The Oasis (19 page)

The man’s eyes followed her as she filled the syringe. Before she chickened out, she jammed the needle into his arm and pushed the plunger down. He growled at her and pushed her off him. She fell to the ground, doubts crossing her mind as she watched the
other
cry out and claw at his body. His cries of pain and anger echoed off the surrounding buildings. Lena drew her pistol and aimed it carefully, ready for his attack.

Chapter Fourteen

The sun beat down onto Jasper’s back. A combination of sweat and blood dripped down his face. His hands were tied behind his back and he was kneeling in the center of the road. After Eric had captured him, he’d been dragged through the streets and placed here. He remembered little of the beating that he received and now he only wished for death. One of his eyes was swollen shut and the blood that trickled down his face was from an open gash on his cheek. His lips were swollen and he knew that Eric had other, even worse, plans for him. As a former SEAL, he knew that Eric wouldn’t have been satisfied with merely killing him, but intent on recapturing Lena too.

Jasper could only hope that she had made it out alive. Eric had been talking with the other SEAL that Jasper didn’t recognize. He’d heard Brett’s name mentioned a few times and his heart sank. He knew that Brett had gone after Lena and he could only hope that she had managed to kill him first.

Through his swollen eyes, he saw Eric approach him. Crouching down to Jasper’s eye level, Eric smiled at him.

“This whole thing will be over if you tell me where she is.” He tilted Jasper’s head up so he could look at him. “I promise I won’t lay a hand on her. You know what I want.”

Jasper wrenched his head out of Eric’s hand. Eric’s word wasn’t worth anything, so even if he knew where Lena was he would never tell Eric. Lena meant more to him than his own life. His life might well be over, but he would be happy as long as he knew she was safe.

“That’s too bad,” Eric said. “I’m going to kill her slowly now, after every single one of these men has had their way with her.” He turned and pointed to all of his men,
others
included. Jasper knew he wasn’t exaggerating. Lena would be passed around and more than likely she wouldn’t survive it. God, he hoped that she had gotten away.

Eric stood up and walked around Jasper, whose eyes had dropped to the ground again.

“I know you can hear me, Lena,” he shouted and Jasper’s head jerked up.

Please God, no!
he thought. Lena couldn’t have come back for him. She would be outgunned and most definitely killed. She couldn’t be that stupid.

When Jasper opened his mouth to try to call out to her, Eric kicked him, making him curl over in pain. “I don’t think so,” Eric whispered.

“Lena,” Eric shouted again, his voice echoing off the buildings. His eyes scanned the area. The other SEALs had their rifles armed and ready. He had given them orders to shoot to injure, not to kill. No matter what he told Jasper, he was going to have that little piece of tail for himself before he killed her. “Lena, if you don’t come out now, I will be forced to shoot Anderson here.” As if to prove his point, he pulled his pistol out of the holster on his chest. Pointing the gun at Jasper, he continued. “How will you feel knowing that you were the reason your boyfriend was killed? All for something you
think
is going to work.”

Jasper raised his head at this. By now, Eric was standing right above him, his pistol ready to fire. Looking down at Jasper, Eric smiled wickedly.

“The cure is a fake.” Eric’s words resonated through the silence. “You really think a cure would survive this long? That so-called cure is really a mutated version of the virus. It was one of the original strains created, the one that turned the
others
much more violent.” As if to prove his point, he nodded at one of the SEALs who brought forward one of his feral men on a leash. The
other
obviously was so ill that he had turned more animal than human.

Eric allowed the feral
other
to get within inches of Jasper. He watched as the
other
bit wildly into the air, trying to reach him.

“Anderson never intended to cure these people.”

Jasper sat there, watching the
other
get closer and closer to him, his death only inches away.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jasper saw movement in Eric’s army. Eric seemed to notice it too. A fight broke out among the ranks and Jasper could see that it was caused by one of the
others
. He was a big guy and he was carrying, to Jasper’s surprise, a gun. Eric had never given any of the
others
weapons before.

Another man who stood among the ranks was also carrying a weapon. They turned on the SEALs and shot at them. The chaos took Eric by surprise and he rushed into his group.

“What’s going on?” he shouted to the other SEAL. There was no response because his men attacked him. The more Jasper watched, the more men he realized were attacking…and therefore must have been cured. A few men, all Marines, had now turned on the SEALs who had enslaved them when they were infected.

Rushing forwards, Eric watched as his army turned on each other, the number of his loyal followers dwindling. Turning from side to side, he watched men who had once been under his control, men who he had trained through violence and manipulation, kill his fellow SEALs.

Jasper watched all this from his place on the ground. A vision of Lena appeared and he thought he must be dreaming. He had never expected to see her again. When her arm circled his chest, he buried his face into the crook of her neck.

“I never thought—” he said but she shushed him. Her lips crushed his and she fell into his kiss. Slowly, she crawled into his lap and stroked her hands all over his body. “I love you,” he kept repeating over and over.

She broke their connection, pulling at the ropes to release his wrists. As soon as he was free he grabbed at her. Looking down into her eyes he realized just how much he loved her.

“How?” he asked, pulling her up to stand with him.

