Driving away from Poseidon's condo, I can't decide which surprises me more: that I left Percy behind or that I kissed him.

That could make things awkward—if he survives.

I hope he survives.

On the drive back to the dock, Tyson huddles in the passenger seat and cries his brother's name. I reach my hand over and touch his knee, that's supposed to be comforting right?

"Don't worry, Tyson," I say. "Percy will be fine."

Tyson looks at me and blinks.

"But you're crying too."

The moment he says it I feel a warm drop of something slide down my cheek. The temptation to pull the car over and hunch sobbing over the steering wheel is almost blinding. But I don't. Because of Tyson. Just like I didn't stay with Percy.

The zombies thin out as we get further from the action at the condo. It's like they have some sixth sense that draws them to other frenzied zombies. I don't need to be speeding through Miami at sixty miles per hour.

But I don't let up on the gas pedal.

Not until we get to the dock and it's either stop the car or drive into the ocean.

Tyson has cried himself to sleep by then. He looks tired. He probably stayed awake in that dark cupboard, only sleeping when the need for rest overcame the terror.

I open the passenger side door and pull him out. He's a big kid for seven, so he's hard to balance on my hip with everything else, but I manage to get him and all our stuff to the motor boat without capsizing.

And then it's back to the Trident to face the music.

Gods, how am I going to tell his cousins that I left him behind? It's not like I can wax poetic about how he was the bravest friend I've ever...But I won't think like that. I refuse to believe he's dead.

He's Percy. He's a seaweed brain sometimes, but he's far from dumb

If he can get away he'll make it. I know he will.

The first face I see is Thalia's.

She reaches out for Tyson, holding him effortlessly, like she's done it a thousand times.

"Where's Percy?" she asks as the rest of the gang starts to file down to us. Luke's beside me, securing the boat. I'm not sure when he started doing that.

"We got separated," I say.

Tyson stirs.

"Thalia?" he whispers.

"Hey, big guy," she says.

She walks off with him, leaving me to explain things to Bianca, Jason, Nico and the others. Still holding Tyson's Optimus Prime backpack, I tell them everything that happened. There are a couple of shudders when I mention Tyson being trapped in the pantry.

"Di immortales, Annabeth," Grover says. "If you and Percy hadn't come for him, who knows what would have happened."

I do know.

"So...what now?" Bianca asks.

"We wait till dawn," I say.

"And then?" This time it's Calypso.

I so do not want to deal with her right now. There's more venom in my reply than I've allowed around her. "Then I'm going back in and I'm going to find him," I say.

"And I'm going with you." Thalia is back. She looks at Jason and Bianca and Nico. "Am I right?" They nod.

"We'll all go," Grover says.

I shake my head.

"We can't take all the fighters from the ship. We keep it small," I say.

"Wasn't that the plan last time?" Clarisse sneers.

"And if there had been more of us, more of us would have died. Tyson and I barely got out."

"She's right," Jason says. "We're Percy's family. We should be the ones to risk our necks for him."

There's a nod of assent from several others in the group. Mostly Clarisse's people. She shoots a look at the Stoll boys.

"No child of Mars Ultor ever backed down from a fight," she says. "I'm coming to."

I'm too tired to argue. It's her life, if she wants to risk it, that's her business. At least that'd be one less thing I'd have to worry about. I give a noncommittal shrug and then head for my room.

If I get technical, the bed is not really mine, I volunteered for the floor. But there's something about curling up in the middle of a queen-sized bed that just seems right in this situation. And that's when I finally can't help it. I sob as hard as Tyson did in the car. Because I'm pretty sure I know what this ripping feeling inside of me is called.

And, gods, it's crazy that it would be Percy Jackson. So completely insane and crazy and there's no rhyme or reason to it. Except that we're not our parents. He's Percy. And I'm...I'm me.

I don't want to admit it. Because if I don't admit it, it doesn't have any power over me, does it?

Except that I know I'd gladly spend the rest of my life feeling this awful if it meant that Percy is okay.

There's a knock on my door.

"Annabeth?"

Thalia.

I've cried myself into some sort of stupor, so I don't answer. Because if I let someone else in, I have to be strong and I don't feel like being strong just now. I reach out and pull my Yankees cap off of the dresser and then I curl around it and I sleep.

# # #

Dawn comes and there's no sign of Percy.

It was tempting to wait on the deck watching for him. But I'm glad I didn't. Now I'm rested for the trip into Miami.

