It had been a month since Cohen's exile. The group had gotten on fine without the doctor, with Jasper's first-aid knowledge being taught to everybody in the group. He'd been taught the basics in boot camp, but nothing more than that. If the group could go without any major injuries, they would be alright until they found another medic, or possibly even some sort of book to help them learn more.
Like Jasper had promised, he'd increased the patrols on the forest side of the group's territory. He could see the rest of the group growing a bit weary the past two days, so he'd dialed it down. Once Jasper had adjusted to his new job, being the leader was stressful, but with the threat of Cohen gone, it wasn't as bad. His temper had simmered down as the days went on. But there was always the knowledge that there was a much larger group so close to them. A group he knew very well. Jasper was already aware what kind of people were there the moment he'd heard somebody mention The Mistress. A deep, darker part of him longed to see them again. But he knew better than that. He'd be a dead man the moment they found out where he was.
The most pressing matter Jasper had at hand was the biters. Earlier in the cold season a herd had gathered on the other side of the hill near the orchard. They'd purposefully avoided that area since it was discovered, but the biters had climbed the slope to approach the fence. Some made it over, but rarely had they become an issue—until now. Troves of them began to show up, several times he had to demand the group to come back inside the farmhouse, barricade the doors and windows, and wait for the rancid creatures to pass by.
Under Jasper's direction, Casimir had taken a new role within the group. People still looked up to Tom, much to Jasper's annoyance--he made an effort not to talk too much to the other man. Just seeing Tom speak with Killian on occasion made his blood boil, but he wasn't going to tell his partner who he could or couldn't spend time with. Waking up every day knowing he'd have to lead the people who so quickly ordered his death was almost sickening, but he'd gradually grown to accept it.
Now that Jasper was patrolling by the fence with Tom, his nerves were especially on edge. He'd quickly decided that only the older members of the group would be given the opportunity to walk along this part of the land and be given the task to hold the oncoming herd back. He, Darren, Tom and Jackson. But having the absence of having Killian at his side was something that left him feeling vulnerable--it only added to his uneasiness around Tom.
"We've got a few up ahead." Tom's deep voice rumbled. Jasper narrowed his eyes irritably, clenching his hand tighter around his tire iron. His lovely, lovely blunt-force weapon. The iron now had sentimental value, ever since he'd found it in that shed so long ago. When Tom spoke to the others, it sounded authoritative--something Jasper definitely didn't like. This was his group now, not Tom's. He would be the one giving the orders. Tom didn't seem to notice Jasper's annoyance, which only grew as the other man walked ahead of him.
Darren shot Jasper a warning glance. "It hasn't been that long, he's just adjusting."
"It's been more than a month," Jasper snapped, keeping his voice low so Tom and Jackson wouldn't hear him. A small snarl tugged at his lips, "He should know better by now."
"Jasper," Darren replied, even sharper than Jasper's snappy reaction, "I know you're on edge, you've got every right to be. But you need to calm down. Nobody is going to challenge you."
Jasper bit his tongue, not sure how to react. In the group he'd been in before, a leader could be challenged--a fight would ensue when one were slaughtered. The fights he'd witnessed were bloody and brutal--power was everything to them. Power had been everything to him for a long time as well. At the back of his mind, there would always be a wariness towards any possible threats. "I know." He finally said, "But that still doesn't excuse any of it." His muscles were already tense as they grew closer and closer to the biters at the fence. There were maybe half a dozen, all turned and ready to take a chunk out of any living thing.
One of the biters were quicker than the others. As soon as Jasper was close enough, it jumped down onto all fours and leapt towards him, its claws outstretched and jaw unhinged, ready to bite down at any moment. Jasper's heart beat hard in his chest, the hairs on the back of his neck bristling. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. He hadn't had a good fight in a long, long time. Not since he'd encountered Cohen in the barn. For the past month and few weeks, his anger and resentment towards the group had begun to steadily grow, a beast left unchecked.
With a hard swing, Jasper managed to slam his tire iron into the side of the biter's face. It was tossed to the ground, rolling over and over itself, skidding across the soil until it managed to stagger up again. There was nothing in its eyes, an empty shell of the person it once was. In some ways, Jasper could relate. He'd let all of the pent up frustrations get the better of him, but he'd let them all out now. On the monsters that deserved it, not somewhat innocent people. That wasn't the kind of person he was anymore. That wasn't the kind of person he ever wanted to be.
