The Oasis

Chapter Nine

Mitch's POV

We all walked back to the army base, heads hung low. Mostly me; that was my home after all. When we reached the gate, Ty gave of a signal to raise the bars. Each of us stepped through, entering the base, and saluted to the recruits. Sky was waiting for us. "Any-" he started but Ty cut him off.

"No." I almost wanted to interrupt and say that one person had survived. Adam looked at me with a sad expression and I nodded in response. I mouthed 'Im okay' to him and he brushed it off. Sky moved on to more important things and all of us dispersed, but Jerome stayed by my side. {a/n hey tell me if it's okay to add a little merome to this story. I not I understand. Say in the comments before next update or forever hold your peace.}

"Whatcha wanna do biggums?" He asked me while playfully punching my shoulder. I gave him a light smile but then sighed. His expression changed from happy-go-lucky to a confused sadness. "I know it's hard buddy, same thing happened to me remember?" Jerome said. His entire clan was wiped away by human hunters when he was twelve. It took him forever to warm up to us. I nodded and smiled.

"I remember biggums," I said. "I know..."

He sighed and pulled something out of his pocket. "Mitch I found this," he said. Jerome pulled out a golden chain with a square locket and put it in my hand. I stared at it for a second and flipped it over. On the back was an engraving, and it was my mother's name. I opened it and inside were three pictures: one of my mother, one of my father, and one of me and Tiffany from when we were little. I felt the tears prick at my eyes and I looked at Jerome. I gave a small laugh and hugged him.

"Where did you get this?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I found it on the ground," he replied then looked closer at the photos. "Hey who's that?" He asked while pointing to Tiff.

"Oh...she was my best friend a long time ago. From the village," I told him. A saddened expression swept over his face.

"I'm so sorry dude," he whispered. I gave him a confused look then realized what he was saying.

"Oh, no no no, Jerome she's alive. I saw her at the scene," I quickly dismissed his worrying.

"What? You saw her there and you didn't tell us?" He asked.

"I-um..."

"You're sure it wasn't an illusion? There was a lot of smoke there buddy. Lots of chemicals. It could've been a-" he babbled before I interrupted him.

"No. It was her," I said with certainty.

"If it was, why didn't you tell us?" He said. I thought for a minute before I answered.

"She ran away when she was 16. Haven't seen her since. She might have made a home of her own," I told him. "She was with a guy..."

"Oh." He pondered for a moment. "Why did she run away?" I winced at the memory.

* * *

I knocked on Tiffs door and there was no answer. "Tiffany?" I called. "Hey you home?" I guessed that she was out exploring in the field. She loved to explore... But then I heard a sobbing noise from the other side. "Tiff?!" I screamed. I decided to open the door and there she was, crying next to something I couldn't quite make out in the back of the room. I slowly approached her, being careful of all the red stains that now appeared as I inched my way foreword. Then I saw it. She was crying over the mauled body of what appeared to be her mother. Not far away, her father sat crumpled against the wall. I opened my mouth to scream but thought better of it. Instead I leaned down and put my hand on Tiffany's shoulder. "Hey, it'll be okay..." I tried saying to calm her down. She turned to face me, tears streaming down her face as she sniffled.

"How?" She said in a choked voice. "How will it be okay?" I just stared at her, a sad expression covering my face. Then I realized something: I was all she had left. She had no other friends, no other family. Just me.

"You have me," I told her and I wrapped my arms around her and she cried into my shoulder.

"But what if I lose you too?"

* * *

I snapped out of my trance when I heard a cracking noise. Then I realized it was Jerome snapping his fingers I'm front of my face. "Hey biggums. Snap outta it," he said and I shook my head.

"Sorry," I said. "Um...she ran away because her parents got killed..." I whispered the last part. He hugged me again and I hugged him back. "I was all she had left...all these years I thought she was dead. And I felt responsible..." I told him.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered. "I'm so sorry..."

"Hey don't apologize," I said while smiling and pulling away. "It's not your fault anyways. I just miss her"

We were silent for a few moments until two recruits walked past us. They were whispering and giggling and I didn't know why until I heard one of them say "#Merome." I guess Jerome heard it too because we both pulled away, blushing furiously. Well, at least I thought he was blushing, I couldn't tell because of his fur. I scratched the back of my head.

"Uh...haha..." I said awkwardly. He shook his head, a large grin appearing on his face, showing off his canines.

"Fans..." He sighed. I laughed and brushed it off, but it still stuck in my mind, and it was bugging me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay so quick visit to Mitch. Next chapter will be all Cupquake I promise. Okay? Okay. I sorry it's kinda late. Also collab with @angushunter5 so yeah go check out his story.

But anyways.

BAIIIIIIIIIZZZZZZ

~Ali :3