Chapter Four: Techies In Mechanic Land
Annabeth stared at the building. She was completely motionless, expression steely, unreadable. She didn't know what to think.
Her feet told her to run. But from what? The Gods? Screamers? They wanted to just keep running, not sure where to go or what to do after, just to run.
Her heart wanted to go back to her not-so-cozy sewer, pretend it didn't happen, and go on living life the way she had always been. But she knew she couldn't do that. She could never go back there again.
Her gut told her to stick with the Gods. This is what she had been imagining for years on end whenever she was alone. She thought about the Gods more than she'd like to admit, imagining what it would be like to meet other people like her. They'd given her hope. And now she saw her chance.
Each of the Gods watched to see what she was thinking. Hazel seemed to be the only one to truly see her conflict, something intelligent and understanding beneath the younger girl's eyes. Annabeth quickly snapped herself back to reality. She locked eyes with Hazel's gold ones for a brief moment.
Annabeth finally decided she wasn't going anywhere. The Gods seemed surprised when she didn't move.
"We better hurry," Frank suddenly said, breaking their silence. After he finished spraying a sentence on the side of the demolished building, he tossed the spray paint can to Nico, who put it in his messenger bag. "We have to get back to the Temple before morning, and we're traveling by foot."
Reyna nodded and began leading the group forward, eyes expertly scanning her surroundings. "This place has to be crawling with Screamers already."
They moved silently. Annabeth wasn't sure if it was because of the Screamers, or if it was because they were all lost in thought, probably thinking about her.
As they walked on, she kept her posture steely. Gaze fixed ahead of her, expression guarded and unreadable. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction.
She recognized the direction they were going in because she used to live there. An entire neighborhood in New York of stone buildings and small streets filled with shops and small cozy apartments. The war had mostly affected that area, other than the Wasteland. It was devastating to look at. Annabeth had only been there once after the bombs had dropped, leaving nothing but rubble. She wasn't too happy about going in that direction, but she kept on that steely expression that she'd always had after so many years.
Annabeth had too many questions to count, but she didn't want the Gods to make her feel stupid. Her first question was asking what the heck the Temple was. Why were they going to a temple? They must've been serious about this whole 'Gods" thing.
She hadn't realized it before, but now she noticed Hazel slowing down to walk beside Annabeth, who was at the back of the group.
Hazel tried for a sincere smile. "Sorry you had to meet us this way, but I suppose there really would be no other way. You're the only Rogue we've met in years. The last one we picked up was me."
Rogue. That must've been their word for people like her.
Annabeth shrugged. "I've known about you guys for a long time." What she really wanted to say was: Are you guys always this hospitable with every random stranger you meet? but she kept her mouth shut.
"So how long have you been out here? You look like you've been surviving on your own for a while." Hazel must've noticed the bit of anger and sadness flickering across Annabeth's face, because then she quickly said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry." She stared down at her had ns innocently.
For some reason, Hazel made Annabeth feel guilty. She sighed and shook her head. "No, really, it's fine. I've been out here since I was seven."
Hazel's eyes went wide and she breathed in hard. "How old are you now?"
"I turned nineteen today. That's twelve years. I wasn't always alone, though."
Luckily, Hazel didn't ask about Annabeth not always being alone. Instead, she said, "Happy Birthday."
Annabeth almost laughed bitterly but decided that she like Hazel and that might be rude. It was such a strange, simple phrase. It was so foreign, so normal, to Annabeth's ears. She hadn't heard anyone say those words since she was twelve. It almost made her feel like old, seven-year-old Annabeth again, sitting with her father and the rest of her family at the dinner table, about to blow out her candles on her cake. She batted the thought away.
A simple "Thanks" was all she said.
They continued on walking, side by side, not saying a word. Soon she could see the buildings of her old neighborhood and swallowed the lump forming in her throat. It was too dull, too lonely, too tragic, for Annabeth to look at it. She felt the hole in her chest returning, not sure if she should cry or scream. Some of the buildings still stood with only chunks blown out, but half of them were in the rubble. No one had been in this destroyed ghost town in a long time, and it showed. At least that was the way it seemed. If this Temple place they were talking about was here, the Gods must've been excellent at disguising it.
