Chapter 5 – If I Die Young

Death for a demigod was a lot like life.

"They are coming," the woman told Connor.

Katie could see him huddled in a corner of the cage. His curly brown hair was matted with dirt and his shirt was filthy and ripped in places. When he turned to face his captor, she could see how hollow his cheeks were. He hadn't eaten in days at least. The smudges of dirt on his cheeks made him look younger than his sixteen years but a hatred that was older than time glowed in his blue eyes.

"Travis would never betray our father or the other gods, not even for me," he told her.

"You would be surprised at what one will do when motivated by love. By taking the one closest to him, I control him. Even now, he and the girl are on their way to rescue you. If he brings me Hermes' caduceus all three of you can go free. If he doesn't, you can die. It matters not to me. You are just a means to an end, young son of Hermes."

Connor turned away from the woman.

Katie groaned. She had thought that when she died, it wouldn't be so painful. Weren't you supposed to be free from your earthly body, and therefore pain, when you died? Every muscle and bone in her body ached. And where was Charon? Wasn't he supposed to be bringing her to the Underworld by now? She tried to open her eyes and they finally obeyed. She blinked and squinted in the brightness. When she tried to move, her head pounded like there was a jackhammer behind her eyes. The best she could determine she was laying on her back in a field. She tried to remember what happened.

An explosion.

Travis.

Katie sat bolt upright but before she could locate him, she passed out again from the pain the movement had caused her.

When Katie came to again she had no idea how long she had been out. A few minutes, an hour? "Travis?" her voice sounded rough, like she hadn't used it in a long time. She sat up, much slower this time. "Travis?!" she sounded panicked, even to her own ears. She very slowly pushed herself to her feet and immediately fell to her knees when she tried to put her weight on her right foot. She had either sprained or broken something. She started crawling toward where she had seen Travis laying during the second she had been on her feet.

She encountered Travis's backpack, holes burned in it, but otherwise still in decent shape, as she made her way toward him. She dragged it along with her as she crawled toward him. When she reached him, she settled herself next to him. She looked him over, trying to gauge his injuries. He was dirty and had a few more cuts and scrapes but otherwise looked okay. Nothing was sticking out at odd angles. "Travis," she said, touching him gently.

Nothing. She nudged him harder. "Travis!" Still no response. She grabbed his backpack and hauled it next to her, hitting him in the head accidentally. "Sorry! Sorry," she said, but it didn't matter, his eyes remained closed. She couldn't tell if he was breathing. Before she opened his bag, she put her hand on his chest but she still couldn't tell. If he was breathing, it was faint. She leaned over and placed her head on his chest, her ear to his heart.

Closing her eyes she breathed a silent prayer of thanks. His heart was still beating, weak, but there. "C'mon Travis," she whispered. A single tear traced down her cheek and landed on his t-shirt. She sat up and stared at the spot soaking into his shirt for a moment before she started digging in his backpack for nectar and ambrosia.

He was sure he was dead. He was in the most beautiful place, with bright blue skies and emerald green grass. A lake glittered in the distance. He felt a sense of calm like he had never felt before. Perhaps this was Elysium.

"You're not in Elysium, Travis," a voice off to his left said.

Travis whirled to face the woman who had spoken.

"You are not dead because I need you to continue on this quest with my daughter." The way she said it made him wonder if it hadn't been Katie on the quest, she would have let him die. "If Helen is able to acquire what she wants, she will raise him from the underworld. This would be disastrous. The dead need to stay dead or the natural order of things will be severely disrupted." She paused. "More so than it already is, considering what has been happening."

"Lady Demeter," Travis said politely. Yes, even Travis Stoll knows when to show respect. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand."

"You will young hero. I must go. Make your way to Texas, there is someone there who can help you. And Travis, please keep my daughter safe."

Demeter disappeared and Travis felt himself falling.

He could feel something being dripped into his mouth. Reflexively he swallowed, tasting cherry slushee. He peeled his eyes open and found Katie staring down at him. "Hi," he said, rather stupidly. It took him a moment to register his surroundings. "Where are we?"

Katie sat back. Her eyes looked red but it could have been a trick of the late afternoon light. "Not far from the convenience store," she said. "Or what's left of it. The grass hides us pretty well as long as we don't stand up."

He sat up, slowly. His head hurt, though he suspected it would have hurt a lot more if Katie hadn't forced nectar down his throat. "Are you okay?" He noticed the bruises still around her neck from their fight the day before with Cassiopeia had been joined by cuts to her face and arms. Her wrist bore a scar from where she had managed to free it from the wires and save both of them. Her clothes were dirty, torn and burned.

"A little banged up. I think I broke my ankle during the explosion. I ate some ambrosia, but I'm going to need some crutches or something for a day or two. Other than that, I'm good, nothing a little ambrosia can't fix. How do you feel?"

"Like I got ran over by an eighteen wheeler." He looked himself over, taking stock of his injuries. "Looks mostly superficial."

Katie nodded. She nudged his bag toward him. "I fished out the ambrosia and nectar but that's all."

"Where's your bag?" he asked.

