The Oasis by Janette Osemwota

suspected, whatever had happened that left them alive had completely destroyed the common sense in them. The virus that had changed these people seemed even more resilient here. A man passed down the stairs whispering about how she smelled, his body shaking uncontrollably. It wasn’t the mental issues that frightened Lena the most—it was their ability to mutilate themselves without reservation.
    Each individual seemed to be covered in blood or some kind of filth. Her heart sank as she sympathized with all the horror around her. One man they passed sat with his eye hanging out of its socket. He moaned uncontrollably, but didn’t seem to take any notice of them.
    Lena counted ten storeys before they turned off onto one of the floors. At one time this had been some kind of office building, full of cubicles. The cubicles now seemed to hold makeshift beds. She was amazed at how many others seemed to belong to this community. The smell was unbearable and Lena hunched over and vomited. Her captor took little notice as he kept urging her forward. He hadn’t hurt her again since their initial encounter in the bathroom and she tried to save her strength, but the area was repulsive.
    A few heads turned as the walked through. A few men headed in their direction and Lena had her first verbal interaction with the others . Since her own captor had remained silent, she hadn’t thought any of the others were capable of normal communication.
    “Heh, what’cha got there?” A tall man approached them. Her captor growled aggressively. Lena froze, crossing her arms over her chest protectively. She still only wore her bra and somehow this man’s unwanted attention was far worse than what she had seen before. The man’s head pivoted unnaturally, cracking the bones in his neck. “Heh?” He reached out to touch her hair. She backed up quickly, bumping into the wall of a cubicle. Someone rustled on the other side. The creature continued to advance towards her, hand reaching out as if he wanted to grab her again.
    She shrieked when she was grabbed from behind by whoever she had disturbed when she hit the cubicle wall. Scrambling to break free from the man’s grasp, she watched as his face pressed close to hers and he began whispering things she couldn’t understand. As her attacker reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her from the other man’s grasp, he yelled at her. “Beware of the free man. Beware.”
    Shuddering at his message, but grateful to be out of his grasp, she latched onto her captor. Although he had beaten her head until she bled, he had not, so far, tried to kill her. There was no telling what these other men might try to do to her. The shrill of laughter followed them as her captor dragged her to another set of stairs on the opposite wall. She had never been so grateful to be away from anyone as she was now. The laughter that followed frightened her and reminded her of the sanity that was now lost.
    Following the path up the stairs, her captor pulled her towards a door that was covered in blood, handprints smeared across the wood. She swallowed and began to think she should have taken her chances with the men down below. When he opened the door, she was astounded by the vision before her. These were cells created out of old materials. Each cell held a captive. Some were beaten so badly they sat motionless, while others paced nervously. A few men, with the same build as her captor, stood as if they were guarding prisoners. Her heart sank when they stopped in front of an empty cell. She was about to become a prisoner to the worst kind of people.
    Lena was shoved into a cell, the door shutting behind her. It seemed like at one point this room had been some kind of office. Everything was removed except a chair in the corner. The south wall was a window, filthy with only God knew what, but she was still able to see outside. Somewhere out there, she prayed that Jasper was looking for her.
     
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    Jasper