Authors Note: A big thank you to all my reviewers including (but not limited to) LMI, Honeygoddess, Historiangirl, and of course, our favourite; guest.

I would also like to thank the marvellous bloggers fyeahclassoftetitans and ermahgerdcott for proclaiming me as king of the fandom. I promise to be a benevolent ruler and I promise to make every Tuesday Taco Tuesday! My labour force of lemurs is also working to make Slashy Saturdays (Slashurdays) a thing as well.

As it was with Act 1, chapters come out every sunday until the act ends. Enjoy and review!

Walls of Bricks

Act 2: Putris

Chapter 13

Chapter theme; My,my, hey, hey -Neil Young

The roads out of town were eerily quiet. The team had been one of very few who managed to escape the town before the slaughter began. The giants had been on the streets as they drove past. Neil only let off three shots. They were, however met with relatively good luck. The kick to the gun starled Neil when he first shot it. He managed to blow out the tires of a few trucks that tried pursuing them. One of the red trucks tried following them out of town.

They had escaped the town a red truck biting at their heels, but they soon lost them in the maze of roads and valleys where their pursuers eventually gave up and turned around, and from there on, there was not a single car to be seen on the road. They couldn't see the city but they could see the stacks of smoke billowing in the distance. They knew it was the city, or what was left of it. The smoke from the fires spread into a stormcloud that billowed eastwards towards the rest of the continent.

The first part of the journey was silent as the Katrina and Granny stared motionless at the cloud of ash. After a sleepless night, they kept looking at it until the smoke was hidden behind a wall of mountains. Their exhaustion was the only thing that kept them from crying. Who could blame them? New Olympia had been their home for many years, and it was burning.

Odie never truly felt at home in New Olympia. His stay there always felt temporary and unsettled. His real home was out on the east coast in New York. It had been where he had grown up. His life had been out there. That changed of course when he was called upon by the gods to fight Cronus. All the same, he felt like a part of him was being left behind. It wasn't the city, but it was everything in it. You could say he was missing the school, the brownstone, the burger place that the team always loved, but it was the people that he was really leaving behind.

Isabelle, Jay, Archie, Atlanta and Theresa were all in there somewhere while the five of them were driving away. Odie didn't know if they were alive or dead. All he could do was hope.

They have to be alive. We haven't defeated Cronus yet. Odie never felt so helpless as the smokey sky dissipated from view. I promise I'll see them again. It felt like a hollow promise that he wasn't sure he could keep. He didn't know what lay on the road ahead, or if he'd ever get the chance to see them again.

They had to make Cronus pay for what he did. He had burned the entire city and possibly others with his mysterious army. But Odie knew that couldn't happen without the team. Jay would have wanted them to get safe, take time to recuperate, then counterattack. The only problem was that they didn't have the resources to counterattack an invasion force of boney giants. They would usually get help from the gods in hard times, but Odie knew in his gut that this was different. The gods would have gone looking for him when things started getting hairy, but they just seemed to vanish without a trace. They would get no help from the gods. It wasn't something he had been told. It was something he saw in the oracles strange eyes, as they circulated his tired thoughts, that told him that this would be a fight they would have to fight alone.

If by fighting you mean fleeing into the mountains.

As Herrys grandmother had said, they made a run for the mountains. When she was younger, she had been an enthusiastic camper, and knew the mountain roads very well. There were very few communities, most of which aboriginals in the steep, rocky wilderness, and one could easily hide out in the many caverns across the densely wooded valleys. There had been stories of people getting lost in the mountains for years before returning to civilization. If someone's plan was to hide for the rest of their lives. The Rocky Mountains was the place for them.

That was, if you knew how to cope with the hardships it came with. In the entire of world, there were few places as wild and remote as the mountains that walled their journey north. There were plenty of dangers too including bears and wolves, which would make an easy meal out of unwary or unprepared campers. The roads inland only went so far north before the terrain was too harsh to even build on. Communities inland were almost non-existent.

Odie grew up loving the old movies about cowboys in the Wild West, where the wilderness was an endless stream of desert. Looking around, he looked at the tall dark trees that never seemed to stop until titanic mountains rose from them; he realized that this was the real Wild West.

After a long nap in the car, and at a safe distance from the city, Odie had the burden of explaining everything to Katrina. The others agreed there was no point hiding it now since the apocalypse seemed to have begun. They had plenty of time, and she was likely going to be with them for quite some time. At first she seemed confused, but connections began to be made about the teams often-strange behavior in school, and she eventually accepted the truth.

