Hatter fell in step behind Simon almost automatically. It didn't hurt that the doctor looked around his own age and not very threatening. Always a bonus compared to some of the other people he'd dealt with over the years. Frankly, as long as he thought he could hold his own (and he usually could), Hatter didn't mind getting to know new people. Of course, he didn't know ninety percent of the instruments used in this place. He could be taken down by some secret scalpel or something. But he'd worry about that later.
"Please, call me Hatter, everyone does," he said, waving off the way-too formal 'David'. Alice's mum was pretty much the only one who'd ever called him that full time anyway.
His hands dropped automatically and easily into his pockets as he considered what Simon was saying. "To be honest, I've no idea what's out there. Someone mentioned flooding, another talked about toppled buildings..." Hatter shrugged his shoulders in a very non-committal manner. "When I left previously, I only got about a mile or two away. Nothing but dirt and patches of grass as far as I could tell." The smile on his face was a bit rueful. "Not that that's a whole lot better, you know?"
The items all around him fascinated him, admittedly. He couldn't help but wonder what sort of things he might've gotten into with a proper education. He caught himself drifting a bit, just wandering the room and admiring what had to be tools of the trade of some kind. But without sounding like a little kid and yelling, 'What does this one do!', he'd likely never know. He was too proud to ask.