The Oasis (17 page)

Chapter Twelve

They drove in silence—not that Lena could talk over the noise of the engine. They were going to have to ditch the motorcycle soon. With the free man coming closer and no way of knowing who else was following them, it was better to be stealthy than efficient.

Lena couldn’t help but be glad that although Jasper didn’t want her to go with him, he wasn’t exactly kicking her off the bike. The change of direction gave her hope that he was coming to his senses. It wasn’t really a matter of what was best for her, now that their time was limited.

Jasper knew that he needed to get to work on the cure as quickly as possible. Eric would be on them before they knew it and his body had already been through hell. He honestly didn’t think he or Lena would survive another attack. It had been more than forty-eight hours since he had gotten any decent sleep and his arm really needed medical attention.

“Where are we going?” Lena yelled after a bit.

“We need to make a quick stop.” Jasper didn’t want to yell and they were right around the corner from the armory. If they needed anything it was going to be a shitload of weapons. This time, he was going to face those sons of bitches packing a lot of heat.

He pulled the bike to the side of the building. They didn’t need it any more and he didn’t want to draw any more attention to the building than necessary. Hopping off the bike, he headed for the entrance.

Lena was left on the motorcycle, staring at his back. She wasn’t sure where they were. She watched as he tried to open the door.

“What are we doing now?” she asked, not really surprised that the door was locked. The look on Jasper’s face told her that he wasn’t either.

“Come on,” he tapped her arm gently and she followed him around the building.

The windows were barred, as were those in all the buildings around them.

As they approached the back of the building, Lena smiled as Jasper turned to her, pointing. “Ta-da!” he said and she couldn’t help but laugh. There, in the side of the building, was a gigantic hole. Someone had obviously been there before and was now inadvertently helping them get inside.

“How?” she asked when he winked at her.

“Who knows. There was a lot of chaos here near the end.”

She nodded as he climbed over the rubble.

Looking over the destitution of the rest of the base, she wasn’t sure how they would have managed to get into the building if there hadn’t been the hole.

Walking through the halls, she realized where they were. It was some kind of office building.

“When things got bad, they moved the weapons and ammo over here.”

When they entered an office suite, Jasper lifted a tarp off an arsenal of weapons. Every kind of weapon Lena could think of was there, and some that she hadn’t seen before. Some weapons were obviously for the Special Forces and not for the average soldier.

He picked up a gun, cocked it and set it on the table.

Lena sat back and watched him work, her eyes following the muscles on his arms as they rippled under the weight of some of the weapons.

Suddenly she realized that now was the best time to discuss what was going to happen next. “Listen, Jasper,” she said but he didn’t stop his packing. “I’m going with you.”

She raised her hand when he arched an eyebrow in her direction, the only indicator that he was even listening to her. “I know what you want to say. ‘I want to keep you safe.’” She imitated Jasper’s voice as best she could. Trying not to laugh, she continued when he rolled his eyes at her impression of him. “Seriously.” She stepped towards him and pressed her hand to his chest, stilling his actions. “I
am
coming with you.”

He raised his hand and ran his finger caressingly along her collarbone. Her eyes followed his to her chest as his finger traced the lines of her shirt. He dropped his head and let his mouth trail where his fingers had just been.

Letting her head fall back, she moaned as his mouth traced along her breastbone. He pulled her body to his and lifted her onto the table. He pressed his hips between her open legs as he continued his assault on her body. She didn’t try to stop him or push him away. As he pulled her closer, his mouth trailed up her neck and found her lips. He kissed her and she let her hands explore the contours of his back. His tongue stroked hers and he longed to be inside her.

Although he knew their time together was short, he quickly unfastened her pants and pulled them off. Next he unbuttoned her shirt, giving him full access to her lovely body. He lowered her back to the table and let his mouth explore her curves. His tongue trailed between her breasts and dropped down to her belly button. He lingered there as she gasped from his touch.

Her mind was racing but Lena couldn’t put two thoughts together. As Jasper made love to her body, she thought about all the times she had wanted him since they had met. Their eyes met and she let her hands drift into his hair. She lightly twisted one of his dreads between her fingers then let it fall. Her head fell back as his mouth found her core.

Through her panties, he caressed her and his mouth drove her to madness. She moaned out his name as he made love to her through the thin fabric.

“Jasper, please,” she whispered as she felt like she was going to explode on the table.

Instantly he was on top of her, pulling off her the rest of her clothes. His desire heightened. Unfastening his own pants, he pressed the tip of his shaft against her. Closing her eyes, she was more than ready for him as he felt her wetness for him. Looking down at her through hooded lids, he saw her body convulse under him. It drove him crazy to see her, her head rocking back and forth as she moaned under him.

Rubbing against him, she desperately wanted him inside of her. When she opened her eyes he was staring down at her, memorizing every inch of her body as it quivered for him. “Jasper, I want you.”

