We get a bad surprise

The next thing I knew I was being shacked by Grover "What…." I asked "Come on Percy we've stopped" he said and I sat up and saw I was in the car 'how'd I get in here?' I asked myself and got up. I yawned "So where are we?" I asked "Cloudcroft, New Mexico" he said and I was surprised "Wow that far" I said and he nodded and we walked out. I told him that it was Apollo that was helping us and Grover looked uneasy "That's good, I guess. But we've got to get there first" I tried not to get too depressed about our chances. I didn't want to send Grover into a panic, but I knew we had another huge deadline looming, aside from saving Artemis in time for her council of the gods. The General had said Annabeth would only be kept alive until the winter solstice. That was Friday, only four days away. And he'd said something about a sacrifice. I didn't like the sound of that at all.

We stopped in the middle of town. You could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store "Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out" she said annoyed "There's a coffee shop!" said Grover "Yes, Coffee is good" Ze said and I knew how much she liked coffee "And pastries and wax paper" Grover said dreamily. Thalia sighed "Fine, How about you two go get us some food. Percy, Bianca, and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions". We agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable coming with us, but she did.

Inside the store, we found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out of town unless you had your own car "You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars" the clerk looked so lonely, I bought a rubber rat. Then we headed back outside and stood on the porch. "Wonderful, I'm going to walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion" she said "But the clerk said - " I was about to say but she interrupted me "I know, I'm checking anyway" she said and I shook my head. I looked down and started lessoning to our surroundings "Zoë told me you have really great hearing, is that true?" Bianca asked and I looked at her and nodded "Yeah I was kind of born with it, it's a gift and a curse" I said "Why?" she asked "Because I can hear far but if something where to be really loud then I would get a big headache and I wouldn't be able to do anything for awhile" I said and she looked down "So you can't go to things like a concert?" she asked and I nodded "Yep" I said and she looked down.

I put the rat on the railing and looked up "So... how do you like being a Hunter so far?" I asked and she pursed her lips "You're not still mad at me for joining, are you?" she asked "Nah I was never mad. Long as you're happy and enjoying it" I said "I'm not sure 'happy' is the right word, with Lady Artemis gone" she said and I nodded "But being a Hunter is definitely cool. I feel calmer somehow. Everything seems to have slowed down around me. I guess that's the immortality." I stared at her, trying to see the difference, She did seem more confident than before, more at peace. She didn't hide her face under a green cap anymore. She kept her hair tied back, and she looked me right in the eyes when she spoke "Nico didn't understand my decision," Bianca murmured. She looked at me like she wanted assurance it was okay. "He'll be all right, Camp Half-Blood takes in a lot of young kids. They did that for Annabeth" Bianca nodded "I hope we find her. Annabeth, I mean. She's lucky to have a friend like you" she said and I looked down "Lot of good it did her, because of me she's gone" I said "Don't blame yourself Percy, You risked your life to save my brother and me, I mean, that was seriously brave. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have felt okay about leaving Nico at the camp. I figured if there were people like you there, Nico would be fine, you're a good guy" she said and I looked down.

I signed "Bianca can I ask you something?" I asked and she nodded "Does Nico like anyone?" I asked and she looked down "Um...why ask that?" she asked and I shrugged "Just curios" I said and she signed before looking around then she signed "The truth is Nico is kind of…into guys" she said and I nodded "That's cool" I said and I'll be honest I was smiling a little "Y-your ok with that?" Bianca looked at me with shocked and I nodded "Yah, why wouldn't I?" I asked "Because it's forbidden to like the same gender" she said "Really because a lot of people are ok with it, even in some states there are finally coming around to that kind of wedding" I said and she was shock "Really?" she asked and I nodded "Yeah, you know Annabeth is actually a lesbian" I said and she was still shock "Really?" she asked again and I nodded and she looked down "Wow they changed their minds fast" she said and I looked at her "Really it's been like that for quit sometime" I said and she looked at me. Before she could say something Ze and Grover came out.

Bianca looked like she wanted to continue but at the same time not so I change the subject "So has it always been just you and Nico?" I asked and I just got her out of her thoughts. She nodded anyway "yeah that's why I wanted to join the hunters; I wanted to live my own life, and have my own friends and not have to worry about being a big sister twenty-four seven" she said and I nodded. I mean just this summer I find out that a have a baby Cyclops for a little brother, sure I don't know how it's like to take care of him twenty-four seven but I know what it's like. Then Ze and Grover came back, Grover got me a blueberry muffin and coffee and it was good but then again I've eaten worse "We should do the tracking spell, Grover, do you have any acorns left?" Ze asked "Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to - "

He froze.

