stood beside Alice as she lay unconscious from the sedative. Lera was standing next to him as they watched her closely. She had her arm wrapped around her mate while they watched Alice sleep. They knew that they had to keep an eye on her. Her blood needed to be cleansed each time she began to show signs of changing. It was happening more frequently as time passed.

Jamie's comm link buzzed, causing him to flinch.

"They are flooding the tunnel system with a chemical incinerator; Take precautions if there are any," Merrick stated through the comm.

Jamie's face paled. "Thanks for the warning," he stated, then quickly went into action.

Going first to Shadick, who was the one who would know the most about the situation. "They're currently setting up to flood the tunnels with a chemical incinerator. Merrick called, saying to take precautions if there are any. Is there any?" he asked Shadick, unable to hide his panic. Being chemically incinerated didn't sound like a good way to go.

Shadick's face paled. He didn't have time to answer. He ran at full speed into a storage room and brought out several canisters. Handing one to Jamie, Zack, Joe, and Xant. His face was getting paler by the second, and panic radiated from him so thickly that they could feel it.

They all followed Shadick with their canisters, trying to see what he was doing. Shadick quickly used the canister, spraying a thick foam barrier, and using it to seal it all the way around the hidden door, making it airtight. "All the entryways, vents, and ducts leading outside the city need to be sealed. NOW!" he said, then added. "You're going to want to run. If you miss even one, we all die."

They all took off, heading for all the tunnel entrances and air shafts. Blocking them with metal sheets, then sealing them with the thick foam inside the canisters. They sealed the vents and ducts everywhere they could find one. Then rushed around making sure they didn't miss any.

They had sealed the last opening when the hissing sound started, echoing off the tunnel's walls. It went on for a long time as it filled the tunnels and chambers with its chemical.

Shadick ran back into the storage room, taking out several devices, setting them down individually, and activating them. A small light came on, sucking old air from the room through a vent in the device and pushing clean air out.

"It filters the air and pushes fresh oxygen out so we can breathe. The greenhouse is opened to help with that, but we need to ensure we all have enough oxygen," Shadick explained. "We have a lot of people in here that need to breathe."

Once everything was set up, they could only wait and hope they didn't miss anything because they would all die if they did miss even one vent or crack that led outside of the city.

The hissing sound got louder as they all waited. It felt like hours, yet it was only about twenty minutes. A sudden whooshing sound roared through the tunnel, lasting only a few minutes, then a sizzling sound was heard.

"What's happening?" Joe asked Shadick. Everyone nearby bent forward, listening to his response. Shadick knew a lot more than many of the others because he was at a higher rank than they were. He was privy to information that a lot of the other officers weren't.

"This hissing sound is the gas filling the tunnels. That whooshing sound was the gas igniting, and the sizzling was things burning, turning to ash." Shadick explained. His face was still pale. He was looking around the room, worried that even a small hole had been missed.

As the sizzling sound continued, Alice started to wake up. She looked around at everyone. "What's happening?" she asked no one in particular.

Medic Kaul quickly scanned her and started the device to remove more toxins; the toxins kept building up. It was a never-ending cycle. Kaul wasn't sure he could keep up with the toxins.

*** *** *** ***

Fleet Commander Vorik stood watching Tosh's men set up the chemical incinerator. His gaze was locked on the tunnel entrance as they worked. They had used the truth serum on him, trying to find where the humans and their mates were hiding. Thankfully, it was a public interrogation. This let everyone know what was going on. They knew that Tosh would kill both them and their human mate if they discovered they had one.

He was also relieved to have stated during the interrogation that the mate bond was sacred, which was why the attacks on the planet and the remaining human population ceased. He hoped that what he was forced to say during the interrogation made many of the others think. Perhaps even rise up against Council Leader Tosh and his lack of respect for the mate bond.

Council Leader Tosh had sent a team into the tunnels to exterminate those who lived in the hidden city. Vorik was relieved when the teams had returned, reporting they found no hidden city in the tunnel system. They had only encountered a lone zombie with red blood on its mouth and a cracked skull.

Vorik was fearful that the red blood was Alice's. His worry had escalated the moment they were told of the dead zombie. He didn't know if it was hers, and there was no way he could find out. Merrick knew there was a tunnel city, but not where it was. Alice didn't even know. They had kept a lot of information from them because of the truth serum.

Council Leader Tosh was angry that they couldn't find the human city, calling his men incompetent. That was when he had ordered the chemical burnout of the entire tunnel system under the guise that there was an infestation of zombies. One lone dead zombie was not an infestation. Vorik could think of no way those in the tunnel could survive the chemical incineration process.

When he first arrived on the surface, Vorik was relieved that he had found Merrick right away. He didn't want to have to send someone else. He didn't trust anyone else at the moment. Even though Merrick was his personal pilot, during the chemical interrogation, his name was never revealed due to the questions that were asked. It was something that he was thankful for.

When he had given the order to evacuate the homes that surrounded the tunnel's entrance, he made sure that Pilot Merrick had all the information he needed to warn those in the tunnels if it was possible. He knew it wouldn't help, but thought if there was something they were keeping from him because of the truth serum, he would at least put the information out there.

Merrick showed no sign that he was working with him. Vorik wanted him to know that the men surrounding him were handpicked by Tosh to keep an eye on him and to watch for anyone who appeared upset that the tunnels were being flushed out with the chemical incinerator. Even Merrick didn't flinch when he gave him the order and told him why.

With his eyes still fixed on the tunnel entrance, they started the incinerator. The loud hissing echoed through the dome as it spat out the chemical fog. The longer it ran, the more fearful he became. He worried about Alice. He knew if she had gone with him, she would already be dead. At least, in the tunnels, there was a slight chance of her survival. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Because he is being forced to watch his mate's safe haven being burned. He decided that he needed to rise up against Tosh. He clenched his jaw as he thought about it. He knew that he would kill Tosh for killing his mate and all the other humans and pairs hiding in the tunnels. Tosh would die for this. He would make sure of it.

Merrick suddenly appeared. "Sir, they are asking when it is safe to return to their home," he stated.

Letting the anger at Tosh and his men soak through his reply, Vorik looked at Merrick with his anger-filled eyes. "We," he stated, making a show of scanning the surrounding men. "Will dismiss everyone back to their homes when it is safe. So do your job and keep them from breaking the line," he ordered.

"Yes, Fleet Commander," Merrick replied formally, before he dashed off to follow his orders.

The hissing sound finally ceased after twenty minutes, then the whooshing of the flame as the fog ignited. Flames shot out of the tunnel entrance, blowing the incinerator device backwards. The sound of sizzling followed, and the smell of burnt flesh floated out of the tunnel.

Vorik could feel the blood draining out of his face. He was sure Alice and all the others were dead. The smell of burning flesh was theirs.

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