He was inside of her before she finished the sentence. Their bodies rocked together as he let his hands fall to her exposed breasts. He rubbed her nipples until she moaned with ecstasy.

He felt himself reaching the peak of his own lust. Her head had fallen back and her hair had come loose and he grabbed for it as he pressed his lips to hers.

“Lena, I…” his words were lost as he continued to thrust into her.

Lena exploded with pleasure, her body pulsing against his. Floating high, she held onto Jasper’s shoulders as she let herself go.

He soon joined her as he released inside of her. His head arched back and he called out her name as he filled her completely. Their union complete and fulfilling, he fell on top of her and let himself go entirely.

Wrapping her arms around him, she held onto him, letting her own needs be filled. As much as she wanted to be able to lose herself in him, all too soon reality came crashing back in. She knew he wanted to lie there with her too. She held him for a moment longer, then released him when he pulled away.

He helped her up and hesitantly pulled up his pants. He turned back to his preparations, leaving no time for talking. Lena wasn’t even sure what could have been said. She knew that their lives were in danger and that the fate of millions rested on the completion of their mission. She didn’t have time for childish fantasies of normalcy. Not that a normal relationship was even possible now.

Sighing, she got dressed quickly and helped gather the weapons. Throwing herself into the work, she tried not to think about Jasper between her legs, but his image kept creeping back and she had to bite her lip to stop a moan from escaping.

Pulling the last of the guns onto the table, Jasper turned towards Lena, who was standing still, openly staring at him. He smiled and pulled her to him for one last kiss. Their lips lingered on each other’s.

“We gotta get going.”

His words brought her back to the real work once again. “Jasper, I’m going with you,” she repeated. He kept his mouth shut and let her speak her piece. “I know what you are thinking.”

“You do?” He tried to hold in a chuckle.

“Yes, you are trying to protect me. But listen,” she held up her hand to stop him from interrupting her. “I’m coming with you no matter what you say. For once in your stubborn life you need to realize that you are going to need my help. Together we can do this.” She stopped, staring at him, threatening him to try and tell her she wasn’t going.

Shaking his head, he rested his hand on her waist. “You’re right.”

“There is nothing you can say,” Lena continued, prepared for a fight. “Wait… What?” The meaning of his words finally dawned on her. “I’m right?”

He laughed and kissed her cheek. “Come on. We have a lot to do and little time.”

Narrowing her eyes, she was instantly back on the alert. “I’m not going with you if you plan on tying me up somewhere.”

No longer able to contain his laughter, Jasper smiled at her. “I promise not to tie you up. Yet.” She paused mid-step and looked into his eyes, full of humor. “Come on,” he repeated, pulling her along.

* * * * *

Lena’s body was covered with weapons. A Berretta automatic machine gun on her back was loaded and ready to fire. Two holstered pistols crisscrossed her chest. She had an AK-63 automatic rifle on one leg and a long knife on the other. A bulletproof vest covered her chest and a holster with magazine clips was wrapped around her waist. The weight of the weapons was intense.

Jasper didn’t break a sweat even though he carried much more than she did. Half the weapons he was wearing were unlike any she had ever seen. They looked ready to start a two-person war, and in a sense that was exactly what they were doing.

Jasper nodded at Lena, and they quickly made their way across the base. They left the motorcycle, knowing that they would blend better into the environment—and make much less noise—without it.

Jasper’s SEAL training came into play instantly. He was stealthy and quick in his movements and he kept the gun in his hand raised. He carried a sniper rifle, keeping his eyes out for not only any
others
who made it through the wire fences but also for the other SEALs.

Lena followed his actions as closely as she could. Stumbling once, she righted herself without Jasper’s help, while he didn’t take his eyes off their destination. Ahead of them, the O.A.S.I.S. lay. A sign outside distinguished it from the other similar looking buildings. There was evidence that Eric and his men had once been there. Small camp fires, and flattened areas that might have held tents, outside the front door looked as if they had been abandoned long ago. If Eric’s men had once waited there, expecting Jasper to return to the O.A.S.I.S., they had deserted their posts years ago. She knew that right now, everything depended on them getting to that safe.

Jasper slowed his pace to allow her to keep up with him. Although he was packing twice the number of weapons, he knew that she was doing the best she could and they had to stick together.

They reached the lab building quickly and Jasper went around back. Reaching up, he slid a window open.

“Okay, I’m gonna lift you up first. Keep your gun ready on the other side.”

She nodded and stepped into his clasped hands. She struggled but pulled her body over the ledge and tumbled into the room. Jasper was in the room before she could right herself.

