The Oasis (6 page)

He didn’t say anything; instead he checked his rifle, grabbed his pack and got out of the car. Lena sat there a moment, unsure of what to do. For a few minutes she couldn’t see Jasper. He had gone behind the truck. Then she saw him inside the small store. His rifle was held in his arms close to his face as he stalked through the facility. She watched him and realized she missed having him beside her. She scolded herself mentally for getting so attached to him. Although she felt that there was something there, she knew their relationship was most likely based on physical needs.

She didn’t kid herself. Although he had kissed her a few times and touched her intimately, she knew he was still just a man. Maybe she would have reacted the same way to any man she met after so long alone. But she couldn’t deny the fact that she had liked the way he made her feel. He wasn’t hard on the eyes and, if she was being truthful with herself, she liked his prowess. Even watching him stalk through the convenience store made her flush as she thought of the muscles that were hidden under his shirt. He was a good-looking man who had clearly taken care of himself even before things had gone bad.

Looking down at herself, Lena realized how disgusting she must look. Her clothes weren’t new; instead she was dressed in some of her clothes from before the apocalypse. She wore an old maroon t-shirt, jeans and a light jacket. Nothing screamed “gorgeous.” Then again, it was inconceivable to wear heels and a skirt. Anyone dressing like that would have a hard time surviving these days.

Maybe that was why she liked Jasper so much. He had survived through something that had killed so many people and had changed most of the survivors into crazed animals, but he had somehow maintained his humanity. He could have attacked her, raped her, or worse. Instead he had saved her and protected her.

Thinking like this made Lena feel like she wanted to clean herself up. She wanted to look beautiful for him. Hell, she wanted to look beautiful for herself. It had been a long time since she had thought about her looks. She had spent so much time focusing on surviving that there seemed little purpose in looking good. She’d never imagined that a man like Jasper would come along and make her want to look beautiful again.

Searching the lot for Jasper, she found him exiting the store, his rifle thrown over his back and his pistol at his side. He smiled at her and nodded. He went to the back of the truck and began the preparations to pump up some gas. His nod must mean the area was clear, Lena reasoned, and grabbed her backpack. She really wanted to wash up a bit before they got back onto the road. Looking back through the rear window of the truck she saw him reach back into the pumps to get the siphon flowing.

Keeping her pistol close, she headed into the store. When she looked back, Jasper was busy with the pipes. She would only be a few minutes; he wouldn’t even miss her and when she got back he’d be ready to head out.

Slowly making her way into the convenience store, she held her gun ready. Since Jasper had already been through, she was a little less alert than she might otherwise have been. She quickly found what she was looking for: a small travel pack with toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and wipes. She also grabbed a pack of gum and some makeup. She couldn’t remember the last time she had worn makeup. Her chapstick was in her pack and so she opted not to get any lipstick. She found the bathroom and stepped inside. Reaching inside her bag, she grabbed a flashlight, which gave her plenty of light in the single-stall bathroom. She reached for a bottle of water and used it to clean her face and brush her teeth. It felt so good just to be clean.

Lena took her shirt off and looked at her body in the tainted mirror. She was thinner than she had been before things got bad. Her bra was one she had for a while. Nothing she would call beautiful, a nude colored Victoria’s Secret bra that she had chosen more for comfort than for style. Sliding her pants off, she smiled at the panties she wore. If anything she was wearing was beautiful it was her underwear. They were an exotic shade of green with purple and blue stripes running across them. Although her bra said “yes, ma’am,” her underwear screamed “party.” It was silly of her, but something she’d coveted. She took the baby wipes and cleaned her body quickly. She would kill for a long hot shower; it had been so long since she had one. Baths were easier, but it still took time to heat water. Regardless, she had time for neither.

Her makeshift bath wiped away the grime of spending the night in a dusty cabin and spending the day in a truck. She’d told herself long ago that she would not take the small luxuries she had for granted. Reaching into her bag, she grabbed a change of clothes. The new slacks were a comfortable dark green linen. Shaking her head, she wondered if Jasper would care what she wore. She pulled on the new pair of pants and reached in for a shirt.

Lena jerked her head up. She heard shuffling in the store.

She hoped that it was Jasper, having finished with the gas, but she knew better than to assume it was him. The sounds got louder as she reached over and turned off the flashlight. Her hand went to her throat and she suddenly wished she had her shirt on, but there wasn’t time.

More importantly, she realized her pistol wasn’t in the waistband of her slacks, but still in the jeans she’d taken off. Panic crept up her throat as she quickly felt around for the gun. The shuffling got closer to the bathroom but Lena could not find her gun. Quickly she pushed her foot up against the door trying to block anyone from entering. The stall was one that required a key to lock, and she hadn’t thought to get the key since the door was already unlocked when she entered.

