Free The Oasis by Janette Osemwota

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