They drove for hours and hours. Herry refused to let anyone else drive. He was determined to get his friends as far away from the city as possible. They managed to get half a tank at a gas station on a country road. It seemed that there was nobody home at an old gas station, so they took as much gas as they could along with plenty of food from the store inside, which was completely open and unlocked. It seemed that a lot of the food had already been taken before they even got there.

That extra gas gave kept them going for the rest of the day. The continued to drive along the winding roads, which soon became gravel roads, as the travelled through the endless maze of trees and mountains. But eventually, the inevitable did happen.

"Guys," said Herry solemnly as the engine made a strange pouting sound and the truck began to decelerate, "We're out of fuel." They had been traveling at 3 digits per hour for almost 12 hours, yet the news seemed to come to them as a surprise.

"Great, now what?" said Neil in an almost sarcastic tone.

"Well there's no more gas, so the truck isn't going to be going anywhere. Looks like we're walking now." Said Herry. The truck had finally made a complete stop. They were deep in a steep valley. The sun had begun to sneak behind the mountain to their left, leaving a cool, orange haze that made it look like it was mid-autumn. On one side of the road was an almost sheer cliff of dirt and pine, the other showed a canopy of trees and the sound of running water was close by. The team reluctantly stepped out of the truck and onto the gravel and asphalt road. Not a car could be seen or heard for miles. The only thing they could hear was the chirping of the early summer birds and the buzzing of flies.

Herry looked sadly at the truck. It had been a reliable and valuable asset to the team, saving their skin on multiple occasions, and now it was just to be abandoned on the road in the middle of nowhere.

Or so it seemed, as Odie realized something.

"We can't leave it here," he said, interrupting the long silence, "We're going to have to camp for the night near here. If anyone else comes on the road, the truck will just give away that we're here."

Herry nodded. "I could-… I could push it down the ravine." He said reluctantly. The team looked at each other and agreed, so they grabbed all of their equipment from the truck and backed away. Even though there was not a single car for miles, Odie wasn't feeling comfortable being in the middle of the road, so he urged everyone to hurry up.

With one effortless push, Herry sent his beloved truck to the bottom of the ravine. The truck flew down like a bull. Crashing its way loudly past trees and rocks, until a faint splash was heard. It had reached the bottom of the ravine.

"Descendant of Hercules you say?" Katrina asked Odie quietly. Her clothes had been changed, but her mascara was still there, smudged slightly onto her cheeks.

"Yeah, Hercules actually was Herrys mentor." Said Odie,

"I would have expected Herry to be more of a hard person. I thought Hercules was meant to have a tough personality."

Odie chuckled slightly, "Hercules is actually a bit of a softy once you get to know him, just like Herry."

Herry stood for a moment before walking away from the site of his trucks funeral to the others, "I guess we should get going."

They chose to camp uphill where they would be better hidden from the road. The slope was steep, and Granny struggled to get up the steep slope. She shamefully asked Herry to carry her. Herry didn't seem to mind, but the old lady wasn't happy she had to ask.

About two hundred feet up and away from the road, the ground leveled off for a short time. The area was just clear enough to house a fire and two tents. While it was close to the road, it was behind dense bush cover and was well hidden from the road. The team decided to camp there for the night. With what little sunlight they had left, Herry gathered firewood and Odie set up a fire while Neil and Katrina worked on the tents. Herrys grandmother sat on a fallen tree log with relative discomfort. A woman of her age wasn't really meant to undergo the physical hardships they had gone through to get up here, but there was nowhere to camp overnight in the ravine below.

By nightfall, they were all gathered together by the fire. The sky was cloudy, hiding away the moon and the stars, leaving the orange flames as the only light source as it illuminated the faces of the team with each flicker. Odie had taken some of the provisions they had found in the gas station. While there was plenty of canned food already, it made sense to take more if they could carry it; which they could. They also had a few things like sausages and fruit. It made sense to use that up first before it went bad. The fresh stuff was probably enough for the five of them for a few days. After that, they would have to rely on the cans, and their surroundings.

Then again, that depended if they would even make it that far. The future was completely unpredictable. Less than 24 hours ago, none of them had any idea that everything they had would be taken from them so swiftly. Life had gone on like it always had, be it a life of fighting gods, or just surviving high school. In one swift swoop, it was all gone. There was no knowing what the future would hold; although the general consensus in the eyes of the team was that it was going to be bleak.

After the meal, the group began talking about what had happened. It started off as a slow conversation, as nobody really wanted to talk about it, but eventually, things slowly took off. It was not a particularly bright conversation. All they concluded was that Cronus was behind the attack, and there were some other things that just didn't fit into the picture at all.

"Wheres our defence?" asked Kat. Sitting close beside Herry on an old wooden log, "The army would have mobilized. When we were leaving, I didn't see a single tank, or soldier, or airplane. Its like the army never existed. Even if they wiped our army out, new Olympia is only a few miles from the U.S. border. Theyhave a huge army! Where are they?"

