Thirst (The Oasis Plague Book 1)

by Iris Sweetwater

  For not the first time since she had seen those papers, she wondered if the Oasis might be the answer to all their troubles. She saved the idea for the right moment, knowing the Batista would not trust such a thing without desperation.

  “Um…Oasis? No…no doesn’t sound like it is ours. But, thank you for asking.” Brenna had never heard her mother clam up like that, and she knew now for sure they knew exactly what Oasis meant.

  “Okay, well, thank you for your time. We will be back.” Brenna waited in silence until she knew that her mother and the others were back behind their gates, feeling safe and smug within their useless walls. They couldn't hide in there forever, not if there were other people and places out there to be found.

  Brenna caught up to Atlas and brushed her hand against his to let him know she was there. She could see the anger in his gaze as he looked down at her. And now that she looked at all three men, she could tell they were all definitely pissed. They had every right to be. Their request had not been unreasonable even if they could fashion a few weapons from the wood and other things in nature, they would not be as sturdy as what Colony 88 could provide. But their return request was more than unreasonable. They were asking the Batista to risk starving their people. If anything was going to make the Batista revolt against the treaty, this was it, and Brenna was both frightened and excited. She could feel a buzz in the air as they came back to tell the others what had happened.

  Everyone had their own opinion about what to do, but they were all in agreement that things couldn't go on like they were. Something had to be done about Colony 88 sucking them dry. They couldn't risk their lives for a group of people behind a wall who didn’t care anymore.

  Afterward, Atlas pulled Brenna to the side, still walking gingerly on the cut leg. They could still see the small fire’s glow from where they stood but knew they could not be heard. He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, gingerly kissing it. “I will understand if you must leave or if you can’t be a part of this if we go after the Colony. That was your family in there, even if you hated them.”

  Brenna knew she would not be able to be the one to put a spear through her mother. And in fact, if she could choose the woman's punishment, it would be that she had to become like her and try to survive on the surface without being able to hide in her cozy underground world where everything was provided to her. She was not going to abandon this new family in a time of need.

  “No, I am ready for this. It is okay. I will be fine, no matter the outcome. I am Batista, right?” she said, making him smile.

  He nodded. “You will be.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Mommy! Mommy!” the little girl with dark red hair screamed as Brenna reached for her, her little boy already in her arms and crying as they watched the Raiders Raiders approach. With her spear in one hand and her little boy in the other, she shoved the little girl behind her while an aging Atlas stepped between them and the Raiders Raiders coming toward them with his knives out. Fear froze her veins as she watched Atlas try to fight off the two Raiders Raiders so that her children would survive. But he was failing, and one of the men cut him and headed in her direction. She turned only long enough to set down her little boy, a tear escaping her eye as she begged them to run as far as their little legs could carry them, her spear blocking the club of the Raider who came for her.

  Brenna growled and roared as she tried to fight him off, but he was strong and very large, and her weakness was in the worry for her children. And if she died, then they had no chance of making it.

  She swung her spear and tried to find somewhere to penetrate him until finally both the spear and Atlas’s knife dug in deep, sending him to the ground in front of his companion. But an ear-splitting scream broke through their short-lived victory, causing Brenna to look back in horror as another Raider snatched up her little girl, who was screaming in fear for her mother to come and save her.

  Brenna ran, but with every step she made forward, she still was not any closer to saving her little girl. She reached her arm out and cried for a loss that had not been solidified yet. This was not the world her children belonged in. She couldn't handle the crippling pain that sent her to the ground as her chest threatened to explode.

  Brenna sat straight up, a cold sweat covering her body. Knocking a lizard off her leg, she looked around as she caught her breath, trying to tell herself it was only a dream and nothing more. But it could easily become reality. Was this truly what was holding her back from solidifying things with Atlas? It could have been her subconscious scared to death to raise children in an environment that was much too dangerous.

  The stars blinked above her to center her, her hut given up for some of the orphaned children to sleep in while new huts were being built. Many of the younger members of the tribe had given up their huts for those that needed them and were sleeping out in the open with Batista guarding them in a circle in case any Raiders Raiders came back to finish them off.

  No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't escape the new fear on her mind. Her chest hurt as if she had truly lost her own child. She didn’t want to wake anyone up, so she tried not to move too much and simply pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She startled at the touch of a hand on her shoulder.

  Turning around, it was just Atlas. He nodded his head to the outside of the circle of still-sleeping Batista, though there were a few others clearly having a hard time sleeping on the hard ground out in the open like that. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too long before they could rebuild. She doubted that would comfort her much.

  She walked carefully with him to a spot where they could talk without disturbing the others, and she crossed her arms over her chest, trying to will away the chill from that horrible nightmare. “What is on your mind, Brenna? I saw the way you were tossing and turning and then woke up looking like you had seen a ghost,” he said, his hand rubbing at her shoulder in an attempt at comfort.

