The Oasis

by Janette Osemwota

  She didn’t hesitate to let him go because she felt embarrassed by her actions. Pushing her hair behind her ear, she cursed herself for being so forward. He had clearly indicated that they needed boundaries when he had left after their kiss.

  “So, what’cha do with that bird?” he asked, throwing a bag onto the bed.

  She laughed a little, happy that they didn’t need to talk about the feelings they both were evidently having. She quickly reached into the drawer to get their dinner. By now it had cooled down, but it seemed that covering it had let the juices soak in.

  They ate in silence, enjoying the food. They ate with their hands, something Lena had almost forgotten about, since she had been living alone on the farm. Jasper seemed all too comfortable with it.

  “Can I ask what happened?”

  Jasper looked up at her. He remained silent, but shot her a smile. Biting into the bird’s leg, Lena couldn’t help but feel attracted to him. His confidence was appealing to her, but the way they felt so at ease in each other’s company made her like him more.

  “Well?” she asked, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

  He chuckled softly. “I saw them up north a bit,” he said. At first she was afraid; one wasn’t too bad but many could be dangerous. “I must have missed that one. He was just looking for some food.”

  It was amazing and almost unreal how casually he spoke about them. It had been a struggle for her to stop being so frightened of them. It helped to think of them as less than human, but she just couldn’t forget that they had been her neighbors, her friends, her family. They were human.

  “Don’t look so worried.” He smiled that casual smile that she had become so familiar with. “He’s gone now and we’ll lock up the place.” There wasn’t much more to say. She didn’t really want to know what had happened, and although she hated the idea of one of those things lurking so close to the house, she hated the idea of Jasper being such an efficient killer even more. Something about him scared her, yet perhaps that something was also what drew her to him.

  His laughter made her look up. “I can read your face like a book,” he said. “I didn’t kill it. I drew it away from here. He was alone and I had no trouble getting him out of here.” Lena let her breath out, not aware she’d been holding it.

  “I d-didn’t mean to…”

  “Don’t be sorry. It’s okay to still have a conscience. It makes us human.”

  He grabbed the carcass of the bird after she finished the last of the meat and wrapped up the bones. He set them back in the drawer where she had put the bird earlier. Walking past her, he threw a few more logs onto the fire. The makeshift fire had done a surprisingly good job at keeping her warm. The small cabin combined with the thoughts she kept having about Jasper’s body kept her warm enough. She had discarded the coat he had given her and crossed over to sit on the bed. Looking up tentatively, their eyes met with heat. She knew all too well that he had been thinking the same thoughts she had.

  Jasper took less than a second to break their connection. It was already dangerous enough that he had taken her with him, on top of the attraction that he was feeling towards her. Tonight’s visitor had proven that having her with him, affecting him the way she did, was dangerous. If he’d been alone he wouldn’t have stopped so soon and he sure as hell wouldn’t have risked his safety by making a fire. Hell if he didn’t care too much about her comfort. He cursed his manly urges.

  He picked up his gun and stood by the door. Lena’s eyes followed him as he checked to make sure it was ready to go. His coat was on the bed next to her soft hips. He would have given anything to press himself against her body again, but he knew the risks were already too high. There really was no need to get physically involved with her. Damn if she wouldn’t give him those sultry eyes.

  Cursing himself, he grabbed his coat off the bed aggressively, trying not to touch her. As he threw it over his shoulders, perhaps more roughly than he had intended, he looked her way. Her eyes said everything her mouth didn’t. She was feeling rejected. God if he didn’t want to reach over, take her into his arms and kiss the doubt off of her face.

  “I’m gonna stay in the truck and keep an eye out for our friend,” he said, glad she wasn’t trying to convince him to stay. “I’ll be up all night, so I don’t want you to worry about a thing.” He couldn’t help himself as he added, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

  It felt good when relief filled her face but it killed him that they couldn’t have met at a better time. He knew, though, that had they met a few years ago he wouldn’t have given her a second glance. Having a woman, especially a beautiful woman, with you was always dangerous and he preferred to be alone.

  Without waiting for her to speak, he stepped out into the darkness. “I’ll be back by dawn.” With those words, he shut her into the darkness of the cabin.

  A cold breeze came in when he opened the door and Lena felt a little more alone. She knew that the SEAL in Jasper was likely the reason he chose to stay up but she was sad to see him go.

  It was going to be a cold and lonely night for both of them.

  After Jasper left, Lena lay down on the bed. The quilts he had brought her gave her more than enough warmth. She slipped out of her jeans and laid them gently on the edge of the bed. Pulling her shirt over her head, she reached into her bag for some warm pajamas. The evenings were cold in this area. After dressing, she washed her face with some of the water Jasper had brought in, and also brushed her teeth. She lay her head down on the pillow that smelled like dust after not being used for so long. Pushing aside that thought, because it only made her remember better times, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

  * * * * *

  Before the sun rose, the door to the cabin opened quietly. Lena rolled over drowsily. Before she remembered that she hadn’t locked the door before she fell asleep and that she was no longer alone, Jasper spoke. “It’s just me,” he whispered. Bolting the door behind him, he placed one of the chairs against the door and pulled off his coat. After adding a few more logs to the fireplace, he sat on the edge of the bed. “Look, Lena,” he said. “I’m going to need to get some sleep before we head out for the day.”

