(Italic speech means they are talking in Russian)
Savage awakens in a hall. The structure tall and medieval, being ancient with lamps by each door. He wanders through the twists and turns, seeing deformed humans wander them as well. They appear hostile to all but him. He soon finds himself confronting a horrifying creature, it stands hunch over, hidden under a shroud, holding a massive scythe stained with blood. Under the hood, tendrils move around the rim of it as the being looks down on Savage. It takes aim and swings. The next moment, Savage awakes in a sweat, the sheets soaked and wrinkled. He walks out into the cool night, unaware of the group of people standing around him. Amongst them, Borsh comes fourth. "You screamed through the night, what happened?"
Savage couldn't think about what to say. He never had a dream like that. Amongst the people, Allison comes too and takes him back inside. She sits next to him on the bed, wanting an answer. "I… don't… know," he answers. "I… sorry."
The thoughts rush through his head. What happened? How long has it been? Stress follows as more thoughts pile on. She sighs and begins walking to her house. She returns with some blankets and a pillow, setting up next to the bed. "I… stay," she says.
Savage removes his sheets and lets her have the bed while he sleeps on the floor. Outside, Borsh speaks to her father. "I keep an eye on them. This will sort out."
He was reluctant, but agrees to this arrangement. Savage drifts back to sleep, hoping he doesn't cause another scene.
Savage finds himself in a new world again. This time, he remains locked inside a stone fortress, every door either chained or replaced with bricks. He wanders through the halls and comes upon a strange sight. A long hall leading to a single door. On each side, pictures of his life are framed. As he gets closer, he notices that each one started moving, like a video. As he goes, they grow worse and worse, memories better forgotten than recalled. The single door begins to shake, as if something is trying to get out. Savage stands a few paces away from it. He takes one step, then, silence.
He finds himself back in his home. He looks up to see Allison standing over him with a worrying expression. She kneels down next to him. "Are you alright," she asks in Russian.
"Yes," he replies too in Russian. "I'm alright."
He looks to the door to see Borsh, just as worried. "Allison said you were muttering in sleep," he says. "What happened?"
It has been a week since the first nightmare. Other nights had similar dreams, but with each one he grows better. However, this time they say he was muttering, something he didn't do before. He replies, "It was… telling me something, I don't know what."
Borsh sighs in frustration. They want to help him, but they can't do that unless Savage tells them more. For now, he lets it slide. "Well, you getting better at Russian, that is start."
In the morning, out of nowhere, Borsh brings out a massive hand-held drill, almost like a spinning chain saw. The screw shows signs of being used for years. Borsh begins. "This job for strong man, someone like you. Take drill and destroy rubble by tunnel, ok?"
Savage nods in agreement. He leaves for an area where there's a large tunnel leading into the sewers. It's surrounded by piles of debris and useless walls from before. He goes to work with no effort. His inhuman strength allows him to destroy and carry the large pieces to a waiting truck to take them into a nearby town. Stuff that would have taken a normal man hours, he does in one. As he looks for Borsh to return the drill, he sees Allison out by the shore, taking and pulling in nets of fish. It seems everyone has a job, just like the strong independent culture it represents. Oddly, though, he finds it to be homey, more so than his old home. That being said, what he wouldn't give to have his brother here with him.
The thoughts rush back to him. The assignment, the woman, everything on that day. Now it all seems like a joke just to be rid of him. If it wasn't for his brother still with them, he would have forsaken them completely. At least these people treat him like a member of their society. Everyone in the mansion, the maids, the butlers, all of them saw him as a freak, yet they enjoyed his brother's company. His thoughts are cut short by Borsh screaming at him from a distance. "Hey, you finish?! No time for slacking, work still need to be done."
Savage rushes over and returns the drill. He gets more work, anything to keep him busy is better than dwelling on what might never happen, seeing his brother again.
On the rare occasions he has hours to spare, he leaves for the hideout with Allison so they can continue to teach each other. However, Savage has taken to the hard, gruff language and treats it like his first.
As he hikes to the hideout, he finds a small rabbit. He thinks it's dead because they always run away, until he notices its bloody back leg. As he approaches, he also notices a giant whip spider crawling around it. Its size would scare away any normal person, but the people of the island have grown use to them, even cooking them up like lobsters. With that, Savage quickly kicks the spider away, knocking it into a tree as it falls and twitches on the ground. He picks up the rabbit gently, along with the spider, and continues to the hideout. Once there, he patches up the rabbits leg with supplies from a med kit in the hideout and starts a fire by the entrance, preparing to cook the spider. He's not one to let food go to waste.
Allison appears from the forest and sees what he's doing. "Awww, you have a little friend," she says as she stares at the rabbit. It slowly moves to her, trying to use its leg after being patched up, but Savage gently grabs it and places it in his lap. They spend the next ten minutes or so enjoying the food and petting the rabbit, feeding it bits of lemon grass and such.
The minutes continue, they practice more and more. "Hello… my name… is… Allison," Allison struggles to think about what to say in English. "My family… and I… live here. I… go work in the water… catching fish… big fish."
Savage laughs with each word. "You're getting better, but too slow for many."
"Well, if you talk like us more, you might forget English," Allison replies.
Savage looks towards the large tower in the distance, where the Overseer resides, at least that's what he was told. "Hey, Allison," he asks, "who's the Overseer?"
"She's the leader," she replies. "Without her, my home would have been lost." She becomes saddened for a moment. "Before, this place had nothing but poverty and pain. When she arrived, industrial work continued, trade resumed, new employment sprang up. However, most of the people left to work in the mines. It's good work, but I almost never see them. Most were my friends, but now it feels like they're gone. I haven't heard from them since." She tilts her head down. "I lost everyone."
Savage leans in close to her and says quietly "you got me, and the rabbit," as he holds the rabbit in front of her. A smile grows on her face. "Does that make you my boyfriend?"
He suddenly drops the rabbit and reels back in surprise. He struggles to say anything, but stops as she kisses him on the cheek before standing and walking back to the village, gesturing for him to follow. Savage does so with ever present confusion, leaving the rabbit to wander back into the forest.
That night, he struggles to sleep as new thoughts rush through his head. "Boyfriend," he knows what it means, but does she mean it? Its questions like these that his brother would answer for him. Axius, he almost forgot about him, but maybe it's for the best. He has found a home with these people and Axius is treated equally with Spencer. Who knows, maybe he can leave one day as a free man to see him. However, more questions come. Why was he on the boat? Did something happen? Did Alex lose him? Eventually, exhaustion catches up with him and he falls asleep. He dreams of the door again, struggling to be opened as something on the other side tries to break out. Savage stands there, too nervous to get any closer, or move at all as darkness builds behind him.
