THE DARKEST MINDS: OASIS

Cracking my head left from white I sat up from my bunk. "Come it's time to shower." I said as my feet hit the ground and I could hear her grown as she jumped off her top-bunk.

I knew she was terrified of water a by-product from a light punishment she had gotten when she lost control and blew up a generator.

We lived on a small rocky island that was extremely unforgiving, when it wasn't raining like a hurricane it was constantly being slammed by the ocean and her punishment was to be chained to a rock while the ocean "cooled her temper" after that she would go on with out a shower for months until I couldn't take it and as her bunk mate I got the worst of it the stench and pretty much I had to drag her into the shower myself literally, I pull her into the shower by her hair and washed her myself, ever since then she wouldn't go unless I was there which gave me a perfect excuse to wash our clothes.

"I don't even smell that bad, come on please don't make me do this." She said the complained behind me but I wouldn't have it as this would potentially become an never ending cycle of her trying to avoid this important task.

Standing in front of the door I pointed to it. "You got five minutes to undress, more or less, I don't want to see you when I go in to do laundry." I said sternly as I opened the door, her response was to send a electrical current through my body as she passed by me.

After getting her in the shower I went bunk from bunk, helping some of the kids out of there boots and for the teens I provided the affirmations that they needed but as I passed by one particular teens bed he asked softly "will everything go back to normal Big red?…will we go back to being normal?"

Halting my steps I couldn't help but look at him slowly, first my eyes and then slowly my head, the southern accent I tried so hard not to use resurfaced.

"You-do not-ask me a question like that whilst usein my slave name." I said while raising my voice so that everyone could hear me, the flame I buried deep within me rose to the surface, causing my skin to glow a deep red.

"I take pride of what I had became and that pride will carry out whean I leave this place, I do not want to be normal again and for such a thought process I outta' kill you." I couldn't help but lash out my anger morphing my words as I extended my hands towards his face however the sound of water saved this red so instead I took a deep breath and put the thin dirty blanket over his head as I walked back towards the bathroom. "Don't let a place like this break ya down is such a way…we are not Freaks."

Pushing the door open, I stepped into the bathroom, steam swirling in the air as the old pipes groaned under the strain of overuse. The smell of rust and mildew mixed with the sharp tang of soap that barely masked the island's ever-present salt. She stood under the weak stream of water, her arms wrapped around herself, her body stiff like a corpse refusing to decay.

I set the bundle of dirty clothes beside the bucket I'd scavenged for washing. Her back was turned to me, but I could see the way her shoulders twitched every time a drop of water hit her skin. That memory, the ocean beating her into submission, never left her. It clung to her like a second layer of flesh, a wound that never fully scabbed over.

Sighing I took off my shirt before I stepped into the shower with her, my hand's already grabbing the soap from her hands and gently started rubbing the soap gently against her back.

"You know one day you really are going to snap on those kids and I am not ganna be there to stop you." She said without looking at me and I knew she was right, that kid had really set me off the mere idea of going back… the thought just pissed me off.

"I ment what I said, you know." I said at I rubbed at a particular dirty spot "they, for the most part had good lives-protected against the harsh world so to them it makes sense but things are different now, they need to be stronger."

Turning around she hugged me deeply her breast gently pressed against me.

I stiffened for a moment, the warmth of her body against mine contrasting with the cold reality of where we were. Her skin was still damp, slick with water and soap, but her grip was firm, desperate.

"You ever think about what it'll be like?" she murmured against my shoulder. "When we finally get outta here?"

Laughing I gently hugged her "I know what it's like out there…mmm let me tell you a little'bout myself—before all this I lived in a crack house, I mean bad and my step dad he was a crook and everyday I would I would lay in my cold bed and tell myself, everything will be better eventually things would change but I never initiated it, so it all stayed the same." Takeing a deep breath "I will never let that be the case again."

She was quiet for a moment, her arms still locked around me. The water dripped from her hair, soaking into my shoulder, but I didn't mind. I knew what she was thinking—I could feel it in the way her fingers tightened against my back.

"You ain't him," she finally said, her voice muffled against my skin.

I sighed, pulling away just enough to look her in the eyes. "I know." And I did. But that didn't stop the fear from creeping in sometimes—the fear that maybe I'd become something worse after all I had almost killed a young boy for a sentence, to these kids this is the worst thing that has happened to them but to me I didn't mind at least I didn't have to scavenge for food or boil my water because the pipes where through the molding with something black-if the treatment was a little bit better I would have voted to stay. "I can feel your fear for our next plan but I can tell you this now we are figuratively, and physically chained together so if I have to drag you out of here, I will after all your my yellow"

She snorted, her breath warm against my collarbone. "Damn right, I am."

