Here's the second chapter.

Thanks for the reviews guys! They mean a lot!

"Underground Escape"

-x-

Since the beginning of the world's end, Percy had been in plenty of bad situations. He'd also had plenty of guns pointed at him.

Usually, he remained composed. More often than not, he could talk his way out of it. Blabbering about nothing to distract the person, or even appealing to their sympathy.

But this Annabeth girl kind of scared him. There didn't seem to be a sympathetic bone in her body.

Percy's heart stopped when she started counting. "Ten..."

"No, no, no! Wait!"

"Nine..."

"Just stop! Let me explain!"

"Eight..."

"Percy..." Grover whimpered.

A smack on the glass pane interrupted Annabeth's count at seven. All three of them looked to the noise to see a dozen infected walking towards the Bank, one already trying to make its way through the glass.

For once, Percy was grateful to the monsters. He genuinely had no idea what he would've done, or come up with in the next seven seconds. He couldn't have disarmed her, or dodged the shot. This woman seemed like the no-nonsense type just from the way she spoke. A very formidable survivor.

The shotgun barrel lowered an inch. Annabeth groaned, "Great. Your little stunt drew the attention of every infected around the block!"

Percy glared at her, lowering his surrendering hands back to his sides. "Our little stunt? That Scavenger made all the noise!"

"And if you hadn't ran out in the middle of the road, they wouldn't have taken the shot." Her silhouette marched over to the glass pane, now being brutally assaulted by the infected. "What were you two even doing out in the open that close to nightfall?"

"We were-"

"Who am I kidding, I don't care." She said, "I'm going to the office and barricading it. You two better be gone by the time I finish."

Percy snorted, "You think that glass will hold? You do know those things get stronger at night, don't you?"

"This is a bank. The glass is reinforced. Even if they somehow break through, I'll still be safe."

"No chance." He motioned to Grover, "Come on, there's got to be a back door or something."

Using the shine of Annabeth's flashlight, Percy and Grover navigated the hallway and found an exit door opposing the entrance. But they quickly found out infected from other directions heard the gunshots. The back exit had no glass pane or windows, but infected were pushing against the door and making noise, loud enough for Percy to make an educated guess on how many were out there.

"Dammit," He cursed, "Entire place is surrounded."

"How many rounds left?" Grover asked, gesturing to Percy's pistol.

Percy knew he had an empty gun. After he used that magazine at the gas station, reloading didn't even cross his mind. He reached for his belt, and only felt a single spare.

"I've got another mag," Percy answered, wincing as he said it, "That won't be enough to take them out. I told you to bring a weapon of your own, man."

Grover shoved him, "Excuse me? Who literally said 'I've got it, G-Man, I'll handle the infected on my own.' Oh yeah, it was you! You insisted on handling it by yourself!"

"Okay, okay, it's my fault. I'm sorry. But what are we gonna do now?"

Grover started to speak, but when no idea came, he slumped. "I have no idea."

Percy wondered for a moment, until his eyes fell back down the hallway, where Annabeth stood. His mouth upturned a little.

"Hey…what was it you were saying about a third person earlier? It would make things easier?"

At first, Grover knit his eyebrows in confusion, but he caught on quickly, and began shaking his head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"She's a stranger!" Grover hissed, "Who by the way, had a gun pointed at our faces a minute ago! Where's this team up idea coming from all of a sudden?"

"I mean, she's annoying," Percy said, "But she's got a shotgun, and I'm guessing some kind of knife or other melee on her. We could use the assistance."

"And what makes you think she'll be willing to help?"

He had a good point. Percy shrugged, "I don't know, let's go find out."

Percy ignored Grover's protests and walked back to the main lobby, finding that the flashlight had been propped on the desk next to the glass pane so it could shine over the room. It must have been an LED, or other fancy device, because Percy couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a flashlight work so well.

He stood and searched the room until he saw Annabeth inside the office, her back turned to him through the half open door. She was trying to find a way to pull the printer from its place so she could barricade herself.

Feeling the pair of eyes watching her, Annabeth postured, and her eyes snapped on Percy. She scowled.

"You're still here?"

Percy could see her clearly now, and…it wasn't quite what he expected. He expected a Clarisse type woman, with big arms, boyish looks and shorter hair. But Annabeth might as well have been the opposite.

