I want to apologize...I have no clue how long it has been since the last update when you are an adult during the holidays...you sadly have to adult. I wish I could find an adultier adult to do things for me but alas, it is just me. I hope that all of my American buddies had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know it is the start of the holiday season, so happy holidays my friends!

Free-To-Be-Wild-Owl - Oh so much more to come! I have finished this story on paper, I just need the time to get it all up here. Getting there...slowly!

Disclaimer : I do not own Percy Jackson, or any of the content published from Rick Riordan.


Chapter 10

'I'm counting on you Chase.'

Seriously, did she have to put that much pressure on me?

I pressed my back into my headboard and closed my eyes. Why me? Why now? Couldn't the end of the world come after I was long gone?

I opened my eyes to find that it was dark in my room. I glanced at the clock to see that it was two-thirty in the morning.

I swore I only closed my eyes for a minute and that was at eight-fifteen.

I slowly uncurled myself from the semi upright position that I was in and stopped as I got a glance at my left knee.

It had been a full week since the accident on the cliff face and in that full week my stitched gash had turned from a nasty oozing mess to a soft scar. The new skin was translucent and in the moonlight I could swear that it was almost shimmering in the light.

I shook the thought from my head and slowly got up and stretched making sure not to step on Rebekah.

Even though we had given her Kate's room to sleep in she still wandered into my room at night, making a palate on the floor and curling into a ball. I felt bad for the girl and I couldn't even begin to imagine how she was truly feeling right now.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard my phone buzzing from somewhere in my room. I don't remember putting it on vibrate but then again, I really wasn't able to remember much of the previous day and I was pretty sure at this point that I didn't want to.

I quickly followed the buzzing to my jacket that was thrown on my desk and scooped the phone out of the pocket.

'Shit! Eight missed calls from my mother.'

I quickly walked out into the common room to find Grace wide awake on the sofa.

She gave me an awkward glance and I moved to sit next to her as I called my mother back, not even bothering to look at the texts from her.

"Hey mom," I whispered as so not to wake up the other girls and I was greeted with a thunderous yell.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?"

Grace looked crossly at my phone and sighed shaking her head.

"I am sorry mom. I feel asleep early. I was exhausted."

There was a sigh on her end and her tone softened as she spoke. "You have no idea how worried I was about you. None of you girls were answering your phones and I don't have your landline number to your room."

"Sorry mom."

"No time for that now. I have a plan and you girls will follow it, okay?"

"Yes ma'am. What do you want us to do?"

"It's late. I want you to go back to bed and call me back in the morning. I want to be on speaker as I want everyone on the same page. I want to know that you girls are going to take care of each other. Can you do that for me please?"

I yawned and nodded, again forgetting that she wasn't sitting in front of me and couldn't see me.

"Can you do that Annabeth?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Okay, good. Go back to bed Annie and I love you."

"I love you too mom."

The line went dead and Grace just stared at me for a few moments before laying her head down in my lap.

"Please tell me she has a plan."

"Yes. I just need to call her back in the morning when everyone is up."

"This life is getting far too complicated for my liking."

I nodded in agreement and yawned again. "Why are you up?"

"I couldn't sleep and Rebekah has taken up a permanent residence on your floor in my usual spot so I came out here."

I sighed heavily and Grace did the same. I draped an arm over her and pulled her closer to me. "We will be okay Gracie Lou."

Little did I know, at that moment, that I had never been so wrong in my life.


"Get off!"

I stirred and tried to get comfortable again but there was something laying on top of me that was keeping me from rolling the direction I wanted to go.

"Annabeth, get up! You're crushing me!"

"Ugh!" I groaned loudly and shoved the object off of me.

There was a loud thud on the floor followed by Grace's angry voice.

"Dammit! You really have to stop abusing me!"

"Well don't yell at me to get up when you were the one lying on me!"

I rolled over and threw my face in a throw pillow only find myself being bombarded by the rest of the throw pillows in the room thanks to Grace.

"Okay, okay, I give! I'm sorry!"

"That's better," She huffed as she sat back down next to me. You had better call your mother. She has called twice this morning already."

"It's only what, eight A.M.," I sighed as pushed myself up to sitting and yawned. "Go get Rebekah and Sarah. She wants all of us present for this call."

Grace groaned and slowly got up and went to my room first to get Rebekah off the floor.

Ten minutes later we were all piled on the sofa, cups of coffee in hand as I dialed my mother. I sat anxiously as the phone rang two, three, and then a fourth time before she picked up the phone.