Cursing herself, she pressed her ear silently against the door and tried to listen for any more movement. The silence was deafening and for a moment Lena hoped she had imagined the whole thing.

Suddenly the door came crashing open, sending her sprawling across the floor. Her head slammed into the porcelain sink and her vision blurred momentarily. A silhouette stood above her in the darkened room. It was a giant of a man whose hand came grasping down on Lena’s throat.

She struggled against his grasp, but he held her so tightly she couldn’t catch her breath. She tried to scream for Jasper, but only a whimper escaped. She couldn’t make out the man’s face or anything about him except that he towered over her. He was truly a giant.

With a grunt he smashed her against the mirror, breaking the glass. He had superhuman strength and with every second he held her she felt like she was going to passing out. The struggle left her body as she felt him lift her again. He slammed her against the sink once more, and Lena could only watch silently as her vision faded into blackness.

* * * * *

Jasper finished filling the tank with gas. The task had taken him longer than he had planned. It didn’t matter. What he was grateful for was that there had been no movement. No one seemed to be aware that they were there. Silently thanking God that Lena had remained quiet, he stepped to the car to tell her so. Opening the door, he noticed right away that she wasn’t there.

“What the fuck?” he cursed, looking around quickly. She wasn’t anywhere. He scanned the area quickly. Nothing. Her bag was missing, making him hope that she had merely stepped out to pee. God he hoped she had just stupidly gone to the bathroom.

He had no idea why in the world she would do something so dumb. Although the area seemed clear and quiet, he wasn’t convinced it was safe enough that they could separate. Trying to remember the last time he had seen her, he scolded himself. He had nodded at her. Did she think that had meant everything was okay?

Shutting the car door, he grabbed the rifle off his back and cursed himself for his ignorance. He shouldn’t have been so cocky.

Approaching the convenience store, he knew right away that something was up. The door was open. There was glass on the floor near the bathroom, that hadn’t been there before. Silently praying, Jasper hoped Lena had just tripped and fallen. He stealthily made his way towards the stall, knowing there were only two things that he might see in that bathroom. Either Lena’s dead body or nothing at all.

“Lena,” he whispered as he reached the stall. There was no response. “Lena,” he said again, louder. Before he had met her, he never would have called so loudly, but something inside of him screamed out to her. Leaning against the wall, he peeked into the stall. The mirror had broken and the glass was shattered everywhere. Blood dripped off the sink and her bag was in the corner. Her pistol was on the other side of the room.

She was nowhere to be seen.

Dropping to the floor, Jasper evaluated the scene quietly, controlling his emotions. Years as a SEAL had taught him better than to let his emotions get the best of him. He saw that there were droplets of blood on the floor leading out the door. Someone or something had beat her up and carried her out of the bathroom.

He grabbed her bag and ran out of the store. He didn’t have a lot of time. If she wasn’t already dead, she would be soon. Opening the bed of the truck, Jasper grabbed some of his weapons, threw them into the cab, and headed downtown.

Chapter Six

Lena slowly opened her eyes. Her head pounded as she bumped up and down. Someone was carrying her. Someone very large. Her vision flashed white before she could focus on anything. Her eyes were caked with blood and her head pounded. She had no way of knowing how long she had hung over the man’s shoulder, but she felt as if she wanted to pass out again within minutes of becoming conscious. She struggled to stay alert, if only to try to assess what was happening to her.

Wanting to wiggle to see where she was and what was going on, Lena realized the hit she had taken on the head was more severe than she had thought. Her vision was blurry and blood had seeped into her hair and dried on her face. She was still only wearing her bra and slacks, but she could feel the dirt and grime that covered her body. From what she could make out, the same man who’d attacked her in the bathroom was carrying her. They were alone and it was still dark. She had no way of knowing how long she had been hanging over his shoulder. Her body was aching from being in this uncomfortable position for as long as she had been.

The man shifted her on his shoulder, easily as if she weighed significantly less than her one hundred and fifty pounds. She didn’t attempt to scream though she knew the man must be aware she was awake by now. Her body stiffened unintentionally and she tried to figure out what to do. Looking at his back, she could see his neck and the lower side of his face. Like the
others
near her farm, he had the characteristic graying skin. Not to mention his stench was nauseating. She was grateful at this point that she was still alive although she didn’t know if he had any intention of keeping her that way. She had little experience outside of her “neighbors” back home with being this close to one of the
others
. She knew they were unpredictable and dangerous, so her only hope was to outsmart him when the time was right. His size alone let her know that she was no match for him physically.

He didn’t seem interested in anything about her; instead he held her as if she was nothing more than a canvas bag or a carcass. Comparing herself to a carcass made her almost gag. Hopefully he saw her more than just a body because she was unsure of how much longer she could hang upside down.