  Her eyes opened quickly. “Of course,” she said as she sat up in the bed. Jasper smiled when he saw her pajamas. “I can just—” she said, but he interrupted before she could finish.

  “I just need a few hours and I haven’t seen anyone near all night.” He didn’t hesitate as he lay down next to her. His eyes were already closed as Lena stared at the ceiling, the quilt pulled up to her chin. She didn’t know whether to stay there, his warm body pressing against hers, or to get up. Before she could decide whether it was best if she got out bed, he turned over and held her. She closed her eyes and let him.

  He hadn’t meant to do so, but he found comfort in her arms. Her skin was soft, something he hadn’t felt in a while. She smelled like roses. Her blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders and he buried his face in it.

  She smiled as she felt him snuggle up against her. The slight stroking of his hands against her shoulder felt heavenly. She didn’t want to move. Instead she wanted to cherish these few moments when it didn’t feel like the world had come to an end.

  The hug came to an end too soon. He pulled away from her and turned over to sleep. Regardless of how he felt for her, how much he really wanted to be inside her, he did need to sleep. He would be no good to either of them if he didn’t get some rest. “Listen,” he said, knowing how women thought. He had rejected so many women before the end of days. He really didn’t want to hurt her.

  “No need to explain,” Lena said getting out of bed.

  “I really like you,” Jasper continued, ignoring her request.

  She smiled genuinely at him. “Jasper.” She sighed his name and he loved it. “Get some sleep. You’re no good to me sleepy.” She grabbed her clothes and began getting dressed. He was glad that she understood where he was coming from. He wanted to be with he
r more than she probably understood. Because she didn’t know the details of who he was and his connection to the others that now dominated the planet, it was best that he tried to keep his distance. No matter how hard that was for him.

  Interrupting his thoughts, Lena turned her back to him and pulled on her jeans. Jesus, she was beautiful. He forced himself to turn and look up at the dusty ceiling. “Listen, Lena there is something I need to tell you,” he said.

  “Look, you don’t need to explain anything to me. You don’t owe me anything.” She grabbed her bag off the floor. “I’m going to go and try to get some stuff together for breakfast and clean up a bit while you sleep.” She didn’t even wait for him to respond before she headed out the door.

  She leaned against the door after she shut it. She wanted to know everything he had to say but she could read his face enough to know that whatever he had hidden was something big, something he had been hiding for a long time.

  Exhaling, she blew her hair out of her face. She checked her gun, making sure it was loaded. Even though attacks during the day were not as likely as at night, there was no reason not to be vigilant.

  When she was a kid her parents had taken her camping a few times in the summer. With this limited knowledge, she hoped that if she found the small shop that most campsites had she might be able to find a pancake mix there. Without her chickens, eating eggs seems like a distant delicacy. For now, she hoped to find a tasty alternative.

  Throwing her pack onto her back, she headed to the front of the campground. Luckily, it wasn’t a far walk to the little shop. The sun was bright and the day was already warming up. The small hut had large windows, so she wasn’t too worried about being able to see inside. The door was shut, which could be either a good or a bad sign. Shut doors could mean that the place hadn’t been invaded yet or it could mean it was a place for one of the others to sleep. She had to take her chances.

  Trying the door, she was glad it opened easily. As she had hoped, the sun shined brightly through the open windows. It was a single-room establishment with lots of food on the shelves. It smelled a little rancid, as some of the more perishable items were disintegrating. There on the shelves was just what she was looking for: pancake mix, syrup, fruit and even some nuts. Everything she could ask for and more. Filling her bag up, she headed back to the cabin to cook up some breakfast, hopefully without disturbing Jasper.

  After she had cooked breakfast, she was quite satisfied with her work. She had pancakes, pan-roasted peaches in their own syrup, and she had even found a can of hash. Not a bad breakfast. She ate her fill and set aside the rest for Jasper. He was still asleep so she grabbed some water and cleaned herself up a bit, including brushing her teeth.

  Jasper came out of the house stretching when she had finished cleaning and packing everything up. He thanked her quietly for the breakfast and ate graciously. After he ate, they cleaned their plates. There was no question about cleaning up after themselves. Something about doing these normal activities justified their humanity.

  Jasper went into the cabin and grabbed the quilt that they had slept with. He opened the truck bed and grabbed a couple of bottles of water. Tossing her one of the bottles, he opened and drank the other. “We’re gonna head out in a few. Why don’t you get your stuff together while I finish up here?” He nodded at her bag and threw the rest of his things into the truck. Not much more had been discussed about where they were headed. Lena wanted to relish feeling like a woman, as she did for the first time in years. Being with Jasper reminded her of companionship. There was time for answers, but for now she just wanted to be with Jasper.

  Once everything was thrown into the truck, she looked back at the cabin once more before she got into the car. Her heart sank. It seemed less and less likely that she was going to find another place like her farm. Though meeting Jasper had given her hope that others could have survived.

