The Oasis by Janette Osemwota

himself in some way. “You know, it wasn’t your fault.”
    Jasper laughed silently. If she needed to feel like he blamed himself, perhaps it was the best. The truth was far from that. Although he knew more about the end than she did, and it was true that inside he felt some responsibility for that end, it wasn’t the kind of guilt she was thinking.
    “Somewhere, probably really far from here, there is a person who knew this was going to happen.” Lena said. She might not be a scientist but it seemed pretty obvious a virus like this had to have been engineered. “You couldn’t have changed what happened.”
    He didn’t say anything. Even if he ever told her his role in the distribution of the virus, he certainly couldn’t tell her everything he wanted to. If she knew the truth, then their relationship would most likely never continue. That he knew for sure. He kept trying to tell himself that the best thing for both of them would be to take her somewhere safe and leave her. There was no reason for her to get involved in what he had to do, or even to let her know about the O.A.S.I.S.
    Lena looked over at him, waiting for him to say something.
    Remaining silent, he turned up the music in the car and they drove on.

 

     
     

     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    Bodies lay dead on the side of the road in different stages of decay. At first it had bothered Lena to see them. God only knew how and when they had gotten on the side of the road, out of their cars. Because the change had come so quickly for most, bodies usually lay randomly around. The highway was full of cars. Lena suspected that most people had died at night, because most of the others were most active then. Sometimes she tried to speculate on how they had died. Had it been painful? The morning it had reached her seemed like every other morning.
    Now, however, she was grateful for the roads being as clear of bodies as they were. Jasper had remained quiet throughout their journey. Lena had periodically asked to stop for bathroom breaks or for snack breaks, and Jasper had obliged, but otherwise remained quiet.
    Although Lena had packed and was reading one of her favorite books, she was able to examine him over the edges of her book. His arms were muscular and he wore his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. She blushed when she realized that her eyes had been drawn to his ring finger. There wasn’t a ring or a mark indicating there had once been one.
    “What?” he asked, startling her because it was the first thing he had said in over an hour.
    “Hmm?” She cleared her throat, nervous from being caught staring.
    “You’re looking at me like I’m some science experiment.”
    Not realizing she was being watched as well, she shuffled her book onto her lap. “Oh, um,” she said. “I’m just reading my book.”
    Jasper scoffed but didn’t push her further. He knew she was watching him over her book and with the way the edges were worn he had a hard time imagining that she hadn’t read that book a dozen or more times.
    Lena forced her eyes back to the pages in front of her. Although she had read The Last Man on Earth time and time again, she tried to focus on each word.
    “Do you think you’ll learn something from that book?” Jasper asked.
    Laughing, Lena put the book away. “Have you read it?”
    He nodded. “When things first went down I found it and read it.” He laughed before he continued. “You know, it’s kinda ironic that I read that book after things went to hell.”
    She smiled a little. He smiled back. But the expression barely reached his eyes and she could tell he wasn’t the kind of man who wasted smiles on just anyone. Suddenly he reached over and put a large palm on her leg. “You know, Lena…” he said.
    Her blue eyes sparkled and he wondered what the hell he was doing. Before he could finish telling her that he wasn’t being completely honest, something ran in front of the car. Jasper withdrew his hand from her