Wake of the Dead | Three

Chapter Twenty-six | Jasper

Crickets chirped in the ripe undergrowth of the forest, but that wasn't what Jasper was leading Takeo away from. Biters raced after the horse on either side of it, the red stallion galloped in a panic, running through the backroad Jasper had been told to take. The animal's panting was heavy and hard, he held onto the reins so hard that his knuckles turned white, silently hoping one of the wretched creatures wouldn't grab onto his ankle and drag him down. He couldn't use his gun now, Takeo was already too spooked without adding gunshots into the mix. As Jasper predicted, these biters were different from the old ones. They weren't rotting, resembling that of some kind of feral human with an unquenchable bloodlust. Those dead, grey eyes couldn't see a thing, but their hearing was impeccable.

"Come on, boy." Jasper urged his steed to move faster, "I know you can go faster than this." Takeo took in heavier breaths and pressed on, the ground began to blur beneath them as the massive animal took on more speed. The biters attempted to keep up, snarling and snapping their dry teeth to get a mouthful of living flesh. "Oh, fuck off!" He snarled, "I've had a hard enough night already without adding you undead freaks!" Eventually, the biters began to fall behind, but he didn't pull back on the reins until they were far enough away that he couldn't see them.

Takeo gradually rounded off into a slower gait, then calmed down by padding in a tight circle, until he came to a complete stop. Jasper carefully lowered himself down from the saddle, his own legs felt like jelly. Those biters had been too close to nipping his ankles for his liking. Patting the equine's neck, he jolted back when the horse shook out its mane with a loud snort. Takeo's ears flopped from side to side as he did, then he turned to look back in the direction the biters came from. "That's right," Jasper nodded, "You showed them, big man." And patted the horse again.

Prompting to give his steed a bit of a break, Jasper decided not to get back onto the saddle for the night. He knew the animal could definitely handle it, but after getting them both out of that sticky situation, he didn't want to feel bad by forcing his new companion to carry him for the rest of the night. They'd diverged from their path several times already, the sun was nearly up. Deep down he wondered how long it would take for The Silence to start looking for him, if at all. When he gave it more thought he quickly decided. They definitely will eventually. Maybe not tonight, maybe not tomorrow. But I can't afford to be reckless. Delicately, he reached up to feel the branded symbol on his neck. I'll need to cover this up soon.

Takeo nudged his hand, sniffing at the seared tissue that would definitely scar over. "Yea, you've got one too, bud." Jasper said, tapping the whitened fur on the stallion's neck. "But it looks much cooler on you than me." Internally, he longed to find Killian that same exact night. But he knew that was next to impossible and he needed rest. It would be no use attempting to locate any of his group members when he was groggy.

Taking Takeo's reins he said, "Let's find somewhere to get some sleep for the night." Of course, it would be next to impossible to sleep well without any proper shelter or people around him, but Jasper knew. I have to get some rest eventually. He was far enough away from The Silence to be comfortable they wouldn't find him, but still, smack-dab in the middle of both The Silence and the Reapers wasn't how he wanted to spend his night.

It didn't take long for him to find somewhere to camp for the night. A little ways off of the dirt path was a dip in the forest ground, which led to a small patch of undergrowth, just big enough for both him and Takeo. The horse prompted to sleep standing up, Jasper didn't expect otherwise, but longed for the warmth of a sleeping partner. Attempting to start a campfire would mean death--not because of the smoke or the fire itself, but for the sole reason of staying hidden. The firelight could attract biters, pique a predator's curiosity, or even alert one of the groups of his location. For the time being, until he was free from their territory, he would have to try not to freeze to death by making half-assed nests in the ground, putting a blanket between him and the ground. He'd managed to take a good amount of supplies before leaving the Silence camp.