  She missed the comfort and security of her home. She had worked hard on settling herself up to be alone. It had been a blessing to find Jasper. As she shut herself in the car, she listened quietly to the music CD as they headed out of the campgrounds. Before she could ask what was on his mind, Jasper slowed the car down. He didn’t look at her, but stared intensely out the window.

  “What’s up?” Lena asked, looking over his shoulder out the window. Down the road, a small group of others were gathered near a pit on the side of the road. They stood, crowded together. A few were shoving each other, while the rest stood still. Their behavior was odd and animalistic. There was not much rhyme or reason to it, and that was what scared Lena so much about them. Goosebumps ran up her arms as she sat back.

  Jasper continued to stare. “You know, I’m sure somewhere deep inside they are still human.” As he spoke, one of the creatures attacked another and Lena could hear their snarling. Even at this distance, she could see the spit, blood, and sweat flying off the two fighters.

  Soon more of the others joined in and the fight became even more violent. One of the larger men seemed to be the target of the attack and as more of the others joined in he wasn’t able to defend himself against them all. Jasper sighed, his body drooping slightly. Then he straightened up quickly, obviously trying to hide his reaction.

  “Have you seen this kind of behavior before?” Lena asked, shuddering. The other creatures began to rip the poor man apart. He lay defenseless on the ground and Lena hoped that he had already died. Unfortunately, it became apparent that he hadn’t; the man began screaming in pain as Jasper pulled the car away. Some of the others looked their way, but didn’t follow them or try to attack.

  “Yeah,” Jasper said, one hand on the steering wheel. He pulled on a pair of sunglasses. “You know, when it first happened most of them seemed almost normal.” That word seemed so foreign now. Lena thought that that word now had a whole new meaning. What was normal years ago wasn’t what she had ever considered the others.

  “Jeez,” she said. “After the initial breakouts, I left college to try to get back to my parents. But when I got home there was nothing normal about what I found.” She laughed a little, remembering the moment she realized that everything was going to hell.

  “Yeah? What happened?” Jasper asked, turning onto the highway and trying to avoid the abandoned cars scattered about. “It was my neighbor, really,” she said. Laura Fitzgerald was a seventy-three-year-old woman who had been Lena’s family’s neighbor for years. The woman had liked to garden, take care of her cats, and knit. When Lena had found herself alone while looking for her parents she had never expected what she saw in her neighbor’s garden the following morning.

  “She was eating her cat.” Lena cringed, remembering Laura’s face covered with blood, reminding her so much of Becky. “Her eyes were crazed and her skin had grayed. Her hair looked even looked thinner than the last time I’d seen her.”

  “Oh, that’s not that uncommon,” Jasper said. Lena looked over at him. “I mean, I have seen a lot of them with skin discoloration and hair loss. It seems to be some kind of reaction to the virus.”

  “How much do you know about the virus?” Lena asked.

  Jasper coughed to cover up his reaction to what he had just said. “In my experience there are two kinds of these guys. The ones that have lost almost all connection to their humanity, like your neighbor, and those that seem to have gone into some kind of psychotic state.”

  Lena looked over at him. “What do you mean ‘psychotic state?’”

  Jasper looked back. “I guess you could say they have gone insane. Some of them seem as normal as you and me. They just have some kind of serious emotional problems. You know, schizophrenia, paranoia, anxiety. Only it’s worse. Within a few minutes of being around them you know something is wrong with ‘em. That’s why it’s not surprising they turn on each other.”

  Lena quietly listened to what he was saying. Her experience with the others was limited, by choice. She spent most of her time avoiding any interactions with them. She hadn’t told Jasper, but Laura h
ad attacked her that same day. From then on she had kept her distance from the others, choosing to observe their behavior from afar and trying to keep from putting herself in any danger. She wondered to herself if he had done the same. Since he seemed to know so much about them, it wouldn’t surprise her if he had more information than he had shared so far.

  Lena quite often wondered why she had not changed, why she had not gotten ill. As everyone around her began to disintegrate, she couldn’t help but wonder whether she had some kind of immunity to the disease, and why.

  Laura had attacked her. Seeing that sweet little old woman turn into something else was horrifying; it didn’t make Lena want to find out more about the others. Jasper seemed to have an intimate relationship with these people. The way he spoke about them showed how much he had been around them. He held on to some kind of sadness, almost like he felt guilty for the way they had turned out.

  He seemed to have no fear either. Seeing how calm he was when one of the others was so close to them last night intrigued her. She knew there was more to this man.

  As they pulled away from the group of others, Lena stared back as some of them watched the truck pull away. None tried to follow; they only watched with some kind of curiosity. Lena released her breath and gently touched the window. “I feel bad for them.”

  She looked quickly over at Jasper; she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. The fact was that she did pity them. Perhaps that was why, up until she and Jasper were attacked in her barn, she had never intentionally tried to kill any of them. She had even left Laura Fitzgerald unharmed. Humanity was what set Lena apart from those creatures and to kill one of them only because she could didn’t seem right. She had found that the few who lived near her home were happy to be left alone, and they more or less left her alone—or at least they had until the incident with the one in the barn.