Iridescent: Chapter Twenty-Four

Iridescent

Chapter Twenty-Four

~The Great Oasis~

After the Fall

“Pineapple or peaches?”

Zara looked over her shoulder, “What?”

Deontay raised up two cans, “Pineapple or peaches?”

Zara rolled her eyes, “I’m not hungry.”

“Suit yourself,” Deontay shrugged. He opened the can of peaches with a knife and ate while he walked.

Zara narrowed her eyes as a gust of wind blew through the desert throwing sand into the air. She took a swig of water as she tried to think. There was a storm coming. She could just feel it and it wasn’t a thunderstorm either. If they were caught out in the desert during a sandstorm they probably wouldn’t make it through.

“How much further?” Zara asked Miwa.

The robotic dog turned his head, “A few more hours maybe, until the oasis.”

“Come on, Deontay!” Zara called, “Lift those legs! Make sure to keep up!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Deontay said as he ate.

They were running out of supplies and decided to stop through the oasis. Miwa said that their way off the Island was near there so taking a slight detour wouldn’t be any problem.  There were several oases that lay like peals in the desert sand but there was one that was unusually large. It was large enough to support several vacation hot spots. In fact, really it was several large oases clustered together in the same area.

Zara wasn’t sure what to expect. There weren’t many people living in the desert but the desert could have attracted several people from the city after the Tower fell because of the fact not many people lived there. The people that came to the desert would need to find water and since most of them didn’t know the ins and outs of the desert the only source of water they would know would be the Great Oasis, where they were headed.

There wasn’t anything she could do about it now. All Zara could really do was to wait until they reached the Great Oasis to figure out what to do from there.

The wind grew gradually stronger as the group of three walked toward the Great Oasis. Zara struggled through the sand. After a few hours, the traveling group crested a large dune they saw the tourist attraction ahead of them in the distance. The buildings in the distance looked abandoned and empty. Zara made it within a mile of the resort type. She ducked down and the others took notice and crouched beside her.

“What’s up?” Deontay asked.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Zara said.

Deontay looked over at Miwa, “Why don’t you ask Miwa?”

“I don’t need to ask Miwa,” Zara stated.

Deontay rolled his eyes, “So Miwa, what is the say on what’s ahead?”

Miwa looked ahead. He scanned the area of the Oasis, “There are a lot of hostiles in the area.”

“Great,” Deontay sighed, “I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.”

“How many oases are there?” Zara asked.

“Seven,” Miwa stated, “Five of them are large bodies of water while the other two are simply smaller connecting lakes.”

“That is a lot of drinkable water,” Deontay nodded.

“The water level has dropped 20% since the Tower fell,” Miwa reported

Zara got back to the problem at hand, “How many resorts and hotels are there?”

“A lot,” Miwa answered. Zara looked at him and scowled. Miwa shrugged in a doglike manor, “What? I just like Deontay better.”

Deontay shrugged, “You are a little rough around the edges.”

“Says someone who likes me,” Zara muttered.

Deontay shook his head, “I told you! I don’t have a crush on you! Someone else does!”

“Right,” Zara didn’t believe a word he said, “Come on, we’ll have to sneak in.”

“What’s the plan?” Miwa asked.

Zara looked at Miwa, “Get ourselves a share of the water here and maybe take over a building while we’re at it.”

Zara crept forward through the dust and grime that blew in the growing wind. Deontay and Miwa looked at each other for a moment. Deontay shrugged and followed close behind Zara. Miwa walked beside Deontay. They reached one of the resort buildings. The building was made almost entirely of glass. The large swinging pool was a buddy brown instead of a crystal blue. People with guns walked into the building as the wind blew in their faces.

“Come on boss!” a grunt complained, “Let us in! A sand storm is coming!”

“Stay there until I say you can come in!” the boss yelled over the howling wind.

Another grunt groaned, “But boss! No one’s going to try to take out turf in the middle of a sand storm!”

“I’ll leave all of you out there if you don’t shut up and maintain the perimeter!” the boss yelled, “Do you want that!? No? Then shut up!”

The door slammed shut and the grunts that stood guard grumbled quietly to themselves. They walked toward their posts and stood guard. Zara looked at Deontay.

“So what’s the plan?” Miwa asked.

“Do we really need this building?” Deontay asked.

Zara shrugged, “I’ve always wanted to visit this resort. Never had the time though.”

Deontay cracked his knuckles, “Alright.”

“Really though,” Miwa sat in between them, “what’s the plan?”

