Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 9

Chris shot Clarisse a grateful look before he walked away to find the food. Food meaning berries. Meat wasn't safe to eat. It could be infected, and that would be a tragedy. So they would have to stick with nuts and berries. He sighed, and started looking around.

Ten minutes didn't pass by as quickly as Chris thought. He thought he could pick up a few berries, look at his stolen watch, and then ten minutes would be over. He was wrong. It was only two minutes. Two minutes and he had picked up five berries.

Only when Chris actually looked at the berries, was when he realized that they were poisonous. That and the fact that there were really tiny worms crawling in and out of the hole they had made in the middle. He dropped them in surprise and shock.

"Clarisse!" Chris called out. "Forget the ten minutes!"

Heavy pounding footsteps, as loud as a buffalo came charging where Chris was. Clarisse had come with her spear in both her hands. She looked deadly.

"Where's the punk?" Clarisse asked, looking around with her spear raised up high.

"Nowhere," Chris said sheepishly. "I think we should get on the streets, it might be easier to find food."

"No," Clarisse replied firmly. "We can't go in the streets; we'll be out in the open!"

"Think about it," he reasoned. "How many Infected are actually out there?"

Clarisse glowered. "Why did you call us out here?"

"The berries were poisonous, and worms were coming out of them."

Clarisse knew the risks of going out in the streets. She knew the dangers of being out in the open. In the forest, it was safer, and easier to hide. In the streets, they only had buildings, and if you went inside one, you could be ambushed and become demigod meat. The alleyways were too dark and you didn't know what awaited you in there either.

The forest was the safest way to go.

With Will and Michael, still in the same well:

There was nothing Michael could do except to wait. He checked his pockets, to see if he had any ambrosia or nectar. He found a small plastic bag and saw that there were five ambrosia squares in it. He smiled, and took one out to stand by.

Michael stared at his half-sibling in worry. It had been a few minutes since Will had hit his head on the cave entrance. He would wait for him to wake up and then he would feed him the ambrosia square.

The son of Apollo was still new to the world. It had only been a few days when he had washed up on the shore, and saw a bunch of Infected chasing after him. So he had run away from them and fell in the well, finding Will in the process. He didn't even know what was happening.

It was at least fifteen minutes later, when Will finally woke up. He scrambled away when he saw the face of Michael Yew staring down at him.

"I have some ambrosia," were the first words out of Michael's mouth, as he took out the ambrosia square.

Will took it, grateful and uncertain at the same time. The more intelligent part of his brain told him that ambrosia couldn't get infected. He shrugged and ate it. The square dissolved in his mouth and he could feel himself relax.

"So how did you find me?" Will asked Michael curiously.

"I didn't," Michael answered. "I just fell in the well, and saw that Infected still struggling on the wall. I saw the arrows and knew that a child of Apollo could do that, so I followed the footsteps and found you."

"Was I that loud?"

Michael grinned. "Yes you were."

With Katie and Grover, outside the diner:

The second Katie felt the blood and saliva on her neck; she whipped around, getting out her dagger, before running over to where Grover was. She could see the Infected now, saliva dripping from its mouth, a bloodthirsty hungry look in its eye.

And the worst thing was that Katie knew this demigod. She had even been enemies and friends with him. It was the demigod that first started the Infection. Who was the demigod?

Connor Stoll.

Katie looked at Connor, as Grover called for the others. It stared at her, and grinned, showing all its rotten yellow teeth. She backed up, while the satyr was still yelling.

"Annabeth!" Grover shouted. "Tyson! Rachel!"

"We're too far away," Katie said quietly. "They won't hear us."

"Tyson then!" He replied desperately. "He'll hear us."

"We have to rely on ourselves Grover."

Grover chewed on a tin can he had found in his pocket. Katie stared at it nervously, pulling out her dagger from her sheath. They were prepared and not prepared at the same time. And just when the Infected was about to strike, it did something else.

It gave them all an insane grin. Connor's grin that he always wore in camp. Katie froze. It reminded her so much of Travis...

And with that grin being plastered on its face, it ran off, leaving only a rotten foul smell behind. The demigod and satyr stared at the place the Infected had just been a few seconds ago.

And then, a demigod, an Oracle, and a cyclopes came running out of the diner.

With the three cousins, in and out of base:

"Guys?" Percy called out to his two cousins that were in the base. "Can you come out and help me?"

"Percy," Nico responded. "I know you can do it."

"It's not that-" The son of Poseidon was interrupted by the Minotaur.

The Minotaur roared and started charging forward. Percy saw it coming. He was about to dodge, when he suddenly remembered his leg. Nononono! He began thinking rapidly. If he had his full leg, he could dodge. But he didn't. He collided with a tree as the Minotaur charged into him.

Percy's vision was blurring as he slid down to the ground. He vaguely remembered taking out Riptide weakly, and pointing it at the monster. He looked at the Minotaur's face, and could swear that it was laughing at him.

"Thalia!" Percy called out, his voce hoarse. "Nico!"

By now, the two cousins knew Percy wasn't joking around. They climbed up the ladder quickly, looking at the son of Poseidon and then the Minotaur.

The Minotaur had a different target now: the daughter of Zeus and the son of Hades. Without any second thoughts, the two cousins dragged Percy to the base and dropped him in it. Then they jumped inside and sealed off the entrance.

"Aren't you going to fight it?" Nico asked Thalia curiously.

"Aren't you?" Thalia replied, getting out some nectar that she had stored.

Nico stayed silent. Thalia did as well. The Minotaur was still up there, furiously stomping on the entrance, trying to get inside.

"Did you guys destroy the Minotaur?" Percy asked his cousins as he took a sip of the nectar.

"No," Thalia and Nico answered at the same time.

Percy paled. "You do know that the Minotaur's smell will attract the Infected right?"

Thalia's eyes widened in realization, while Nico nodded.

"Let's go destroy it right now," Nico said while his hand was about to press the button to open the entrance.

"No," Thalia said firmly. "We have an emergency exit. We'll use that."

"Where are we going to go?" Percy asked helplessly.

"We're going to leave New York," Thalia said, a glint in her eye.

A/N: Really sorry for the late update! This is not one of my best chapters, but the next one will be more exciting. Thanks for all the support; I noticed that I got a lot of reviews for the last chapter, so thanks!

mitch2001liu: Sometime in the story, I might make a chapter of the gods. I haven't decided yet. Thanks for the compliment; I read your high school story, which was good!

BadassBatman: Sorry, I don't do M. But thanks for all the compliments!

Gryphon-Door: Zombie Mortals... Do you think I could use that name if I make a chapter for the gods?

mememu98: Thanks! I'll explain more on the next chapter. Glad you like it!

rosa (Guest: Thanks, and sorry, but Katie survived won.