Oasis (The Last Humans Book 1) by Dima Zales

Author:Dima Zales [Zales, Dima]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mozaika Publications

15

“What did you make me do?” I think at Phoe in horror. “What did you make me do?” I repeat out loud, my words coming out in a whimper.

Liam blinks at me. “I made you do?”

“I’m not talking to you,” I tell him, fully cognizant of how mad this makes me seem. “I did this because Phoe—I mean, Instructor Filomena—asked me to.”

He gapes at me. “Instructor Filomena?” A bead of sweat drips from his eyebrow, and he mutters, “Weren’t we just in the car with her? Why do I have trouble remembering that?” He looks the most scared I’ve seen him. The idea of forgetting something seems to frighten him more than the Armageddon we just unleashed. “How did I get here?” He looks around in confusion. “Am I dreaming?”

I don’t reply. My eyes are glued to the Screen.

The Goo has moved through the bushes that surround the Institute and is approaching the Campus.

“I’m sorry, Theo.” Phoe sounds genuinely sad. “This was the only way to stop this mockery… this excuse of a society.”

Her words snap me out of my dazed horror. “What the hell are you talking about?” I scream. “You just used me to kill everyone.”

Liam looks at me, his face contorted in confusion.

“Not you, Liam,” I say in a calmer tone. “This isn’t your fault, not at all.”

Liam backs away from me.

“You wouldn’t understand, even if I tried explaining it to you,” Phoe says. “They had it coming, the Elderly. This was our only way to freedom…”

I don’t listen to the rest of her monologue; she’s making as much sense as a movie villain. Coming out of my shock, I frantically prod at the Screen. “There has to be a way to stop this,” I mutter. “Come on, there has to be a way.”

Liam backs up some more, does a one-eighty, and leaps up the stairs.

I don’t call out to him. I continue pressing at the Screen, my desperation growing.

After about a minute, I realize my actions are futile. There’s no way to undo this.

“I suggest you run up the way Liam did,” Phoe says at the end of her crazy ‘explanation.’ “You might buy yourself a few precious minutes.”

I take one last look at the Screen.

The Goo seems to be moving faster, the green that was Oasis quickly becoming the same revolting orange-brown mess as the outside world.

I run for the metal stairs, my leg muscles burning as I take the steps two at a time. I’m trying to catch up with Liam, but to a larger degree, I’m attempting to outrun my inevitable doom.

As I climb, all kinds of thoughts race through my head. Regrets. Ideas. I wish I had watched more movies, read more books, spent more time with my friends.

Ancient books often talk about seeing your life flash before your eyes in near-death situations. In my case, I’m just remembering certain scenes, starting with my earliest memory. None of them are from my time at the Nursery; intellectually, I know there was a period when I was a baby and the Elderly took care of me, but I can’t recall it.

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