I was about to ask what was wrong, when a warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had gotten lost in the middle of winter. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else - almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning. Ze gasped "Grover, thy cup" Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away - a flock of tiny doves. My rubber rat squeaked. It scampered off the railing and into the trees - real fur, real whiskers. I had a pretty goof guess on what's going on but I wasn't one hundred presents sure. Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. We gathered around him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering "Hey!" Thalia said, running up from the street. "I just... What's wrong with Grover?" she asked "I don't know, He collapsed" I told her
"Uuuuuhhhh," Grover groaned. Then Thalia spook "Well, get him up!" Thalia said. She had her spear in her hand. She looked behind her as if she were being followed. "We have to get out of here" We made it to the edge of the town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. They stepped from the trees on either side of the road. Instead of gray camouflage, they were now wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniforms, but they had the same transparent gray skin and yellow eyes.

They drew their handguns. I'll admit I used to think it would be kind of cool to learn how to shoot a gun, but I changed my mind as soon as the skeleton warriors pointed theirs at me. Thalia tapped her bracelet. Aegis spiraled to life on her arm, but the warriors didn't flinch. Their glowing yellow eyes bored right into me. I drew Riptide, though I wasn't sure what good it would do against guns. :Ze and Bianca drew their bows, but Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her.

"Back up," Thalia said.

We started to - but then I heard a rustling of branches. Two more skeletons appeared on the road behind us. We were surrounded.

I wondered where the other skeletons were. I'd seen a dozen at the Smithsonian. Then one of the warriors raised a cell phone to his mouth and spoke into it.

Except he wasn't speaking. He made a clattering, clicking sound, like dry teeth on bone. Suddenly I understood what was going on. The skeletons had split up to look for us. These skeletons were now calling their brethren. Soon we'd have a full party on our hands "It's near," Grover moaned "It's here," I said "No, the gift. The gift from the Wild" I know what he was talking about, he was talking about Pan Lord of the wild. Yet he was in no shape to walk, much less fight "We'll have to go one-on-one," Thalia said. "Four of them. Four of us. Maybe they'll ignore Grover that way" "Agreed," said Ze said, which was a surprise to hear, she agrees with Thalia "The Wild!" Grover moaned. A warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees, but I kept my eyes on the skeletons. I remembered the General gloating over Annabeth's fate. I remembered the way Luke had betrayed her.

And I charged.

I wasn't stupid about this thing, from what aunt The first skeleton fired. Time slowed down. I won't say I could see the bullet, but I could feel its path, the same way I felt water currents in the ocean. I deflected it off the edge of my blade and kept charging. The skeleton drew a baton and I sliced off his arms at the elbows. Then I swung Riptide through his waist and cut him in half. His bones unknit and clattered to the asphalt in a heap. Almost immediately, they began to move, reassembling themselves. The second skeleton clattered his teeth at me and tried to fire, but I knocked his gun into the snow. I thought I was doing pretty well, until the other two skeletons shot me in the back.

"Percy!" Ze screamed.

I landed facedown in the street. Then I realized something... I wasn't dead. The impact of the bullets had been dull, like a push from behind, but they hadn't hurt me. The Nemean Lion's fur! My coat was bulletproof. Thalia charged the second skeleton. Zoe and Bianca started firing arrows at the third and fourth. Grover stood there and held his hands out to the trees, looking like he wanted to hug them. There was a crashing sound in the forest to our left, like a bulldozer. Maybe the skeletons' reinforcements were arriving. I got to my feet and ducked a police baton. The skeleton I'd cut in half was already fully re-formed, coming after me. There was no way to stop them. Zoe and Bianca fired at their heads point-blank, but the arrows just whistled straight through their empty skulls. One lunged at Bianca, and I thought she was a goner, but she whipped out her hunting knife and stabbed the warrior in the chest. The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge.

"How did you do that?" Ze asked "I don't know," Bianca said nervously. "Lucky stab?" she guessed but I knew it wasn't from a lucky stab "Well, do it again!" Bianca tried, but the remaining three skeletons were wary of her now. They pressed us back, keeping us at baton's length "Plan?" I asked as we retreated. Nobody answered. The trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking.

"A gift," Grover muttered.

And then, with a mighty roar, the largest pig I'd ever seen came crashing into the road. It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry "REEEEEEEEET!" it squealed, and raked the three skeletons aside with its tusks. The force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere. Then the pig turned on us. Thalia raised her spear, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it" The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge "That's the Erymanthian Boar," Ze said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we can kill it."

"It's a gift," Grover said. "A blessing from the Wild!" The boar said "REEEEEEET!" and swung its tusk. Zoe and Bianca dived out of the way. I had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain on the Boar Tusk Express "Yeah, I feel blessed!" I said sarcastically "Scatter!" we ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused "It wants to kill us!" Thalia said "Of course," Grover said. "It's wild!" he stated "So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked. It seemed a fair question to me, but the pig was offended and charged her. She was definitely fast but what do you expect from a child of Uncle Hades….I really should ask him about his son this Christmas. She rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast. It lashed out with its tusks and pulverized the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign.