Her grip loosened slightly, but she didn't pull away completely. Instead, she rested her forehead against my chest, letting the water beat down on us both. It was a rare moment—one where neither of us had to talk, where we could just exist.

But one of us had to break the silence and she was the first to do it.

"sometimes, Red, I don't think I can do it. I don't think I can survive out there. It's been so long… I'm scared of what I'll find. Scared of what we'll become when we finally break free."

Laughing I forced her chin up so that she was looking into my eyes.

"That doesn't matter, what other people think-what the world thinks is irrelevant as it should be for you as well." "Look," I said, my voice firm but gentle. "What matters is we get out of here. We survive. The world can burn if it wants, but we're not gonna let it break us. I didn't survive this long just to die in some hellhole." Sigh looking upwards I cupped her face, forcing her to hold my gaze. "You and me—we've got this. You might be scared, but I'm not. And I won't let you fall. You hear me?"

She nodded slowly, the tremble in her shoulders easing just a bit as she seemed to draw strength from my words. It wasn't enough to chase away all the fear, but it was a start.

Getting out of the shower I began washing the clothes, scrubbing the filth off and put them on one of the pipes that was adjacent from the wall.

"When all hell breaks lose in a couple days you will follow me not the others…this is are escape they are bait-a distraction, this plan is for you and me." I said while not looking at her, scared at what her reaction would be, we where literally chained together so I felt obligated to tell her at least that much or we might be at a crossroads when the time comes.

She stayed silent for a moment, her hands resting on the edge of the shower as she processed what I said. I could hear the soft shuffle of her feet as she stepped out, her wet skin slick against the cold air, but still, she didn't speak. I focused on the laundry, keeping my hands busy with the rough fabric, trying to avoid meeting her gaze.

Finally, she broke the silence. "So, we do this for us. No one else. Not the kids, not anyone else. Just you and me." Her voice was steady, but there was something behind it—something raw, almost desperate.

I turned my head to look at her, the steam still thick in the air. "That's right. I won't risk what we have for anyone else. Not anymore. You're not just another person, Sparkplug. You're mine to protect."

She stepped forward, her eyes locking onto mine, a fire behind them that mirrored my own. "And what about you, Big Red?" she asked, her voice lowering into something almost playful, but laced with that edge of seriousness. "Are you just another person in this plan, or do you have your own stake in it?"

Turning around I placed my hand on the old pipes and slowly the clothes began to dry, after which I gave her her clothes back which where now clean and folded the others, her question was almost to hard to answer, my focus was more towards geting us out of here but as I thought about the other kids and how they depended on me I-I felt nothing instead I just felt empty, the madness I knew was there hung around edges and before I knew it the room was engulfed in steam, her body and hair now dried as she stood there naked, waiting for my respons but I knew one thing though if she disappeared this world will burn.

"My stake is you, geting you out-us out anything that stands in my way…anyone will burn."

The silence hung heavy in the steam-filled air, thick and suffocating, like the weight of the entire island pressing down on us. I could feel the intensity of her gaze, her expectant stare, but all I could think of was the plan—the way things had to go, how every single part of it had been meticulously calculated to get us out of this hellhole.

Her question had hit a nerve I didn't want to expose, but here we were, and she was waiting for an answer. I stood there, still staring at the clothes drying on the pipes, pretending the question didn't sting. The weight of my words, the cold realization that I'd already chosen—we—over everything else, was a strange, foreign thing. But it was mine. It was the only thing left that made sense.

I inhaled deeply, letting the humid air fill my lungs, and turned my head slightly to meet her eyes. There was no playful teasing in her expression now. Just raw, unfiltered emotion. Trust.

"My stake is you," I repeated, quieter this time, my voice rough around the edges. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. The words were heavy, but I needed her to hear them. "Everything else? Doesn't matter. You're the one thing I'm not willing to lose. If I have to burn this whole damn place down to get us out, I will. And I'll make sure it stays that way—you and me."

The fire in her eyes flickered, just for a moment, before she took a step closer. Slowly, cautiously, like she was weighing every ounce of what I said. She raised a hand, tentative, but it was enough. She cupped my cheek, and I could feel the heat of her touch against my skin, contrasting with the cold, damp atmosphere around us.

"Then we'll burn it all down together," she whispered, her voice steady but filled with that same intensity that mirrored mine. "I'm with you, Red. Always." Nodding I grabbed the clothes and left the bathroom and began placeing the clothes at the foot of each one of there beds before I got to mine, the plans I had made repeated through my mind as I went over each detail meticulously but at the back of my mind what she had said stuck with me, welding it to the back of my mind even as I began to drift into sleep.

I had given the answer that I felt was right after all she and I had grown close over the last four years but what was my stake in this, sighing I rolled over and shut my eyes tight.