It was a question, which didn't seem to have an answer. The Canadian and American armies would have mobilized if one of their cities went under a siege like this, yet none of them saw a single soldier. The conversation went stagnant, as nobody had an answer, or even a reply.

Odie had been very quiet this entire time. He just sat, facing the fire. The flames dancing in the reflection of his square glasses. He didn't look up. He knew the others had noticed his absence from the conversation and wanted to know what he was thinking.

"What do you think Odie?" Herry asked gently, scared to disturb the gears grinding away in Odies head.

Odie sighed, figuring he should tell them what was on his mind.

"The Oracle , I went to him the day this all started, asking him about the team. He told me-…. He told me that this was going to happen." He said grimly. A sharp and sullen silence entered the circle. Crickets and buzzing of fireflies was all to be heard.

"I-, I don't understand." Gasped Herry, "Why-, why didn't you tell us? We could have done something."

Odie looked up to the others. He was grimacing, holding in his emotions as much as he could. It was difficult not to let it slip bit.

"He-, told me there was nothing I could do. I went to him because I was worried about the team. What I got out of it was a warning that things were 'set in motion'. He told me to enjoy myself while I still could. I-," he gasped for a breath "I didn't think that this would happen."

"Surely he said something helpful." said Herry.

"Not really. He gave me some kind of riddle, talking about bricks and glue. It didn't make a lot of sense, but he was quite clear that we should "save our energy"." Odie got up from his sitting position, partially to stretch his legs, and partially to get attention, "What I do know, is that we're here. Cronus may have conjured up this "army" of his, but he sure as hell isn't controlling it. This isn't his style. His fight is with us and the gods. He wouldn't bother with mortals, yet these things were shooting us on sight. Those red vehicles that followed us out of town, they were LAV -25s; mostly used by the marines of the United States Navy. That means either that was the US army shooting at us, which I find unlikely, or they were taken from the bases. They must have quickly knocked out our armies and defences before going for the cities. That is why there were no troops. It was because they were already dead."

The word "dead" seemed to bounce off the trees, creating a still and ghostly echo.

"So, its over then, we're not getting a rescue are we?" muttered Katrina.

"No," said Odie, "I don't know what these things are, or what they want, but I don't expect things aren't going to get better."

"Then lets make it better." Said Herry, "Lets get back at these things. Lets fight back."

"I want to fight back as much as you Herry," Odie replied, "but without the team or any backup, four teenagers and a grandmother aren't going to make much of a dent." Fighting back is the least of our worries right now, we need to lay low if we want to survive. This backpack has plenty of food, but we're going to need to outsource sooner or later. The valleys here are pretty remote. We can hunt deer, gather berries, and drink from the rivers, lakes, and streams."

"You mean were going to live like cavemen?" said Neil. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't very happy with the idea of living in a tent for the rest of his life.

"Exactly like cavemen Neil. It will keep us alive."

Herry spoke up, "I think we should find the rest of the team and fight back! These things just destroyed our home. Are you really just going to sit here and let them get away with it?"

Neil intercepted Herry before Odie could say anything, "Were you listening during the last night in the brownstone? There is no team anymore Herry. Whoever isn't dead is probably not going in the mood for working together. Besides, if finding them means putting ourselves in danger, then count me out. We need to look after ourselves." Odies proposition suddenly seemed more appealing when faced with certain death as another option.

Herry gaped in shock, that Neil would even suggest abandoning the team.

"Odie, you can't be on his side about this. Team or not, they are our friends. We can't just abandon them."

Odie sighed, trying to organize the team was not his strongest suit. It was something Jay was better at. He commanded more respect than Odie, and people took him more seriously. I'm all about the sodas. Odie had the final say in the matter here. The two girls decided to sit this one out, letting the more hardened descendants reach a decision. Odie wish they had, he felt like he was being forced to slip into Jays shoes, which were too big and too uncomfortable for his liking.

"I hate to say it, but Neils right. For now, we need to look after who we can, and that's us. We wouldn't even know where to start looking for the rest of the team. We can only hope they made it out alive. We can start looking for them when we're in a more stable position."

Herry huffed, realizing he had been beaten, "Fine, but we can't stay out here forever. How long do you plan on laying low?"

The distant sound of a lone wolfs howl was heard echoing across the valley. Odie felt a sudden chill in his spine. They were all lone wolves now; cut from their pack, wandering the wilderness. Even a wolf sometimes had to leave the pack for the packs well being.

"As long as it takes, we still have a prophecy to fulfill."

And some glue to find…