The animalistic creature flashed forward, faster than Jasper anticipated. It tackled him to the ground, grappling him over onto his stomach. He quickly slammed his shoulder backward, tossing the rancid creature onto its back beneath him. It grabbed his head in both of its hands, gnashing its teeth towards him. Jasper sucked in a deep breath, ignoring the nausea induced by the dead-meat smell, and headbutted it right in the forehead. The teeth barely missed him as he fell onto his back again, bunching his feet up and slamming them into the creature's belly, sending it tumbling across the ground. Quickly scrambling to his feet, an almost exhilarating grin tugged at the corners of his lips. He wasn't tired anymore, he was wide awake. All of the anger, the frustration--it was melting away.
When the creature leaped again, Jasper quickly maneuvered out of the way with a side-step, then swung the iron into the side of the creature's skull. It fell to the ground, stunned. Slamming his foot down on the biter's neck, Jasper pulled the tire iron back for one more swing. It's skull caved in and it stopped moving, only the muscle spasms that tended to happen when something died. Breathing hard, he whipped around when he heard Tom's cry for help. Two biters were piling onto him, one's jaws snapping dangerously close to his face as the other tried to sink its teeth into his leg.
Darren and Jackson were busy with their own problems. Jasper noticed Jackson pouncing on one of the biters at the corner of his eye, jamming those razor-sharp claws through its head with a vicious snarl that sent shudders down his spine. When he reached Tom, Jasper grappled the monster close to the man's face by the shoulder, tossing it backwards onto the ground. Tom kicked the other one in the face, stumbling back onto his feet and delivering another kick to it's forehead. Jasper pulled the tire iron back and in one swinging arc, dispatched his biter with a hard bash between the eyes.
Tom was pinning his biter down with his foot, taking a few seconds break to catch his breath, then swung down with the bat he'd borrowed from Aubrey. When Jasper surveyed the rest of the patrol, Darren had dealt with the biters he'd been fighting and Jackson was standing up from his last kill. Gore and brain matter covered the claws on his gloves, scarlet blood dripping down onto the grass. With his other groupmates alright, Jasper turned back towards Tom, his breathing heavy and labored. Sweat dripped down from his forehead, gathering on the back of his neck. "You alright, Tom?"
"Yea," Tom huffed, glaring down at the biter beneath him. He gave its head one more stomp for good measure, before stepping away from it. He sent Jasper a respectful nod, "Thanks to you, that is."
Jasper paused for a few split seconds, before returning the gesture with a nod of his own. "What's our next move, boss?" Jackson asked, panting desperately to catch his breath, a feral snarl wrinkling at his nose. It reminded Jasper somewhat of a dog, baring its fangs when irritated. Jackson shook it off, sniffing with the same casual response that Killian would have given.
"We should get back to the farmhouse, take out whatever biters we see on the way home. But we should be careful, I don't want anybody getting too hurt because they're tired and can't focus enough to fight." He nodded to Jackson, "Don't lay a finger on those claws until we get them washed off. You might be half-dead, but we don't need you somehow becoming full-dead."
Jackson pointed two menacing claws at Jasper when he gave him finger-guns. "Right back at ya, don't touch your tire iron. In fact, how about we don't touch anything?"
Annoyance was soon replaced with amusement as Jasper rolled his eyes. He could feel his muscles relaxing again, all of the built up tension from the past weeks being relieved. "Right. I'm sure the hunters will have brought something back by now, we've been out all day." He paused, glancing over the fence and towards the hill, knitting his brows together with concern. "We need to get back to the farmhouse before sundown. These things will be too hard to fight come nightfall."
As Jasper began to take the lead back to the farmhouse, Darren jogged to catch up with him. There was a familiar, easygoing smile on his mouth as he playfully elbowed Jasper, "See? Tom's not so bad. He even said thank you."
A long sigh made its way past Jasper's lips. "I suppose you're right," He muttered. He hated it when Darren was right, because that meant he himself was wrong. He didn't like being wrong. But then again, neither did anybody.
❖ ❖ ❖
Jasper had been right about the hunters having dinner ready. It had been a long day, his body was exhausted from all of the excitement. After getting cleaned up and washing off his tire iron with some water from a water bottle and a spare rag, he made sure nothing was on his shoes before he strolled back into the house. Killian was sitting on the couch, waiting for him. Jasper's heart fluttered when he watched those beautiful, golden-hazel eyes brighten as soon as they saw him.
