Thirst (The Oasis Plague Book 1) Read online

  The Oasis Plague

  Thirst

  Iris Sweetwater

  Contents

  The Oasis Plague

  Untitled

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  The Oasis Plague

  Thirst

  Iris Sweetwater

  Left for dead by her own flesh and blood, Brenna will have to learn to fight to stay alive in this post-apocalyptic world . . .

  Brenna has been known for breaking the rules of her underground colony most of her life, but now that she is of age, the stakes are much higher. Banishment from her Colony means more than just losing her family ties. Since humans all but destroyed it, the world has been a harsh place with little food or shelter and no safety from the worst human beings imaginable.

  Brenna’s life is saved by a tribe who has learned to live on the surface, and with them she will thrive.

  But what happens when the ambitions and prejudices of those below endanger this new family she has found? Brenna feels she has no choice but to go on a dangerous trek in search of a rumored utopia where they might all find peace.

  But peace always comes at a price.

  Fans of Divergent and The Fifth Wave won’t want to put down this dystopian sci-fi romance even once they hit the end.

  Chapter One

  Brenna kept her head down as the council came back into the room they used as a court of sorts when a resident needed to be judged. She wasn’t proud to admit it was not her first time in there, but this time, it was serious. Her mother had told her as much. She was eighteen now, which meant she was fully responsible for her own actions according to the laws the original residents wrote almost a century ago. But it was also her third offense. Being the head councilman’s niece had gotten her out of a lot of hot water, but she doubted it was going to do any good this time. Brenna had proverbially stepped in it.

  A piece of her dark hair rebelled and came down to touch her face, tickling the edge of her left eyebrow. It was too thick to keep in a chic ponytail like most of the other women in the Colony, and she had never learned to braid it.

  Brenna debated whether or not she should push the hair out of her face or just leave it as all the council members took their seats, looking official. She guessed it didn’t matter how she acted anymore. The decision had been made. Her fate was sealed.

  “The council has found that Brenna, daughter of Farrah, has committed a crime that is too heavy for the Colony to bear,” the judge’s voice boomed over the crowd. Brenna’s ears were ringing with despair already. She knew what it meant. A harsh punishment would come down on her one way or the other. Her mother and her uncle had been unable or unwilling to save her this time. The judge was only a figurehead with an intimidating voice— she knew who to blame for this decision as she stood stoically to accept whatever the man had to say of her punishment.

  “Our stockpiles of medicine and foods are precious, and we cannot risk this for one individual. Therefore, it is the council’s decision to bring down banishment upon Brenna for her heinous crime.” A scoff was the most rebellious thing she was able to bring forth from her mouth as the guards came to grab her, one on each arm. Heinous was a strong word for what she had done. In truth, it shouldn’t have even been illegal, but if she had learned anything from the stories told by the elders about human history, it was that desperate times meant ridiculous measures. The individual no longer mattered.

  Brenna let herself be carried by the two guards through the main part of their underground city. She knew that some of the council, a few spectators, and her family would be following behind to see her off. She had been to one of these herself before.

  She so desperately wanted to find her voice and her courage to kick and scream about injustice. All she could do was tremble, making her teeth chatter in response. She had every reason to fear this punishment. Life on the surface, without the protection of her Colony, could very well mean her death. All manner of creatures, both human and otherwise, would be waiting to devour her when she got weak from lack of food and water. She would have no tools with which to provide herself those things. And this was all over one vial of medicine.

  They breached the surface, and the moon was high and bright in the sky to greet them. Brenna imagined coyotes waiting in the darkness, their senses heightened by the full moon.

  The guards let go of her as they approached the giant wall being built in preparation for the Colony to move back onto the surface. An overground city had been under construction for a long time now, and a few families had already begun living aboveground. Earth was still mostly a lawless desert, but the wounds of war had begun to heal. It was time to resume normal human life. But there was nothing normal about the politics involved if you asked Brenna.

  Someone pushed her forward from behind, toward the large drawbridge that had been built as a door. They began to lower it as Brenna turned around to face those from her Colony who had come to say goodbye. She could see one sweet girl she went to school with crying, but no one else shed a tear. Even her mother stood with her head tall as the drawbridge finished flattening onto the ground.

  Farrah, Brenna’s mother, approached alongside her brother, the head councilman. “You’re really going to feed me to the dogs?” Brenna asked through gritted teeth, looking at her mother.

  “You have left us no choice, Brenna. If we continued to coddle you here, all three of us would have lost our place,” she explained, saving face. Brenna had always trusted her mother, even if she trusted no one else. That had been wrong of her. She had never known hatred until this moment.

  “I saved a life,” she told her mother, looking into the eyes of the woman who had given birth to her. They had the same dark brown eyes with green flecks, though her mother’s hair was fair where Brenna’s was a dark auburn. Perhaps that part had come from the father she never had the privilege to know.

