Annabeth Pov
"How'd you do on your English essay?" My best friend, Thalia asked me as we walked through the school. I wore my usual cheerleading outfit while Thalia wore a more punk outfit: a leather pants, a white tee shirt, a black leather jacket, and black combat boots. It wouldn't seem like we would be friends but we've known eachother since we were kids. Plus, Thalia was a senior, so she never ate lunch the same time as I did anyway.
I shrugged. "Same as usual."
Thalia grinned as she blew a bubble with her bubblegum. "So an A plus." She guessed as we got to her locker.
I smiled. "Of course. I've got to get to class. See you around." I said, turning away.
Thalia smirked. "Have fun in hell." She said, opening her locker, which was messy, crammed with books and torn papers.
I skipped off to the stairs, my other three friends joining me. "Annabeth!" Silena called, joining my side along with Drew and Katie. "Pool party at Jason's tonight! Are you going?" She asked as I reached my locker. I spun the lock, unlocking my locker. I grabbed my Latin book and sighed. "Do I have to?" I asked, looking in the mirror inside my locker and fixing my hair.
Silena rolled her eyes. "Oh come on. Who knows? Maybe you'll meet someone." She said, looking at Drew. "Drew met that cute football kid at the last party and I met Charlie at your party." She said, looking back at me. I turned around to face her, shutting my locker. "Well, maybe every boy at this school just wants to get a girl in bed." I said, turning for the stairs.
Katie rolled her eyes. "Annabeth, please. It won't be fun without you there."
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Okay, okay. I'll go. I'm just tired of every guy trying to hit on me every five seconds." I said as we walked down the stairs.
Drew rolled her eyes. "Only you wouldn't want guys hitting on you."
I frowned. "I just want a guy that actually likes me for me, not my looks or popularity." I said as we walked inside the Latin classroom.
Behind me, I knew that Drew was rolling her eyes and giving Katie and Silena some look, but I didn't care. It was true. All the guys I've been on a date with so far were all equally terrible. One even tried to slip his hand up my skirt at the restaurant we were eating at.
We took our usual seats in the back of the classroom near the jocks. I spotted Jason joking around with Frank, Charlie, and a few of the other jocks. He saw me and gave me a little smile. Although our groups were friends, we didn't really talk much. Jason seemed much more quiet and laid back than the rest of his friends. Several girls in the class had crushes on his blonde and blue eyed American good looks. I found him cute, but not my type. Like I said, he and I never really talked, so I didn't know his personality well enough to develop a crush on him. Drew had once tried to get her way with him, but he somehow managed to dodge her flirting.
Mr Brunner rolled in to the front of the class, sitting in his wheelchair as usual. He cleared his throat and all talking immediately stopped. "Good morning, students. Now, today's topic will be-"
The door swung open, a boy entering. Mr Brunner stopped talking, looking over to the boy who'd just walked in late: Percy Jackson.
Percy Jackson was a definite bad boy with his black skinny jeans, black sneakers, red tee shirt, black leather jacket, mischievous twinkling green eyes, and slicked back raven black hair. Tucked in his jean pocket was a small pocket knife, rumored to have been used in a fight in the parking lot of the school. Nothing was known about his parents except that his mother worked in a candy shop. Although Percy didn't have any friends, everyone knew not to mess with him.
Late as always, he just smirked at Mr Brunner, who raised an eyebrow. "Late again, Mr Jackson?" He asked, looking up a Percy.
Percy just shrugged. "I was busy doing more important things." He turned and strolled over to a seat all the way in the back, lifting his feet and resting them on the desk in front of him.
I rolled my eyes. "Well, maybe to some people school actually means something." I said loudly, glaring back at him.
Percy just rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
Mr Brunner sighed. "Well, to continue our lesson. As I was previously stating…" He went on about verb phrases. I began taking notes. I soon heard whispering around me, which confused me. I looked up to see a boy stagger into the classroom, his eyes bloodshot, his walking uncoordinated as he growled, shuffling towards Mr Brunner.
I could only watch in fear as Mr Bruner glanced behind him to see the boy. "Oh, Mr Klint. What are you-" He was cut off by the boy tackling him to the ground, blood splattering the ground all around him. My eyes widened as several kids began to scream, jumping up out of their seats. The boy raised his head, turning around and looking right at me, blood staining his teeth and all around his mouth. Silena grabbed my arm, pulling me out of my chair. "Annabeth, run!" My heart raced as I pulled Silena out of the classroom, looking around frantically at the scene before me. All the way down the hallway, kids were staggering around, moaning and groaning, blood staining their lips and clothes, their eyes a dull red. Others were lying on the ground in a gruesome state. The ones staggering around immediately turned in the direction of Silena and I.
I turned to Silena, who was panicking, her eyes wide, her jaw dropped. "Silena, run for the side exit! All the other students will be going for the front so you'll have a better chance of escaping if you take the side one." I said, glancing back at the kids, who were slowly shuffling towards us, growling loudly.