Visibility was bad so Zara decided to use it to their advantage. Zara vaulted over the wall of dried bushes with Deontay’s help. She landed on her feet and couched in the sandy haze. Zara ran low to the ground toward the nearest grunt. She crept up behind him and pulled his legs out from under him. As he fell, she grabbed his gun and struck the man in the jaw with the butt of the gun.

She threw the gun over the bush for Deontay before turning to deal with the rest of the look outs. Zara ran toward another hazy figure in the sand.

The man took notice of a noise, “Don, what was tha—”

Zara ran up and kicked the man in the jaw. He dropped to the ground unconscious. Zara sighed. It wasn’t as stealthy as she had wanted but she could adapt. The rest of the men on the outside knew that she was there. They just still couldn’t see her. She darted toward another man and knocked him out. Then she grabbed his gun and aimed it at the others.

“Drop your weapons!” Zara called.

“There’s like five of us and only one of you!” a man called, “Why would we do that?”

Zara shrugged, “Suit yourself.”

Miwa lunged out of the swirling sand behind the men. He tackled one of them and quickly turned to take down another. His tail lashed out, grabbed a man’s leg and gave a short electrical shock enough to knock him out. Another man raised his gun at Miwa. Deontay hit the man’s arm upwards then hit him in the stomach with the butt of the gun Zara tossed to him. As the man boubled over, Deontay stuck him in the side of the head with the same weapon. In an easy movement, Deontay slung the weapon onto his back and raised his empty shot gun at another man.

“Not so fast, man,” Deontay stated. The man had raised his weapon. Upon seeing the sawed off double barrel shot gun, the man thought twice. He placed down the weapon in his hand and raised his hands. Zara walked up to him.

She looked down at the man, “It’s empty.”

Zara hit the man in the back of the head. She motioned to Deontay and Miwa to head to the door. The class door was covered in a sand film. Deontay walked up to the door and knocked on the widowed glass.

“I TOLD you! You come in when I say you do!” the boss yelled.

Deontay looked at Zara. She motioned to the door. Deontay shrugged and knocked again.

“You bunch of idiots! How many times do I have to say it?! You are not getting in!” the boss yelled.

Deontay nodded, “Challenge accepted.” He grabbed the handle.

“Don’t break my door,” Zara stated.

Deontay looked at her, “I got it, sheesh.”

He pulled on the door handle. The door remained closed, locked from the other side.

“Deontay,” Zara said with a hint of a threat, “I want a door by the end of this whole thing.”

“I know, I know,” Deontay waved a hand at her.

He took a stance and yanked on the door again. The door flew open. Zara ran in and raised her weapon. Miwa ran in beside her. The people in the lobby looked up and got to their feet. Zara looked at Miwa and pointed to the balcony. Miwa ran up the stairs, his tail tazed the men he passed by. Zara ducked down as shots flew passed her. She darted forward and jumped behind the info desk. Zara reloaded her weapon and fired at arms and legs; nonlife threatening injuries. Deontay walked in as the wind blew the door closed again. He sighed and got to work.

Deontay made his way through the resort looking for something in particular. He spotted his target. The leader noticed Deontay’s interest in him and turned to run down a hallway. Deontay rolled his eyes and followed him. The leader ducked into an office with Deontay close on his trail. When Deontay neared the room the man let loose a string of bullets. Deontay crossed his arms and waited a few seconds until he heard a click. He entered as the leader tried to reload his weapon. His fingers fumbled with the clip as Deontay simply watched him.

“You done?” Deontay asked.

The man dropped his weapon and raised his hands with an unsure smile. Deontay grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him back out to the lobby. He raised the man to his feet and pressed his empty shotgun to his back.

“Alright!” Deontay’s voice boomed. Everyone quieted down to look at him, “I’m only going to say this once! The lady wants the resort! So everybody else, get out!”

For a moment everyone just looked at each other, wondering what to do.

Deontay raised his weapon, “I mean it! If you go now you should be able to get to the hotel down the street before the winds pick up to much.”

The men started running out the door. When the door closed behind the last man, Deontay let the leader go who dashed for the door. Miwa and Zara walked to Deontay’s side.

“That went well,” Deontay propped the gun on his shoulder.

Miwa sat down, “That was fun! I really should join your guys’ team!”

“No,” Zara said. She turned around, “Come on. Let’s barricade the resort and make it storm ready. I don’t want those guys coming back. That and I don’t want sand getting in my new resort.”