  “It was just a dream,” she told him, snapping at him even though she didn’t mean to. She sighed. “I need to talk to you about something.”

  “Anything,” he told her, pulling her in. She could feel his warmth against her and his body against her back, and she tried not to react to the growing ache in her. There would be plenty of time for that if they found a new home and were able to safely marry and make children.

  “I can’t marry you. Not with us in danger like this. I want to know what you think of those papers. Do you think the Oasis succeeded?” she asked, hoping he wouldn't make fun of her for her thoughts. She wanted so badly to believe there was a place like that where they could rebuild humanity in peace and could leave the Colony to the coyotes and barren desert of the past.

  “I suppose there is only one way to know. I don’t think the Colony would have acted like they did at the mention of it if it never existed. But what does this have to do with marrying me, Brenna?” he asked softly, and she couldn't ignore the hurt in his tone.

  She turned around and rubbed her hand across his smooth chin. “It's not what you think. My dream, Atlas, it was about our children. We were attacked by Raiders, and we couldn't save them. Our little girl was taken, screaming for me to save her, and I just couldn't get to her no matter how fast I ran. And I can't let any version of that come true. I can't feel safe having a family with us facing them and all the other threats out here every day— thirst, famine, war. If this Oasis is real and safe, then maybe that could be home for all of us. For the Batista. They wouldn't have to worry anymore about the Colony or Raiders. They could be part of rebuilding the human race in peace.”

  He held her, rocking her back and forth in his arms in a swaying rhythm. “I can't believe you dreamed of our children. Even if it was a nightmare, that is a beautiful thing. I want you to hold onto their faces for me, okay?” he asked, and she nodded her head into his chest in agreement. “You know if you go check out this Oasis, we have to have the approval of the council . . . the majority of the Batista. I
won't just go off and leave my family without them agreeing that we should be doing this. I want you to be my family too, but I hope you understand.”

  “I do,” she interrupted. “I just hope they agree. I think maybe they are angry enough with the Colony now that they might listen. What do you think?”

  Atlas pulled back a bit, and she could see his eyes in the dark but not much else. “I think that if we are going on this journey together, there is something else we need to face first. We cannot deny what passes between us on a daily basis. I do not know how much longer I can keep resisting you. I want to respect your wishes, but I can feel your heat against me and your heart race,” he whispered, and a chill went through Brenna’s body at his words. It was absolutely true. She was also embarrassed by how carnal her feelings had become.

  “I know,” she managed to squeak out. “You want their blessing before we leave, don’t you? So we can let whatever happens, happen?” she asked him, still looking into his eyes glowing in the dark of the desert night.

  “Yes, that is what I want. Will you agree to that?” he asked quietly, still swaying.

  “Yes, I think I can handle that.”

  Solara stroked Brenna’s hair appreciatively as she smiled down on her. Brenna tried not to slink away from all the attention she was getting, but she didn’t like it at all. They had just asked permission not only to go off to find the Oasis, to see if it was a place for the Batista to live, but they had also asked for the blessing to be married. Normally, they would have already been performing the ceremony, but the Batista had almost unanimously agreed they should wait for the official ceremony until the two of them came back with the good news.

  Brenna loved how they were always so optimistic. Her stomach was in knots, what if they failed?

  “I cannot believe you will come back having been our savior twice and then truly become my daughter,” Solara said as she praised Brenna. Solara was a woman she looked up to and had loved since she came to live with the tribe. She had stuck up for her staying there and hadn't even questioned once her son’s care for her.

  River came up and gave Brenna’s leg a squeeze. “Are you going to be my sister?” she asked in that cute voice of hers. Brenna couldn't help but smile at the question.

  “Yeah, I guess so. Is that okay?” she asked the little girl, who fervently bobbed her head up and down in response. It made her laugh, but everything took a serious tone as Luna, Atlas’s aunt, came up with packs she had sewn for them to strap over themselves, carrying some containers of water, basic first aid, and a little bit of food. Brenna picked up her spear and Atlas his knife in preparation to leave. They would be following a blind path to where they hoped would be the right direction. The map that led to the Oasis was incomplete and didn’t hold any known landmarks around them. They were going to have to risk their lives to find another raider camp and torture the information out of them. Otherwise, the whole thing would be a failure before it even began.

  Brenna wasn’t going to worry her new family with the details. Instead, she embraced them and waved goodbye, Atlas at her side.

  Chapter Nine

  It didn’t take long for them to see signs of the Raiders. Brenna was at least grateful for that as they stopped to have a couple of sips of their water rations and plan for how in the world they were going to get the Raiders to tell them anything.

  The place they were staying was a much larger home base than that tiny camp where they had found the papers to begin with. It was built inside decrepit ruins, with various supplies. One of their vehicles used to travel the desert was parked right in front. They probably assumed no one would be coming for them this far out in the desert because there was no water or food source in sight other than the occasional snake slinking across the dunes.

