Annabeth and Percy raced over in time to find Piper knocking a crawler to the ground. It groaned dully as Piper finally managed to smash through the thick skull. She panted a bit, clearly startled by the sudden intrusion as she looked up and the couple who had just joined them. "Crawlers are coming."
Percy cursed under his breath before raising riptide and looking around the perimeter of the woods that surrounded them. Leo tinkered with some sort of contraption in his hands furiously. Jason walked up with a full sack on his back. "Pack up as quickly as you can. We need to move or we'll be overwhelmed."
"Piper and I can guard for now. You guys get all our stuff." Percy suggested, nudging Piper and heading off to scope around with her. The others did as instructed, quickly gathering their things and hastily throwing them in bags and other carrying devices.
As they hurried to meet back with Piper and Percy, a crawler suddenly appeared and groaned in their faces. Leo quickly threw the contraption he had been meddling with in his hands and an explosion rang out as the can exploded in the head of the creature. He grinned wickedly at Jason and Annabeth who were dumbfounded by his little invention. "Freaking awesome, right? Your friendly neighborhood Leo is always on call for some zombie butt-kicking action."
As they passed the body, Jason glanced down and noticed a machete slung in a bag around the corpse's back. He carefully took it and inspected it. It seemed to be in good condition and the blade hadn't been worn down too much. With growing interest, he swung it only to notice it felt right for him. He gladly accepted the new weapon and followed the others out of their camp.
As they sprinted through the wooded areas, Piper was the first to speak. "So, where do we go now?"
"Wherever this path leads us is the best option right now. If you haven't noticed, we don't have a map or any other place to elope to. We're forced to go wherever we can." Annabeth replied with a sigh.
After what seemed like an eternity of running, the woods began to retreat into what seemed like a small suburban area. They climbed up a hill and looked into the distance. Percy's eyebrows went up and the corners of his mouth tugged upwards. "Looks like we're in a city again. Home turf."
"Great," Annabeth replied casually. "I'm sure we can just rent a taxi. Anybody got any money? Oh, yeah, there's no need for it anymore." Percy walked up and rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. She sighed for what seemed like the millionth time so far these past few days. Truth be told, she was anxious and that made her crankier than usual. Percy, who was loyal to her, understood and made sure not to get too offended to anything she said.
Leo looked at the city's outline. "Ah, the city. Bright lights…busy streets…show business on the go! Next thing you know, there will be undead tap dancing up on Broadway."
"It's a shame we didn't find our way into the country instead." Percy noted, leaning dependently on Riptide.
"What do you mean?" Piper asked.
He shrugged. "Well, cities often mean big populations. Bigger populations means more walkers and less food to ransack from abandoned shops and buildings."
Annabeth nodded in agreement. "Not to mention there is less open space. Cities can be easy to get lost in, too. If we get put on the spot, we could easily be trapped by other gangs. We'll have to be smart about who we trust and where we get any information."
"Our biggest concern right now is finding a place for shelter." Jason interjected and motioned towards the sky. "It looks like a big storm is going to be coming."
"How can you tell?" Percy questioned, glancing up confusedly at the clouds. He wasn't exactly a meteorologist, but he doubted this guy was either. Jason simply shrugged his shoulders and glanced back up at the darkening clouds.
"I'm not sure." He replied coolly. "I can just tell."
Piper stepped over to him and looked at his new choice of weapon. "This weapon is in good shape. You're pretty lucky to have found something like that. It could really come in handy." Jason nodded in reply, feeling the butt of the machete. Piper stared at him longingly, thinking back to better times when he had been less distant. Sure, before he had still been pretty distant. After all, he didn't like to show his emotions or his thoughts easily. He wasn't the kind of guy to say what he thought or what he wanted. Though, since times had gone to such a waste, he became more and more distant from even Piper, whom he was most open to. It did have an impact on her, a little grudging feeling in her stomach, but she knew he didn't like when she pressed matters like that. As much as she tried not to worry, he seemed to grow more and more depressed every day and it was too hard to watch him suffer like that.
Leo rubbed his chin thoughtfully before snapping his fingers. "I know where we can go. At least for tonight, anyway, supposing the place is still intact and not infested with creepy crawlies."
"There isn't any better option." Annabeth pointed out. "Lead the way."
They moved into the city, sticking close to the shadows to, with hope; remain anonymous to any person or creature waiting to strike. Leo led them through streets and back allies, allowing his face to crinkle in concentration as though he were trying to remember the way to some old place he'd been to once. The others followed closely behind him, armed and ready to beat some zombie booty when needed.
Bothered by the silence, Annabeth fell into step with Percy. She huddled close to his side, making sure to keep a tight grip on her weapon in case she needed to break into action. Quietly, she spoke to her boyfriend so only he could hear her. "Percy," She sighed. He looked at her, green eyes watching her intently with the smallest hint of worry and yet affection. "I really wish things weren't like this. I was so happy and I was planning so much. I used to spend endless nights just staring up at the ceiling thinking of how nice it was to have you as a boyfriend. And, in those times of me thinking about you so intently, I knew that…I wanted you to be my first."
His eyes widened. "First what?"
Realizing how it could be interpreted, her cheeks flushed and she looked away from his eyes. "Well…my first everything, really…I'm not one to dream about romance or gawk like a girl in some sort of romance book, but it just made me so joyful to think of being with you for as long as I lived. I'd follow my dreams and study architecture, and you would go off to college with me and study marine biology and we'd be together through it all."
Percy mustered a grin and rubbed her back. "I understand."
"You do?"
He nodded happily. "Yeah, I did the same thing. It helped me fall asleep, I guess. All my life, I've known that I want to start my own family. I want to get married and have a bunch of kids. As time went on and I fell harder and harder for you, I realized that, if anything, I wanted you to be there with me. Through marriage and through the agony of childbearing, I knew you'd be loyal to me." He smiled at her and she felt her heart skip a beat. Honestly, she felt like she would only ever think of such things. She was the articulate one, thinking about how she wanted the future to be and what kind of family she wanted and how many kids she wanted to have, but it was a relief to know that Percy was considering as well.
Before she could reply, Leo opened a squeaky door in front of them and called, "Sweet! Here we are at La Casa Leo. Welcome to my humble, ex-abode. Make yourselves at home, ladies and gentlemen. The Leo train has come to a complete stop." He marched right on into the building confidently as though he'd owned the place. The others followed cautiously after him.
At first glance, it seemed safe enough. They made sure to inspected everywhere first. Nobody else was there. It was quiet, hidden, and it provided them shelter. Seeing their current situation, it was practically a five star hotel. Leo flopped down on a mat that was on the floor and relaxed.
"How did you even know of this place?" Piper asked curiously, using her hand to dust off a shelf on the wall.
"It was one of the foster homes I had to stay at once." Leo replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Percy looked at Annabeth and managed a small smile. "There's still hope. Let's go find a room for us to sleep in for the night." Annabeth smiled back and took his hand, following back through the corridor to find a space to sleep for the night.
When they opened a door, they would have been ready for an undead thing, but they weren't expecting a girl putting a cold towel on the forehead of some guy. She looked at Percy and Annabeth with wide eyes and she managed a startled squeak.
"Please, don't hurt us." The girl begged, protectively putting her body in front of the unconscious boy on the bed. He stirred in his rest. She looked terrified as though she were on the verge of tears already.
"Huh," Percy muttered. "La Casa Leo must be pretty famous."