Katie shrugged. "I didn't come across it but I haven't been able to really look." What she meant was I haven't even bothered looking because I was afraid you were going to die if I left you for even a second. "Plus, I can't exactly walk. I think we're going to have to set up camp in the woods over there. I can't go anywhere in this condition."

Travis stood up, testing his limbs. They held him. "Alright, I'm going to help you up. You can lean on me. We'll find your bag and find someplace to set up. Hopefully by tomorrow the ambrosia will have healed up your ankle enough so we can move."

Katie allowed him to help her up. His arm slipped easily around her waist and held her upright. She limped along slowly with his help. They found her backpack a few yards in the opposite direction from where she had woken up. It was pretty battered, but it looked like most of what was inside was salvageable.

Slowly they made their way to the trees. "Just let me sit here, you find a clearing," she said.

"No way. If something tries to attack you, you'd never be able to fight it off in your condition. We go in together or we stay right here for the night."

Katie weighed her options. The truth was, even that small of a walk had worn her out and her ankle was killing her. She made a move to try and keep going but she nearly fell over an exposed tree root. Travis's arm around her waist was the only thing that kept her upright.

"Okay we'll stay here." Travis helped her sit down at the base of a tree.

Katie watched him as he went about securing the area as best he could. She could see the smoke still rising from the ruins of the gas station. She leaned her head back against the rough bark of the tree and closed her eyes. "Whoever has Connor knows we're on our way," she said, mostly to fill the void.

"I know."

"She wants you to trade your dad's caduceus for your brother. She said that we would all go free if you brought it. If you didn't, she said we'd all die." She opened her eyes to gauge his reaction.

Travis's mouth tightened but he gave no other outward sign of hearing her. "We won't die," he muttered. "I promised her I'd keep you safe."

"What? Who? What?" Katie was confused.

"Nothing," he replied. "It's going to get cold tonight. I don't think we can risk a fire. Will you be okay while I try to find us some things to keep us warm?"

Katie looked at him skeptically. "You didn't want to leave me here to try and find a less exposed place in the woods, but you'll leave me to go steal some things to keep us warm?"

"Katie," he said, clearly exasperated. "There's no way you could make it into the woods with your ankle. If you tripped you could hurt it more. Besides, I see some houses on the other side of the highway. I'll just go see what I can dig up."

Katie sighed. "Is there any other way? I don't want to steal."

"You won't be stealing. But unless you can magically produce money in that beat up backpack of yours, no, I don't think there is another way."

Katie waved him away and closed her eyes, dismissing him.

Travis sighed and made his way toward the houses. He found one where no one was home. Picking the lock on the back door easily, he crept inside and started rummaging around the kitchen for a junk drawer. He found one, but what he was looking for wasn't present. He snuck through the rest of the house and made his way upstairs. There he found a linen closet, where he found some extra blankets and sheets. He took both before going into a bedroom. The first room belonged to a young girl. Nothing in there would work. He closed the door again and went into the next room. It was her parents' room. In the closet he dug out a couple of sweatshirts from the back, hoping they wouldn't be missed.

Back in the kitchen he raided the fridge and the cupboards for some food supplies. He wrapped everything in the sheets, which he fashioned so he could easily carry his loot. He relocked the door and headed back to Katie.

While Travis was robbing a house, Katie sipped some nectar. She hoped this would speed the healing of her ankle. This was taking an entire day out of their quest, and Olympus only knew how much longer the woman who had Connor was going to wait. She dug in her bag and found another t-shirt that was in a little bit better shape than the one she was currently wearing. She changed and shoved the battered one back into her backpack. It had been her favorite t-shirt until today. Now it was dirty and ripped and had burn marks in the back.

She leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes. She felt the hot sting of tears and she didn't try to wipe them away. What was she doing out here? She was a daughter of Demeter. She wasn't a powerful demigod. All she had was an affinity for plants and flowers. Look what had happened when she had tried to help with the dragon. She'd been knocked out of the game in the first round.

All of her self-doubt was still on her mind when she opened her eyes. She was startled to find Travis staring down at her. He looked uncomfortable and after a moment she realized it must be because the tears were still streaming down her face. She hastily reached up and dashed them away. "What?" she asked in a cool voice.

He tossed a bundle at her. "Got ya a sweatshirt and a blanket. Some food too," he added. He chose for the moment to ignore what he had come upon.

"Thanks," she replied before opening the bundle. The sun was sinking fast and she was starting to get cold. Inside the bundle she found a sweatshirt that was two sizes too big for her and a white flowered comforter. After only a moment's hesitation she put the sweatshirt on and wrapped herself as best she could in the comforter. "We should bring this stuff back to the house before we leave," she said.

Travis had donned a sweatshirt and wrapped himself in a green comforter. "Yeah, yeah."

Katie rolled her eyes. After a moment she sighed. It was going to be a long night. "Travis?"

"Yes, Katie-Rose?"

"I'm sorry I thought you would let me die. You don't have to prove yourself to me. I know you would never do that."

Travis sighed as he leaned back against a tree near hers. "It's not you I have to prove myself to, Katie. But your apology is accepted."

Yep, it was going to be a long night.

Chapter title song credit: – If I Die Young (The Band Perry; The Band Perry album released 2010)