Chapter 2: Violet Hill
Rating: T
Word Count: 3,800+
Summary: Piper, Thalia, and Annabeth arrive at the abandoned warehouse and Annabeth has to decide whether she is going to stay or leave.
Author's Note: Before I say anything else, I would just like to say thank you. Never in a million years did I think that this story would get such a positive response so quickly. Thanks to all who have followed, favorited, or reviewed my story; it really means a lot to me.
This chapter, I had a little bit of difficulty writing. This chapter is sort of the foundation of the story so if I screw up this chapter, basically I've messed up the rest of the story. There was a lot of rewriting in this one (I think I rewrote the scene where Percy and Annabeth meet at least three times) and it took a lot longer than I thought it would. Hopefully, I didn't royally screw up. Thanks for reading!
. . .
Annabeth was pretty sure that this was the day she was going to die.
Their plan was a sure-fire way to her death bed, with only the slim chance that they would be able to make it out in one piece. She checked her backpack one last time before they made their one way trip to the grave yard. Switching out her knife for her gun, she turned the safety off and counted the number of bullets she had left. Only eleven, she mentally noted, make them count.
Annabeth glanced over at the two other girls who were preparing to run just like she was. Piper placed the last of the medical supplies into her backpack, hefting it onto her shoulders. The short-haired girl, Thalia, attached a knife to her belt and restocked her gun again. She could feel the uncertainty among the group; their plan was set up for failure but they didn't have much of a choice.
"You ready for this, Newbie?" Thalia asked, flicking the safety off on her gun.
She sighed, feeling the anxiety rising in her chest, "As ready as I'll ever be."
"Piper?" she said, turning to her companion, "you know what you need to do?"
She gulped, a nervous smile coming onto her face, "Yeah, I live for this kind of stuff."
Thalia stood up from her crouched spot on the floor, cocking back her gun, "No turning back now, ladies."
And just like that, she fired the first bullet through the glass window, shattering it into millions of tiny pieces. The hoard of zombies turned to look at the noise, spotting their breakfast standing in the middle of the abandoned store. Without another word, Piper dashed to the front of the store and jumped through the space where the window had been. She was supposed to be the bait to lure the geeks away from Thalia and Annabeth so they could escape through the side door.
Thalia took hold of her wrist and roughly tugged her towards the quick exit that lead out to another alleyway. They shimmied along the walls, hoping that Piper was doing a good enough job so that they were good to go. Just then, they heard two shots ring out from the front of the store. If there was one thing that Annabeth knew about Piper, it was that she was good bait.
They made their way out into the open space behind the pharmacy. There was a narrow path that wrapped around the three adjacent buildings where they promised to rendezvous with Piper. Of course, their plan was bound to be interrupted when a few zombies stumbled out of the alleyway behind them. The pair whipped around and took out the small group of zombies with their guns.
Unfortunately, that only led more zombies to their location, which is the exact opposite of what they wanted to happen. Piper tried in vain to lure them back towards her as the gun rang out five times in the cold, winter air. It was too late; a huge group of zombies were approaching them and they barely had any time to think.
Instinctively, Annabeth reached out and pulled Thalia down the path, "Come on!" she shouted, booking it to their meet-up point. Thalia was close on her tail, trying to avoid the undead at all costs.
Piper luckily was waiting for them with the pair of bikes that they brought before. The sight of the bikes fueled the girls to sprint even faster to their escape route. "Hop on!" she demanded as they got closer. Annabeth could tell that she was anxious to go, her hands fidgeting on the handlebars.
Suddenly, she fell forward, scrapping her shin on the asphalt. She could feel the rotten breath of a zombie on her back as she tried to recollect herself. Quickly she flipped over and shot the zombie square in the face, not wasting any time in getting up. She stumbled over to Piper's bike and sat on the handlebars. Without a second thought, she peddled down the isolated street away from the zombies at an alarming speed.
For a long moment, it was silent among the trio as they caught their breaths. We made it, Annabeth thought giddily, the first smile in months appearing on her face. "How the hell did that happen?" Thalia shouted against the roaring wind.
Annabeth snuck a glance over at her, seeing that she was wearing a similar grin as well. "I have no idea," Piper replied, slowing down the bike to a stop. She hopped off the handlebars and looked at her two companions.
"Why are we stopping?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
"We're not gonna bike all the way there," Thalia scoffed, rolling her bike towards a rusty, blue pick-up truck. "that's like, fifteen miles to bike."
Piper followed her, lifting her bike and putting it in the back next to the other one. She kicked up the door and made her way to the driver's seat, "Are you gonna come or are you just gonna stand there?"