She looked at him, as much as her position would allow. His hair was long, uncut probably since before he had changed into this…creature. He grunted as if he had no other means to communicate. His clothes were soiled and looked vey old. She wondered if he had even changed them since the end of the world. She hadn’t seen one of the
others
exhibit any such normal behavior before, so she wasn’t holding her breath that this one would. That idea reminded her of his stench. Since she was pressed up against his back, she couldn’t help but breathe in what she could only describe as a musk.

Although it was dark, the moonlight allowed Lena to see that they were making their way through the streets. She heard noises as they approached a lit area. Her heart began to race as she realized exactly where they were going. The buildings were bigger and the windows of the once massive skyscrapers reflected the light of the moon. It was difficult to make out what was going on since she was upside down and disoriented, but she tried her best to memorize where she was being taken. Lena figured there were only three things that could come out of her capture—rape, torture, or death—and she wasn’t going to take any of them without a fight.

Shifting her over his shoulder, the man grunted to another. Lena gasped when she saw the creature he had acknowledged. The man was lying on the ground, his body badly beaten up. His face, like his body, was covered in blood, while he seemed to be picking at his flesh. She cringed, trying not to throw up. As they walked past him, she couldn’t help but listen as the man spoke quietly to himself, clearly out of his mind. She heard him laugh as his teeth bit into the flesh of his arm.

She shuddered, which caused the man to stop his chewing. He stared at her, as if waiting for her to make some kind of move. Something about this motion made her feel sorry for him. He looked young and had probably been a healthy person before he had changed into this thing. There was no way for Lena to know what could make a person eat their own flesh, but she prayed silently that this young man could someday get better. Although it was wishful thinking, it was her ability to sympathize with people like that young man that separated her from him. Without her hope she might have become something like him months ago. There were more things than viruses that could make a person crazy.

A tear ran down her cheek and she closed her eyes. She had no idea where she was being taken and had never imagined herself in such a predicament.

Grunting, the man who carried her shifted her over to his other shoulder. She was again reminded how strong he was and just how weak she felt in comparison. When she landed on his shoulder the air was knocked from her lungs and she couldn’t help but groan at the pain. Other than shift her around, the man paid little attention to her, and she began to wonder if her best interest was to try to talk him into letting her go rather than wait to see where he was taking her. They were heading downtown and into a more populated area, so she began to think that the likelihood of him stopping somewhere before they got to “civilization” was less and less likely.

Clearing her throat, she felt it almost close. Her position, lack of blood, and—something she hated the most—her fear were preventing her from speaking.

“Excuse me,” she said, too loud and with a less-than-convincing attempt at confidence.

The man’s head tilted in her direction slightly. If she hadn’t been focusing on his back as intensely as she was she would have missed such a slight movement. He didn’t acknowledge her in any other way. So she tried again.

“I said excuse me,” she repeated more firmly. This time the man grunted at her. Grateful that he appeared to hear her, she continued. “Listen, where are you taking me?” Her mind ran over anything she could think of to get out of her situation. How could she convince this giant to put her down? Of the limited knowledge she had of the
others,
their lack of sanity seemed to be one of the main symptoms.

His head shifted and he went back to ignoring her. She cursed silently, knowing that her moment was gone. They were getting closer and closer to the downtown area and she knew her chances were not good.

As they approached, the area around them interrupted her thoughts. She began to notice a smell of rotting flesh and what had to be burning bodies. The flickering of lights in the distance confirmed her thoughts as she suppressed another gag. Her eyes tried to focus on a way to escape, but she was distracted by what she saw.

Hundreds of
others
huddled around fire pits while they aggressively fought each other. It was a pandemonium of everything she had imagined and worse. They were dirty and feral. Many of them talked to themselves or fought with others about things she couldn’t hear. Although it surprised her to see them communicating at all, she was not surprised how much they resembled a pack of animals instead of human beings. The ground was covered in filth and there seemed to be nothing left of civility. No one took much notice of her. Blood and filth were everywhere.

The buildings that seemed to house the group were disgusting, covered in mud or worse. There was no order and Lena wouldn’t have expected any. They all appeared to be male, some in various stages of what seemed to be decay. One man walked past them with half of his scalp missing. His face was bloodied and he was whispering quietly to himself, his hand rubbing his bloodied head. It was hell on earth and Lena wanted to cry out.

“Jesus,” she whispered as they approached one of the skyscrapers. Filthy blankets were spread out on the ground and she saw some people lying on the makeshift beds. She saw her first woman there. She was surrounded by a few
other
men and looked close to death. Her face, what was left of it, was bruised and swollen from what had to be many beatings. Her body was naked and her flesh was covered with the same markings. The men who surrounded her pawed her flesh as she chanted in some unknown language. Lena couldn’t help but think the woman was praying.