Firstly, he noted that she wasn't the worst looking girl he'd seen since the world ended. In fact, he admitted to himself, she was one of the prettiest he'd seen full stop.

She looked like a girl you'd meet on a California beach. Golden skin, tanned perfectly by the sun. Long, blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, with a few loose strands falling beside her face. She wore a burgundy hoodie and blue jeans that hugged her athletic build. She was also tall for a girl. Percy stood six feet himself, and it looked like she was only a couple of inches below him.

Percy realized he hadn't answered her, which caused the angry march he received. She practically pushed him with her presence.

"I asked you a question," She growled, "Are you deaf?"

He couldn't resist. He smirked, "Maybe."

She grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and forced him into the wall. Percy didn't stop smirking, but he did mentally note that she was strong.

"Listen, I don't have time to play games with you idiots. Either you leave, or I kill you. Which is it?"

Grover spoke up before Percy could, nervously peeking his head from the hallway, "We tried to leave, but the back door's blocked off."

Annabeth didn't seem to believe him, so she let go of Percy and backed up, craning her head to see for herself.

She did, and groaned.

"Looks like they've got the whole place surrounded." She glared daggers at Percy, "Thanks a lot."

Percy stopped smirking and held his hands up amicably, "I'll admit that I screwed up, and I'm sorry. But it doesn't have to be a total disaster. If we work together-"

Annabeth snorted, "No way."

"If we work together, we may have a chance. I've got a few rounds in my pistol left, and I'm guessing you're loaded up on slugs, right?"

Annabeth didn't answer, which gave Percy the answer he needed.

"Okay. Now, I'd say there's less at the back than the front, so it'll be our best bet. If we open the door, we can stand side by side and mow them down until we run out of bullets. It should be enough to clear the way. After that-" Percy reached behind him to grip Riptide. "-We cut the ones remaining."

Annabeth's eyes widened a little at the sight of Percy's sword, but she quickly wiped any shock away. "What's in it for me?"

"What do you mean? You get out of this place alive. That should be enough."

"I don't have to leave," She argued, "You on the other hand…you seem to be going somewhere with those gas cans."

"We are."

She crossed her arms, "Right now, your deal sucks. I can just shoot both of you dead, stay here for a while until the infected lose interest, and it won't take anything from my conscience."

Percy tried to gauge if she was serious or not. But Annabeth was a tough one to read. Usually, when people made threats like that, he could tell by their tone if they meant it or not. If it was all bark and no bite.

He couldn't discern her tone, though. It seemed deadly serious, but Percy just had a gut feeling that Annabeth didn't want to kill them, if she could help it.

Grover, all of a sudden, popped out from behind the corner with newfound confidence. "We can uh...take you back to our camp."

Percy shot him a look, and Annabeth's face remained still.

"Your camp? Why would I want to do that? I'm still not hearing a better alternative to killing you and staying here."

"But it's not just any camp," Grover continued, "It's not even a camp at all. We've been staying at the dorm complex of Columbia University. We have warm beds, food, water, electricity...which all sound a lot better than this old Bank."

Annabeth's expression finally changed, showing some interest. "Electricity? How?"

"A while back some of us went on a mission to the power plant. We managed to keep the power on in select places. Including the dorms."

Percy wanted to scream at him. This wasn't going the way he planned. Hell, this entire day wasn't going the way he planned. He expected the gas station run to go without a hitch this time. He expected them to take the cans with ease and return to Olympus, where everyone would clap him on the back and thank him. He expected Rachel to smile at him and give him a hug, just glad that he returned home safe and sound. Most of all, he expected Clarisse to turn red in the face, embarrassed that she ever called him a loser.

It was a nice dream. But dreams don't go the way you plan. Now, he has to incorporate some blonde girl into it all. He hated being this desperate.

Annabeth thought about the proposition, while Grover waited in anticipation. Percy wasn't even surprised that he threw his suspicious act out the window so quickly. Grover's fear of the infected was unparalleled.

"How do I know you're not luring me into some trap? For all I know, you could be cannibals, and this 'camp' could be a slaughterhouse."

Percy spoke up, rolling his eyes, "We're not cannibals. We didn't even plan on running into you."