Annabeth didn't need to be told twice.
. . .
After a very awkward ten minute drive, they arrived at the "base." It was literally in the middle of nowhere; it was located next to an abandoned parking lot and what used to be a field of grain. The place was formidable with its metal walls and securely locked windows and doors. It was an old warehouse that was rusting and falling apart. Some of the roof was partially missing and some of the windows were boarded up with large wood panels.
They parked the truck in between a white van and a black escalade. Piper turned off the ignition and popped open the door, sliding out with Annabeth on her tail. She was in awe that she had finally found a place that was relatively safe. All those months hiding in dumpsters or sleeping on the cold linoleum floors of abandoned department stores were done. No more anxiety attacks or sleepless nights where she waited for the infected to strike. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"Welcome to our headquarters, Newbie." Thalia said with a smug look on her face. Annabeth didn't reply as they walked to the entrance, Piper taking the lead. There was some sort of electronic panel located next to the door where she typed in a special code. She wondered how in the world that thing was working; after the zombies had taken over, electricity had vanished.
The front door made a deep noise, like a heavy lock was being taken off. Piper hauled open the door, inviting Annabeth into the metal warehouse. The air was a bit a warmer but it still seemed freezing to her. The front room was huge; the ceiling was at least twenty feet above them and there were several doors off to the sides. Thalia shut the door behind her and put the bolt in place, securing the entrance.
"Hey, you guys took your sweet time." A blonde haired boy commented, walking over to them. He was muscular and had crystal clear blue eyes that made her feel like he was looking into her soul. It was a bit unnerving.
"We ran into some trouble." Piper responded, smiling at the handsome boy.
"That's an understatement," Thalia muttered.
"Whoa," the guy said, finally realizing that there was a third party member, "who is this?"
"Annabeth," she introduced herself, sticking her hand out for him to shake.
"We found her hiding out in the pharmacy we were raiding," Piper added, "she's been surviving on her own for several weeks now."
"Impressive." He said, giving her a smile that made his blue eyes shine. She quickly looked away, his good looks giving her goose bumps. "Do you think the boss will be okay with this?"
Thalia glared at him, "If he has anything to say, he can come to me." Her voice was as cold as ice and it made Annabeth involuntarily shiver.
He merely laughed, "Whatever you say, Thalia." She rolled her eyes, punching him in the shoulder as she walked by with Piper on her tail. "I'm Jason, by the way. I guess I'm the one that's supposed to show you around."
Annabeth didn't respond as he led her down the main hallway until they reach a door that resembled a janitor's closet. A03 was written on the front in white paint. Jason opened the door to reveal a small, dark, empty space without any windows. It smelt like mold and the air was damp and humid.
"This is where you'll be staying, once we get a bed and Leo looks at it." He said, slipping his hand into the pocket of his jeans. She nodded, deciding not to mention that she was a little claustrophobic.
They stepped out of the room and he closed the door behind him, leading her down the hall. He turned to the right and that hall opened into a larger space, with several tables lined up into one long line. "This is where we have our meals and also this is where most of our meetings take place."
"Meetings?" she questioned. Were they some special ops team or something?
"Yeah, we talk about supplies we need and other stuff." He said, ending it uncertainly. Annabeth could tell that he wasn't telling her everything, but she let it go. She had only been there for fifteen minutes; she didn't expect them to spill everything to her.
"You guys really have some organization going on here," Annabeth commented impressed, "are you the leader?"
He smiled, "I'm more of the co-leader. The guy who leads this place is named Percy. You might meet him later, if he shows up for the meal."
They walked out of the secluded area and headed down the hallway again, stopping in front of a bigger door. Annabeth could hear a soft hum coming from it as well as a few clangs and clunks. He knocked on the door and waited for a reply. Suddenly the door swung open, revealing a young guy with brown curly hair and tan skin. A pair of goggles was attached to his head and his face was covered in ash and grime.
"Well, hello there." He said suavely, looking Annabeth up and down."Jason, how come you haven't introduced us before?"
"My apologies," he said mockingly, "Annabeth, this is Leo. He's our engineer." She nodded at him and he winked at her, making her giggle, "Anyways, Leo," Jason said, gaining his attention finally, "can we come in?"
"Yes, step into my humble abode." he said deeply, opening the door so that they both could squeeze in. Lined along the walls were generators that hummed and made whizzing sounds. "What do you guys need?"
"Wait, are these generators?" she asked flabbergasted, still looking around the room.
"What, do you think these lights run on their own?" Leo said teasingly, hitting one of them with his wrench.