Jumping off of the couch, Killian ran over to Jasper and hopped up. Jasper hastily caught his partner, hugging him close. "You took so long I wondered if anything bad happened." Killian frowned, nuzzling his face against Jasper's neck. "But I'm happy you're alright."
"We ran into some biters. Nothing to worry about, everybody's home safe." Jasper set Killian back down, pressing a delicate kiss onto the younger man's brow. "Come on, let's get our dinner."
Jasper suddenly frowned. Aubrey was looking a bit ill as she caught a whiff of the dinner—which looked pretty damn good to Jasper. She'd eaten rabbit, pheasant—whatever the hunters caught—many times already. So why was she looking so green? His confusion was furthered even more as Jackson noticed, then turned away from his raw fresh-kill to lead her out to the back porch. "Killian," He muttered, "What's going on with Jackson and Aubrey? She looks ill." He then remembered, "She was sick this morning too."
"I'm sure it's nothing."
"Don't lie to me, please." Jasper rebuttaled, kissing Killian's lips. "Go and get yourself some dinner, I'll be back." He couldn't help but notice the anxiety in his lover's eyes as he padded off to the kitchen. Jasper was close behind, but made his way out the back door and onto the porch instead. Aubrey was hunched over the steps, her body shuddering and stomach heaving. When she noticed Jasper, her eyes widened, before she quickly turned away and vomited.
Jasper glared at Jackson, who was holding her hair back. "What's going on between you two?" He demanded, crossing his arms. "I know you like each other, I'm not too fond of it but I can't stop you. At first I thought it was just her time of the month, but now she's sick every morning and afternoon." Aubrey laid her head against the porch railing, her eyes closed tight and taking deep breaths. Jasper sighed, immediately softening. He didn't like seeing his friend so miserable.
Walking across the deck and sitting behind Aubrey, Jasper ran a hand through her red curls in an attempt to comfort her. "Jasper," She said shakily, laying her head back and prompting for more attention. It was strange for Aubrey, to want more affection than was given. She wasn't very touchy, besides the very frequent hugs she gave just about everybody. "I..." She glanced at Jackson. "Jackson, it's not like we could have hid this forever you know."
"Let me get a head start on running, then." Jackson said shakily, standing to lace up his boots and casting Jasper a hesitant, fearful glance.
Jasper raised a single brow. Jackson wasn't normally this jumpy around him. Whatever Aubrey was going to tell him was going to make him a bit upset. "I'm pregnant." Aubrey muttered softly.
At first, Jasper felt nothing. Oh. Then, the creeping excitement of welcoming a new life into their world turned his stomach, happily anxious. Then the dread. Delivering a baby in this world would have so many possibilities for complications, they'd need to find a medic unless one of the men—or women—knew what to do, because Jasper sure didn't. "Oh." Depite the initial shock, he couldn't say he was angry or disappointed. Just surprised. In hindsight, he should have guessed.
That was, until Jasper realized who the father had to be. "Jackson!" He snarled. He was tempted to grab the other man by the throat and choke-slam him down the porch steps. His hands even clenched, but that anger was short lived. Jackson was his lover's cousin, which meant Killian would more than likely be excited about having another blood-related family member around. Aubrey was going to have a baby—a human life, growing inside of her. It was almost mind-boggling to think about, how women could be so strong to carry another human in their womb for nine months.
Jasper's rage dissipated, his smile warmed as he gave Aubrey a kiss on the forehead. "We'll do a supply run as soon as possible to get you the things you need. I'm guessing this is what Killian was keeping from me, so if you want it to still be a secret, him and I are the only people you can talk about it with." He sent Jackson a stern glare, "You take care of them both. Understand? Because now that you've done the deed, she's probably got whatever sickness you have—but it looks like she's asymptomatic, which is more pleasant at least. But this is your family now. Take care of them."
Jackson nodded as Jasper stood up to make his way back to the group. When he looked back at Jackson and Aubrey, he couldn't help but smile a bit. The half-biter was holding Aubrey in his arms, stroking her hair. His mask just barely grazed the top of her head as he laid his chin on her. Well, Jasper thought, It's nice to have some good news every once and a while.