They trudged through the streets covered in gray ash and rubble. Annabeth noticed how the Gods easily made it through like they knew it from walking the same path a million times before. They probably did. Annabeth managed to follow their confident suit as they wove through and hopped over pieces if buildings. She concluded that the Temple was definitely here. Somewhere hidden.
Suddenly the Gods stopped. Hazel grabbed Annabeth by the arm, saving her from crashing into Nico in front of her, and whispered in her ear, "This is it."
Annabeth looked up.
Was this a joke?
The building they stood in front of used to be a rugged stone building, probably originally five stories tall at the most. All but the crumbling first floor had been destroyed. She could see straight into it well, thanks to the missing door.
Nico noticed Annabeth's confused expression and chuckled. The rest said nothing and walked through the empty doorway one by one. The inside revealed it to be a lobby of some apartment building. Annabeth fought a sneeze as dust rained down on them. She watched her feet carefully to avoid chunks of concrete building. The lobby was destroyed, obviously, but a lot of it was still intact. The front desk was still there, along with two sofas and a giant ratty Persian rug over the ugly hardwood floor.
Reyna bent down and slid away the Persian rug. Annabeth almost laughed. It was so obvious. Even though it looked like a normal section of floor, Annabeth knew what it was. If Screamers ever came here, they would realize it too.
Reyna knocked a pattern on the floor, and suddenly the section of hardwood paneling swung in and opened, leading into darkness. Who had time to make this? A slim figure could be seen standing there, the blackness, a single strand of sunlight illuminating his leather shoes. Annabeth could clearly tell it was a male. There must've been a room down there because he was lounging against one of the walls…snoring?
Nico jumped into the dark hole before Annabeth could blink. His figure almost became the blackness, morphing into shadow. He stepped forward, smacking the boy over the head with the back of his hand.
"Leo!" Nico hissed.
Leo nearly jumped out of his skin, now wide awake, immediately straightening out. He stepped more clearly into the light, squinting up at the rest of the dirty, tired teenagers.
The first thing Annabeth noticed was the tool belt, the sun glinting off the equipment inside, and the fact that Leo was coated in grease and grime. He didn't seem to notice or care. He was Latino maybe, and around sixteen with crazy brown curls and matching mischievous brown eyes. He smiled, giving them the impish grin of a jokester.
"Hola, hermano," he said to Nico, still smiling like a mad man. No, not smiling. Grinning. To Annabeth, he was one if those people who didn't smile—they grinned.
He looked back up, his expression suddenly giving away that he noticed Annabeth for the first time. She folded her arms, stone-faced.
"Who's the chica? Haven't seen a new Rogue in years."
Reyna jumped into the void next. Annabeth followed, disguising her nervousness. The floor wasn't that far down. She wished that they would turn on the lights or something. She definitely wasn't afraid of the dark, but specific crawling things that were in the dark…
She shuddered internally at the thought. That's why she liked the sewer above all hiding spots. It was too wet for the little bastards down there.
"Annabeth," came the blonde's simple reply. She stepped back, allowing room for the next two.
Frank jumped in and offered a hand to Hazel. Hazel gave him a thankful smile and accepted his hand. Annabeth could tell it was just out of politeness, however. There wasn't a doubt Hazel could do it on her own.
Leo waited till they were all inside then slammed his fist against the blackness, into what was presumably a button. The door in the floor above them slid shut, sealing off any possible light. Annabeth remembered how scared she used to be afraid of the dark and instinctively almost reached out of Thalia's hand, like how ten-year-old Annabeth used to do. This time she stopped herself.
Then, with the hum of dull electricity that only a well-trained ear like Annabeth's could hear, lights buzzed on one at a time. Track lights, running down and illuminating a cold, long concrete hallway that seemed to stretch on forever.
At least she could see now.
Annabeth looked over at Leo. In the wall behind him was a panel full of wires, buttons, levers, and blinking lights. It looked complicated, but Annabeth could understand some of it. She'd read too many mechanical books in her free time and had hacked and rewired many of the Empire's equipment and devices.
"Follow me," Leo said, motioning down the hall for Annabeth in a somewhat gentlemanly way. Nico and Reyna rolled their eyes in almost perfect unison. Annabeth could tell Leo was doing it for show.
