Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 8

"A Godshow," Katie murmured angrily.

Annabeth stayed silent, still looking at the sky, thinking about the entire situation carefully. She prayed to Athena, hoping for an answer. She didn't get any. So maybe Zeus is up to something, she mused, not taking her gaze of the splattering rain. Gods, I'm starting to sound like Percy. At the thought of her boyfriend, she frowned. Wherever he was, she hoped he was safe.

Rachel knew it was a crazy thought, but all she wanted to do was to sit down somewhere, probably in her cave, and paint something. She didn't know what or who she wanted to paint, but she just wanted to feel some comfort. She sat down on the wet pavement, and closed her eyes, trying to imagine herself painting a painting, but her imagination didn't seem to work today. Her eyes opened and she sighed, seeing the same bleak world in front of her.

Grover felt like eating enchiladas. When they ran out of camp, he had completely forgotten to take his emergency pack which consisted of enchiladas, apples, utensils, ping pong balls with Cheese Whiz, and a few other things. It had taken an hour to prepare the pack, and yet, he had still forgotten it. Oh well, he thought glumly. At least I survived. But a tiny voice was nagging in his mind, annoying him to no end. Is surviving really worth it?

"We need to go on," Annabeth stated firmly, her gaze finally focused on buildings instead of the sky. "We can't just stop. They'll catch us."

"You're forgetting something," Katie replied back, a very small smile on her face. "We know how to kill them remember?"

"We're taking too much time," Annabeth pressed on. "We're taking advantage of having knowing how to kill them. What if we're surrounded and they're facing our direction, not their backs? Then we'll all be in trouble."

Katie eventually nodded, seeing the logic in Annabeth's answer.

"Let's go!" Tyson said, before walking forwards.

The rest of the group followed Tyson and eventually came across this old diner.

"Turn on as many active lights in here, and find something to eat," Annabeth ordered as she stepped inside. "We're going to rest here for a while."

And as Annabeth walked off to the kitchen, Grover could swear he heard her say 'we don't have Percy here to shield us off the rain.' Tyson went off to search for the maintenance area to turn on all the lights, while Rachel went off with the daughter of Athena. The satyr and Katie were left behind, trying to find something to do.

"I'm going to go outside for a while," Katie finally said after a silence. "Call me when the food's here. I'll be near don't worry."

But as Katie opened the door of the diner and closed it with a small ding of the bell, Grover couldn't help but watch her retreating figure. He saw her figure disappear in a narrow alleyway that was bright for some reason. He also watched as her shadow cast a figure on the ground. He watched as another shadow appeared. One that was twice the size of her... A full-grown man at least. An Infected full-grown man, he realized with a start.

And without thinking, Grover barged out of the diner, and took out his reed pipes. He ran as fast as he could, or galloped as fast as he could, towards the two shadows. He watched as the big figure got closer to the small figure and huge teeth about to sink into something, about to make another Infected when...

"Katie!" Grover shouted, getting the attention from Katie and the Infected. "Behind you!"

Katie twirled around quickly, and ignored her heart banging on her ribcage. She saw a tree right behind the Infected and she used the leaves to make a chain to wrap around the Infected. She sighed in relief when she saw it struggle to get out. She saw Grover sigh in relief, when she felt saliva mixed with blood dribble on her neck.

There was still one Infected left...

With the three cousins, in a forest:

"We should be near base," Thalia spoke, a slight edge to her voice.

Percy stayed silent, just breathing heavily every time he hobbled another step. Nico nodded his expression still angry at the gods. Thalia was the one leading the way, touching the ground every once in a while to see that they were going the right way.

It was when Thalia began seeing this huge clutter of leaves all piled up together when she began grinning. To Percy, it just looked normal, but to Nico, there was something slightly off. It had a few more leaves on top than any other pile.

"We're here," Thalia said, pointing to the pile of leaves. "Just touch the top..."

Thalia began trailing off, and when she saw her cousins' confused looks, she sighed.

"Even Nico doesn't know how to get in here," Thalia explained. "Just follow my lead ok?"

The cousins nodded, and Thalia touched the top leaf. When her hand made impact on the leaf, it dropped like a rock, and a big opening was seen. She jumped in, and landed gracefully on the ground.

Percy stared at the distance from the surface and the base. It was pretty high, and he vaguely wondered how Thalia managed to jump down since she was afraid of heights. He didn't wonder for long however, because Nico already had a crash landing.

