Outside in one of the open areas of the Asylum, likely once a courtyard for doctors, guests, and time outside for patients, there was now dry dirt littered with several pieces of exercise equipment. It wasn't the main gym of their stronghold, but there was a punching bag, bands, weights, medicine balls. Next to the punching bag, a man was lying down in the dirt, staring up at the sky. His shaggy blond curls almost covered his eyes as he lie there chewing on what seemed to be the bone of a small animal. His teeth moved slowly but powerfully, as if he was half focusing on the bone and half focusing on a drifting cloud or something.
"What am I doing here?"
There was a sudden crunch sound as a part of the bone was crushed between Jace's teeth. His teeth and jaw were not always as strong as they were now. After transforming so many times throughout his life, they seemed to grow in strength over time. Nothing compared to his wolf bite still, but definitely much more lethal than that of a normal human bite.
"Things aren't so different . . ."
Jace had joined this group of survivors to gain an advantage in his own survival, but things weren't going too smoothly since he joined up with them. Food was still extremely scarce, considering rations had to be done for a large group of people and their pets. And he couldn't even join the hunting group to help bring in more food, as he had not earned enough trust to go on hunting, scouting, or guard jobs. All he could do was go on routine patrols with a unit of wolves. But nothing alone.
There was another crunch sound and Jace tossed the bone to the side.
So far all he had done up to now was go through their kind of rough initiation (rough as in, sloppy and drawn out but not difficult considering he was a wolf). That and one patrol job. Besides that he was usually listening to pointless debriefings for missions he'd have no part in, high security nights where his only responsibility was worrying about what's inside the Asylum already, and lie around all day when not exercising.
There wasn't much room for him to run around in wolf form anywhere in this Asylum either, at least, not in the areas he had access to. That was another thing. Jace could not navigate most of the Asylum districts, as he was still earning his keep and under evaluation.
After exhaling a deep breath, Jace moved one hand from his white tank top to underneath his head and the other inside the pocket of his loose fit tan pants. His knees were raised up off the ground, bare feet resting on the warm dirt. All he could do was wait for the job that would prove him worthy. Hopefully. Because if things didn't pick up soon, perhaps he'd be better off alone anyway. Jace was used to being alone and not having human luxury, so the Asylum itself wasn't as much of a benefit on its own to him, as it was to others. In fact, some would say Jace enjoyed being a wolf more than being a human. At the very least, it was easier to survive, especially when on the run your entire life.