Travis paced like a drill sergeant in front of his people. They were all human survivors of the invasion that he had found during his travels, avoiding the tall green aliens and fighting the creatures that were created in the aftermath of it. In the distance, they could see the large glistening dome protecting the city.

One of his many spies who were watching the dome had notified him that there were humans inside the dome, among the aliens.

From a distance, Travis and his colleagues watched as fleets of shuttles left the dome, each leaving in its own direction.

"What do you think they're doing?" His friend, Dan Wilson, asked, staring into the distance at the dome city and all of the shuttles as they spread out like a fan in all directions.

Travis gritted his teeth in annoyance. "I don't know what they're doing. I don't care. It's the only location we know where they live on the planet. We need to destroy them before more come down here, too," he spat. His hatred of the aliens that destroyed every city on Earth shone through. There was no way to hide it.

"Where's Sasha?" Travis bit out. He always kept watch over her.

A voice spoke behind him, coming closer. "I'm right here, Travis. What are you so hissy about this morning?" she asked sarcastically. It was too early for him to be acting like an angry douche. Not that he wasn't always one, because he was. It was just hidden beneath the surface in the morning. It normally came out after breakfast.

Travis looked behind him at his friend. Sasha had been working with him since the day he found her in a tunnel system, fighting off a group of creatures. One of his spies told him that the aliens and the humans that had 'sucked up' to them called them zombies. He had to admit that it was an accurate description. If they bite you, you turn into one.

He had been watching the dome for several days, now. A few days before he started watching it, a spy told him that a human girl had fought their leader, taking his head from his shoulders and killing his right-hand man. The stupid bitch gave the leadership to the Fleet Commander.

Taking him out of his thoughts, a hissing sound echoed in the distance, catching their attention. One of the shuttles flew swiftly back to the dome. For some strange reason, this particular shuttle made him feel off. Something about it felt...familiar.

"That one's early; I wonder why?" Travis breathed, holding in the familiar feeling he was getting. He folded his arms over his chest and watched the shuttle go back into the dome. Something about it felt urgent.

Pulling out his wireless radio, he called his spy, who had found his way inside the dome days before. "Tell me why that shuttle is early?"

"Yes, sir," came back over the radio.

Nearly ten minutes later, Travis's radio crackled, and his spy's voice came through. "They found a human survivor in a tunnel. It's a young female. At least, that's what she looks like from where I am. They're taking her to the clinic to be treated. It looks like they're in a rush. They came back because they were trying to save her. She looks like she's nearly dead already," the voice observed.

"Keep me informed," Travis ordered, then clicked the radio back onto his belt. His anger was growing. Another half-dead female. They needed as many females as they could to save their race. He stared at the dome in the distance with his teeth clenched.

Sasha looked at the dome and then at Travis. "What I don't get is why they're bothering to save her. They're the ones that hurt her. It's like they started to destroy this place, then changed their minds just before they finished, and then decided to try to help whoever was left. It doesn't make sense. I want to know why. What has changed?" Sasha told her friend. There was true puzzlement in her tone. She had been wondering why they had suddenly stopped attacking. The patrols changed their patterns. Now she was finding out they were doing what they could to save all those humans they found.

Travis turned his head, raising an eyebrow. "They like our females." He told her sarcastically.

Sasha rolled her eyes. Strangely enough, he believed what he said. She didn't. Something told her that there was something else going on. She just didn't know what it was.

"There are more than females with them," Dan told them. His tone was carefully neutral. He knew Travis had a short fuse and anything said could set him off. "I found out that they think they have imprinted mates or fated mates; some bull shit like that."

Sasha couldn't help it. She laughed outright. Her laughter echoed through their camp. It all sounded absurd. It was something out of a cheap paranormal romance novel. This was real life. Things like that just didn't happen.

Dan watched her laugh, still keeping his tone neutral. "There are human men with alien females and female humans with alien males. They all claim to be fated mates. Not just the aliens, but the humans as well." He was only informing what he had heard through the spies watching the dome.

"Wow," Sasha said sarcastically. "Somehow I find that hilarious how they all bought into that crap," Sasha continued to laugh. "What are they feeding them, some magic love potion or some shit like that? So what's the plan?"

"Tomorrow, we go to the dome and end anything with green skin." Travis looked between Dan and Sasha. "And anyone who doesn't have green skin who's protecting them," Travis growled.

Travis turned and walked away, not saying anything more. Dan and Sasha watched him leave. They knew that he wasn't always like that. He lost his family to the invasion, like everyone else. His parents and little sister were everything to him. Losing them destroyed him. All he wanted now was vengeance.

Sighing heavily, Sasha turned and headed to the tent. "I guess we need to prepare for tomorrow." Pausing, she turned and looked at Dan. "Coming?" she asked him. There was a small smile on her lips.

Dan followed behind, not saying anything.

Going into the weapons tent, Sasha chose several weapons, pulled a wet stone out of a large bin, and headed for the firepit where several of their people were cooking a pot of stew.

Sitting on a log near the fire, she wet her stone and slid it along the long blade of her machete. She had a twin pair, along with two sets of throwing knives in each boot. She needed to sharpen them, too. The scraping calmed her. She didn't know why.

Travis, appearing out of nowhere, sat next to her. "Be careful tomorrow. Okay?" he told her. His tone was carefully controlled.

Sasha smiled. "I didn't know you cared."

Travis stared at her for a moment before answering. "We are short on females. We can't grow our race without them. All females are important. Not just you."

Shasha groaned inwardly. "I will not have babies to repopulate the earth. I refuse to be a baby-making machine. No one will touch me. At least not until I find someone I want to be with," she spat at him. Then added. "When I find someone, it will be me who decides if I'm going to have children. Not you."

Travis stood up, his gaze going around the camp. Something about it was sinister. "When this is over, all females will do their part."

Sasha watched Travis walk away. Her eyes narrowed in anger as she watched. She would leave his group and go to the aliens instead if he tried to force her. Almost anything was better than being used to make babies with no other purpose and no love whatsoever. She always had that underlying feeling that Travis was more than he seemed. The longer she stayed with his group, the more she felt it: His carefully controlled emotions...Even when he spoke, his tone was carefully controlled. It made her nervous.

Travis's plan to force all of the females into being a baby-making factory was out there. Nearly everyone in the camp had heard at least once about it. He had also decided it would take place as soon as they had killed all the aliens in the dome. That meant that if Travis's plan succeeded tomorrow, the baby factory would start tomorrow. She needed a plan to avoid the second part of his plan, and she needed it quickly.

With more vigor, mostly out of anger and fear of their leader, she sharpened her blades, worried that she wouldn't be able to avoid Travis's plan to repopulate. She needed a plan to sneak out or leave during the chaos. She wasn't sure of what to do, but she needed to keep her eyes open for any opportunity to escape. Travis was one of those who would hunt anyone who left his group. She had seen what he did. It wasn't pretty.

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