"There's no real way to prove it," Grover reasoned, "So you'll just have to trust us." He chuckled, pointing to his and Percy's faces, "I mean, come on, do these look like the faces of cannibals?"

"I've been deceived by appearances before."

Percy was getting frustrated, "Just make up your mind!"

A few seconds of silence passed. Then a sigh, then a decision. "Fine...I'll do it."

Grover cheered, "Yay! We don't have to get eaten!"

Annabeth snatched the flashlight and quickly grabbed her shotgun, "But so help me, If I see any sign that you'll turn on me-"

"-You'll kill us." Percy interrupted, "Got it."

She nodded, and motioned for them to go first.

Percy followed Grover to the back exit, where infected still banged on the door, moaning with effort. Annabeth stopped a few feet behind them, standing in the middle of the hallway with her shotgun leveled.

"Open it when you're ready."

Percy pulled out his pistol, reloaded it with the spare magazine, and nodded at Grover. "Ready when you are, bro."

Grover gathered his nerves, "Okay...go!"

He swung the door open and disappeared behind Percy and Annabeth. The infected piled in, cramming the doorway like a bustling mob. Percy could only watch, as he had no time to even put his finger on the trigger. Annabeth was already on the move.

With perfect aim, she shot every monster in the head. The already weak skin and rotting muscles exploded like pumpkins, splattering gore all over the place. On the door, on the walls, the carpet, and even a few droplets on Percy's shirt.

Annabeth pumped the gun once more and dropped the last of them. Percy's eyes fell to the newly formed Jenga pile of bodies, coming all the way up to his knees. He and Grover looked at each other.

Probably a good decision to bring her along.

"You gonna stare at each other or get moving?" She prodded, "Let's go!"

They sprang into action, Percy first, Grover next, then Annabeth. The trio ran into the night, greeted with another cracked, broken street, and lines of infected coming on both sides.

"There's more!" Grover shouted, "God, it's like armies meeting each other!"

The analogy was pretty spot on. The infected, either by coincidence or strategy, decided to form a horizontal line, covering one building to the next, across the entire road.

No alleyways, no fire escapes to climb, and no options but to go back inside the bank. They were trapped.

Percy felt his shoulder brush Annabeth's, causing them to look at each other.

"So uh...got enough slugs to handle those guys?"

Annabeth looked down at the ammo belt wrapped around her waist. Percy counted seven rounds.

"Probably not."

"W-We could take the middle out and run through to the other side," Grover panicked, "O-Or the end of the line, that may be the weakest. Or-"

"-We could go through the sewers." Annabeth was pointing toward the ground. Percy and Grover did a one eighty and noticed a manhole sitting not five feet from them.

Grover's eyes bugged out of his head, "The sewers?! B-B-But-"

"Not a bad idea." Percy admitted, "But don't you think that's...I don't know, gross?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, "Cause I'm a girl, I can't go through the sewers? Is that it?"

"No, no, I'm not implying anything at all. I'm just saying, sewers aren't the nicest places to travel."

"Well, unless you want to go with your friend's plan, it's our only option." She began to explain further, "Think of it as a mini-subway system. The sewers lead to different points of the city, which includes the University."

"Save the lesson!" Grover barked, "Decision, now!"

Percy mulled it over for a moment. Grover's plan was a bigger risk. Even if they made their way through the line of infected, more would follow, and they'd have to run out in the open back to Olympus. Going through the sewer was, while very disgusting, much safer. Hardly any infected would be lurking down there.

"Sewers it is."

Grover cringed, but didn't say anything against it. Percy ran over and flipped the manhole up, "Ladies first. That includes you, Grover."

"Shut up, Percy."

Once they climbed in, Percy shifted himself above the hole, and braced his nostrils.

Then, he followed.

"Okay, I take it back. Maybe we should've went with Grover's plan."

Not even ten steps into the sewer, and Percy already felt like he'd pass out from the stench.

It was horrible. Like walking through a landfill, only ten times worse. It seemed to have all of the world's bad smells mixed together. Rotten milk, old animal carcass, and most of all, human feces. Grover wasn't doing any better than him, gagging and heaving every few seconds, but he had no idea how Annabeth could stand it.

