Julian stood in the dorm-style room with all of the men and women who ran with him toward the dome and away from Travis Nichols. Since they had run, they were all in constant fear that Travis would come after them. Not to mention all the zombies that attacked them on their way to the dome; It was fortunate none of them had been hurt or bitten by the zombies during their journey.

He had been relieved to hear that the aliens had Travis trapped in an electrified plasma barrier so that he couldn't get out. For all of them, Travis trapped was a good thing. That was one less thing that he and his people had to worry about.

Looking around at his people, he was surprised by how well they were treated, knowing that they had recently been firmly on Travis's side. Or at least they acted like they were, fearful of what Travis would do if he found out otherwise. The entire group had been fed, checked for injuries, showered, and given a warm bed to sleep in by the aliens. It wasn't something he would have expected. He had expected to be put in prison until they determined whether they were trustworthy or not. He was glad he was wrong.

There were a lot of them that ran from Travis, including himself, trying to get away from him. Travis had become increasingly deranged in his thinking. His normal, constant anger was turning into rage. He was becoming more than unhinged. It scared him.

Julian kept playing it over in his mind; it was redundant in his thinking. He was shocked that they had been given clean clothes and a warm bed. Food was delivered as well, and it wasn't alien or human flesh. Since none of them had eaten the stew, Travis tried to serve them; they were all hungry. The room they were in even had a shower so they could clean themselves. He was also happy to find out that the shower never ran out of hot water.

He kept looking back at all they had been given and studied the men and women who came with him and realized that his people slowly began to relax, small smiles playing on their tired faces. He could tell that they were pleased with the outcome of coming to the dome for sanctuary.

The door to the dorm slid open, and Council Leader Vorik, the alien leader, stepped inside the dorm. Julian watched as Vorik scanned the room with purpose, his gaze landing on him, and headed over. He must have been the one he was looking for.

Stopping in front of Julian, Council Leader Vorik spoke. "I need you to come with me," he stated. "We need to stop at the clinic and go to the East Gate."

Julian, not sure what this was about, immediately tensed up; something about the request the alien leader was asking of him made him nervous. They may have been taken care of so far, but that didn't mean that all was peachy. Jullian scanned his people nervously. He didn't want to leave his people behind. He felt responsible for all of them. It was he who led them here.

"Your people will be fine," Council Leader Vorik stated, seeming to understand Julian's nervousness and his reluctance to leave his people alone. "We need to stop at the clinic so the Medic can ask you some questions. The situation at the East gate with Travis is not yet resolved. We need some insight into the men and women who came with him," he explained.

Julian scanned his people, reluctantly nodded, and followed Vorik to the med clinic. His mind wandered. He was fearful about leaving his people alone. Thoughts of being separated and something happening to them that he wasn't there to prevent crossed his mind. His paranoia was at full force.

After they had reached their first destination, which was the clinic, they went inside. As they stepped inside the clinic, Julian noted the man in the cage and recognized him. "I wondered where you went," Julian told the man in the cage.

Before Julian could say anything else, Vorik cut him off. "He tried to kill Hope Nicols, Travis's little sister, and Dan Wilson," Vorik stated sternly as he kept walking. "He is a spy working for Travis."

Julian looked at the man in the cage in shock. He hadn't known that the man was a spy. It explained his predicament. He now understood why he was caged like an animal. Bound in a way, he couldn't move and was completely naked. He wanted to know why he was naked, but was interrupted before he could ask.

The medic approached Julian, holding a scanner. "I need to scan you," the medic told him. "I also need your permission to scan the rest of your people. So far, we have found two people with immunity to the zombie toxin. We are trying to create a vaccine and a cure," he explained. "I am Medic Kaul," he introduced himself as if it were an afterthought.

Julian nodded, allowing the alien medic to scan him. They had already scanned him once, but they were looking for injuries or illness. Not some immunity to the zombie virus. Medic Kaul quickly scanned him and then looked at the scanner's small screen, studying it. "Not immune," he stated, disappointed. "After the situation is over at the East Gate, I will scan the rest of your people, with your permission, of course."

An overwhelming protectiveness for his people washed over him. "I want to be there," Julian stated evenly. "When you scan them, I want to be there."

Medic Kaul nodded, then smiled. "Of course."

Council Leader Vorik pulled Julian out of the clinic before he could ask anything else. The Medic spoke about immunity to the zombie toxin; he wanted to ask questions. It would be a spectacular idea if the medic could find a vaccine or a cure for them.

Vorik, seeing the look on Julian's face, explained. "Medic Kaul thinks he can cure the zombies, so we don't have to kill them. One has been cured already. He was the one who helped her," Vorik explained.

Julian, shocked by this news, looked over at Council Leader Vorik. "He fixed a zombie?" he asked in disbelief.

Vorik smiled. "Yes, he did. She is now mated to my pilot." There was pride in his voice when he spoke about the pair.

"Forced?" Julian asked, with sudden suspicion, not sure how the mating between the two races was. The question had slipped out. Now he was afraid he had offended the alien leader.

"No, we don't force the mating bond. The two know they are a mated pair the moment they look at each other," Council Leader Vorik explained. "It is difficult to explain what happens. You must experience it for yourself to truly understand the bond."

Julian still did not understand. He kept quiet, not wanting to ask.

As they approached the East Gate. Julian saw a male alien and a human female with long, raven-black hair looking through binoculars at what appeared to be a pulsing plasma barrier.

"Travis's group is stuck in a trap. Aleigha was able to shoot him with a high-powered human rifle. We need to know if all of his men were 100% behind him, or did they fear him as you and your group," Vorik explained.

"Aleigha?" Julian asked. "Your people shoot our weapons?"

Council Leader Vorik watched Aleigha come closer. "That is Aleigha, who was the one Medic Kaul cured of being a zombie. She is mated to Merrick, my pilot," he smiled proudly. "She also acts as a self-proclaimed bodyguard and is quite skilled in weapons and battle strategies."

Julian watched as the human girl with long raven-colored hair and emerald-green eyes walked up to him. She looked like the girl who was looking through a pair of binoculars. "I'm Aleigha. You must be Julian," she stated, smiling. She saw him look between Niki and herself. "That's Niki. She's my sister," Aleigha explained quickly, rolling her eyes.

Julian nodded. "You shot Travis?" he asked.

"Yes, now I need to know if all of them out there think like him. We want to save as many of them as we can, but we know that's not possible. We're going to have to fight them sooner or later. So, we can either shoot to kill or shoot to neutralize. We prefer to shoot to neutralize."

"You want me to tell you who to shoot?" Julian asked, horrified. He felt his body tensing up. He was about to vomit up the meal that was recently served to him at the thought of what he had heard.

Aleigha rolled her eyes again. "No, Julian. You know them. We don't. I want ideas on how to save as many as we can. I don't want them coming into this city if we can't trust them not to attack us."

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