Silena gave me a panicked, fearful look. "But what about you?" She asked, glancing behind me at the kids, who were coming closer and closer.
I glanced back before looking back at Silena. "I'll-I'll hold them off. I'll be fine. Meet me in your car." I said, squeezing Silena's hand tightly.
Silena nodded. "Okay." She answered, in more of a scared whisper. She ran off wildly in the direction of the side exit.
I turned around to see a bunch of the zombies staggering towards me. Fear gripped me, no logical options for survival coming to my mind. I took a step backwards, hitting the locker behind me. I looked around for a weapon-anything that would help me fend off the zombies, but spotted none. I took a quick, shallow breath in as the zombies came closer, hands outstretched to grab me.
"Up here!"
I looked up to see Percy sitting on the top of the lockers, offering me his hand to grab. "Quickly!" He said, looking down at the zombies, who were getting closer and closer to me, hands outstretched.
Without a second thought, I grabbed his hand. He hoisted me up onto the lockers.
We stared at eachother for a second. "Thanks." I finally said, glancing down at the zombies, who were crowded below us, all reaching out to grab us.
Percy shrugged. "It was nothing. The only problem is, we have to wait until the zombies get bored of us to get down." He said, glancing down at the zombies. "I mean...we could jump down now, but they'd just bite us within seconds." He said, looking back up at me.
I bit my lip. "This is really happening. Zombies."
Percy nodded. "Guess so." He said, running his hand through his hair. "You're Annabeth Chase, right? Miss preppy popular cheerleader?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
I rolled my eyes. "Okay, and you're Percy Jackson, Mr leather jacket Bad Boy." I answered.
Percy winked. "At your service, Princess."
I frowned. "Don't call me that."
"Whatever you say, Princess." Percy said smirking.
I rolled my eyes before glancing down. "The zombies finally left. I think it's our chance to escape."
Percy nodded. We both jumped down, landing on our feet. Percy glanced at me before looking up to the right, where the zombies were all headed. "Well, the front entrance is a suicide battle. Best route for us is the side entrance to the football field." He said, glancing back at me.
I crossed my arms. "So all of a sudden there's an "us" now? I thought you'd want to go all alone." I said, raising an eyebrow.
Percy rolled his eyes. "Princess, you won't last five seconds out there with your little cheerleader gear on. With me, you might last ten."
"Hey!"
"I'm not gonna stay with you. I just want make sure you're okay. I'm running off on my own after you get all situated or whatever." Percy said, looking at me.
I frowned. "Since when do you care about me?"
Percy scowled. "I just don't want to see you get bitten and mauled to pieces by those zombies. I don't care about you. I don't care about anyone but myself."
I rolled my eyes. "Sure."
Percy glared at me before glancing right. "We should get going. The zombies will soon spread everywhere."
I nodded. We both ran to down the hallway, the hallway thankfully empty of zombies. We made it to the side exit and stopped at the scene in front of us. Kids were lying on the ground, body parts missing, some mauled to bits and pieces. I recognized a girl lying face up, the bottom half of her body gone.
"No-" I choked back as sob as I recognized the body as Silena's, blood and dirt covering her pretty face. I turned and threw up, my legs giving away beneath me as I crumpled to the ground in a fit of tears, knowing her death rested on my hands. I'd sent her to her death
Percy grabbed my arm, pulling me up. "Whoa, whoa, are you okay? What happened?" He asked, his brow furrowing in concern.
I sobbed, unable to say anything as I gestured to whatever was left of Silena Beauregard. Percy patted my shoulder. "Hey, hey, we've got to get going, okay?" His voice was softer, more gentle. I nodded, wiping the tears from my eyes.
Percy grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Silena. We quietly walked across the football field. Then we spotted five zombies a little away from us. "Shit." Percy muttered under his breath.
I pointed to a supply shed to the left. "There." Percy nodded and we both quietly walked over to it. I opened the door and we both stepped into the shed, shutting the door behind us, the lights already on for some reason. Jason and a girl immediately jumped out at us, bats in hand, ready to attack.
"Wait, Annabeth?" Jason asked, lowering his bat.
The girl looked at me, lowering her bat. She had choppy brown hair like someone cut it with a knife, kaleidoscope eyes, and wore blue skinny jeans, white running shoes, and a red sweater. She looked at me curiously, like she knew who I was, although I had no idea who she was.
I nodded. "It's-It's just us." I said, glancing at Percy, who just glowered. "Great. A dumb jock." He said, looking at Jason, whose eyes narrowed. "You wanna go, man?" He asked, raising the bat.
I jumped in between them. "Hey! We don't need anyone fighting right now." I said, glancing at Percy and then at Jason, who both looked ready to murder eachother.
The girl nodded. "I agree with Annabeth. We need to form a plan to get out of here."
