PLEASE READ THE REWRITE INSTEAD OF THIS. THIS IS ONLY UP UNTIL THE REWRITE IS COMPLETED. PLEASE READ THE REWRITE TO PREVENT LOSING THE BOOK BEFORE YOU'RE DONE.
Veronica Westcourt didn't like Camp Half-Blood. She didn't like the fact that she hadn't...
They only rode the boar until sunset, which Veronica had no complaints about. Can you imagine riding a giant steel brush over a bed of gravel all day? That's about how comfortable boar-riding was.
At some point, the mountains faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry land. The grass and scrub brush got sparser until they were galloping (or whatever it is that boars do) across the desert.
As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.
"This is as far as he'll go," Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating."
Everyone loved the sound of that. They slipped off the boar's back while he was busy ripping up cacti. Then they all (except for Veronica, strangely) waddled away as best they could with our saddle sores.
After its third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back toward the east.
"It likes the mountains better," Percy guessed.
"I would, too," Veronica said. "Look."
Ahead of the group was a two-lane road half covered with sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn't been open since before Zoë Nightshade was born (what? she was definitely older than she looked), and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door.
Beyond that was a range of hills... but the countryside was way too flat for normal hills. These hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.
"Whoa," Percy said.
"Something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here," Thalia said. She looked at Graver. "I don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"
Grover was sniffing the wind, looking around nervously. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. They rearranged themselves in a pattern that made Grover all concerned.
"That's us," he said. "Those six nuts right there."
"Which one is me?" Percy asked.
"The little deformed one," Zoë suggested.
Veronica giggled and Percy glared at the two. "Oh, shut up," he told Zoë.
"That cluster right there," Grover said, pointing to the left, "that's trouble."
