Project Jack

Chapter Eight: Peter

      The landing was rough. The runway the undercovers put in was clearly done very quickly.    I could've done a better job.
      I opened the door and jumped out. The plane almost immediately started to turn around to leave. I'm officially on my own. I pull out the map I packed in my backpack and head towards my new town. I tripped on a few branches and tree trunks on my walk, but luckily no one was around to see it. I probably had a fifteen minute walk. I could've made it in ten if it wasn't dark.
Just as I expected, a group of men surrounded the fountain in the middle of the town. As I walked up, I heard someone call me my new name for the first time.
"Jack, is that you?" I knew they would not be told my real name, but it still caught me off guard to hear them call me Jack.
      "It's me. You must be Bill?" I ask the tallest man in the group. He fit the description I was given.
      "Yep, that's me. This is John, that's Nate, and the little one is Nick." I nod to the guys he just introduced me to. Nick seems to be around my age, but he definitely fits the title "little one".
      "Bill, you aren't going to introduce me?" A girl walks out of the darkness, basically appearing out of thin air. She looks much more like an undercover spy than the rest of the guys. "I'm Nia." I didn't realize there were any girls here. We only had guys on base. I find myself wanting to know how and why she was chosen to become undercover. 
      "Nia, we didn't expect you to come tonight," the man I now know as John says.
      "And miss the chance to see fresh meat? No chance." She looks me up and down. I don't know whether to feel flattered or threatened.
      "Well," Bill says, "no reason to stand around and cause suspicion. My place is this way." I follow Bill through the streets of Peiore. I will say that it is a pretty town, other than the graffiti, trash, and destruction caused by reckless Ardellans. This is why I can't stand them. They take a beautiful town and trash it. Bill must notice I've been staring at everything we pass.
      "You won't be able to do that in the daylight. You need to fit in." I nod. "You're a quiet one."
      "I just don't know what to think, sir."
      "No need for the formality. I'm your uncle now." I find myself just nodding again.
Bill's place is nicer than I thought it would be. There is a general store on the bottom floor. This is what the undercovers live off of. I'll work here during the day. Bill unlocks the door and I head inside. It looks just like the stores in Tithania. There is a staircase in the back that must lead to the living quarters. Bill goes up first and unlocks another door.
      "Welcome home." There is a small living room with an older couch and a table. The kitchen is at the end of the room. It is smaller than the kitchen at my old house. Bill opens a door on the left. "This is your room. Sorry there isn't much to it."
      My room is pretty much empty besides a bed and a stool that functions as a nightstand. I throw my backpack on the ground and throw myself on the bed. It is about as comfortable as I'd expect the floor to be. I'm too exhausted to care.
       Bill only pokes his head into my room. "Get some sleep. I'll show you around the store in the morning and you'll start your real work tomorrow night. Goodnight, kid."
      "Thanks Bill. Goodnight."
      I lay in bed and stare at the ceiling, wondering where I should start tomorrow. I could try to find a way into the castle. However, I think that will prove to be too difficult and a complete waste of time. I think I decide to start by asking around. Maybe the locals know more about the royal family than we think.  I start to realize how tired I am.
      Bill wakes me up in the morning by opening my door and yelling, "get up boy, it's time for your first day."
      I grudgingly get out of bed and put on one of the outfits I packed in my bag. I will need new clothes soon, I brought everything I had, but on base I only wore my military uniform, which is of no use here.
      Bill is standing in the "kitchen" when I leave my room. He's stirring something in a pot and I must admit it smells pretty good.
      "You like eggs?" he asks.
      "Yeah," I say, taking a seat at a small table. The chairs don't fit very well under the table, and it makes sitting here a little uncomfortable. He slides a plate in front of me with eggs and a sausage link. "Thanks, Bill."
      "Eat quick, the store opens at 7."
