Destruction - The Oasis Project Book 2 (Complete)

Sixty-Five - Ira

"I'm trying. I'm so sorry." My teeth chattered as I attempted to project my apology to everyone in the room. The slim torches in my hand were trembling even though I clamped my elbows to my sides. Four was holding another pair of torches as Stuart stitched up Yulian's forearm.

"You're doing well, Ira," it was the first time that I'd heard Four be encouraging, with a white lie, no less. It didn't make me feel that much better. All I could think about was Linkin whispering to me the name of the person that Asmar wanted, and Bryce's face frozen in horror. Nazem Sial could be bleeding out right now, somewhere in this complex building, and no one would know. The team in Canada had long since lost the visual feed on the compound and weren't able to tell us where any of the recruits were before Oasis went completely off the grid. I should really not be here, but I couldn't think of a good enough excuse to venture out on my own. Four would stop me with a gun to my head before I'd make it out the door.

Thierry, with the bullet taken out and his leg already stitched up, was growing restless, but he didn't say a word to Stuart who was doing his best to be fast and careful. When Yulian's arm was done, I breathed a shaky sigh of relief, but not for my friend. I was so terrified, I felt like I could vomit up my heart.

"Let's go." Thierry was the first to jump up when Stuart laid down the medical instruments. He looked nearly as shaken as I was. He seemed to be fully comprehending the situation - not only did we have to get out of here before the army stormed this place, but some of the recruits might be dead because the doctors saw a losing battle.

Nate took us down every corridor in a methodical sweep of the place. If there were a crossroads then we'd split up and reconvene. It felt like we were inside the dark building for hours, sweat running down our faces now that ventilation was off. Yulian could probably hear our blood roaring.

I ran at the front, opening every door I could open, kicking and shoving every one I couldn't. It was only when we found the girl in the fourth apartment that I began to feel the aches in my body. I was prepared to fall to pieces as I leaned down to put two fingers to her neck. She had collapsed so peacefully, and I couldn't see any injuries from how she was lying on the floor.

"She is breathing," Yulian said from the door. My relief didn't last long; the sudden wavering of my stress made me aware of nausea brewing in my stomach.

"I've got her." I threw the unconscious mutant over my shoulder. "That's Alessia. Number Four. She's alive but still unconscious like the others," I told everyone back at base. I heard cheers, cheers that went over my head.

Alessia was petite, maybe even smaller than Four, but walking with her made my legs burn after a while. Linkin didn't know much about her; she'd never even seen her while she was here, but Linkin did know that Alessia was known for being severely antisocial. Even though the girl over my shoulder gave me hope and gave me a distraction, she was still not the person I wanted to see. We hurried through the maze-like building as uneasiness filled the air.

We found Nazem outside the gym with a bullet in the back of his head, the floor painted with his blood and brains. I threw up yellowish acid next to him while Stuart laid a hand in my back while murmuring things that my broken brain couldn't understand. I just nodded as I held onto my consciousness and tried to not blackout from panic. My head had never throbbed so much.

"Nazem, Number Three, dead," Four said, each of her words sinking heavier. And just like that, it was over. Stuart took Alessia from me and Yulian helped me stand on my wobbly feet. The ground was rippling like the ocean as I thought about Linkin, unconscious back in the radioactive prison. She'd trusted me with her life, but I had failed her again. I couldn't fail her again.

But I had, even before it started. I was too late.

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I didn't expect all of us to make it out unscathed, but I thought that we'd at least be celebrating, restraining puzzled or unstable recruits, or welcoming them to the team. Instead, we were so silent that if we listened hard enough, we could hear cracks forming in ice. Nobody said a word about the horrors we saw or told us to focus on the people we did save - not even Four. Yulian fixated on the drifting snow. Thierry's face was drained of blood as he lifted the last of the four surviving subjects from the compound, Trevor, into the car, binding his wrists and ankles with multiple zip ties. Stuart's eyes were glistening as he looked in the rear-view mirror before starting up the vehicle. I knew what he was thinking - that he used to be one of them, the doctors, the monsters. He could never forgive himself for it.

I watched the Oasis compound get smaller and eventually disappeared behind us. We made it back to the fence at the Canadian border without anyone in pursuit or cutting us off. I hugged my jacket tightly around me until it was suffocating. Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw Nazem lying face-down on the floor. Nothing could help stop the vines of panic and dread growing around my heart, strangling it, stifling it. There was only so much that I could do, but they'd have to squeeze every ounce of blood out of me before I gave up.