Percy POV

They made me stay in the storage closet. It was only a few hours later. Reyna gave me an extra gun and commanded me to use it if I have to. Then, the Stolls and Reyna left to initiate the plan. A sinking feeling told me that I'd have to use the gun today. I hoped not, though.

I was sitting alone and waiting for the signal.

Basically, Connor Stoll was going to create a diversion by causing an explosion. At the same time, Travis will be at the main tech room at Elysium; he'll be cutting the security footage for as long as he could.

After Travis cuts the cameras, Connor would initiate the diversion. Then, Reyna would cut the power to the secret doors. She was in the main security room of Sector 3.

Much of the plan relied on teamwork, and Reyna had the most dangerous job. She had to quickly and secretly take out the guards in the Sector 3 security room.

However, Reyna was a badass.

I was confident that she had already whooped their butts and was waiting for the signal. The air was tense. I hated waiting here like this.

BOOM.

A loud explosion rocked the entire facility. The ground shook as I leaned against a nearby shelf to steady myself.

Even as I ran out of the closet, I felt the tremors vibrating the ground.

I turned towards the secret doors leading into the pool room of Sector 3. My friends were stuck on the opposite side. The security panel was still active.

What if Reyna couldn't deactivate it?

I ran towards the panel and pressed a few buttons. It was still functioning, so the doors were slammed shut. I couldn't pull them apart. Dam it.

Come on, Reyna. My mind was racing.

Suddenly, the panel's lights died. YES. I immediately set the gun down and started prying the doors open. They were like two-way elevator doors. I didn't have a lot of time, but I was also only one man. Frank would be much better at this.

Regardless, I used all my strength to push the doors apart. The familiar setting of the pool room opened in front of me. It was devoid of people.

In an ideal world, all of my friends would've been in the pool room. However, we were certainly not living in an ideal world.

I grabbed the gun and ran through the pool room. The pool water glistened and reflected the lights from all around. Everything was the same though.

My heart raced as I pounded through the Sector 3 hallway. No one was in the bedroom either. Where the hell was everyone? This was not the time for freaking hide and seek.

It was lunchtime.

I barged into the cafeteria and shouted at them to follow. Their eyes were wide and shocked before they started running. My eyes lingered on Wise Girl for a few seconds before leading everyone back to the pool room.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME TO EXPLAIN. Just follow me," I shouted again.

Jason patted my shoulder as we ran together. My stomach was burning because of my wound, but adrenaline was powering everything right now.

I paused in the room to make sure that there were no guards. Annabeth came beside me and placed her hand on my arm. I looked at her and couldn't help but smile. I was so glad that she was okay and in front of me.

"Percy, how are you alive?" "What the hell is happening?" "Thank gods that you're okay." "I must be dreaming."

A bunch of comments vibrated in my ears, and I couldn't think. I had to get them out of Sector 3 and reunite with Reyna. However, it was so loud, and there was so much happening.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP," Annabeth exclaimed. Her voice boomed through the pool room as they followed me. Everyone silenced.

"Percy, you can explain everything later. Just lead us right now. I believe in you," Annabeth said firmly. Her words emphasized how much she knew me. She could see on my face that I was struggling, and she made me feel better.

"Everyone, just follow me. We're gonna meet a friend, who'll lead us out."

They all nodded and followed behind. We were power-walking because no one wanted to fall into the pool. That would be so bad right now.

"Guys, try and remain quiet," I said.

We walked through the secret doors. Leo paused and stared at the electric panel. He had deactivated it a few days ago with mere scraps. Leo was a superstar.

"Where are the guards?" Hazel whispered.

"You guys heard the explosion. That was a diversion by the NSA. They're helping us escape by distracting the guards."

I led them towards the roundabout. We had planned this route. I had to turn right, then the next left, followed by another right. Reyna would be waiting in a hallway that would lead out of Elysium. Hopefully, Connor and Travis made it out.

It was the next turn that posed trouble: Luke Castellan.

"Luke," Jason spat as he lunged forward. It happened in slow motion. Luke pulled a gun and fired, and he succeeded in hitting his mark.

Jason cursed as he fell on the floor. It wasn't a lethal gunshot, but it had seriously pierced Jason's upper arm. It was a through and through.

Piper rushed forward and helped her boyfriend. Piper kept whispering comforting words as she helped Jason stand up.

I was about to raise the gun at Luke when Annabeth touched my arm. She gently moved it to my hand, and I received the message. The gun fell out of my fingers and into her hand. Jason and Piper were in front of us, so Luke couldn't see our exchange.

"All of you make you're way back to Sector 3 before I blow your heads off," Luke spat. "I knew that this was you're doing Jackson. Ever since you're 'body' disappeared from the morgue."

Everyone looked at me as we stood our ground.