      Down stairs, Bill flips on a light that illuminates the store. Rows of food, supplies, and clothes are in front of me. "Everything you need is in here. You can grab a few things when we close tonight." I nod. "For now, I'm going to keep you behind the counter during the day. People will ask who you are. They aren't very friendly with new people around here." I almost forgot I would have to meet and interact with real Ardellans. The thought disgusts me. How they will not notice I am clearly superior to them, I do not know.
Bill gives me a short tour of the place before it opens. He flips the sign on the front door and shows me how to use the register. Shortly after opening, a woman comes through the door. She grabs a loaf of bread from the food aisle and plops it onto the counter in front of me.
      "Will that be all, ma'am?" I ask. She looks at me with unfriendly eyes.
      "Yea. That's it."
      I try to ring her up, but it takes me a while to remember which button Bill told me to push. She continues to stare at me as a struggle.
      "Where did you come from? I've never seen a son of Bill's." I finally press the correct button, and her total flashes onto the screen in front of me.
      "Your total will be six dollars today." She pulls out a few bills from her pocket. I can tell she's frustrated I didn't answer her question. Luckily, I was trained on how to answer these questions back on base. "I'm from a couple towns over. Bill's my uncle. I'm just here to help out." I give her her change and she snatches it off of the table, grabbing her bread and heading out the door.
The rest of the day went by pretty much the same. Someone would come in, buy overpriced food, ask me who I was, and I'd answer. The only difference was I figured out which buttons to press. As new people came in, I tried to listen for any information about the royal family, but no one said anything about them. The first thing I need to figure out is if they don't know anything about the royals, or if they just don't care about them enough to gossip.
      The next time a lady comes up to purchase extremely overpriced food, I comment, "I wonder if the royal family knows we pay this much for bread." She gives me a weird look and walks off without saying anything back to me. Unfortunately, Bill caught the end of that interaction. When the lady leaves and he knows the store is clear, he tells me to be careful with what I say to the locals about the royal family.
      "You're drawing attention to yourself on your first day!" he says.
      "Sorry Bill, I just assumed they would feel the same way. It won't happen again." It probably will happen again, but I lie to him anyway.
      "Well, kid, your shift is over. Go on upstairs and change for the night. It's going to be a chilly one. You can borrow one of my jackets from the closet by the door."
      "Thank you." I take off the apron he gave me this morning and hang it by the door. I go up the steep set of stairs and head to my room. I only have three shirts to choose from, so I pull over the black long sleeve I brought with me. I grab a black jacket from the closet, and go back downstairs. Bill is now behind the counter, helping a little girl.
      When he spots me, he waves for me to pause. After he finishes wrapping up the little girl's candy stripes, he says, "Jack, why don't you pick out a few shirts and some jeans before you go. Just bring them up here and I'll take 'em up with me later."
      Over in the clothing section, I pick out three short sleeve shirts. I grab a few pairs of jeans that I think will fit, a pair of boots, and some socks. I put those on the counter, grab a few other necessities, and tell Bill I was going to head out.
      "Be careful." He gives me a stern look.
      "I will."
      I walk out of the store, taking in my surroundings in the daylight. I can tell this town was once filled with money, but now that money has either run out or they just left. There is graffiti on many of the buildings. I pass a little boy trying to scrub the paint off with a small brush. I pity him. He doesn't deserve to grow up in this awful country. The boy looks at me when I pass by. I wave at him, but he doesn't wave back.
The most interesting thing I found all night was a bakery. Shortly into my walk, my stomach reminded me that I had barely eaten anything today. I had some money in my pocket that Bill had given me this morning. I bought a slice of bread and a strawberry tart. I sat at a table in the back corner and devoured my food. I was so engrossed in my meal that I almost didn't notice when a dark haired girl sat in one of the empty chairs.
      "Nia," I said.
      "Jack. I see you haven't found anything yet."
      "How did you find me here? And how do you know I haven't found anything yet?"
      "You're asking the wrong questions, newbie." She plucked the strawberry tart I was eating right from my hand. She took a bite of it and set it back on the plate it came on. Before I even knew how to reply, she was gone.