She must've felt him staring. "I've been down here before a couple of times. Safe route to avoid infected...if you're willing to deal with the smell."

"Ah." Was all he said. All he really could say, to avoid getting the nasty air in his mouth.

"If you don't mind me asking," Grover started, "Why are you by yourself?"

"None of your business."

"Okay uh...how old are you?"

"Twenty."

"Nice! Same as Percy and I." Grover smiled, beginning to ramble, "Well, I'm actually twenty-two, I got held back a couple of years. We went to middle school together, high school together, avoided college together, and now...we're in the apocalypse. Pretty natural progression, I'd say."

Annabeth looked at Percy, her nose scrunched.

"He starts babbling when he gets nervous." Percy explained sweetly. "He's an annoying little reject, isn't he?"

"I got held back because of one test! One!"

"Both of you, shut up." Annabeth ordered, "I don't care about your pasts, or your bad grades. We can walk in silence."

Percy stuck his tongue out at Grover, and that's what they did, they walked in silence. Annabeth led the way with her flashlight tucked in the hand holding up the shotgun, pointed ahead at all times in case of infected. Ahead of them sat emptiness. Circular concrete dripping with water, forming a thin, stagnant stream that followed back and forth, right and left. The entire thing was a maze, and a nightmare for claustrophobia. Luckily, Percy wasn't, and despite Grover's seemingly never-ending list of fears, that wasn't one.

Annabeth seemed to be doing fine, too. She kept this steely look on her face. Her eyes...which were gray, now that Percy noticed, had been narrowed the entire time.

He couldn't help but comment on them. He'd never seen such a thing before. "You have...gray eyes."

"I noticed," She said lowly. "Didn't I tell you to be quiet?"

"I think 'shut up' were your exact words. Are they contacts?"

"What?"

"Your eyes. Contacts?"

"Naturally gray." She answered. "Now, if I were you, I'd keep my head forward and look out for infected."

Percy didn't. He found himself staring at the color, entranced by it, like an anomaly. Just who was this girl? Gray eyes, roaming the dangerous city all by herself...

There was more. Percy wasn't sure why he was interested, but it kind of intrigued him.

They came across an intersection of the pipes. Despite being the ones staying at the University, Annabeth gave the directions.

"We'll need to go right if we want to get to the University," She said, "Should be straight ahead from here."

She made the right and kept walking. Percy and Grover followed slowly, their shoes hitting the water and making light noise. The reflex of not making much noise to draw infected was ingrained in their minds.

While they walked, Percy began thinking to himself about what would happen once they got back. He didn't even think of the potential backlash he'd get from bringing home a stranger. They didn't exactly do that. There was the occasional wanderer that came to get away from the infected, but actually bringing someone back that they found on a run? Percy couldn't think of an example.

Clarisse would have something to say. Rachel probably would too. Percy hoped she didn't get jealous.

Ultimately, Mr. Brunner was in charge. He was their leader, so whatever he said went. He was a good man, so Percy didn't doubt that he'd let Annabeth stay the night.

Maybe half a mile after the turn, the three of them heard a noise.

Annabeth stopped in her tracks and held up a fist, military style. Percy and Grover stood still beside her, waiting for the sound to come again. And it did. Movement in the water, like something was being thrown into it. Something big.

Percy and Annabeth locked confused eyes for a moment. They widened when another noise hit their ears. The sound that infected make. Groaning.

Only this one was different. Usually, it sounded like zombies from a movie, or a sick person begging for help. This was a deep, thunderous growl that if any louder, might've shook the entire sewer system. Suddenly, Percy had the strange feeling they were about to become prey to some primal beast walking around the pipes. An ancient monster long buried beneath the city, forgotten.

But Annabeth moved forward, giving him the obligation to do so too. For Grover's sake, of course.

Ten paces, twenty paces, thirty paces...it seemed like it would never end. Like this beast was constantly moving around them, closing them in. Maybe it was behind them right now, ready to sneak up and have their throats.

Percy wouldn't put it past the world they'd lived in for the last few years to create some kind of weird mutation from the infected. What's stopping a monster from becoming an even bigger monster? Nature once had a limit, he thought. Now, he wasn't so sure.

Grover was shivering, his fingernails an inch from his mouth, ready to bite them. "W-Where the hell is it? Is it moving?"

