“You okay, Dean,” Thad asked.
“I’m…I’m just so sorry,” he said and choked. He swallowed the lump of bread and took a drink of the sour wine. His eyes prickled and he felt Thad’s large hand on his shoulder and felt the comforting squeeze.
“We’re in this together, brother. Don’t let it eat you up, we’re here and that’s that. We have to look forward, stay focused. Thinking about past shit will get you killed. Got me?”
“You’re right, Thad. Okay. At least the bread isn’t sketchy,” he said and laughed half-heartedly.
“Cheese is pretty good too,” Marco said, his cheek bulging with bread and cheese.
“We’re gonna have to learn the language faster. I could only catch a few words here and there,” Dean said. He took a bite of the green plants; they were as tasteless as the lentils but not terrible. At least he wouldn’t get scurvy and was startled by the thought. In this time, scurvy and other nearly unknown diseases in his time were prevalent. Something small and innocuous could kill him. He picked up a fig and bit into it. Though it was shriveled, it was sweet and tasted wonderful. He felt his shoulders relax as his stomach was filled.
“Yeah, it was the same for me. You think they will punish us if we can’t understand?” Greg asked. Dean watched Greg pour more wine. Greg wasn’t used to drinking and he hoped he wouldn’t get drunk. The wine was pretty potent and he felt it soften the edges of his pain. He reached over and lifted another jug and realized it contained water.
“Should I even try to drink the water?” Dean asked no one in particular.
“Maybe just drink a little for now, let our bodies acclimate to it. Careful Greg, that wine is pretty strong. I don’t think you want to get drunk, at least not right now,” Thad said. Greg nodded and set the cup down.
“Do y’all think we’ll ever get some clothes? Not that anyone notices or gives a damn,” Greg said.
“Yeah, I’m sure at some point they will. Cato said we’d go to our chamber after this. Maybe they’ll give us clothing then,” Marco said.
“It’s almost like they want us to be aware how it can be. The slaves look like they’re almost starved and they wear rags. The gladiators are well fed and from what they are wearing, the material is clean and not rags. Looks like some wear shoes while others don’t,” Thad said.
“You think we can survive?” Dean asked.
“I think so. Remember the placard, it said that this place was built around 90 CE or AD, however you want to look at it. This place isn’t finished being built, so I’m thinking we’re in about year 93 or 94 CE. The really shitty time of wholesale slaughters were roughly a hundred years ago or so. Doctore said something about gold and earning, so I’m thinking if we’re careful and we fight good, we might survive,” Thad said.
“I think you’re right. These gladiators look healthy and remind me of MMA fighters and that kind of crap. Maybe like MMA fighters, we get to fight, but not to the death, like they used to do,” Marco said.
“Yeah, but don’t forget that the emperor can have us killed at any point, no matter what. Not only that, if we’re injured bad enough, we could die of infection or catastrophic wounds,” Thad added.
“Yeah, no fucking shit,” Marco said darkly, fingering his cheek and winced.
“Then we train as best we can, we’re used to that, you know,” Greg said. The men around the table agreed. The air around them was starting to cool and they finished their dinner and all awkwardly got up from the table. They shuffled to the slave and handed over their trays. Then shuffled to stand by the exit and Thad noticed that Cato took his time. He was tired, bone tired. As tired as he had ever been, even in boot camp, where they were run ragged for more than twelve hours a day. Thad knew it was all the adrenaline that had been dumped into their bodies along with the fear that had nearly swallowed them whole.
He watched as Cato got up and took his tray to the slave and sauntered over, his body and posture relaxed.
“I’ll take you to your chamber,” he said and led the way. As they left the chow hall, as Thad now thought of it, he noticed more and more gladiators making their way to the dining hall. It would seem that this was roughly the time of day that these men ate dinner. He wondered if there was breakfast and lunch? The food had been okay, minus any kind of seasoning. There had been wine and olive oil and that was good and helped. The food had been filling and that had helped a great deal in settling his raw nerves. It also helped anchor him to earth, he no longer felt he was falling into oblivion.
Thad was still having a difficult time wrapping his mind around the fact that he was two thousand years in the past. He had been seriously grossed out by the toilets. The wine had helped with the pain