"Your turn now Percy," Nico spoke from the bottom, looking up.

"I don't think I can do it," Percy responded uneasily.

"Come on Kelp Head!" Thalia shouted from bellow. "You can! Look, I'll even get you a ladder."

Percy looked at the base and saw Thalia getting something. Better than jumping at least, he thought as he heard a tiny screeching sound, identifying it as the mini rollers that were attached to the ladder.

A rustle was heard. Percy turned his head quickly, getting Riptide out hurriedly. When he turned, he froze. They were all too focused on the Infected; they had almost forgotten that there were actual monsters here as well. And standing a few meters away from him was his old buddy: The Minotaur.

And only one thought rang in Percy's head at that moment. Can monsters become infected?

With Will, still in the well:

Will winced at every step he took. Every time his foot made impact with the ground, his back vibrated. He knew it wasn't safe, but he knew he couldn't get on walking like this. He stopped walking and started to sit down on the rocks.

For once in Will's life since the infection started, he relaxed. He didn't see any Infected anywhere, and he heard nothing except his own ragged breathing. But then there came this other noise. Footsteps. He stiffened and gathered all of his things hurriedly. Taking deep breaths, he began to run as quickly as possible. Survival over pain, he reminded himself every time his back stung.

"Wait!" The person or Infected shouted, running to catch up with Will shouted.

The voice sounded familiar to Will, but he didn't know who. He didn't know that Infected could talk. If I ever make it out of here alive, he thought to himself, I'll be telling any survivor I see the news. If, he reminded himself. If.

Will started running faster, scared.

"Will!" The voice yelled again.

Again, the voice sounded so familiar. Will wanted to turn back and see who it was, but he didn't want to risk it. He wished that he had the speed of Hermes, but he was the son of Apollo, not the messenger god.

The exit of the cave was right in front of Will. He couldn't see it at first, since it was in the dark. All the same, he couldn't see that the entrance was low, and in an arc. But when he did, he ducked too late. He banged his head on the bumpy rocks. He slid to the ground, trying to stay conscious so he could run again, not wanting to be turned.

"Will!" There was the voice again.

And then Will recognized the voice. It was the same voice as the head counselor before him. Michael Yew, he thought in a startled realization before he blacked out.

With Clarisse and Chris, in a warehouse:

"Why would a warehouse be in the middle of the forest?" Chris asked Clarisse as they entered it.

"This is usually the scene where we enter a building and we turn on the lights and then we see Infected all around the place," Clarisse spoke, ignoring Chris' question. "Turn on the lights will you?"

Chris hurried and began looking for switches. On the way, he tumbled over something. A body, he realized with a lurch. Maybe Clarisse is right. He hurried to turn on the lights, and flicked the switches on. She's partly right, he thought again, looking around sickly.

Instead of Infected being all around the place, it was disposed human bodies. And they were eaten. They hadn't seen the sign when they came in. If they did, it would have said: Disposed Bodies. And the Infected had feasted on them while they were here.

Not even caring about Clarisse's reaction, Chris jumped over each body and dragged her back out in the forest. Eventually he released the grip on her hand, and they both ran freely, both sick of what they saw.

The sight wouldn't leave their minds for hours as they walked in random directions through the woods. Occasionally, they would find more eaten bodies, and they took turns closing each other's eyes as they directed each other through the woods. Even Clarisse was tired and sick of the Infected. If it were thieves running over the city, she wouldn't care. She would have dealt with it. But these were the Infected. They were a different case. Same rules don't apply.

"We need to rest," Chris finally said after running away from an Infected.

"If you want to get eaten, go ahead," Clarisse snapped, frustrated and tired.

"I'd rather not," Chris muttered a reply, close to collapsing if he didn't get to at least sleep for a few minutes.

Silence overcame them for a while as their walking became slower. And then-

"Find a place to rest," Clarisse said eventually. "I'll get the food. We'll meet here again in ten minutes."

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! And you can decide what I should do with Katie: turn into an Infected, eaten alive, or survive. I'll count up all the votes and in the end the deciding fate will win. Thanks for all the support!

Gryphon-Door: Thank you so much for all your help, I really appreciate it a lot. I can't believe I was being BS'd right there, because of one review... Again, thanks so much for doing your research; I'm really grateful for all your support and help!