"I said move, you idiots," Luke shouted. If he was here, then we didn't have a lot of time. The guards wouldn't be that far behind. His hand was firmly clasping his gun, and it was aimed at my head directly.

"Guys, let's listen to him," Annabeth ordered.

"No way. I'm not listening to this bastard," Rachel exclaimed. Her eyes were steely as she glared at Luke.

"MOVE," Luke spat.

I stared at Jason's bleeding arm. He was clutching it tightly, and Piper was helping him. He'd be okay, but I didn't want anyone else getting hurt.

"We have to go back," I said firmly. Annabeth nodded silently as her hand shifted behind her back. She was hiding the gun until the right moment.

The others started walking back, but no one was happy about it. I was walking behind Annabeth to allow her time to prepare. She definitely knew how to fight and shoot.

"Yeah, that's right. Go back to your prisons," Luke ordered. He was only about five feet behind us.

Annabeth shifted slightly. She was holding the gun in her dominant hand, and it was aimed right at me. Her other hand motioned for me to move. She was counting down with her fingers.

3... 2... 1...

I lunged to the side as the gunshot fired. Another slow-motion moment. It was an inch away from my waist. It ripped my shirt, but it didn't hit me.

However, the shot forced Luke back. It hit him in eh abdomen and pushed him to the floor. Annabeth raced forward and kicked the gun out of his hand. She aimed her gun at Luke's head as she stood over him.

Frank helped me off the ground as we surrounded Luke. He didn't show fear, but he was bleeding fast.

"Just do it," Luke spat. "I don't need your mercy."

He glared at Annabeth, whose grip tightened on the gun. She seemed ready to fire, but I wasn't. I reached forward and placed my hand over her wrist. Annabeth's eyes softened as she lowered her weapon.

"You deserve more than death. You deserve to rot in jail," Annabeth said firmly.

"Guys, we gotta go. NOW," I exclaimed.

"Jason, are you okay?" Thalia asked. Of course, she was concerned for her brother. I was concerned for my friend as well.

"I'm all right, guys. It's not that bad."

I led everyone away from Luke. Nico grabbed his gun off the ground as we walked towards Reyna. We could hear footsteps and shouts nearby. The guards were getting closer, so we moved faster. After turning another right, my eyes locked onto Reyna.

Her gun was raised as she waited. Four guards were unconscious or dead near her. She smiled once she saw us.

"Thank goodness. Annabeth, it's so good to see you again," Reyna expressed. They hugged briefly much to everyone else's surprise.

"It's a long story, guys," I said firmly.

"All right, we're gonna get out of here," Reyna explained. "However, Elysium locked all the exterior doors, and Travis couldn't hack those. The Stolls made it out, but we're still locked in."

"Shit, what the hell are we gonna do?" I asked. We were riding on the fact that the doors would still be open.

Reyna filed us into a room in the same hallway. It was a white room filled with blue chairs facing in one direction. It resembled a modern classroom.

"Guys," Frank shouted as he slammed the door shut and locked it. Pounding erupted through the other side.

"The cameras are still out. We are on the wooded side of Elysium. We can crawl through this vent here and make it outside."

Leo immediately crawled into the open vent. The others slowly followed. My gaze stayed trained on the door that was getting weaker. We didn't have that much more time.

"Percy, we'll get out. Come on," Annabeth urged. She grabbed my hand and led me towards the vent. Annabeth went before me, and Reyna was last. She fixed the vent screen behind her.

"Reyna, fix the vent door behind you," Annabeth shouted.

Her voice echoed through the heating bent. Gods, she was so smart. Reyna and Annabeth both were. The crawl was very hot and bothersome. My stomach burned, but I kept pushing forward.

Leo pounded the vent open in front of us. The noise rang in our ears, and Will ordered us to cover our ears. Nico told Leo to move aside before he fired his pistol. The vent door flew open, and everyone rushed out.

It opened into a grassy field. I simply laid on the ground to catch my breath. A dense forest stood about 50 yards ahead of us.

"Percy, you can't slow down now," Reyna pushed forward.

At first, the others turned to me rather than following Reyna, but I told them all to go. I was right behind them; I just needed some time.

Annabeth helped me to my feet. My hand wrapped around her back and I used her for support. Jason walked beside me with his hand on my back. He seemed to be holding on fine despite his injury. Piper and Thalia were flanking us.

After a small hike through the woods, we walked into a clearing.

The Stolls were waiting with a black van. It had a slidable door on one side. Travis immediately commanded people to file into the jeep, and we ran out of space very quickly.

About half of us were still standing outside: Reyna, Annabeth, Piper, Thalia, Jason, and me.

Connor climbed into the driver's seat, and a woman (who I assumed was Katie Gardner) was in the passenger's seat.

However, there was one obvious problem.

"WAIT, THERE's ONLY ONE JEEP," Reyna roared in anger. Damn it, after all that, we're screwed. At least, some of us were.

...