Tyson doesn't want to let his cousins go. He holds onto Thalia and sobs.

"No, you can't go. If you go, you won't come back."

"Of course I'm coming back," she says. She gives his hair a good tousle. His hair is very tousle-able. This doesn't help, he only cries harder. That's when Calypso gets involved.

"But if Thalia doesn't go, she can't bring Percy back. You want that, don't you?"

Tyson stares up at her and nods. It probably helps that she looks a little like his mom. For the first time, I'm glad Calypso came. I kneel in front of Tyson.

"We're gonna go rescue your seaweed-brained brother and bring him back."

"Promise," he asks.

I swallow. That's a big promise to make to a kid. If we can't find Percy, he's going to hate me forever. But better me than anyone else in his family.

"Promise."

"Come on," Calypso says. "I heard Jason say that he brought all of the ice cream from your dad's cabin in New York." She takes his hand and pulls him towards the galley.

I look at Thalia. She shrugs.

"I guess we better all come back," she says.

"No," Jason says. "We better bring Percy back." For once, I agree with Jason.

The zombies are in a fine frenzy this morning. I guess their more active in morning before the afternoon heat makes them sluggish. Even in November, Miami can climb up to the 80s apparently. Sometimes, you really have to wonder if Florida ever wants to participate in the weather the rest of the States experience.

We don't run into any herds, but there are more large clusters than there were yesterday.

"Was it this bad yesterday?" Luke asks.

"No."

"Looks like the odds are in Percy's favor, then," Thalia says.

I finish beheading a zombie and turn to look at her.

"How does this increase Percy's odds?"

"Do you know anyone else who'd be able to piss off a city of the undead."

"Nico could," Bianca mutters. Her brother is too far to hear her.

I try not to grin. By the time we're done, I'm pretty sure the entire condominium is zombie free. But there's still no sign of Percy's. So he didn't hang around Conch Properties.

I look out at the street, thankful that we're in Miami Beach. Miami would have us dealing with roughly four and a half times the number of undead.

"Which way would he have gone?"

Jason shrugs.

"Follow the zombies maybe?" Nico asks.

It's as good a plan as any.

Nobody bothers to suggest splitting up. According to Grover, that's the best way to get members of your group killed. Which, I mean, makes sense. It's always the first guy to break off from the others that ends up a meal for the alien/werewolf/vampire/zombie/etc.

The streets remind me of pictures of the trenches that Mr. Brunner showed us during our week on WWI. Except that some of the dead are moving. And we have better fashion sense nowadays...sometimes. Some buildings are boarded up. We stay away from those. If someone took the time to make their building secure and they've remained successful I don't want to a. endanger them or b. piss them off.

"Do you think he could be holed up in one of those?" Jason asks.

"Maybe, but it's like, eight a.m. Jason. He's probably up and about."

Jason gives me a look.

"I have never seen Percy willingly get up before nine o'clock on a morning that didn't involve a swim practice."

"Guys," Luke says. "Company."

A crowd shuffles a hundred yards down the street. Right now, they're focused on scavenging from the bodies strewn across the street. Apparently, while zombies aren't attracted to moving undead, they still consider dead undead to be edible.

"We've gotta get off the street," Thalia whispers.

"Will that do?" Biance asks, pointing to an apartment building with a broken window and its door swinging open.

"Go," I say.

We rush in, resisting the urge to slam the door behind us. The last thing we need is a noise to attract the zombies. Jason and Luke pull an antique dresser from beside the door and shove it up against the door. The door to the apartment with the broken window is swinging open. I pull it closed too; making sure the door is locked. Hopefully that'll help keep them from catching our scent.

Thalia and Nico head to check the back door. And then we huddle on the stairs to the second floor, waiting and waiting and waiting to hear the sound of the undead trying to get to us.

There's a creak. But it's not the door, it comes from above us.

Luke lets out a curse.

"Shh," I say. I give Bianca the universal signal for 'stay here' and then we creep up the stairs. Whoever is up there has to know we're coming, because the stairs are made of the same old wood that just gave him away. We leave Jason and Nico guarding the landing as Thalia, Luke and I search the second floor. Every door but the one at the end is open. We flank it.

Thalia mouths a countdown.

Three.

Two.

One.

Luke twists the handle and burst into the room. Somebody grabs him before Thalia and I can enter the room. He goes to the floor, wrestling with his attacker.

