It took my eyes a minute to adjust to the intensity of the Arizona sun. The air around us was dry and scorching, like the inside of an oven. The area around us was full of more storage buildings with a central parking lot that narrowed into a two lane road leading towards the central part of Phoenix.
"Guess we'd better start walking..." sighed Ellie. She took a gulp from her water bottle and stuck it back in her pack.
We were halfway across the parking lot when someone behind us shouted "You kids aren't supposed to be here!" I turned around to see a security guard driving towards us in a white golf cart.
For a moment I thought about running but we wouldn't have made it out of the parking lot before he caught up to us. "You kids are coming with me!" He ordered as he stopped next to us.
He ziptied each of our hands and stuffed us in the backseat of the cart. "How did you three even get here?" He asked. None of us answered. "Guess it doesn't matter. You three are going to the security office so I can call your parents."
"Crap..." I heard Lexie mumble under her breath.
The guard brought us inside a small building in the middle of the parking lot. "Go sit over there, while I call my superior." He ordered pointing to three chairs along the wooden paneled walls.
Before he reached the phone a voice came over the speakers. "Guardsman Taylor, report to warehouse thirteen."
"Damn it!" Said the security guard. "Don't you three move!" He grabbed his keys and left the building grumbling about not being paid well enough.
I looked over at my sister who held her dagger between her hands and was cutting off her bindings.
"What are you doing!" I said louder than I expected.
"Getting us out of here." She answered. She walked over to me and cut my hands free, then Ellie's. "Or do you want to explain why we were in that warehouse?"
"Point taken."
She walked over to Guardsman Taylor's desk and grabbed our backpacks. "Hey Sean, can you drive?"
"I have a learners permit, why?"
"You're diving us out of here." She threw me my backpack and a set of keys.
"I call shotgun!" Called Ellie as we approached the car. It was a solid white Ford with black, leather interior. I looked around checking for people that might be watching. After we climbed into the car, I started the engine.
I looked over at my girlfriend and put the car into gear. She rested her soft hand over mine on the shifter. "Try not to get us killed." Interrupted my sister behind us.
"Thanks for the support Lex." I answered. "Just hope we don't get pulled over." I pulled the car forward and out of the parking lot.
The streets of Phoenix were a winding maze of street lights and alleys. Even in the bright, daylight. It took us about an hour - and many near car crashes - before we found the California-bound on ramp.
"Grateful you brought me along yet?" I asked Lexie as I looked in the rear view mirror.
"Not at all." She grinned as we crossed the border into California. "I'd be in San Francisco by now if it weren't for you two." Her tone told me truly believed the opposite. "But you're starting to make it up to me."
"Well that's good, I thought we were slowing you down." Commented Ellie as she turned on the radio and searched for a station. She settled on Californication,by Red Hot Chilly Peppers. One of my favorite songs.
"Still ready to ditch us?" I asked as I changed lanes to pass a semi-truck.
"I probably can't now." She grinned and rested her legs on the center console. "Considering how far we are from camp, I might as well stick around."
I eyed the gas gauge, quarter a tank, enough to get us to at least the next town. "So... who's hungry?"
"Cheeseburgers, definitely cheeseburgers." Ellie answered as she began humming along to the song.
We drove on for the next hour talking about whatever popped into our minds. The dry desert terrain around us sped by in a blur as we sped down the highway and out of Death Valley - very comforting name, don't you agree?
We stopped for food and to get me a pair of shoes, since the Phoenix melted my old ones at a town on the outskirts of the desert. The town wasn't very large, but it was full of tourist traps, not that any would ever visit.
The three of us sat at a park table eating cheeseburgers and discussing what we should do next. The weather was dry and hot but the tree we were under protected us from most of the sun's rays.
"We should leave the car here, catch the next bus north." I proposed as I wrapped my arm around Ellie's waist, gods it was awesome to feel like a normal kid for a bit. "It's only a matter of time before we're pulled over and they find out we stole it." I finished as I fished the keys out of my pocket and placed them on the table.
"Who are you and what have you done with Sean" Commented Lexie sarcastically. "You actually had a good idea! The world must be ending."
I rolled my eyes. "No, I get good ideas, you just don't listen." I responded as I kicked her under the table. She grinned and we ate the rest of the meal in silence.
"I'm gonna go check the bus schedule." Announced Lexie, while me and Ellie relaxed against the shade tree.
"Don't take too long." I answered as she walked away. "So..." I said turning back to Ellie, who was leaning against the tree comfortably next to me.. "What you want to do?"
"Teach you to use a sword properly." She answered as she stood up and reached down to pull me up. "We don't know what to expect, you might has well be useful." Ellie unsheathed her sword.
Only now could I see how elegant her sword truly was. The blade was one sided and wider at the top and bottom, skinny in the center. The hilt of the sword was gold and black that twisted towards the bottom with a rounded silver ball at the base. She wielded it with grace and experience as she started showing me a few different ways of attacking.
She made sure to point out that my sword was a lot different than her's and might have different advantages and disadvantages, but what she was teaching me might still come in handy.
"Now, show me what you've got." She ordered as she began coaxing me into drawing my weapon. "Come on, I won't hurt you." Her tone grew more arrogant by the second.
"Fine, you win." I unsheathed my new saber from its scabbard.
"I always win Sean." She bragged. "Always." She held her blade at an angle with both hands. I began to mimic her stance but she shook her head. "That saber's meant to be used with a single hand. It's meant to be used for quick slashes and parrying lighter blades."
I removed my left hand from the hilt and relaxed into a better balanced stance. "Better?"
She nodded. "Okay, now get ready to parry my attacks."
She swung her blade towards me. I attempted to block the assult with my saber but she was too strong. Instead of stopping the attack, I ended up with my sword on the ground and her blade at my neck.
"Don't block attacks, move them. Use my momentum to throw me off balance." She instructed. "Swing your sword at me, I'll show you."
I asked if she was sure and she nodded. I picked my sword up off the ground and got back into my stance. I swung the saber at a high angle. In a split second she not only blocked my sword's attack, but she used my swords momentum to launch it away from her and into the ground. Somewhere during her counter attack, I lost balance and fell forward on top of her.
"Well this is awkward." I announced after a few seconds of being on top of Ellie. I rolled to her side and laid on my back.
"You are so clumsy." Ellie said laughingly as she brushed the dirt off her tan shorts and torn Camp Half-blood shirt. I blushed. She twisted herself so she was laying on top of my chest.
"Is there a second place trophy?" I joked.
"Not that I can remember." She answered.
Lexie interrupted us. "Come on, lets go!" Ordered my younger sibling. "The bus is leaving in ten minutes for Sacramento!"
Ellie and I pulled ourselves to our feet, sheathed our discarded weapons and followed Lexie toward the bus station.