Wake of the Dead | One

Chapter twenty-six

A large man flanked Jasper, Darren and Keagan as they followed the younger man who'd spoken to them. Jasper watched uneasily as the two vultures daintily glided above them, keeping watch of the young man--their handler, he was guessing. How on earth this boy managed to tame two vultures, Jasper wasn't sure. But those weren't exactly the sort of animals he'd like having around. A dog, or a cat maybe? Those would be a hinderance to survival, but a boost to overall morale. But vultures? 

The boy glanced back over his shoulder at the large man flanking them, a bit too close for Jasper's liking. Every instinct in him was telling Jasper to get the hell out of dodge, run away and drag his patrol along with him. But the weather wasn't getting any warmer, and neither was Aubrey. At this rate she could get hypothermia, or worse, get deathly sick. The smaller boy walking ahead of the group asked, "So, what's your name?" His piercing green eyes looked up at Jasper, "Your people's names too?" 

Unsure of whether he wanted to talk to this boy, Jasper didn't know what exactly he was thinking. How in the hell had a high-schooler gotten himself into the position of leader? Especially when Jasper could tell that some of these men were even older than him. Needless to say, giving some sort of respect to this boy was probably a good idea. "The name's Jasper," Jasper kept his voice even and strong. He refused to show this boy just how intimated he was. "The other man is Darren, Aubrey is with me and Keagan is the other woman." Jasper introduced his patrol, giving them each stern looks not to talk out of turn. 

The boy's voice was almost blunt as he said, "I'm Renier; Ren, if you'd like. That big guy flanking you is Jeremiah. You'll meet the rest of us eventually, but I'm guessing the others aren't too keen on having you walk into our town." Jasper could feel his muscles gradually becoming more and more tense. He bit his tongue to stop himself from saying anything rash. "The only reason we haven't killed you," Renier continued, "You comforted that girl outside the auto shop. She was one of our own." 

With his lips parted, Jasper could feel the words leaving his mouth before he thought over what he was about to say, "You've been watching us?" He asked, a bit too sharply. 

Renier paused, with the rest of his group stopping as well. The boy's dark brows narrowed together, tilting his head to the side and silently observing Jasper for a bit. The tension crackled through the air; Jasper could imagine himself cutting it with a knife. Neither knew what the other was going to do. Jasper didn't know where Renier was taking them. "I haven't," Renier said, "My scout has. You'll see her back at camp. She was that girl's sister." 

Renier nodded to Jeremiah, "For lord's sake, Jeremiah. Get away from them, you're making them nervous." Jasper couldn't help but let his eyes wander towards the vultures, who'd landed on a flickering street light. They bobbed their heads down to fix their beady black eyes on them. Renier followed Jasper's gaze and then snorted with amusement, "Don't mind Nyx and Scratch. Vulture's don't fight. They only eat what's dead and not moving." 

"Right," Jasper muttered. Clearing his throat he said more confidently, "Why don't you tell me where the hell you're taking us? I'm not exactly too keen on bringing my people into unknown territory in the first place," He knit his brows together, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth, "Especially with potentially harmful individuals roaming about." 

When the boy had to look up to talk to Jasper, he noticed that Renier was tapping his claws uneasily against his leg. The boy was clearly agitated, as anybody would be. Jasper noticed Darren moving closer to him, giving wary side-glances at the rest of Renier's group. Finally, the boy spoke. "We're taking you to our camp where we can help your friend and get you some food." He said bluntly. "We get a lot of groups passing by here. It would be stupid of us not to avoid fighting. So, are you gonna cause any trouble?"