  The wind whipped around them with nothing to compete with it, and Brenna had never felt so sandy and dry in her life, blinking some of the dirt out of her eyes.

  “Okay, fuckers, I have been attacked by enough of you in my life to be good and pissed, and you don’t want to mess with me while I am pissed. Now, I know I may look dumb, but I know what’s inside of here is your fuel source and that, if I have my friend here use one of your stolen guns to shoot a hole in the tank, it will start to spill out. Then, if I ignite it, everything here will burn down fast, you included. I have nothing to lose.” Atlas pointed the gun they had found right at the tank before pointing it to each of the men’s heads. There were four of them they had managed to subdue, and while they figured there could be more, this just might scare them enough for them to give up the information they wanted, which would mean moving on victoriously.

  Brenna didn’t back down as she glared at the men, one of them with his hair yanked back in her palm as a show of force. They all had something somewhere on them that was bleeding. They had managed the element of surprise just after dawn, waiting nearby all night with what they had stolen— two loaded guns and some matches. They had speculated the whole time where Raiders had gotten such things but had not come up with anything conclusive other than they stole them from somewhere that had more supplies, but not the Colony. These guns were even more sophisticated than the rifles that were kept stocked underground there. So, there either had to be another colony nearby, whether living or collapsed, or someone was manufacturing these weapons of death again.

  “What the fuck is it you want from us?” one of them asked. Brenna took her spear and brought it down over his head while she still held the other in her grasp.

  “What I want is information, and I know you have this information. I only know about it because some of your buddies were stalking us from a little camp that had paperwork about it. We want to know how to get to the Oasis.”

  “Shit, you know they aren’t going to take you, right? We don’t even get to live there, just sometimes barter for supplies and shit. They don’t like anyone who could make trouble,” one of the Raiders spat out. Brenna smacked him again, harder this time and making sure some of the sharp end caught his skull as to allow a cut to open at the top of his head, turning his hair red.

  “Let's try that again. How do we get there?” she asked as Atlas cocked the gun, aiming at the fuel tank with precision. She couldn't believe how lucky they were to find the place and that they had something so volatile sitting right there. There was no way they could keep terrorizing the entire desert without that fuel to run their vehicles. So, it didn’t really matter to her either way, but if they complied, it would be a victory.

  “I’ll show you if you take me with you, at least some of the way, and protect me,” the man on the end said. Brenna narrowed her eyes at him. She didn’t trust that at all. She didn’t want to be on this journey with a Raider, no matter what he could offer. She motioned for Atlas to point his gun on the man instead.

  “Why would we want to take you with us? We cannot trust one of you. You would turn on us,” Atlas hissed at him, the barrel of the gun pressed to the Raider’s head as he began to shake. This one was the weak link.

  “I just don’t want to be with them anymore, and if I try to leave alone, they will come after me. I will either drive on my own or find a colony to join. I just don’t want to be at their mercy anymore,” he begged, his hands up in the air as he blubbered.

  Brenna rolled her eyes and got right in the ear of the one whose hair she had a hold of. “Does that sniveling creature know how to get to the Oasis?” she asked him, her teeth bared as she growled it out. He hesitated, which told her he knew something he didn’t want her to know. That was a good sign that if he responded, it would be with the truth and that the annoying raider who volunteered the info might actually have been telling the truth. “Yes,” he hissed out almost inaudibly. She looked at Atlas and nodded at him as they both swiftly knocked out the three Raiders that would not be coming with them. They would be out long enough not to see which direction they went and not be able to easily catch up. Brenna knew deep down they couldn't keep this fourth man with them for long. He would b
e a liability. Even if he told them the truth about where they should go, he would likely have angered the others enough for them to come after him.

  “Why didn't you just kill them?” the other Raider asked as he was brought to his feet by Atlas’s strong hands.

  Atlas shook his head and pointed his gun at the guy, urging him forward. “That is not who we are. We only killed when it is necessary. We do not take joy in ending the life of another human being. If you do, then you have joined the wrong people,” he said harshly. “Now, you will tell us how to get to the Oasis and what we should expect. Just in case something happens to one of us, we all know the way. That is what guarantees your safety. Understand?”

  Atlas was so convincing that Brenna was almost frightened by him. He had never acted so much like a warrior around her. He had always been lighthearted or emotional, but it was nice to see this side of him too. He would be a great provider for their children someday.

  Hopefully, it was someday and not soon. Brenna had not said a word to him yet about it, but she worried she was already with child, carrying the product of their sin against the whole Batista tribe. Brenna knew that many complications would come with such news, such as slowing down their trek due to her changing body and the fact that the Batista would know what they had done. And she still was not ready to bring a child into the world, not the world they had come from anyway. She wanted her children to experience more peace than she ever had. Maybe that would turn out to be a pipe dream or a complete delusion, but she wasn't sure if she would be willing to compromise.