Abbott
Two men, as he’d thought. One was wide and bulky, with a round ruddy face and a pale crew cut. He wore a black suit jacket with a row of shiny brass buttons down the front and an embroidered insignia over the breast pocket, something that looked like a stylized “Z” with an arrow through it.
Abbott is a member of the Zephyr security team at the Church of the Scorched Earth. Abbott and Jonathan Frisch discover Laurie Sparks on the surface. Abbott is also with Kirby during his attack on Peach.
Peach
She had frizzy brown hair tied back with a wide stretch of floppy pink lace. Her face was round and very pretty. Her bare arms were curved and fleshy, which was good to see. Meant the food probably wasn’t rationed too strictly here. He’d never gone hungry at the monastery, but he’d heard the stories, the orphanages crowded with unwanted children, small kids turned outside to fend for themselves, babies left to starve because there was no food to spare.
Peach is an orphan living at the Church of the Scorched Earth who befriends Laurie Sparks. Jonathan Frisch rescues her from an attack by Kirby.
Philip
Laurie peeked over the wall. He spotted a flurry of motion, which resolved itself into a small urchin with unkempt hair and baggy red shorts rooting around the lawn. He grabbed more loose bricks before dashing back into the protection of a bristly thicket of dead shrubs. He was shirtless and shoeless, his bare feet and legs covered with dirt and scratches. When he saw Laurie, he angled one scrawny arm back and hurled a brick at him with as much force as he could muster, his features twisted in determined anger. It hit the wall and crumbled away into bits.
Philip is a near-feral child living on the ruined Caltech campus. He considers himself Izumi's bodyguard. In return, Izumi appears to provide food and shelter for him.
Mike
She was accompanied by a thin young man in a flannel shirt and dirty jeans. He had glasses and a goatee, and he regarded Sergio and Laurie with some suspicion as Cerise made introductions.
Mike is Cerise Cherry's lover. He works at a bookstore and, with Cerise, runs a very small newspaper. He's murdered by Ferris after he and Cerise hide Laurie Sparks in their makeshift home in the subway tunnels.
It is very likely that this is the same Mike who works at The Strand in Bias Cut, whom Nash attempts to convince Nicola Strozyk to date.