"No! Just get those things over there and make sure that Malcolm and Adam have everything they need just in case something happens."

"Mom."

There was some more arguing and my mother yelling at some poor unsuspecting soul and me yelling at her to get her attention and failing miserably.

"ATHENA CHASE!"

"WHAT DAMMIT?"

"Language mother!"

The tension in the room eased slightly as all of us girls giggled slightly and then it was back just like that as my mother has this wonderful way of making you feel like a seven year getting in trouble.

"Don't you use that line on me young lady, I am the adult here!"

I could tell that Grace was about to retort and my eyes widened and I shook my head viciously at her.

Her mouth opened and closed quickly and she pushed herself back into the sofa, arms crossed over her chest.

"Sorry."

"Never mind that now. Is everyone present?"

"Yes ma'am," resounded around me and I closed my eyes as I pulled my knees up to my chest and set the phone down on top of them.

"Okay, good. First thing. I want you girls to start packing. Carry light."

"We are already on that Mrs. Chase. Annabeth had us start packing clothes last night." Sarah seemed a little annoyed at the thought of having to pack lightly but didn't say anything else on the subject.

"You are going to need more than just clothes. You are going to need weapons."

I sighed as I felt Rebekah and Grace next to me, tense at the word weapons.

"What kind of weapons mother?"

"Knives, crow bars, shovels, guns . . . anything you can use to take the infected out. Head trauma will stop them."

"I can't kill people."

"They aren't people anymore. I don't know which one of you said that, but you can't look at them as someone you once knew. As of right now, there is no cure for this. You are either going to kill them and live or you are going to let them live and potentially give up your chance to survive. The choice is yours."

There was a pregnant pause between us and I finally spoke up.

"Where are we going to find things like that mom? We don't exactly have access to a lot of that stuff here at the dorm."

"If we can stop at my house, we can stock up."

We all turned and looked at Rebekah and she sighed sadly.

"My step dad was a big hunter. There are a lot of hunting rifles and ammo in the gun safe in his old man cave. There are also a lot of hunting knives."

I watched Rebekah as she looked at her hands and twisted the hem of her shirt around her fingers. She was hurting and I wished that I could make things better for her.

"Perfect. How far is your house from the campus Rebekah?"

"Maybe five minutes if the roads aren't blocked off like they were on our way here."

"Okay . . . so here is the plan, Malcolm and Adam are heading your direction tonight. As long as they don't run into any issues, they should be there around four in the morning. They are going to head to the hospital and pick up your truck first Beth."

"And how are they going to get the truck started when I have the keys mother?"

"Crap . . . wait, don't confuse me. I have your spare key."

"I didn't know I even had a spare."

"Where is the truck Annabeth?"

"Lower deck, level two, somewhere between B and D."

"It was in the C block. I remember looking at the letters on the pylons after my flip out in the backseat."

"Thank you Rebekah. Okay so lower deck, level two, section C. I backed in so if it doesn't start, they should be able to easily jump it."

"Smart girl. I will call you the minute they leave and then Malcolm is going to be updating throughout the night. If by some chance they can't get the truck to you before sunrise, he and Adam will be waiting it out nearby. I only want you guys to travel under the cover of night."

"Won't that make it harder for us to . . . you know . . . stay alive?"

I looked over at Sarah who spoke, and she was staring straight ahead at the wall in front of us.

"In some aspects, but Malcolm and Adam have learned that they have a hard time seeing in the dark and rely on their sense of smell. So if any of you girls have any open wounds, they are going to smell you and attack. You will have to be careful in everything you do. While moving during the day would be easier in terms of seeing what is coming, night gives you better cover."

We all sighed and I felt my mind drifting back to the group of infected that found their way into the fence yesterday.

"Annabeth, do you understand me?"

I was jolted back to life by Grace giving me a sharp elbow to the ribs.

"Huh? What?"

"I swear girl, you are going to be the death of me if the infected don't get me first."

"Nice mom. Now what were you saying?"

"I just wanted to make sure you guys were all okay with this plan. Everyone answered but you."

"Yes, I am good."

"Alright. I will call you tonight to let you know when to start your count down."

"Thank you mom."

"Good bye girls. Stay safe. Start packing and get as much food as you can get to take along with you on the trip."

The line went dead once again and I shut the screen off as everyone around me got up to get dressed.

"Guess it's time to start grabbing what we can from the dining hall," Grace replied flatly.