"We go out and scavenge for old generators to keep the place a little bit warm and so we have some lights at night."
"Also so we can use our kicking security system." Leo added, crouching down and fixing one of the bolts on a nearby generator.
"You made that thing on the door?" she said surprised as he nodded. He smiled smugly as he saw the amazed look on her face.
"I need you to put some lights in her room." Jason said, getting straight to the point.
"No problemo," he responded, "I'll have it done in an hour."
"Thanks, Leo."
They exited the generator room and Jason looked at her, "Well, you're set up now. So, I guess I'll see you around."
"Wait," she called out. He turned around, a questioning look on his face, "am I just supposed to stay now? Lounge around like nothing's wrong?"
"Well –"
"And no one even asked if I wanted to stay!" she exclaimed, "I don't even think I could handle a place like this, you guys depend on each other so much. Do you not even worry about the undead anymore?"
"Annabeth –"
"I think it might just be better if I leave," she concluded, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Hey, Jason and Annabeth, dinner's ready. I heard Grover made spaghetti." Piper said as she passed by, smiling at the pair.
"Thanks, Pipes," he said, returning the gesture, "We'll be there in a second."
She walked away towards the area that Jason had showed her earlier. Jason looked at her for a long moment, "Just stay for dinner. If you want to leave, we'll let you leave."
Glancing around her, she saw that the area around her was absent of people. She sighed, looking back at Jason, "Fine."
They walked to the mess hall in silence, Annabeth deep in thought. Why did I come here in the first place? It was stupid, I shouldn't have let my guard down. I do better on my own. After enduring the awkward silence, they arrived at the secluded corner. The long table that had been vacant of people earlier was filled to the brim with bodies. Had there been this many people before?
Suddenly, the table went deadly silent as they gazed at the obviously new person to the group. She heard them whisper about her, asking questions. She felt her cheeks flush as Jason led her to the head of the table where he usually sat. The crowd resumed talking and stuffing their face with stale noodles.
They sat down, Jason next to Piper and Annabeth beside Thalia. He leaned over and whispered something in Piper's ear that made her giggle. "Sickening, isn't it?" Thalia whispered to her as she ate some of her noodles.
"Are they together?" she asked quietly as she saw Piper whisper something to Jason.
"Nah," she replied, taking a sip from her water bottle, "I guess those kind of things are trivial at a time like this."
Annabeth nodded, finally taking her first bite of food. It was a little bit crunchy and hard to swallow, but it was better than anything she could find on her own.
"Hey, Percy!" Jason called as he looked to his right. Annabeth followed everyone's gaze to find a tall, handsome guy with dark hair and sea green eyes. He smiled at everyone as he made his way towards Jason. The first word that came to mind as she stared him down was charismatic; he seemed to get along with everyone and people looked up to him. No wonder he's the leader here, she thought as he took the seat at the head of the table.
"Wow, I'm surprised you actually showed up." Thalia commented offhandedly.
"Yeah," he said sheepishly, "figured I could use a break."
"That's awfully different of you," she said, a smile playing on her lips.
"Shut up," he said, digging into the spaghetti. Okay, Annabeth takes back the charismatic thing. The way he stuffed his face with noodles was gross and she looked away, embarrassed for him.
"Have you found out anything yet?" Jason asked in a low tone, not wanting anyway else to overhear him.
Percy swallowed, "Not really," he sighed, "most of the research I've collected is worthless. It's all different, like there's no definitive answer."
"I'm sure you'll find something," Jason reassured, patting him on the back.
"Piper," Percy called out, gaining her attention, "do you think you could go to another research center tomorrow?"
"Sure." She replied, glancing down at her empty plate and tucking a stray hair behind her ear. It was obvious that she was uncomfortable with the prospect of going out again into the open, risking her life for what seemed to be worthless research.
"Some of the research is helpful, but it's too general. It doesn't even mention how the disease started, so we have no idea if it's air-born or not." He said, running his hand through his hair hopelessly.
"It starts in the brain," Annabeth spoke up, gaining the four of their attention. She cautiously glanced up, taking in everyone's reaction. She looked to Percy who had shock written all over his face; apparently, he hadn't even realized she was there. "The first of them got it because of some drug that they got high off of. No one knows what the drug is because it's impossible to track a person's eating after it's turned."
They were stunned into silence as Annabeth continued to eat her meal. She wasn't hungry anymore; she only ate to pretend that she didn't know the others were obviously staring at her.
"How do you know that?" Percy asked eagerly. She looked up into his deep green eyes that stared back at her own. If she really wanted to, she could stare at them forever. They reminded her of the beaches in California and the way the ocean curled around her ankles.