There was no time for Lena to explain. Turning towards the chaos ahead of them, Jasper and Lena watched as Eric opened fire on anyone who came near him. Vastly outnumbered, Eric turned and ran from his attackers.

Jasper watched Eric run, then turned back to Lena. In her eyes he could see how relieved she was to be back in his arms, and he felt the same way, but he couldn’t let Eric get away. Kissing her forehead, he stepped away from her to chase after Eric.

Lena grabbed his hand, having no intention of letting him go. She shook her head lightly and pulled him back towards her. He stepped back to her and pressed their bodies together, holding her hands tightly in his own.

“I can’t let him get away with this,” he whispered to her, kissing her forehead. She was his whole life and he wasn’t going to let Eric get away and have a chance to hurt them again. He never wanted to have to worry about looking over his shoulder again.

Lena nodded in agreement. “I know, but I think this is their fight.” She motioned behind him, and Jasper followed her look to see what she meant.

Behind them, Eric’s escape attempt hadn’t gone unnoticed. One of the bigger Marines signaled the others to follow him, and they quickly surrounded Eric. As much as Jasper wanted the fight to be his own, he realized that the battle belonged to those who had suffered under the free man’s rule for so long. As the men circled around Eric, Jasper pulled Lena into his arms. He held her close, pressing her face into his chest so she wouldn’t turn to look at the massacre that was about to happen.

“N-no, you don’t understand!” Eric shouted as the men surrounded him. Gone were their blank looks of submission, gone was the fear that had been forced onto them. Now their faces were full of anger and hate. Each one of them clearly remembered the torture and abuse they had suffered under his reign.

“Please! Wait!” Eric pleaded as they closed in.

Lena buried her face deeper into Jasper’s chest. She cringed at she heard Eric’s cries change from pleas for help to shrieks of terror. She heard bones cracking and the tearing of flesh as the men tore him apart.

Jasper watched every second of the carnage, his eyes open to more than the death of a king. The men who had suffered under the free man’s rule showed him no mercy. Each man had a score to settle with the king and as his body was ripped limb from limb, they showed no sympathy. Even Jasper felt relieved when he saw Eric’s head ripped from his body. One of the Marines held the head above the crowd and a loud roar erupted among the men. It was done.

Turning to Lena, Jasper pulled her face away from his chest and kissed away all her fears.

Lena put her hand in his and they both turned, staring at the destruction. The other SEAL who had followed Eric lay dead on the ground nearby and Eric’s body was ripped to shreds on the other side of the street. The large Marine stepped forwards and nodded at Lena. She smiled at him and introduced Jasper to the men who had just saved his life.

Epilogue

Surveying the area around her, Lena smiled. She squatted down and pulled another carrot from the ground, her swollen belly preventing her from bending over. She wasn’t sure exactly how far along she was, but it felt like the baby might come at any time. Placing the carrot in her basket, she smiled and rubbed her stomach. Although it scared her to think of giving birth without all the medical advantages society had once had, she was delighted that she was going to make Jasper a father.

She saw Jasper down the road talking to some of the other people that they had saved. Waving her hand to him when he turned to look at her, she waddled down the street. From the looks of it, it seemed like there would be a whole new group of people coming their way soon.

Jasper had managed to duplicate the cure rapidly and with the help of some of the people they’d saved, the job was getting easier and easier.

Lena grabbed his hand as she approached the group. There were some faces she recognized and some she didn’t, and this comforted her. The Marine she had saved, the very first person to get the cure, was there with Jasper. They risked their lives daily to go outside their little community to save people.

“Hey, baby.” She smiled when Jasper leaned down and kissed her. “How’s the little one doing?” He rubbed her belly and she giggled as he nibbled on her ear.

“Stop it!” She swatted his hand away, blushing as she looked over at her friends, laughter filling her.

She embraced the young Marine and watched as he excused himself.

“You see! We’re saving more and more people here and all you want to do is get me alone!” She laughed as he tried to get his hand up her skirt. “Stop it!” She giggled playfully, scooting away from him.

“You bet your ass I want to get you alone, Mrs. Anderson.” No matter how many times he said it, she would never get used to hearing him call her that.

Although there hadn’t been any official ceremony, they had been married by a pastor a few months ago.
Husband and wife
, Lena thought and smiled to herself, never imaging anything else. Jasper was everything to her.

Catching her around the waist, Jasper rubbed her stomach and kissed her again. They looked over the growing community that they had built. People were being cured every day. It was more than Lena could have ever hoped for.

Glancing over, she kissed her husband. Forever and ever she would love him. Together they had found an oasis and made it theirs.

The End

Author Bio

Janette Osemwota is a blossoming new author but not a novice in the world of romance. Writing romantic stories and fantasizing all her life, she has spent the better part of the last twenty years documenting what it means to find love in the most amazing places. She was raised in Germany and spent the last twenty years traveling and living all over North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. She has taken the experiences gained through her romantic adventures and put them into her stories.

Janette has been able to focus almost entirely on her writing for the past year and has been able to work on three distinctly different, but equally amorous, novels. She hopes to be able to dedicate the rest of her life to viewing things in a romantic way and molding her life with passion.