  “The life of a Heathen,” her mother shot back, causing Brenna to stare her down as if she were a stranger. She never thought of her mother as a hateful person before. Perhaps, she had just been blind about it.

  “It’s time to go, Brenna. We cannot be so vulnerable for long.” The high councilman, her uncle, looked out into the night as if it held his own personal demons. And perhaps it did. Brenna could only hope that if his ruling led to her death, they would find and devour him.

  She waved in her last show of defiance before walking to the other side of the Colony, not daring to look back even for a moment until the drawbridge had been returned to its place again. She wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction.

  All alone, she found the night was much quieter than she expected. To the west of her was nothing but open desert as well as the small village belonging to the tribe that had inhabited the surface just above her Colony for as long as she was alive. To the east were tall brushes where animals liked to hide. Raiders sometimes hid there too, but it was going to be the only protection to hide and keep her safe from the elements. That would be her bed tonight if she survived long enough to fall asleep. Brenna had no idea what she was doing. She hadn’t led an easy life, but compared to other children who weren’t related to those on the council, she had been pretty well pampered.

  Unsure what to do as the wind whistled past her ears, she headed for the brush to find something that resembled a comfortable spot. She didn’t know how well she would be able t
o sleep, but she would have to learn. This was her life now— what was left of it.

  As she laid down in the sandy brush, a lizard crawled over her leg, making her jump. In the distance, she could see the fires of the tribal camp burning and flickering. Brenna knew that if she got desperate for heat or food, she should go to the tribe and ask for help. After all, it was helping them that landed her in this spot. But she also knew that housing her could get them killed and void a long-standing treaty between them and the undergrounders. It wasn’t a risk she wanted to take if she didn’t have to. They would hate her, and from what she knew of their kindness and spirit, that wasn’t something she could live with.

  Brenna tried to bring herself to regret the decision she made to break the law for a third time, but she just couldn’t. Sure, it had landed her ass on her own, in the wild, with nothing and no one, but she had saved a life.

  One of the children in the tribe was sick and dying, and she knew their rations of medicine were diluted. Besides, it was their contact with the undergrounders that had gotten many of the tribespeople sick in the first place. The undergrounders had been shielded from much of the diseases and other issues that were rampant on the surface, while somehow, the tribe had managed to survive and eradicate many of their sicknesses over the years. So, as the undergrounders began to emerge from their hiding places to see what was left of the surface world, their old diseases came with them.

  An eight-year-old girl was wrapped in blankets, whimpering, waiting to die of her fever, while her family watched. How was Brenna to leave her like that knowing she had a way to fix it?

  So, she had stolen medicine and a loaf of bread from the storage room. Brenna figured she could just forgo some of her own rations to make up for it. The girl had lived and recovered. It made Brenna sick, thinking she was the only one willing to help the girl, just because they were birthed from those tainted by the radiation. That was the only reason others treated the tribespeople as lesser.

  Brenna shook her head as she heard a snake slither by. Luckily, it didn’t seem to notice her and moved on. All sorts of things came out at night in the desert, but it was something that couldn’t be escaped anymore since the whole continent was mostly desert now. So, wherever she went, she would have to keep watch for nightcrawlers that could turn deadly if she spooked them. But then again, they would also become her food now.

  Brenna closed her eyes, hyper-aware of every sound that assailed her ears, even once she drifted off to sleep. But when she woke up with two men standing over her with devilish grins, she wished she had been able to stay asleep like the dead. Then, maybe she wouldn’t have experienced fully what happened next.

  “Hey, little girlie, watchu doin’ out here all alone?” one of the men growled, coming a little too close for comfort. His breath reeked of alcohol, something that apparently used to taste much better than the bitter version they make for themselves now.

  “Why does it matter to you? I’m nobody. Just leave me alone,” she told them, hoping she would be of no use to them. The men were both missing quite a few teeth and were dressed in pieced-together rags. They were either really drunk Raiders that had gone astray from their gang, or they were kicked out of their Colony like she was. Either way, they were bad news. Brenna heard what happened to young women alone on the surface. Wouldn’t death be a better option if it came down to it?

  “Now, why would we do that?” the other one hissed like a snake, reaching out and gliding his filthy fingers through her hair. Brenna scrambled back from the men, wondering if there was anything she could do to fight them. She had no weapons and didn’t know how to make any. She never felt the need to learn. She didn’t even know if she could throw a punch that would do any damage to these two. “You’re so pretty,” he added, flicking his tongue out at her, so his saliva slid across her cheek.