He led them down the hall in silence, the only noise in silence the echoing of their footsteps and the sound of Leo's tool belt bouncing against his thy in rhythm with his gait. It did feel like they were walking forever. They went down three staircases until they stopped at the end and took a turn, walking down another hallway exactly like the last. This one finished with a dead end. A cold, gray stone wall. Annabeth had been stiff, on edge the whole time, memorizing every turn and path they took. In case she needed to run.
Leo ran his fingers along the edges of the wall, almost like he was looking for something. Hazel sighed and copied him, but unlike him, she found what they must've been searching for. She pressed her fingers in and suddenly, on hinges Annabeth had never noticed before, it slowly swung open, metal screeching against metal.
Annabeth flinched at the noise and looked at Leo. "Smooth," she commented.
He just grinned like the madman that he probably was.
"It's supposed to be locked," Nico muttered to Leo.
"Whoops." The Latino boy shrugged, not even seeming the least bit apologetic. He stepped aside from the opened door and raised his arms in an overdramatic reveal. "Welcome to the Temple, chica."
Once the soundproof door opened, she could hear them now. They were all her own age or younger, maybe a little bit older sometimes, and all covered in grease and sweat like they had been working hard. Annabeth stepped in and absorbed in her surroundings. The place was huge. She could see giant doors on two of the walls, probably leading farther and farther into other rooms and halls.
The Temple, Annabeth realized, was a humongous bunker. The Gods' headquarters.
The room was filled with the scent of grease, oil, mechanics, and occasionally smoke. Leo led them past stolen empire equipment that some were working on, rewiring and rebuilding. There were inventions and automobiles of the Gods' own as well.
"The workshop," Hazel said to all of them, but more directly to Annabeth.
"My home when Jason doesn't throw me on front door duty." Leo took in a deep breath, somehow enjoying the smell.
"How hasn't the Empire found this place?" Annabeth's eyes flicked to a girl running passed like a maniac, her sleeve on fire. She dove for a bucket of water and dipper her arm in it.
Leo sighed, watching the girl go. "That's my cue. It's my turn to work on the Rover. Zhang, you've got guard duty." He turned to face them, saluted lazily with two fingers to his brow, and backed away into Mechanic Land.
Frank Zhang sighed, waved goodbye to the group that now only consisted of Nico, Annabeth, Reyna, and Hazel.
"The radiation protects us from their detection," Reyna explained once they were back to talking about the topic at hand. "There were more bombs dropped in this place during the war than the Wasteland, believe it or not. Screamers and the Empire won't even go near here. It makes their sensors go haywire. They're scared."
Annabeth almost visibly flinched but kept herself still. More bombs dropped in this area than anywhere else. She already knew that. She'd lived through it.
"Why doesn't the radiation affect us?" Annabeth questioned. They kept walking forward to the doors on the other end of the bunker. "If it really is strong enough to throw off equipment as high tech as the Empire's and scare Screamers, it should be deadly to us down here."
"Leo and his regiment are geniuses when it comes to this kind of techie stuff." Reyna motioned with her arm around the bunker. Annabeth noticed balconies and terraces above her that she hadn't seen before. "Believe it or not, and even though their equipment looks like it comes straight out of the Wasteland—because it does—they can sometimes be smarter than the Empire. They've been keeping us safe from the radiation and off the grid for years. Don't tell Leo and his unit that I said any of this, though. His head is already big enough as it is."
"And where am I going?" inquired Annabeth, arching a brow.
They reached the giant door at the end of the bunker. It resembled a garage door. A techie slammed a button next to it and it slowly began to rise.
"Not living quarters, yet," Hazel finally replied. "Not until your regiment is decided."
Reyna gave a smile, something that seemed so foreign to the girl's face, and Annabeth couldn't help but relate.
"I think it's time you met Percy."
This chapter is more of a filler, to be honest. I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK ME A MONTH. February and March are going to be super busy for me and they already are, but over the summer I'll be writing like a maniac.
You should skip this A/N
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS. I never knew random strangers could make me so happy and you're all such nice people. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. You are all inspiring me to keep writing with your wonderful words. And I'll start being more careful about punctuation and grammar errors. I am a grammar nazi and a hypocrite since I tend to make many typos. I'll start reading over these chapters more carefully.
Once again, thank you all so much and feel free to ask any questions or say your opinion in the comments. constructive criticism is welcome.
yours in demigodishness and all that
-j
