He's a bit older than we are, but not by a ton. His skin is dark, almost black. His hair is shaved so short I can barely see it at all, but his eyes are sharp and his face looks...mean.
There's just a mean look about him.
He looks...hard.
Like he's never had an easy life, and is just...done.
Done with all of it.
"...Are...are you with the Resistance...?" I'm hesitant to even speak, with the look in his eyes.
It feels like if I make a single wrong move, he might attack.
He laughs.
It's a weird look on a man so harsh.
"Not the best at keeping secrets, eh?" He sounds like a Londoner.
"I'm. Sorry...?" I say, hesitant. I feel like I'm treading water here. Like I have no idea where this is going at all. It feels like a conversation with a stranger in a dream.
He laughs again and shrugs, shaking his head. "S'fine, s'fine. Doesn't matter. Not to you lot." His voice is sharp. He turns and walks over, settling in a chair near the window Eric's been watching out of. "Name's Peter. And yes, I am with the resistance. I'm here to take you lot to the compound." His eyes wander over the room, and land on the two girls asleep in the corner. "Four in total?"
"...Yes." I agree. "Two girls and two guys. All...American, actually." I say, realizing that for the first time. That we're all from the US.
Peter hums and nods. "Yeah. Most are. Come on then. We've got time, but it's a long walk to the compound, and we don't want to be caught mid-walk by dawn." He stands.
Eric stands too and nods.
"Right. We'll wake the other two."
Eric wanders over to wake Mia and Hestia.
It takes them a moment, but the girls get up without a lot of complaints, though Mia is blinking a lot. She's not...really awake, I can tell. But she'll manage, I think. Especially if there's a lot of walking to do.
''Keep quiet." The man says. "You can't see 'em but they're closer than you think."
Wait-
The tracking bracelet...! I glance down at the band on my arm, the green blinking light. "Is this-?"
He shakes his head, "Nah, nah. S'a fake. Well. Not a fake, but they've not activated it yet. They'll do it when the test starts."
Eric frowns. "Won't that alert them to where the compound is if we're in it?"
"Not if they're already disabled. Which is another reason we're going now, while they're not activated. We don't have time to waste."
Mia nods. "Right, then. Let's go." Her eyes flicker between Eric and Peter, and I get the feeling that...maybe she's being cautious? Maybe. It could just be that she's not totally awake. I mean. I feel half-asleep still myself, and Hestia still looks like she's asleep on her feet.
The man leads us through the ruined library like he's well familiar with it, and gestures us to follow out the back door, shushing us silently. He steps carefully around the rubble and glass.
He doesn't have any shoes on.
None.
Just. Bare feet, stepping carefully and quietly through the shattered remains of the building.
I guess that makes sense.
If they're living disconnected from the aliens who hold us captive, they can't just get new supplies when their clothes wears out.
But...it makes me worried what the camp looks like if they can't make some kind of shoes for people to wear. Or if they're just not willing to.
Either way.
I swallow, trying to shake off the last bits of sleepiness and follow behind them all, watching the area around us.
The wind feels nice, if a little...wet.
There are bugs, too. I guess. But they're mostly leaving us alone. They're small, maybe the size of my thumb, and they fly in little groups. I don't see any flying alone. Like cluster flies or gnats.
He leads us away from the makeshift town, out into what seems to just be wilderness, but continues to gesture for our silence. He keeps us moving until we get to the top of a dune - not of sand, but the clay-like substance that is the ground in most of this place.
Over my shoulder I can still see the town in the distance, but it's small.
There's nothing anywhere else around us but sparse shrubbery.
"Safe to speak now, as long as you're not shouting." Peter's voice is gruff, but quiet, and his eyes keep wandering over the land. Like he's expecting someone to jump out and attack us. "...Any questions? We've got a ways to walk."
I glance back at the other three.
Hestia is holding my hand, as she often does when we walk. Eric and Mia are following behind us - apparently deciding to guard our rear. Both of them look tired. Mia because she hasn't slept enough, Eric because he hasn't slept at all.
It's one of the first times I've really seen Eric look tired.
Finally, I turn my gaze back to Peter. "...Last time we talked to the resistance, there were two Ivans..."
I know. This may not be the most pressing or important question I can ask.
But I'm tired too, and it's something that has bothered and annoyed me since that night. Why were both of the men named Ivan...? Is it just coincidence? But with such a small sample-
Peter snorts. "Every'nes called Ivan in the camp. So am I. Just don't care for saying it."
"...Oh."
He arches his brow. "Is that really what you want to know, luv?"
"...Why...?"
"Mostly because our boss watched Spartacus too many times." His expression sours a bit and his tone gets a bit mocking. "If we're all called Ivan, can't get much out of torturing one of us for info, right?"
I...
Guess it makes sense?
But then how does anyone communicate normally? Do they just keep track of who is who, or does nobody care enough to use each other's names?
"Ruined that calling yourself Peter, didn't you?" That's Eric, finally.
Peter shrugs. "Yeah. Well. Don't care. I like my name." His lips twist a little.
Eric's lips twist too, a mirror of the expression.
Mia's eyes flick between them. "...Is that really the only reason you call each other Ivan? Because your leader thinks it'll protect you if you're captured...?"
Peter sighs. "Yeah. Mostly. It's also cuz the last leader was Ivan."
I manage not to make yet another monosyllabic response to the conversation.
But...
I suppose it does make sense now why they'd pick Ivan, of all names, and not out of narcissism.
Still though. It's a reminder that last time...nobody made it back home.