I racked my brain, trying to remember the myth of the boar. I was pretty sure Hercules had fought this thing once, I know Ze hates Hercules with a passion put he was the one to beat the thing. I had a vague memory of the boar plowing down several Greek cities before Hercules managed to subdue it. I doubt Cloudcroft was insured against giant wild boar attacks "Keep moving!" Ze yelled. She and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. But Thalia and I won the prize for bad luck. When the boar turned on us, Thalia made the mistake of raising Aegis in defense. The sight of the Medusa head made the boar squeal in outrage. Maybe it looked too much like one of his relatives. The boar charged us.

We only managed to keep ahead of it because we ran uphill, and we could dodge in and out of trees while the boar had to plow through them. I didn't know how long I could last though, my hand heals perfectly but my ankle was a different story. On the other side of the hill, I found an old stretch of train tracks, half buried in the snow "this way.'" I grabbed Thalia's arm and we ran along the rails while the boar roared behind us, slipping and sliding as it tried to navigate the steep hillside. Its hooves just were not made for this, thank the gods. Ahead of us, I saw a covered tunnel. Past that, an old trestle bridge spanning a gorge. I had a crazy idea.

"Follow me!"

Thalia slowed down - I didn't have time to ask why - but I pulled her along and she reluctantly followed. Behind us, a ten-ton pig tank was knocking down pine trees and crushing boulders under its hooves as it chased us. Thalia and I ran into the tunnel and came out on the other side "No!" Thalia screamed. She'd turned as white as ice. We were at the edge of the bridge. Below, the mountain dropped away into a snow-filled gorge about seventy feet below. The boar was right behind us "Come on!" I said. "It'll hold our weight, probably." I told her "I can't!" Thalia yelled. Her eyes were wild with fear. The boar smashed into the covered tunnel, tearing through at full speed.

"Now!" I yelled at Thalia.

She looked down and swallowed. I swear she was turning green.

I didn't have time to process why. The boar was charging through the tunnel, straight toward us. Plan B. I tackled Thalia and sent us both sideways off the edge of the bridge, into the side of the mountain. We slid on Aegis like a snow-board, over rocks and mud and snow, racing downhill. The boar was less fortunate; it couldn't turn that fast, so all ten tons of the monster charged out onto the tiny trestle, which buckled under its weight. The boar free-fell into the gorge with a mighty squeal and landed in a snowdrift with a huge POOOOOF! Thalia and I skidded to a stop. We were both breathing hard. I was cut up and bleeding. Thalia had pine needles in her hair. Next to us, the wild boar was squealing and struggling. All I could see was the bristly tip of its back. It was wedged completely in the snow like Styrofoam packing. It didn't seem to be hurt, but it wasn't going anywhere, either. I felt a pain in my side and I looked and saw a cut, I guess untying the jacket wasn't a good idea. I took it off and tied it around the cut and it hurt like crazy.

I looked at Thalia "You're afraid of heights aren't you? I asked and she glared at me "Don't be stupid" she said standing up, I would have done the same thing if my ankle wasn't killing me "That would explains why you freaked out on Apollo's bus. Why you didn't want to talk about it" She took a deep breath. Then she brushed the pine needles out of her hair. "If you tell anyone, I swear - " I cut her off "No, no, that's cool. It's just... the daughter of Zeus, the Lord of the Sky, afraid of heights?" She was about to knock me into the snow when, above us, Grover's voice called, "Helloooooo?"

"Down here!" I shouted. A few minutes later, Ze, Bianca, and Grover joined us. We watching the wild boar struggle in the snow "A blessing of the Wild," Grover said, though he now looked agitated "I agree, we must use it" Ze said "Hold up," Thalia said irritably. She still looked like she'd just lost a fight with a Christmas tree. "Explain to me why you're so sure this pig is a blessing" Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?" he claimed "Fun," I said. "Like... like a pig cowboys."

Grover nodded. "We need to get aboard. I wish... I wish I had more time to look around. But it's gone now" He walked over to the boar and jumped onto its back. Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there'd be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it "Automatic steering," Thalia murmured. "Great." She trudged over and jumped on behind Grover, which still left plenty of room for the rest of us.

Ze and Bianca walked toward the boar. I didn't fallow and Ze saw that "Percy do you need help?" she asked walking towards me "no I fine I just, just need to take a small nape" I said and I know it would be a bad idea but I was just so tired "Really because you just woke up an hour ago" she said and I had a felling she just noted that the lion skin was raped around my waist "Percy what happened?" she asked untying the jacket "Let's just say the tress got the better of me" I said laughing a bit but then I heard her gasp "Percy, why did thee tell me about this?" she asked "I didn't want you to worry, besides finding mom and Annabeth is more important than me so just, go and find them Ze" I told her and she shook her head "I am not leaving thee here Percy" she said and the others called to hurry up " The bore is almost free Ze, just go I'm just going to take a nap" I said closing my eyes "Just tell mom I'm sorry" I said before actually falling asleep and the last thing I heard was her shouting my name.