Author's Note:

Hey Guys,

Thank you so much for reading my story. I know I may not be the best writer—yet— (self confidence yo) but I'm trying. I love to hear your thoughts and advice so please do not be shy!

I am going to camp for two weeks so I am going to try to upload a little more than usual this week, but forgive me if I can't.

Anyway, like I said, reviews reviews reviews please.

Carl's POV

I'm not typically and early riser. The majority of the time I wake up to find everybody else up and ready, but today that was not the case. In fact, not even my father was up. Out of curiosity, I checked Riley's cell, next to mine. Empty. I started to panic. Where was she? Did she leave somehow? Is she hurt?

Then I stopped and thought. Why the hell am I panicking?

I didn't have an answer for myself, so I grabbed my hat and went to look for Riley.

Riley's POV

These people had a freaking library. Or, something like that at least. It was more of a collection of books that they had probably found on runs or that they had kept with them. At that moment I didn't care how these people came across these treasures. That's right. I called them treasures, because that's what books are.

Books. Literature. They're what preserve our generation's thoughts, ideas, customs, and ect. And who wouldn't want to be taken back to the world before... this?

I started scanning the shelves for familiar titles while Chaco sniffed the books on the lower shelves.

"Chaco, I swear to God if you pee on any of these books I'll feed you to the zombies."

My eyes finally found one that I not only recognized, but one that I loved. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. I hadn't seen one of these books in so long.

Carl's POV

I'd walked, jogged, ran, sprinted like a madman around the prison to try to find Riley. I was probably just being paranoid or something like that.

I decided to go outside and grab some water from the big blue barrels, when I saw her. She was sitting with her back to me, on a set of bleachers. Her head was bent, she was looking at something. I walked over to her. When I neared, I finally saw what she was looking at. It was a book. She seemed totally immersed in the book.

I cleared my throat and it obviously startled her a bit.

"Morning." I said as I moved a little closer to her.

She smiled. "Morning." and then looked back to the book.

"Whatcha got there?"

"A book." She said with that obviously voice.

"No shit, sherlock." I said.

She glared at me, I laughed.

"No seriously, what book?"

"Why do you care?" she asked.

"Guarded much?" I replied.

"Actually yes. Very guarded."

"We'll see how long that lasts."

She looked at me with questioning eyes. "Like you aren't guarded yourself."

Truth is, I am very guarded. I hate talking to new people, on the rare occasions that we come across them. But I hadn't been around somebody my age in a while, and it felt... easy.

"Fine," she said. "Its The Lightning Thief."

"Oh." I said and she returned to reading. "What's that?" I asked a few moments later.

She looked at me with shocked eyes. "You know. Percy Jackson & the Olympians." I shook my head no. "You've never read these books?"

"Nope."

"Oh my God, you never had a childhood."

I laughed at the irony of that comment. "You know a lot of people our age haven't."

She closed her eyes when she realized what I meant. "Yeah, I guess a lot of us haven't."

Silence.

"Here," she said as she handed the book to me. "Read it."

"But I don't—"

"Just read it."

Ugh, what have I gotten myself into? I thought.