  Brenna turned her head and gagged, squeezing her eyes shut. She knew she was going to cry, but she didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. The man continued to stroke her hair as if it were the finest silk. There was no saving her from what they wanted her for now. The two men had set her in their sights and were going to take what they wanted regardless. She found it hard to believe that her own mother had allowed her to be sent away to this.

  The first man came to her side and pulled her face up to his, pressing his sharp nails into the sides of her cheeks. She whimpered as he forced her to look him in the eyes. Then, he yanked her face to his, and though she tried to pull back with all her strength, she found it was not enough. His lips landed on hers, the flavor resembling grease and ashes as he snaked his tongue into her mouth as if they were just two lovers sharing a moment.

  The other man was sliding his hand up her spine and giving her the kind of chills that made her sick. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and she screamed out into the night. She doubted it would do any good, but she needed to let that fear out of her chest into a bellow that could wake the dead. So, Brenna screamed her throat raw even as they tried to silence her with their fingers and mouths.

  It didn’t take long for the teasing and struggling to stop and for the real attack to begin. They were both on her in an instant like a pack of wolves, drooling over her body as she struggled against them in the sand. They easily overpowered her, a little waif of a girl just barely eighteen. She tried to block it out and think of anything else as both men ripped at her clothes and had their way with her one at a time. The pain was unspeakable. All she had left now was a hoarse sigh and a stream of tears that ran down her face unnoticed. This was not how she had pictured the transition into womanhood. She lay there, staring up at the stars, silently begging for a miracle. For all she cared, that miracle could be a savior or a strike of lightning that would end the lives of all three of them.

  And then the movement of the two men stopped, though the pain remained, and she heard their own screams into the night resembling the cry of the desert foxes and coyotes she had been so afraid of. Two arms slid under her broken body, and she felt like she was floating as the shape of the stars above her spun and changed.

  Without any effort, her stomach began to spill bile all over whoever was carrying her as well as herself. It was like expelling a demon from her body as she was racked with waves of cramps, bringing up anything she had in her stomach. And then, her world went comfortably numb and black. There was nothing. And it was the best she could have hoped for.

  Brenna shot up in a cold sweat as she looked around and remembered where she was. She hated having dreams about that first night she was banished. Now that it had been a year, they happened less often.

  Feeling shaken, she went through the process of reminding herself who she was now and why that would never be done to her again.

  She ran her fingers through her coarse, thick hair, braided with feathers throughout, just like many of the tribeswomen. Her eyes were smudged with coal, and her face was hard like steel. She had frightened many a raider away since that fateful day with just a simple look. They didn’t know what to do with an outcast woman who had been taught to fight like the tribespeople. Like the Batista, to be exact. That was what they called themselves, the descendants of a man named Batista who had led this original group of overgrounders to safety and taught them to survive.

  She owed them her life, particularly the one named Atlas.

  Brenna grasped the weapons that surrounded her, mostly sculpted with her own two hands since becoming a part of the tribe. As she slept in the warm hut she had been taught to construct, they were her comfort and bedmates each night. She knew with those weapons at her side, she could be deadly. Ruthless. It was what she had to be to survive, and that scared little girl that broke the rules back in the Colony was long gone. Though, when she looked at the newly built above-ground city in the distance, she had a fondness for that child she once was as well as anger and new worry.

  The closer the undergrounders got to the tribe, the more likely they would find out they had saved her. And that could onl
y bring more harm to the tribe than what they had already been experiencing.

  They were her family now, and she wouldn’t let that happen.

  Chapter Two

  Brenna heard the drums in the distance as she climbed out into the still mostly dark world and watched from afar as a fire was being built, a bonfire from the looks of it. She could not recall any holiday, and it was not yet time to start the Great Hunt, what they called the end of the short, rainy season when plants and animals would be thriving and ripe for the taking. It was the one time of year they all ate well and were able to escape sickness as a result of their improved health. They didn't have to rely upon any help from the Colony . . . Colony 88, as they were calling it since their records showed that was how far they were from the first Colony built underground, only miles from the blast that killed most of North America. Brenna had seen some of those records and heard the stories told by the settlers about her underground world previous to her birth. They used to have tunnels connecting to others at one point, but the other colonies nearby had either died off or already built above ground.

  She glared into the orange of the fire as it flickered in the rising morning light. She hated to think it, but the more they reveled in anything, the worse it would be for them as Colony 88 expanded. The whole reason they had come to the surface was because they had done so well underground. Yet, they were running out of room and resources. They needed to find a place to build on the surface, hoping that it had been long enough since the last blast for it to be safe. They hoped it would be without the consequences of darkening skin and generations of mutations, like what could be seen in the Batista. Not that Brenna was at all bothered by how they looked. She found their skin to be quite beautiful and sometimes wished hers would have darkened up. Though she had tanned with the constant exposure to the sun, she still looked nothing like them.