Yay for zombie apocalypse AUs! Follow me on tumblr: spookyseaweedbrainer c;

Annabeth leaned over to slip her shoes on, her soaking wet hair dripping water droplets onto her arms. She stood back up and leaned to the side to squeeze the water out of her hair again. The water splashed against the layers of dust and dirt covering the hardwood floor. She had to leave soon; she'd already been there too long. She just hadn't taken a shower in so long, and the run down house actually had power and hot water. Even now, as she was sliding on her jacket and hooking her knife on her belt, she was tempted to stay.

Annabeth hesitated as she lifted her baseball from the bed. The bed still had covers and pillows that were in good shape. Maybe I can just stay the night, she told herself. She set the bat back down. And I can leave first thing in the morning.

Just as she finished this thought, the front door downstairs crashed open. She had made sure to lock it when she came in, so panic set in when she heard footsteps up the stairs. Grabbing the bat from the bed and her gun, she hid behind the door and held her breath. The footsteps were slow, and there was more than one pair. Annabeth had taken down a pack of zombies on her way here; she could totally handle a few more. The reassurance never stopped her heart from pounding or her hands from sweating.

She wrung her hands on the base of the bat as someone stepped over the threshold of the bedroom. Annabeth flew from behind the door and would have totally brained the guy, but he was quicker. He caught the wrist with the bat and squeezed until she released. The bat clattered to the ground and Annabeth looked up into a pair of bright blue eyes.

"Luke?" A girl called, her voice traveling from across the hall.

"It's okay, she's human," the guy, Luke, answered. He glanced at his fingers still wrapped tightly around Annabeth's wrist and he let go quickly.

"Sorry," he said, gesturing to the red marks where his fingers had just been. He looked older than Annabeth, maybe in his mid-twenties. He was also handsome. The only thing that threw Annabeth of was the scar on his face. The scar ran from just underneath his blue eyes to his chin. He had an athletic build, though, that made up for it.

Annabeth took a step back and reached down to grab her baseball bat. She slid her gun into its holster attached to her belt. She had reached for it after she dropped her bat as an instinct.

A moment later, a girl, the same one who had called the Luke, stuck her head in the door and looked straight at Annabeth. She had spikey black hair and a lot of freckles. She was also wearing a lot of black. She stepped inside the door, and slung around her back was a bow and a sheath of arrows.

"Hi," the girl said, giving Annabeth a curious look. "My name is Thalia."

"Uhh" was all Annabeth said. She was in shock. She hadn't seen a human since before she left Virginia. The dead were her only company, so it took a moment for her to form words. Thalia and Luke were both staring at her, waiting for her reply.

"Uh, right. I'm Annabeth," she finally said.

"Where are you headed?" Luke asked.

"Anywhere safe. I haven't found a place yet," she admitted.

"Grover knows where there's a safe place. That's who we're traveling with. He's downstairs raiding the pantry," Thalia said.

"He won't find anything," Annabeth said, grinning. She slid her pack off of her back and showed them the inside. It was packed with all the canned goods and non-expired food.

"She nearly bashed my head in with that bat," Luke said, grinning. "We could use a fighter like you. Do you want to come with us? It seems we're all headed to the same place."

Annabeth studied the two for a minute. She'd made it all this way by herself, she was positive she could make it the rest of the way alone as well. But where did the rest of the way lead? She had no idea where she was going. She just wanted to get away from the death. And they said this Grover kid knew where it was safe.

"Well," Annabeth said, zipping her pack back up and slinging it back on to her shoulders. "Killing zombies does get lonely."

Piper looked at the gun on the bed, deep in contrast compared to the white covers. She stared at it, feeling the urge to reach out and touch it. Before all of this had happened, Piper had never seen a gun before. Now they were everywhere; in hands, strapped to belts, slung over backs and hidden underneath pillows. She had never shot a gun either; her choice of weapon was the knife she carried. It wasn't as effective as a gun because you had to get in close range to use it, but when a dead guy tackles you and tries to rip off your arm for a midnight snack, it works pretty well.

Still, Piper knew guns were better. Otherwise, why would everyone have one? Her problem was she didn't have one and she had no idea how to shoot one. It's simple, pull the trigger, but she had bad aim and she didn't even know where the bullets went.

"Piper?

Piper jumped at the sound of her name and spun to see Jason standing in the doorway. She blushed furiously because she was, in fact, in Jason's room. Her eyes jumped to the gun still lying on the bed, and she took a big step away from it.

"Sorry, you weren't here and the door was open," Piper said, her face still hot. She was mostly blushing because Jason was attractive. He was taller than her, with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. There was also something about the way he was so innocent, how he had to follow all of the rules and never be mischievous, drew her to him. She wanted to corrupt him.

"Interested in my gun?" he asked, stepping inside and gesturing to the bed. Piper crossed her arms and frowned.

"I've never held a gun. I really want to use it instead of my dagger. It seems more efficient."

"You need one," Jason agreed. He narrowed his eyes at her and tilted his head. "I could see you with a hand gun. I'll get you one. And I can teach you how to use it."

"Oh," Piper said. "That was unexpected."

Jason grinned. "Well, I don't exactly want you to be eaten."

Piper wondered if that was some weird way of flirting with post-apocalyptic zombie pickup lines, when she remembered the reason she was in Jason's room in the first place.

"Oh! Percy wanted me to come get you. Some important zombie-killing meeting or something like that," she said. Jason raised an eyebrow.

"Come on. We can walk together."