Wake of the Dead | Three

Chapter Forty | Jasper

Jasper's eyes flickered open when a small body stirred beside him. Phoenix was snuggled up close to him, pressing her face in the crook between his shoulder and neck, with the rest of her layig curled up on his chest. "Sun. Bright." She mumbled. The girl was right, the heat filtering in through the thin fabric of their temporary shelter was overbearing.

"It should cool off in a little bit," Jasper soothed. Not really. We'll just get used to it. They hadn't found her father the previous day when they'd first arrived. He'd asked around a little bit more about Jackson's group, they were supposedly living in a place people called The Canyon. The man had marked it on his map. Hopefully he'd be able to read it. "Come on, we've got to get up. Once we find us some new clothes we can check out those showers Milo told us about."

"They won't be as good as my old house's."

"I know little Nix, but we can't be picky." Jasper said. "We've got to get clean somehow. Can't be covered in dirt, now can we?"

Phoenix frowned. "I guess not. But," she sat up on his stomach, "you can't leave me there okay? Dad always stayed with me when we weren't at home. He said some scary person might try to grab me."

"I know, I'll stay right outside and make sure everything's safe." Jasper reassured her. The mere thought that somebody might have any malicious thoughts towards Phoenix filled him with an unbridled anger that nearly shook him to his core. If anybody sets a single finger on her I'll gut them like a fish and toss them out for the biters. He paused to cup Phoenix's face in his hands, then pressed a gentle kiss onto her forehead. "Come on now, we've got to get up. Big day ahead."

"Big day?" Phoenix protested, "We're not even going anywhere! The biters will get us if we go outside of the walls."

Jasper sat up, his lips split into a large yawn as he stretched out his sore muscles from the previous day. "Well, a day can be busy without having to go anywhere you know. We've got to look for some supplies, give Takeo a bit of attention and then take some showers ourselves."

"That doesn't sound like a lot."

"Well, if we have any extra time you can get some sleep then." Jasper ruffled the small girl's ginger curls. "But we'd better get up soon if we want some breakfast. I'll bet everybody else is hungrier than we are." Phoenix nodded, then scampered out of the small tent they'd been given as their night shelter. He followed her out after holstering his gun, making sure the safety was still on.

Ever since he started traveling with her, he'd become paranoid that one day, if the safety happened to be off, she might accidentally hurt herself. You've already told her its not a toy. Jasper reminded himself. But a smaller voice at the back of his mind persisted. She hasn't seen how serious of damage this thing can do though. She might not take my words of warning very seriously. I've got to be careful.

Phoenix's small squeak as she yawned again cast an irresistible smile across his lips. She lifted her hands and wiggled her fingers. "Up, up!" She demanded. Jasper picked her up in his arms, sighing as she snuggled closer up against him. She was asleep after another minute or so. Poor thing. She must be exhausted from traveling. Finding a safe spot...she's bound to be sleepier than she was out there. Maybe some extra shut eye wouldn't hurt until I find us some food.

Gathering the small bag of supplies he'd brought with them, he left the blankets they'd been given. He wouldn't take those from Biter's Cove, they had their own and somebody might need them more than they did. He hiked the bag over his other shoulder, then carefully made his way through the small corner of Biter's Cove that had been set up like a camp ground. Some people had tents, some had temporarily built shelters from old planks of wood nailed to the barrier wall.