She put her hands out to me as she stood and I took them slowly, allowing her to fully pull me up from the sofa.

"Come on Nana. We need to get ready to break out of this joint."

"As much as I like the sound of that right now, it scares the shit out of me."

I tried to be quiet as I spoke to her but I was a nervous mess.

"What if something happens?"

I could see the panic fill Grace's face and then Rebekah spoke up.

"We can't think like that right now. We just need to concentrate on what we need to do and stick together."

I nodded as the tears fell down my face. I was scared for my brother and Adam and I found myself praying for them to get here safely.

The rest of the day went by slowly, each of us barely talking to the other as we made our way to the dining hall, each time getting our meals to go and stuffing more than we could possibly eat into our to go boxes and bags.

We weren't the only ones who looked like they had a plan to get out of the school.

I noticed a group of guys at lunch stuffing boxes and bags with everything they could get their hands on and rushing out of the dining hall as if on a mission.

I spotted them again at dinner and they were a bit more cautious about the amount of food they took this time, but they still had far more than they could possibly eat in one sitting.

I tried to keep calm, but panic kept settling into my gut and making me nauseous as the day wore on. My saving grace was Miss Grace herself today. For once the roles were switched and she was the one taking care of me, trying to keep my mind on anything but the plan and the fact that my brother and hers were on their way to break us free from this sudden jail we found ourselves in.

I tried to ignore my watch but the more I tried, the more I found myself looking at the damn thing. It turned into a bad habit, every fifteen minutes, like clockwork.

Finally at ten-fifteen my phone rang and I scrambled to answer it.

"Malcolm please be careful!"

"Calm down Annabeth. We are just now getting on the road."

"Sorry. I have been a nervous wreck all day."

"There is no need to be right now. Look, traveling at night is by far safer. While these . . . things are fast, they rely heavily on their sight and sense of smell. They only have basic instincts."

"Which are what exactly?"

"The need to feed. So if any of you have any wounds, cover them. Gauze, bandages, tape . . . whatever it takes to ensure the smell of blood does not fill the air."

I sighed and listened to the road noise on the other end of the line.

"Malcolm?"

"Yeah Annie?"

My brother was quiet this time as he spoke and I tried to keep my tears from falling. "Please be careful. Keep me updated."

Before I could say anything else, I was interrupted by his voice, "I love you too Annie. I will call you soon."

I humphed and shut the screen off on my phone and shoved it back on the charger. Why did they all have to just cut me off? Didn't they know that now was not the best time to be messing with a person and their emotions?

I did the only other thing I could think in the moment and that was to go over my list I made for packing. My mother had told me to keep it light, only the essentials.

I sighed and went over to my desk and plopped down in the chair. I looked around the room to make sure that there wasn't anything I was missing. I had already grabbed everything I needed from the bathroom and it was on my nightstand in the travel bag. I had grabbed a couple of my favorite outfits from each season and threw them into my suit case along with some pajamas, socks, underwear, and bras. I threw in my favorite blanket and the small stuffed fox that Grace gave to me when we were five. Out of stupidity, I threw in my laptop and a couple of DVD's and half closed the bag.

I kept scanning the room, looking for things to take with me, but if this was going to be anything like we see in the movies, none of the awards on the wall were going to matter. I felt like everything I had worked for was suddenly all for naught and I threw myself down on the bed and began to cry.

At some point in my self-wallowing I fell asleep. I woke up and grabbed my phone to see that it was three-fifteen and I had no missed calls or texts from Malcolm. It was at that moment that I realized that my phone was no longer charging and it was incredibly hot in my room.

I scanned the floor, looking for Rebekah's body in her usual spot on the floor to find that the palate wasn't even set out. I jumped up out of the bed and opened my door to find her pacing in front of the window in the common room.

"When did the power go out?"

She jumped at the sound of my voice and then resumed her pacing. "About an hour ago." The tension in the room was killing me and I walked over to her and stopped her in front of the window. The light of the moon illuminating her face and showing off the dried, salty rivers on her cheeks. "Things are about to get real aren't they?"

"I think so."

We were silent as we looked out of the window into the darkness before us. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop and then a loud noise outside made us both jump. The fence in front of Branford hall fell and through the moonlit shadows we could see the infected making their way into the courtyard.

I was just about to call my brother when my phone rang in my hand. "Malcolm?"

"Change in plans Annie . . ."

I interrupted him before he could continue, "Good, because we have a major problem here."