The Oasis by Janette Osemwota

fingers through her blonde tresses and stroked them. Although her hair was crusted with blood, he looked at her as if she were dressed to impress.
    “Lena,” she whispered, unable to move. Her fear and anxiety had peaked as he stepped closer to her. “How could you do this to them?” she whispered.
    He stepped back quickly, releasing her hair. His face changed, his eyes growing darker. Lena thought he was as crazy as the others , even if he didn’t share their disease. “They don’t deserve this,” she whispered.
    “You are no free man.” Her voice rose in volume as he began to walk back towards the large men in the back of the room. “You are a monster!” she shouted, and the other people in the room got upset. To her surprise, the free man seemed unaffected by her outburst. Raising his hand to his followers, he silently nodded to them.
    Looking around, Lena watched as they all filed out of the room. Their silence and obedience startled her. She had never seen any of the others follow any kind of order, let alone obey silent commands. The free man leaned in close, his breath brushing her ear. “They follow my orders like dogs; they only need to be trained.”
    Tilting her head, she looked over her shoulder at him. His body was large and his authority more evident than she wanted to admit. He smiled with his perfect teeth, only reminding her of how much he devalued these people. Stepping away quickly, Lena panicked. “Please,” she called out to them, hoping to reach what little was left of their humanity. She had never tried to communicate with one of the others , but these ones were more organized than she had ever seen. “Please, he is not who you think he is.” No one responded.
    The men who left last were the large soldiers and her captor who had escorted her and who seemed to keep a close eye on her. It was evident that these were the free man’s soldiers, his closest men. Their bodies and mannerisms told Lena that before they had been infected they had once been a part of the military as well. Stepping in front of one of them, she placed a hand on his chest. He was tall, with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a necklace, a cross. It reminded Lena of the one her mother had worn. “Please,” she whispered to him, her hand resting over his heart. The man hesitated, looking directly into her eyes. She prayed that he actually heard her and that there was some semblance of humanity left in him.
    He continued to stare at her. He raised his hand as if he were going to rub his palm against her cheek.
    “No,” the free man said calmly, breaking the connection that she held with the man. The other ’s hand fell away from her face and he backhanded her, knocking her across the room. The free man’s laughter filled the room as the last of the others left the room.
    Lying down on the floor, Lena realized she was alone in a room with a very dangerous man.
     
    * * * * *
     
     
    Jasper stared up at the skyscraper before him. As he’d suspected, as the day wore on, most of the others had gone to sleep; the few that remained were in some kind of sleepy trance. A small man sat a few feet in front of him. The man had covered himself from the sunlight and hid in the shade. He snored while Jasper evaluated the best way to get into the building. It was apparent that there was activity up top and just a few hours ago he had seen a large outpouring of others from the building. If he wanted to go in, it was now or never; he just wasn’t sure how he was going to get to the top without being noticed.
    He had changed his clothes, rubbed dirt and God knows what else all over his body to hide his scent, but he couldn’t completely hide the fact that he wasn’t one of them. He was banking on the fact that no one seemed to look at him too closely as long as he played the part.
    He had never been this involved with the others and, even in the beginning when the change had first happened, he hadn’t hung around long enough