The Oasis (12 page)

* * * * *

Stepping out into the hallway the next morning, Lena went looking for Jasper. She didn’t need to go far before she saw him lying on the floor. He had pointed his rifle out the corner of the window. Her smile faded and she dropped to the ground immediately. He barely glanced at her as she crawled across the floor to him. She sat with her back against the wall on the other side of the window.

“Good morning, love.” He smiled at her but didn’t take his eye off his target.

“Morning,” she said and smiled a little. If his attitude was as light as it was, then the danger wasn’t as great as she thought. She waited for him to explain.

“How was your night?” He cocked his gun, but otherwise didn’t move. “You look fabulous.”

She sighed and her cheeks flushed crimson. She couldn’t help but laugh at her predicament. She looked again at the photos of the couple that had once lived here. She could never have imagined being coy with a man while he held a rifle pointed at some imminent danger.

She laughed and thanked him. “So, what’s going on?” She saw a smile cross his face; apparently he’d known it wouldn’t be long before she would ask.

“So, a man can’t just sit with his rifle in the morning?”

Although she loved his banter, she had a feeling that he was hiding something from her. They still needed to have a very important conversation, including how he knew the free man. Every time she intended to bring up the topic, something seemed to come up. Until they were safe again and a little farther away from her recent captors, that conversation might just have to wait a little longer.

“No, Jasper,” she sighed. “A man
shouldn’t
sit with his rifle so early in the morning.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “Why are you?”

He looked over at her for just a second before returning his eyes to their target. She knew there was something he wanted to tell her, but that he chose not to.

“Across the street there.” He indicated the direction with his head. “Open the shade slowly,” he added as she reached over to look.

She looked, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. She didn’t even see any
others
. Just as she was about to say that she didn’t see anything, a small movement caught her attention.

There, directly across the street as he had said, she saw a shadow cross the ground-floor windows of the opposite house. She dropped the shade quickly and pressed her back to the wall, afraid of what to think.

“It isn’t one of the
others
, I don't think,” Jasper said before she could even begin to think of who would be in the house.

She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or worried. However, after what she had just experienced, she now knew that there could be much worse out there than the
others.

They sat in silence for a few moments. “How long have you been sitting here?” she asked eventually.

“Since about half past sunrise.” Short, simple, and most certainly to the point. Someone was out there, right across the street from them, and there was nothing they could do but assume the worst. Lena felt awful. She wondered if there could ever be a time when they could enjoy the pleasures of having each other and not worry about the horrible atrocities of the free man.

They sat in silence for a little while longer, until Lena felt like she was going to burst. “How can you just sit here? Knowing someone is over there?” She shuddered involuntarily. “And not go a little crazy.”

Just as she said that the floor creaked behind them and Jasper whirled around, pointing his rifle at the sound.

It was too late. A pistol was already pressed against Lena’s head. She couldn’t see who held it, but she could see Jasper’s face.

Instead of fear or anger, a smile crossed his face. Suddenly laughter filled the room and he rose to embrace the other man.

“You son of a bitch,” the man said, patting Jasper’s back aggressively. He was tall, matching Jasper’s height. He had short, dirty blond hair and wore military gear. His back was covered with ammunition and his hips and legs held weapons but the two men hugged like schoolboys.

With so much to observe, Lena sat back and took in the scene. It had been a long time since she had seen such camaraderie. It was refreshing to see the two men together. They spoke quickly about their past history as fellow SEALs, and instead of listening she focused on the joy of the situation.

“What are you doing this far west? Last I heard you were in Virginia.” Jasper smiled at the other man. Lena’s eyes went to his body and she watched him around his friend. Although the other man was also pleasing to the eye, she only had eyes for Jasper. His muscular arms stretched the fabric of his shirt. He looked powerful, his chest broad and muscular. He was all man and after last night, she knew he was all hers. Lena let her eyes wander over his dreadlocked hair, pulled back away from his face and his ruggedly handsome chin, covered with an elegant goatee. His teeth, reflecting the morning sunlight, were even and white, contrasting pleasingly with his dark skin.

“Lena?”