Annabeth flicked her flashlight, causing the white beam to dart upwards. "Just ahead. Look."

Percy saw it and clamped his hand over his mouth to keep himself from throwing up. Before them, sat the ugliest infected he'd ever seen, letting off a stench even worse than the sewer.

It was certainly the biggest. Its entire circumference covered the pipe, in height and width, with rolls and rolls of leathery, fat skin, so much so that its eyes, neck, and feet were invisible, smothered by its own body.

The mouth had been ripped open by ten men, it seemed. The lower jaw was hanging all the way to its chest, rows of yellow teeth on full display. It noticed them staring and moved its flabby arms as if to reach them, but its weight kept it from even budging.

"Yeah, I don't think that guy's moving anywhere, G-Man."

Even Annabeth cringed, "I've never seen anything like it. That thing has to weigh half a ton."

Percy heard what sounded like a bucket of chopped meat being dumped in the water. He turned his head and saw that it was Grover, emptying his guts. Couldn't blame him. Even the strongest stomach would get queasy at this encounter.

Annabeth didn't even bat an eye at Grover's coughs and gags, "It can't move. Look at it."

She was right. Even if it was human, being that big, no strength would be able to counter it. Add that on to a rotting skin and weak insides, there's no telling how long this abomination had been here.

Grover coughed one last time, spitting up the last of what he ate yesterday. "H-How'd it even get down here? It can't fit through the manhole."

"Maybe it turned down here," Percy said, "It's probably been in one spot all this time."

"Either way, it won't be coming at us," Annabeth noted, bobbing her head around to spot an escape, "But we'll need to kill it to get to the University."

"K-Kill it?" Grover choked, "But what if it explodes into disgusting chunks that..." He gagged again, "...smell even worse?"

"Well, it's either that or we backtrack. This thing's covering the entire path."

Percy stepped forward, "It's big, but it's just like any of the other lamebrains. A shot to the head will take it out."

He raised his pistol and fired a clean shot above the monster's right eye, hitting it in the forehead. It recoiled, but didn't die. In fact, it looked at Percy in almost challenging way, producing a higher pitched growl.

"What the..."

He fired again and again, but the monster stayed alive. It didn't move to stop Percy or defend itself, it just took the hits, the bullets going right through the head, leaving behind no blood.

Percy pulled the trigger to silence. It clicked, signaling it empty. The giant infected made a different noise this time, almost roaring.

The sound startled Percy. This was the primal noise he heard earlier, the idea of the predator he had in his head, lurking in the sewers. He felt a powerful force hit his hand and knock his gun away, making it clatter across the concrete.

The monster's fist flew from Percy's hand to his chest, grabbing his entire torso's worth of shirt and yanking him right off the ground, pinning him against the pipe.

Percy couldn't make a noise. The wind had been knocked out of him to the point where he couldn't speak or even breathe. The monster had him suspended off the ground, holding him with the one hand, nearly pushing him through the entire wall of concrete. Percy knew his ribs would be broken within the next ten seconds.

"Do...something!" He croaked.

Annabeth took one big step towards it, placing the shotgun barrel right in front of its face. She wasted no time in pulling the trigger, blasting the head off of the fat body in a fiery flash.

The shot echoed throughout the entire sewer system, sounding more like a dynamite explosion than a slug. The iron grip on Percy's shirt weakened, allowing him to fall free back to his feet.

He hadn't realized how much of his breath he'd lost. In between his gasps, he nodded at Annabeth, "Thanks."

Before she could say anything, the giant monster's belly burst open, two pairs of arms protruding from the gut and grabbing Annabeth by the legs.

The four arms pulled her, knocking her to the ground, right in the sewer water. As she struggled, the two infected bodies emerged from the stomach, ripping through it with their heads like baby chicks coming out of eggs.

If the fat infected was disgusting, this was something completely worse. A word didn't exist to describe it. Percy making that comparison in his head finally made him throw up, like Grover. Thinking about how they looked like baby chicks, their faces covered with bodily fluid, the intestines of the fat infected, and the sewer water practically oozing from their mouths...made for a sickly combination.

Luckily, Percy had only drunk water today, so that's all that came up. It didn't last long.