“Silly girl,” he whispered and tossed her a cocky smile before looking around. The room they’d landed in was probably used for some kind of storage. Boxes lined the walls in no apparent order. Leading the way, Jasper stealthily led her down a short hallway. Reaching the end, they entered a room filled with microscopes and other medical equipment. She didn’t know what half the stuff was.

Nodding at Lena, Jasper quickly headed out of the door. They’d already discussed the plan. She was supposed to keep an eye out for any
others
who might have made it into the facility, as well as for the free man.

She slowly walked around the room, stepping over decayed bodies.

“Eww,” Lena whispered, her face puckering at the sight. No matter how much she saw death, she never got used to it.

Suddenly the lights flickered on, startling her. She raised her gun and looked carefully around the room.

“It’s me,” Jasper said, and re-entered the room slowly. He winked at her and got to work.

Crossing the room, Jasper was easily able to locate the vault that Dr. Pinkerson had mentioned. He entered the numbers that the good doctor had given to him. Inside he followed the written instructions to a T, even though he had studied the lab book through countless nights. By now he could probably recite it. But he had never done any kind of lab work before and he knew that if Dr. Pinkerson hadn’t kept a journal of the development of both the virus and the cure, then someone like Jasper could never have duplicated it.

Opening what was probably a refrigeration unit, though now of course it was no colder than the rest of the facility, he saw a few labeled dishes. He found the one marked “H5-37”—the virus. Studying it, he was mesmerized by the fact that such a simple thing could cause so much destruction. Next to it, he found the dish he was looking for. Casually he tossed the H5-37 dish into the trash. Lighting a match, he tossed it into the garbage can as well and let it burn. There was no way he could allow
anyone
—and that included his fellow SEALs—to have access to such a deadly virus.

His anger about the desolation of what had happened came bubbling up. Such a small thing, the Petri dish. It was almost humorous how insignificant destroying it seemed. Someone could have prevented this from happening a long time ago, but instead people like Eric held on to the misguided idea of becoming rulers of the free world. Free world indeed.

Looking across the room, he saw Lena walking around. Half the stuff she wore he knew she had no clue how to use. This was what it had come to. Pretending to be badass because the real badasses had betrayed them. He shook his head. It didn’t matter. In the end they were only human and frankly that was all that mattered. He would do anything to get Lena the hell out of there.

Turning back to his work, he let his mind focus on the task at hand, which was pretty difficult. Time had marred a lot of the equipment and all he could hope for was that the generator most medical facilities were equipped with would last long enough for him to get a single dose made. Replication from there was easy; it was the initial duplication that required some care.

Lena slowly walked the perimeter of the room, checking for any movement. Weapon in hand, she was cocked and ready to go. Jasper hovered over a microscope trying to get a cure. She wasn’t even sure if this plan would work.

The minutes passed away. She had walked the room enough times that she found herself counting her steps. Needless to say, she had expected a little more action. Finally, she decided to check the other rooms. No reason to keep circling the same area over and over. Jasper had weapons as well and he was a big boy.

The lights in the hallways flickered on and off. There was no sound and, from the low number of bodies, it seemed that the place had been mostly evacuated prior to things getting bad. Studying the area, she tried to stay alert. On the floor outside one of the other rooms, she saw a hand sitting on the floor. The fingers seemed to still be decaying.

Not too surprising
, she thought. Before they had come along the building was locked up and dark. Not too much around to eat away at the body. She walked over to it and saw that it was only a hand; the rest of the body was nowhere to be found.

Before she could turn to check out the rest of the building, something sprang at her from behind. It was an
other
.

Thrashing her body from side to side, she tried to get out of his grip. His shirt was tattered and dirty and he was clearly missing a hand—the one on the floor was his, then, presumably.

Lena fought him off. He seemed weakened and she managed to slip out from between his arms. If he’d had his other hand he might not have been as easy to slip away from. As she backed away, she was able to see him more clearly. His hair was dirty and he was very thin. Somehow he must have gotten stuck inside the building. God only knew how long he had been living there, and eating who knows what.

There was no way she was going to leave him wandering the halls while they worked, but she realized she couldn’t bring herself to kill him either. He seemed so pathetic…and Jasper was at that moment working on a cure. How could she kill this man now, if they might be able to cure him soon instead?

He slowly made his way towards her, probably trying to evaluate how he could eat her. She shuddered and moved quickly out of his grasp. He was weak from starvation. She twisted behind him, raised the butt of her rifle and slammed into the back of his head, knocking him out.

He fell to the ground with a thud.

“Damn it,” she said and hesitated in front of the body. She couldn’t leave him on the floor. Just then he moved a little. Shaking her head in exasperation, she grabbed his feet and pulled him into the nearest office. He was heavier than she had anticipated, especially since he seemed so emaciated. She didn’t want to kill him, not if maybe they could give him some of the cure. What mattered until then was getting him locked up so he couldn’t attack them while their backs were turned.

