ch.13 I get a Mustang

We were crossing the Potomac when we spotted the helicopter. It was a sleek, black military model just like the one we'd seen at Westover Hall. And it was coming straight toward us.

"They know the van,"Percy says. "We have to ditch it."

Zoe swerved into the fast lane. The helicopter was gaining.

"Maybe the military will shoot it down," Li-anne says hopefully.

"The military probably thinks it's one of theirs," I say.

"How can the General use mortals, anyway?"Percy asked

"Mercenaries," Zoe says bitterly. "It is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause as long as they are paid."

"But don't these mortals see who they're working for?" Percy asked. "Don't they notice all the monsters around them?"

Zoe shook her head. "I do not know how much they see through the Mist. I doubt it would matter to them if they knew the truth. Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters."

The helicopter kept coming, making a lot better time than we were through D.C. traffic.

Thalia closed her eyes and prayed hard. "Hey, Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?"

I nod and do the same,"Come on dad we could use the furies right now."

Percy looks at me and says,"Is that the best idea Thece?"

I glare at him,"Who's the child of Athena and Hades here?"

He holds up his hands in defeat.

But the sky stayed gray and snowy. No sign of a helpful thunderstorm or a black winged monster.

"There!" Li-Anne says. "That parking lot!"

"We'll be trapped," Zoe says

"Might as well try," Bianca says.

Zoe shot across two lanes of traffic and into a mall parking lot on the south bank of the river. We left the van and followed Li-Anne down some steps.

"Subway entrance," Li-Anne said. "Let's go south. Alexandria."

"Anything," Thalia agreed. We bought tickets and got through the turnstiles, looking behind us for any signs of pursuit. A few minutes later we were safely aboard a southbound train, riding away from D.C.

As our train came above ground, we could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after us.

Thalia let out a sigh. "Nice job, Li-Anne, thinking of the subway."

she says,"I just guessed."

"We need to change trains," I said. "Next station."

Over the next half hour, all we thought about was getting away safely. We changed trains twice. I had no idea where we were going, but after a while we lost the helicopter.

Unfortunately, when we finally got off the train we found ourselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. Lots of snow. It seemed much colder here. I was glad for my new lion's fur coat.

We wandered through the railway yard, thinking there might be another passenger train somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn't moved in years.

A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire. We must've looked pretty pathetic, because he gave us a toothless grin and says, "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!' We huddled around his fire,

Thalia's teeth were chattering. She says, "Well this is g-g-g-great."

"Maybe we should contact camp,"Li-Anne says. "Chiron—"

"No," Zoe says. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves."

I gazed miserably around the rail yard. Somewhere, far to the west, Annabeth was in danger. Artemis was in chains. A doomsday monster was on the loose. And we were stuck on the outskirts of D.C., sharing a homeless persons fire.

"You know," the homeless man says, "you're never completely without friends." His face was grimy and his beard tangled, but his expression seemed kindly. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes, sir," Percy says. "You know of any?"

He pointed one greasy hand.

Suddenly I noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.

"That's… convenient," Thalia says. "Thanks, uh…"

She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trash can in front of us was cold and empty, as if he'd taken the flames with him.

An hour later we were rumbling west. There was no problem about who would drive now, because we all got our own luxury car. Zoe and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Percy was playing race car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. And Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the alt-rock stations from D.C. and I was in a black whole night I was up listing to Linkin park on an mp3 player in the glove box.

The next morning

We'd arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.

Even with my lion-skin coat, I was freezing by the time we got to Main Street, which was about half a mile from the train tracks. As we walked, I told Grover about my conversation with Apollo the night before—how he'd told me to seek out Nereus in San Francisco.

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 says, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" I say

"Yes," Zoe says. "Coffee is good."

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 the coffee shop I order coffee for everyone else and tea for asks,"Why did thee get a cold drink instead of a hot one?"

I say,"Well I can't drink coffee,it makes me lose concentration and I can't use my powers."

This seems like a good place to stop for the chapter.