Luke lets out a strangled noise.

Thalia's on top of the attacker, trying to pull him away from Luke.

I know it's a him because I recognize him.

It's Percy. I can't tell you how I know, maybe it's the set of his shoulders, maybe the messy way his hair catches the dim light coming through the lace curtains. But it's Percy. And he's not letting Luke go.

"Get off my boyfriend," Thalia grunts.

"Thalia get away from them," I say at the same time as another voice says, "Luke?"

Thalia pulls him away from Luke taking them crashing to the floor. Thalia scrambles away from Percy, her crossbow held in front of her. Percy holds his hands up.

"Whoa, whoa, it's me," he says.

"Why did you attack Luke," Thalia demands.

"Um, he burst through the door. I was defending myself."

The silence is so tense, it's like an external pressure keeping my lungs from expanding. Then Luke gets up, brushes himself off, and offers Percy his hand. Percy takes it and they do the whole, manly back thumping thing. Thalia cries a little as she hugs him. And then he looks at me.

The tension snaps. As the air rushes into my lungs at the same time as blood rushes to me head, pounding in my ears.

"Where have you been?" I demand. I'm in his face. My breaths refuse to stay even.

"Um." Percy takes a step back. "I was sleeping."

"Sleeping?"

We were out on the streets, searching for him and he was sleeping?

He was okay the entire night.

Percy flinches as I through my arms around him, squeezing as tight as I can. He returns my hug.

"Ease up there, Wise Girl," he says. "You're gonna break a rib."

And then my blood is pounding for an entirely different reason. I let him go and take a step back. I turn to find Jason and Nico watching from the doorway, their mouths slightly open.

"We should get back downstairs. Bianca's probably wondering what's going on," I say. And then I brush past the boys at the door and head back outside. Behind me, I can hear more manly backslapping hugs.

I go downstairs and collapse on the bottom step.

"You'll never guess who we found hiding upstairs," I say to Bianca.

"Percy?"

I nod. She squeals a little, immediately looks guilty and then races up the stairs, leaving me alone as I try to sort my thoughts back under control. They tromp quietly down the stairs a few minutes later.

"Hey," Percy says, sitting down next to me. He looks like he wants to talk. And I bet I know what it's about. I fidget with the hem of my t-shirt. Well, Bianca's t-shirt.

"Hey."

"Thank you, Annabeth. For taking care of my brother," he says. He reaches out and squeezes my hand in his.

I pull away.

"You're welcome," I say.

He looks a little hurt, but all I can think about is how he called me Wise Girl. And how badly, I wanted it to be more than just a childhood nickname. And isn't that what happened with my mom? She fell for a sweet, funny, really smart guy. Well, maybe the really doesn't quite apply to Percy. But that's what happened. And then he left her.

We sit huddled for hours. Finally, Thalia presses her ear to the door.

"I don't hear anything."

Luke and Jason take that as their cue to pull the dresser away from the door and peak outside.

"Looks clear," Luke announces.

And then they all look at me.

"Well, if it looks clear, let's go," I say. I stand, raising my crossbow and am the first one out the door.

We think about stealing a car for the ride back, but we're more able to use the smaller streets on foot. So that's how we go. We move as quickly as we can. It's well past noon and we're all sweating and gross by the time I can see the boats between buildings break out onto into the open.

We're surrounded.

The zombies see us or smell us before we have time to react. They converge. Pressing towards us, bloody limbs reaching, teeth gnashing. Bianca and I use out crossbows to take down as many as we can. The boys have their sword out, hacking off limbs and chopping off heads. Thalia is deadly with her spear. None of the zombies can even get close to her. In and out it goes, sending brains flying everywhere.

One of the zombies lunges for Percy. He's grappling with another corpse that doesn't seem to mind holding onto the sharp edges of his sword. He manages to rip his sword (and several fingers) from the corpse. But he's never going to notice the other zombie.

I drop my crossbow. Pulling out my knife, I rush the zombie.

I miss.

My knife buries itself deep in the zombie's neck, wedging in the collarbone. It's grimy, grasping fingers dig into my shoulder. With a vicious yank I free the knife. And then his teeth bury themselves in my shoulder.

Screaming, I drive my knife into the zombies skull.

"Annabeth!"

I hear it as the zombie's weight falls on me and we crash to the pavement. My head hits the ground and then I'm in darkness.