She managed to get him into the room and was reaching to shut to door when another one attacked her from behind. This
other
seemed stronger than the one who now lay on the floor.

“Fuck!” She struggled again. The
other
’s teeth were bared and, from what she could see, half of his face had been gnawed off, either by himself or maybe by the one she had knocked out. She struggled with him, trying to push away the mouth that kept trying to take a bite out of her. It was then that she saw the one she had knocked out come to life.

“Oh!” she cried out as the bigger, more aggressive one bit at her arm. She pulled away before he could take a piece out of her. Although she was completely repulsed by him, she was happy he was focused only on one thing. With his mind, or what was left of it, set on taking a bite out of her, she was able to slip out of his grasp. The only problem was that now he stood between her and the exit. “Great,” Lena panted.

No-hand got up off the floor and the two
others
stood side by side. In the dim light of the room she was able to see that they were far from gone mentally. Their eyes were hazed over and they looked completely desolate. Their bodies were wasting away and she was surprised they hadn’t attacked each other over her. But it didn’t matter now.

There was little time for her to figure out what to do. As much as she hated it, there was only one thing she could do. They stepped towards her, in a way making her decision easier.

She cocked the rifle, pointed it at the larger of the two and pulled the trigger. He was shot point-blank in the face. Blood splattered everywhere and Lena watched as his body fell to the floor. No-hand stood there motionless for a moment. The bigger one’s blood splattered on the wall and began to form a pool on the floor. It didn’t take long before No-hand dropped to the floor and began devouring the shattered body of his companion.

Lena cringed but knew she had to step around him, and exit the office. Although she considered shooting No-hand, she still had hopes that Jasper’s cure could save him. She shut the door behind her, and silently hoped that the man who No-hand had once been could be brought back. Looking around quickly, she found some loose plywood and shoved it into the door handle, locking the
other
and the corpse inside.

Pressing her back against the door, she tried to steady her breath. That could have been a lot worse.

Cocking her rifle, she turned to head back to Jasper and let him know what had just happened. Turning her head, she saw movement out the window. Outside, moving directly towards the building, she saw a swarm of
others
.

“Oh shit!” Lena ran towards the lab.

Jasper was right where she’d left him, still hunched over a microscope. Although relieved that he trusted her enough to know that a single gunshot wasn’t something to worry about, right now she wished he had come running.

“Jasper!” she shouted as she ran for the front doors. Looking out the window, she saw the
others
breaking through the surrounding fences. “Jasper!” she shouted again and he was by her side quickly.

“What’s going on?” He remained calm and collected.

He looked out of the window then turned to one of the tables behind them. Lifting it, he threw it against the wall. Lena watched, her mouth dropping open with shock. She had no idea what was going on. Whether he was mad at her for shooting off her weapon or for the swarm of
others
it didn’t matter.

She watched as Jasper bent over the destroyed table and grabbed one of the metal legs. He shoved it into the door handles of the front door of the lab.
Clever
, she thought and smiled at him.

Turning he went back to the lab. “Keep an eye on the door, I’m almost done.”

She wasn’t exactly sure what she could do with that many
others
, but she did as she was told. Turning back, she grabbed her rifle and pointed it out the window. Staying low, she watched as the
others
tried to get into the front of the building.

“Watch the windows!” Jasper shouted just as something shattered the glass and came flying through it. Lena’s scream resonated through the building and she quickly turned, grabbing for something to cover the window.

Behind the
others
Lena saw the free man and his group. They were still a ways away, back towards the front of the base, but there was no denying that they were out there and on their way.

Lena’s heart raced. A group of
others
could be outwitted and evaded, but the free man knew what he was doing and had his eyes set on them.

“We need to move.” Lena stayed low as she looked out the window.

She watched as the free man and his followers approached, striding with purpose through the streets.

“They’re here, Jasper! What do we do?” she called, trying to keep her voice low.

Lena’s eyes widened as she saw the kind of
others
that the free man brought with him. Some of the men were kept on leashes, their lips chewed off revealing sharpened teeth. Foam dripped out of their mouths. The men were as feral as wild dogs. Their shoulders were hunched and they limped as they walked, but Lena wasn’t fooled. She was sure she knew exactly how fast they could move.

Behind the leashed
others
, she saw the other SEALs. They were dressed in tactical gear and Lena couldn’t help but compare herself to them. She barely knew how to use her rifle, let alone be as stealthy or deadly as they could be. Her heart started racing. What if Jasper was wrong? What if this cure couldn’t be duplicated? She felt the doubts swarm through her.

The free man’s men were here for them and this time they had brought a lot more than a handful of soldiers. Not only did they have the rabid dogs again, the leashed
others
that resembled dogs, and many weapons, they also had the advantage of sheer numbers. There were so many of the dim
other
soldiers following Eric’s command.