Just outside of this skyscraper, the man put Lena down. Her feet gave out once she touched the ground. She thought she was going to pass out as she felt the blood rush out of her head. Her vision blurred and she grabbed her head, trying to stop the spinning. It wasn’t long before the man who had carried her shoved her along. Her heart sank when she was finally able to move forwards. The area, now that she could see it more clearly, was even worse than it had seemed upside down. Luckily for her, no one seemed to even take note of her any more. By this point, the crusted blood over her head and her now filthy clothes masked that she was any different than they were.

Pushing her along, the man led her toward the building. As they approached the skyscraper, Lena looked up. Some of the upper floors were lit. She swallowed nervously and began to regret not struggling more before they got here. The man shoved her again and into the building they went. Her heart raced as she braced for what was going to happen. At least outside she could have tried to run from the man, but now she was going to be locked inside a building. Her only hope was that she would be given even a single moment of opportunity to get out of his grasp.

Up the stairs, Lena kept her eyes vigilant. The stairs were dark and she occasionally heard noises from the floors they passed. Her eyes scanned the dark stairwell, and she waited for a moment that the man who had captured her wasn’t within inches of her body. Instead, almost as if he sensed that she was planning something, the man stayed close. There was no more communication between them and any time they passed another person she counted her blessings that her captor was so quiet.

Every one of the
others
in this community seemed to have some kind of mental disorder. Many talked to themselves while others seemed to have some kind of anger towards everyone else. What seemed worse was that these people seemed to be either violent towards each other or self-mutilators. As she had suspected, whatever had happened that left them alive had completely destroyed the common sense in them. The virus that had changed these people seemed even more resilient here. A man passed down the stairs whispering about how she smelled, his body shaking uncontrollably. It wasn’t the mental issues that frightened Lena the most—it was their ability to mutilate themselves without reservation.

Each individual seemed to be covered in blood or some kind of filth. Her heart sank as she sympathized with all the horror around her. One man they passed sat with his eye hanging out of its socket. He moaned uncontrollably, but didn’t seem to take any notice of them.

Lena counted ten storeys before they turned off onto one of the floors. At one time this had been some kind of office building, full of cubicles. The cubicles now seemed to hold makeshift beds. She was amazed at how many
others
seemed to belong to this community. The smell was unbearable and Lena hunched over and vomited. Her captor took little notice as he kept urging her forward. He hadn’t hurt her again since their initial encounter in the bathroom and she tried to save her strength, but the area was repulsive.

A few heads turned as the walked through. A few men headed in their direction and Lena had her first verbal interaction with the
others
. Since her own captor had remained silent, she hadn’t thought any of the
others
were capable of normal communication.

“Heh, what’cha got there?” A tall man approached them. Her captor growled aggressively. Lena froze, crossing her arms over her chest protectively. She still only wore her bra and somehow this man’s unwanted attention was far worse than what she had seen before. The man’s head pivoted unnaturally, cracking the bones in his neck. “Heh?” He reached out to touch her hair. She backed up quickly, bumping into the wall of a cubicle. Someone rustled on the other side. The creature continued to advance towards her, hand reaching out as if he wanted to grab her again.

She shrieked when she was grabbed from behind by whoever she had disturbed when she hit the cubicle wall. Scrambling to break free from the man’s grasp, she watched as his face pressed close to hers and he began whispering things she couldn’t understand. As her attacker reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her from the other man’s grasp, he yelled at her. “Beware of the free man. Beware.”

Shuddering at his message, but grateful to be out of his grasp, she latched onto her captor. Although he had beaten her head until she bled, he had not, so far, tried to kill her. There was no telling what these
other
men might try to do to her. The shrill of laughter followed them as her captor dragged her to another set of stairs on the opposite wall. She had never been so grateful to be away from anyone as she was now. The laughter that followed frightened her and reminded her of the sanity that was now lost.

Following the path up the stairs, her captor pulled her towards a door that was covered in blood, handprints smeared across the wood. She swallowed and began to think she should have taken her chances with the men down below. When he opened the door, she was astounded by the vision before her. These were cells created out of old materials. Each cell held a captive. Some were beaten so badly they sat motionless, while others paced nervously. A few men, with the same build as her captor, stood as if they were guarding prisoners. Her heart sank when they stopped in front of an empty cell. She was about to become a prisoner to the worst kind of people.

Lena was shoved into a cell, the door shutting behind her. It seemed like at one point this room had been some kind of office. Everything was removed except a chair in the corner. The south wall was a window, filthy with only God knew what, but she was still able to see outside. Somewhere out there, she prayed that Jasper was looking for her.