“Hmm?” She looked dreamily into his face before she realized that both men were looking at her. “Oh, my.” She colored fiercely and her breath quickened as her cheeks became warm.

Both men laughed as the stranger held out his hand to shake hers. “You can call me Brett,” he said, and his silky voice held a challenge. She wasn’t sure what she heard when he spoke, but something inside of her told her to watch out for this man.

His laughter filled the room when she didn’t immediately respond to his introduction. “I see I haven’t lost my ability to take a woman’s breath away!” he boomed. His words felt worn to Lena, thin and hollow, used too often by shallow men. She was immediately turned off.

Brett tossed his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close to him. She couldn’t help but pull back, trying to get away from him.

“Jasper and I go way back,” he said. Lena noted Jasper’s set face, his clamped mouth and fixed eyes. There were still so many questions unanswered and now, with this man around, she would have an even harder time getting Jasper to talk to her.

Jasper quickly changed the subject. “Where the hell did you learn that trick?” He nodded towards the window. Brett quickly let go of Lena and walked towards the window.

Brett laughed. “Oldest trick in the book,” he said.

Lena looked out again, trying to see what they saw. “I strung up one of them damn zombies. I saw you all come in last night, so I strung one up, knowing that he’d be wigglin’ and makin’ you all think someone was in the house. Not too shabby, huh?”

The shock of discovery hit her full force. Her mouth dropped open as the realization of what he had done filled her with disbelief. Brett had used someone as misdirection so he could attack them by surprise. They had been so focused on the movement in the window they hadn’t heard him come in.

“Is he still alive?” she asked, her hand over her mouth, already knowing the answer.

“Of course, honey.” She
hated
the way he called her that. His words seemed to almost stab her. “If he wasn’t still alive, you wouldn’ta thought someone was still in there.” The shock made her words wedge in her throat.

She turned towards Jasper, unsure of what to think. He saw her anxiety and went over to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and squeezing lightly. He bent down slightly and whispered into her ear. “I’ll go over and cut the rope,” he promised as she hugged herself. She gently placed her hand on his and looked up at him. He lightly brushed away the tear that fell down her face and she leaned into him. Then he backed up quickly and picked up his rifle.

Brett gave them a once-over but, to Lena’s relief, remained quiet. Nothing had been talked about and Lena hadn’t exactly labeled them a couple, but Jasper had been there for her through some very tough times.

“Brett, why don’t you come with me?” Jasper started down the stairs.

“Sure, I can grab some of my supplies.” Lena’s smile didn’t reach her eyes and she remained quiet as Brett followed Jasper towards the other house. She hoped that they would have the time to catch up and that would give her some time to get breakfast together.

* * * * *

The two men remained quiet as they carefully crossed the street. They may have solved the mystery of the movement in the adjacent house, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more
others
lurking around. They kept their weapons high and Jasper had to admit it felt good having someone he knew watching his back.

He and Brett went way back, back before things went to hell. Brett was a fellow SEAL who had been stationed on the other side of the country. He’d had his doubts that Brett or any of the SEALs not stationed with him in Coronado had knowledge of the O.A.S.I.S., but seeing him alive and obviously unaffected by the virus made him suspect that SEALs all over knew about it. That conversation would have to wait. Right now he needed to get the
other
out of the house.

He had to admit, what Brett had done wasn’t something he had ever considered. He still valued life, and even though the
others
had stopped acting entirely human, they still were. He also knew that the secret to everything lay just west of them. He just hoped that Brett didn’t know anything more about the O.A.S.I.S.

They approached the house with caution, but once inside they let their guard down a little. Jasper could hear the man struggling in the living room. Brett didn’t follow Jasper; instead he went up the stairs to gather his supplies. Jasper knew that Brett valued the life of this
man
less than he did, but he couldn’t leave him hanging—literally.

There in the living room the man hung, his feet barely touching a chair. Brett had strung him up like this to make sure he still moved about, giving the illusion that someone was moving around the house. It was actually quite clever, albeit twisted.

