Wake of the Dead | Two

Chapter Thirty-Nine | Killian & Jasper

Curiosity began to worm its way into Killian's mind. He'd pieced together a few things about Jasper just on what he'd seen. He knew Jasper had some sort of Asian heritage in him and a good family life, among other things like joining the military. But he hadn't really learned anything else, or really thought about asking. "What...was he like?" Killian asked, suddenly fascinated.

"Oh, he was the biggest asshole I'd ever met in my entire life." Darren said bluntly. Killian widened his eyes with surprise, thoroughly taken aback. When Darren saw his expression, he laughed. "Alright, he wasn't that bad, but he definitely wasn't as nice as he is now. He used to be when I first met him, but in high school he fell into the bad habit of 'staying on top,' per-se." He paused, "Which meant not always being the nicest. He wasn't outright malicious, but he wasn't...well, he wasn't him unless it was just the two of us."

Looking down at the ground, Killian couldn't help but smile sheepishly. "I ah...I didn't finish high school. Dropped out. I didn't really care enough about anybody or anything to get to be...well, anything really."

"Oh, it got much worse when he joined the military." Darren's eyes gradually softened, a small frown on his face. "He ah...well, he got snappy. Aggressive, defensive, cynical, sometimes just downright rude." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I mean in some ways I felt bad. He got upset when things were out of order or he didn't have anything to do. And the nightmares...oooh, those were bad."

Killian was silent for a long while until he asked, "Did you join with him, too?"

"Oh, no." Darren chuckled nervously, "I'd never get past a week in boot camp. But I visited him whenever I could, drove god knows how long to his parent's house whenever he got a break. It wasn't often at all—but I took whatever time I could get."

Tom then spoke up, "When we first found him, I thought he was a dead man. Kept muttering to himself, wouldn't talk to anybody, would let Cohen lay a hand on him even when he was damn close to death's door."

"Well...do you know why he was like that?" Killian whispered. His heart ached just imagining the picture Tom painted of Jasper. What had happened to him?

"No idea," Darren said. "Never told us, we never asked. But about four days of him being alone, I finally got him to talk to me. Then it was like nothing had ever happened and he was just fine. Two weeks later and everybody loved him, but something always seemed to bother him."

"Like what?"

"He'd just...look at the city. Almost as if somebody was watching him from there." Darren shrugged, "Once again, I never asked. It didn't surprise me when he wanted to go back looking for survivors. But surviviors from what, I don't know." Darren shook his head, "The only thing I could think of was the initial taking over, but I thought nobody would be left alive if they were still there. That is, til' he brought you back."

A distant memory jogged Killian's mind, on the very edge but not close enough to be vivid or make any sense. All he could remember was a group moving through the city—one that wasn't so friendly. Did they hurt Jasper and his friends? He shook the thought off immediately. If Jasper didn't want to talk about his past then Killian had no right prying around and trying to figure things out. He'd already been told too much.

Cohen made his way out of the den and headed to the kitchen, not even muttering a 'good morning' to anybody in the living room. Tom didn't seem too bothered, but Darren's eyes trailed after the doctor vigilantly. From the kitchen Killian could hear a muddled conversation, "Ah, I've been looking for you, Jackson. I'm going out to gather whatever healing herbs I can before the snow settles in and kills them, but I need an escort. The biters aren't exactly hybernating."