"Annabeth!" Grover finally came to his senses, dropping his gas can and grabbing onto Annabeth's arm to try and free her from the death grip they had on her.

Percy spat out the last of his vomit, wiped his mouth, and ran over to her defense. He planted the end of his shoe in the side of the smaller monster's head, making it lose its grip.

That was enough for Annabeth to kick the other one in the face, freeing her left leg and allowing her to move again. Grover was wise to let go, because Annabeth's face contorted in fury. She reached behind her ammo belt to rip out a knife from nowhere, one that Percy didn't notice until now. Which was quite odd. It was a large, shiny, noticeable hunting knife.

She held both heads in place and drove the knife through their spinal cords, the source of their puppetry. When she finished, she cut both heads off, and kicked them.

Percy and Grover stood there, watching her breath hard, gripping her knife with white knuckles. They didn't ask her if she was okay, touch her, or do anything. They didn't know her well enough to disrupt the outburst.

Realizing where she was, and who she was with, Annabeth quickly ducked her face and put the knife away. "Let's keep moving."

Percy picked his pistol up and followed her, stepping over the giant corpse carefully.

Grover fell into pace with him, a few feet behind Annabeth. "Can you believe that? I mean...what was that? There were two infected inside that thing!"

Percy kept his eyes forward, "I know...I've never seen an infected that big, let alone infected inside another."

"Do you think it ate them for sustenance?"

"No, Mr. Brunner told me a while back that infected don't eat other infected. The parasites' goal is to host as many bodies as possible. They won't mess with a body that's already hosted. They need fresh meat."

"No, I mean, what if it ate them, and they turned inside of its stomach? It bit them when it ate them, right? If you get bit, you turn."

He had a point. Percy shrugged, "Maybe. But why not just bite them? Why eat them whole? Mr. Brunner never said anything about that."

Grover pursed his lips, "I know Mr. Brunner's smart, but he doesn't know everything. He hasn't seen every single infected, or every single part of the world. None of us have."

"Mr. Brunner is the best of us," Percy insisted, "He's the one that knows the most about this stuff."

"Percy-"

"If humanity has any hope of coming back from this, if we're going to go back to normal..." He lowered his voice, realizing Annabeth could fully hear everything they were saying. "...It's Mr. Brunner. It's him."

Grover didn't respond. He gave Percy a look that he didn't like, and there was a moment between them that he didn't like either. Similar to the moment in the alleyway when he asked him that question.

Why do you do it?

As if he were trying to look into his soul, gauge how much of the iceberg was showing. Percy couldn't speak for someone, but he could speak on his faith in them.

It hurt to keep certain things from Grover. Of course it did. He wasn't the best with words, and he wouldn't even know where to begin in unpacking everything he felt. Sometimes it was best to keep it within.

But how deep was that, exactly?

If he couldn't talk to Rachel, or even Grover, then who? Had the broken world desensitized him too much? It scared him that he couldn't remember what he was like before in that regard.

Three years began to feel like a lifetime.

He wasn't sure why Grover's comment bugged him. If they didn't put their hope in someone, then what would they do? They couldn't just go through this life aimlessly, without hope for change, without hope that things might go back to the way they were. There had to be a leader to follow, a purpose to walk in, a goal to achieve. Without that, people were no better than the monsters they ran from.

Percy put one foot in front of the other, completely zoning out, his peripheral becoming blurry. He stared in Annabeth's direction, without really looking at her. He had been alone on the first day, but after that, he had Grover, and then Brunner, and then a group. A community to contribute to, to fight for, to dedicate his time to.

Where's her time going?

He'd been so lost in thought; he'd forgotten the reason for doing this in the first place. It slipped his mind that they had an end point to reach. Annabeth stopped below a ladder leading to a manhole above them, causing Percy to bump into her.

"Sorry..." He whispered, not looking her in the eye. Annabeth just stared at him indifferently before grabbing onto the ladder with her left hand.

"The University should be close by. Once we get out, it would be smart to deal with any infected using our blades."

"Right." Grover affirmed. "Got it, Percy?"

Grover must've seen Percy's obvious display of disorientation. Both pairs of eyes looked at him, waiting for him to gather himself.

He shook his head and nodded, "Yeah...got it. Let's get home."

-x-