The kind of nomadic lifestyle that they now followed could drive anyone mad. It wasn’t really that surprising that Brett had done this. He knew that their training had set them up for survival. After all, seeing Brett alive suggested that all the SEALs had known what was going to happen, even before it actually did. That was why Jasper was not shocked by what he saw in the living room.

He stood watching the man, no longer really a man, and he was even more determined to get to the O.A.S.I.S. At any cost. He and Lena shared a similar dream. Although she wished to discover some kind of society that represented the goodness in mankind, he sought out truth and hoped that the information that he had heard was true and the answers that he searched for were at the O.A.S.I.S. He knew that he held a very important key, so important that he hadn’t shared his knowledge with anyone else.

When he realized his SEAL brothers had shared Eric’s views from the beginning, turning their back on him, Jasper had gone on the run. He spent years hiding from his “brothers”, trying merely to survive at first. But there came a moment when he needed to go back to Coronado. It was time for him to finally use the information he had and risk everything to try to rectify what he thought was wrong from the very beginning. His worst nightmare had come true when he saw Eric and his “society”. His SEAL team had been given immunity from this disease and people like Lena who naturally were immune to the virus were few and far between. So to see Eric actually holding women like Lena hostage and training the
others
as if he could somehow make himself a king among animals was disturbing, to say the least.

Brett came crashing down the stairs with his rucksack on his back. He hadn’t changed much in the years since Jasper had seen him. There was no way for him to know if Brett had been tainted like Eric into believing he was better than other living creatures, but he hoped that Brett still retained his humanity. Seeing him as alone as Jasper had been gave him hope that he hadn’t been sucked into Eric’s underground world of torture and horror, or anything like it.

Jasper walked over to the
other
, whose mouth foamed, and he wondered how it had come to this. Instead of fighting, they should be coming together. Yet Brett, just like Jasper and even Lena to an extent, was forced to defend himself by any means necessary. Killing another person had lost so much of its horror and everyone normal who remained now had surely had to kill. Everyone did it. It was now a matter of life and death.

“She’s got you on a pretty short leash.” Brett’s tongue was heavy with sarcasm and Jasper was irritated by his mocking tone. He didn’t like the way Brett had talked to Lena or where his suggestions were going. Valuing life did not make him less of a man, even in these times.

Jasper pulled over a chair and cut the rope the
other
hung from. He expected the man to attack immediately and he slammed the butt of his rifle into the back of the man’s head, knocking him out. Instead of encouraging Brett, Jasper decided to keep his comments about Lena to himself. He knew that as long as Brett was with them, he would just have to keep an eye on him.

Being alone this long often changed a man, for better or worse. Lena had helped him realize that their relationship was more than attraction, affection or even sex. He enjoyed her laughter and her vision. She saw light in the darkness and good in the bad. Thinking about her made him want to go back to her. They would probably spend another night here and then get moving. He didn’t want to stay this close to Eric any longer than necessary, but he had no intention of letting Brett know where they were headed even if it was likely he was headed there himself.

“You ready?” he asked Brett as he started towards the door.

“Pussy,” Brett whispered.

Jasper narrowed his eyes but chose not to let Brett’s comment get to him. It wasn’t surprising that Brett or any of the other SEALs would think he was whipped, and to be honest he didn’t care. Lena was right. Everything that had happened to him, and his guilt over knowing what had happened to almost every single living being on this Earth, had led him to finally want to try to make everything right. As long as he had the power and knowledge that he had, he was going to set things right.

Brett didn’t seem to get the drift that Jasper wasn’t interested in a fight and, when Jasper’s back was turned, he shoved him.

Not expecting Jasper’s swift retaliation, Brett was taken aback when Jasper turned with unprecedented speed and shoved his rifle into Brett’s face. “Touch me again and I will shoot you.” He gave Brett a brutal and unfriendly stare. “I sympathize with him.” He nodded towards the man who now lay on the floor unconscious. “But you…” His mouth was set in annoyance. “I will kill you without a second thought.”

Brett raised his arms in surrender. “Hey, man,” he said and laughed nervously. “I’m only kidding with you.” He backed up, stepping towards his weapons.

“This isn’t my first rodeo, Brett,” Jasper shoved away from him and stepped out the door.