“Generally,” was the answer I received, but it wasn’t the one I’d hoped for.
“Look.” I twisted to reach for a broken stick, then pushed onto my heels so I could draw in the dirt. “This is Japan, this is Russia, and these are the disputed Kuril Islands.” I sketched a rough—very rough—approximation of the countries and their distances then pointed to the island on which we’d been. “This is the island we were on and where we think the terrorists have their base.”
The island we were on currently became a small circle far from all the others.
“And this is where we are now. The only place we could conceivably row back towards is the first island, but you don’t think that’s an option. Swimming to Japan or Russia is entirely out of the question, and rowing would take days, if not weeks. And without a compass or enough room for supplies, it would be suicide.”
The man’s eyes followed the stick as it passed the long route back between the sketches of the island and Japan, but he stayed quiet.
“So, you really didn’t know where we were going?” I asked.
“No. I was just trying to get us away.”
I didn’t know whether that was comforting or not. Probably not.
“Well,” I sat back, discarding the stick. “While you were asleep earlier, I did a bit of exploring, and we have what we need on the island to survive for a while. At least, while it’s still summer. Those pears contain enough vitamins to keep us healthy—” I tried to hide my flush by ducking my head, thoughts of what we’d done with those pears ricocheting around my mind, “—and we can eat bugs for protein if we can’t catch enough fish.”
The man suddenly laughed, startling me. I’d never seen him smile, much less laugh. “I can fish well enough, but I’m surprised you would suggest eating bugs.”
I shrugged, annoyed at the suggestion. “They’re not my favorite, but I’ve eaten them before. I’m a survivor, and I’ll do what I have to.”
His amusement faded, leaving a curious expression behind as he watched me. “I can see that,” he said after a moment, his voice low.
“Well,” I cleared my throat. “If we’re going to be stuck together, we might as well know each other’s names.”
The curious expression dropped to one that looked entirely closed. But as we sat there, naked after wild sex, trapped on this island, it seemed silly not to know.
“I’m not going to call you Solider Boy the entire time we’re here. I’m Ashley Perry.”
I stuck my hand out and held his gaze, challenging him not to respond. It took him a minute, but he finally sighed, lifted his eyes skyward, and his hand enclosed mine.
“I’m Tri Rusev. Triton Rusev.”
It might have been the exhaustion, but a laugh bubbled into my throat and out before I could stop it. “That can’t possibly be your real name.”