She snapped out of it and answered, "My dad was a scientist who researched the disease. That's the only reason why I'm stuck in New York right now."
"Do you have any of his research?" he asked, pressing on with the matter.
"No, most of it was top secret. I only knew because I heard him talking on the phone about it." She answered, brushing her hair out of her face nervously.
It was silent amongst the four as they thought about the information Annabeth had given them. Around them, people excitedly chattered away about pointless things, like their favorite foods or where they had lived pre-apocalypse.
"Do you know where his research is?" Percy asked finally.
"Yeah, I think I do, but it's locked in his computer or something. I have no idea how to get it." She replied, looking at her empty plate.
"Could you possibly go with Piper to retrieve it? It would really mean a lot to us," he pleaded, his green eyes looking deeply into her gray ones.
She looked away quickly and said, "Sure."
Everyone around the table look relieved, but Annabeth felt anything but. She felt like she was being suffocated the longer she stayed here. They all acted like there was nothing wrong and that the zombies were nothing to fear. It made her feel queasy.
Slowly, everyone started to disperse from the mess hall, including Annabeth who made her way to her room. She caught Percy's eye and he smiled brightly at her, making her blush a bit. She immediately looked away and paced to her room quickly. What the hell is wrong with me?
. . .
Annabeth was leaving and that was that.
She waited in her room – which had been newly lighted thanks to Leo – until everyone had gone to their respective quarters. Packing her backpack, she made sure that she wasn't leaving anything behind because there was no way she was coming back here.
It's not that she wanted to go out and fight the zombies voluntarily. The fact that everyone was so dependent on each other made her feel uncomfortable. The moment anyone lets down their guard is the moment that he or she dies. Annabeth didn't want that to happen to her; she was going to make it post-apocalypse.
Percy was unsettling on his own. He seemed so eager to find research, as if his life depended on it. Most of her dad's research seemed pretty dead end to her because whenever he returned to the hotel, he looked defeated. She doubted that Percy – who probably didn't have a PhD or any proper schooling – could really do anything with such high end information.
Quietly, she opened the door and looked around the dark hallway, checking to see if anyone was lurking around. She closed the door silently behind her and pulled her backpack onto her shoulders, walking slowly so she didn't wake anyone or draw attention to herself.
"Going somewhere?" Annabeth mentally cursed herself as she heard the deep voice from behind her. Gradually, she turned around and came face to face with none other than Percy. She crossed her arms and glared at him, but he didn't flinch.
"Why do you care?" she retorted.
"Because I think we could really use you. Your obviously smart and you must be very skilled if what Jason told me is true." He said, taking a step closer towards her.
"Really? And what was it that he said about me exactly?"
"Just that you managed to survive on your own for several months." He said, a ghost of a smile on his face, "That's very impressive, in my book."
It was silent between the pair as they stared each other down. Neither made any move to back off or leave. Annabeth looked him up and down; he wore an orange t-shirt with jeans and converse. His dark hair was at the perfect length and it highlighted the green in his eyes.
She snapped out of it, "What would you know about that?"
"Before I found this place," he began, shifting his feet slightly, "I got separated from my mom. I was alone for a few days and it was the scariest shit I've ever been through. Then I met Grover and we found this place."
She stared at him in a disbelieving manner. How nice that he only was unprotected for a few days, she thought cynically. She didn't like anything about where this conversation was going. She felt like he was going to do anything to persuade her to stay and use her for her intelligence or something like that.
"Annabeth," he sighed, taking another step towards her, "obviously you've been through hell and I get that. This place is safe and we all protect each other. Just give this place a chance. You need us just as much as we need you."
Uncrossing her arms, she sighed deeply. She looked at the metal walls of the warehouse and the boarded up windows. She noticed that there were two people up in the rafters, guarding the door with their guns. Then she remembered the metal doors and how Leo had practically stuck his middle finger up to the apocalypse by keeping the electricity in the building. She thought of Piper and Thalia's kindness and how they brought her here without any questions, even though it could have been dangerous.
Maybe she did need this place.
"When do you want to leave tomorrow to go get my dad's research?" she asked, giving in.
A big smile stretched across his face, "A little bit after dawn. Piper will come and wake you up."
She nodded, walking forward and pushing past him to return to her chamber. She could feel his eyes on her back as she sauntered away and opened the door to her room.
This better be worth it, she thought as she lay down on the blanket that Jason had given her to sleep on for the night. She closed her eyes and for the first time in a while, she dreamed of the ocean.