Percy snorted. "We? There's no we in this. You three can go on a suicide mission, but I'm going lone wolf. You idiots will just get us all killed."
I rolled my eyes. "Fine. We don't need you anyway." I said, crossing my arms.
The girl looked at him. "You should stay with us. With more of us there's a better chance of survival." She reasoned.
Percy rolled his eyes. "Fine, but only because I don't want Princess over here dying because of this idiot." He said, gesturing to Jason.
Jason glared at him, but didn't say anything, probably realizing that fighting wouldn't solve anything.
I glared at Percy. "For the last time, stop calling me that."
Percy grinned. "What are you gonna do about it, Princess? Do some cheerleader moves or something?" He asked.
I smirked. "How about I kick you in the nuts?"
Percy stared at me with newfound respect. "Well said."
The girl looked outside the window of the shed. "We have to go soon or the zombies will find us in here."
I turned to her, my arms crossed, arching an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. And who are you?" I asked, looking at her.
The girl took a step back, but then recomposed herself. "Of course you don't know me." She muttered. "I've only been in all your classes since fourth grade." She looked up at me. "I'm Piper."
"I'm Annabeth." I answered, turning and beginning to sort through the sports supplies. I found two baseball bats and tossed one to Percy, who caught it easily. "We'll need these to defend ourselves." I said, looking at Percy, who held his bat tightly. "Got it. We need a car to escape though."
I sighed. "Silena and I were going to drive off using her car, but…" I trailed off.
"I've got a car." Piper offered.
Percy rubbed his hands together. "Great. Where is it?"
"Well, the keys are in my purse, which is in my locker." Piper admitted, looking at Percy, who rolled his eyes. "Of course they are. Princess, you got any plans coming to mind?" He asked, turning to me.
I rolled my eyes. "We could take the side entrance back inside the school. Use the bats to protect ourselves from them." I suggested, glancing at Jason, who nodded. "Sounds okay with me." He said, smiling at me.
Percy gestured to the door. "Lead the way, Princess."
I resisted the urge to punch him in his stupid face as I slowly pulled the door open and slipped outside. Zombies were shuffling all around us, some busy eating body parts, others staggering around to find a new target.
I gestured for the others to follow me as I ducked and quietly crawled through the grass, not really caring about getting my outfit dirty at this point.
I was almost at the side entrance when I heard a loud snap behind me. I whirled around to see Piper frozen, having stepped on a twig.
Immediately all the zombies in the area whirled to look in our direction, quickly spotting us. "Fuck!" Percy muttered under his breath behind me.
The zombies crawled, shuffled, and staggered towards us, hands outstretched, growling, groaning, and moaning angrily. One zombie reared back his head and roared a large growl to alert the other zombies.
Percy and I both looked at eachother. "Run!" We yelled, bolting for the side entrance, Piper behind us. Jason outran us, making it to the entrance before Percy and I. He held it his hand to pull us in. I grabbed it, using his strength to pull me inside the school quickly.
Percy ran past his hand, ignoring it. By the time Piper got close, the zombies were starting to get closer and closer. Jason held his hand out, ready to grab her.
Piper glanced back, which was a big mistake since it slowed her down. A zombie jumped out for her, grabbing onto her ankle. She screamed, crashing to the ground, struggling to get out of the zombie's clutch.
Jason pulled out a baseball bat, running over and swinging it, bashing the zombie's head to bits of bloody pieces. A zombie from the crowd roared in anger, walking slightly faster towards Jason and Piper.
Jason grabbed Piper's arm, pulling her up. They both ran over to us. Percy and I slammed the door closed, leaning against it with our backs as the zombies pounded against it on the other side. I struggled to hold the door closed.
"Did it bite you?" I demanded, looking at Piper, who shook her head. "No, Jason managed to save me before it could." She answered, glancing at Jason, who's expression remained grim.
Percy looked at Jason and Piper, a frantic, almost scared look on his face. "Please tell me one you idiots has a plan to get us out of here because I can't hold this door much longer." Percy said, slamming the door closed again, preventing a zombie from getting inside.
A plan began to form in my mind. "I've got a plan." I said, looking at Percy, who smirked. "Of course you do. Tell us, Princess."
I elaborately explained my plan. "Two of us can run upstairs, grabbing Piper's keys. The other two can follow behind, but protect the first two from zombies. Then we make our escape by the flagpole on the roof." I finished, looking at Percy, who nodded slowly, the plan making sense to him. Jason nodded too, smiling at me. Piper frowned like she didn't like my plan, but didn't say anything.
"I'll go with Piper to take the keys. Jason, and Percy, protect us." I ordered, looking at Jason, who nodded. "Sure." He said, glancing at Percy, who also nodded. "Let's do this thing." He said, gripping his bat tightly.
I turned to Piper. "Where's your locker?"
Piper gestured to the stairs. "On the second floor by the English room."
"Perfect." I turned to Percy. "Let's release the door."
