The Gathering

Chapter Sixteen

Chris POV

Galloping away from everyone else, I knew things would never be the same. There was a man who could control the zombies, and he wasn't on our side. No matter how you looked at it, we were in a bad situation. Not to mention it's only Adrian and I now, and we're out Lindsay, who should've come with us.

But now it's just me and Adrian, going it alone. I knew we had more ground to cover than Vande and everybody else, so I thundered ahead, leading the still unconscious figure of Adrian laying across Phlogios. When darkness finally began to catch up to us, I set camp in the dry countryside, in a cornfield about as wide as the entire city of Connecticut.

Once our two tents were up and Adrian rested comfortably by the now roaring fire, I practiced with an invisible opponent, as none of the trees around were big enough to do any good. Feigning many different moves and fighting methods, I practiced and practiced and practiced. I couldn't shake the feeling that the man who could control the dead was the six fingered man, but I had no way to prove it.

Finally, Adrian began to stir. "Hey Adrian. Just me" I said in warming. That didn't change much. When what I had said finally did register, she got up, eyes wide open now, and sprinted off. I chased her down and tackled her, wrapping my muscular arms around her equally muscular body. She fought furiously, but I had her pinned.

"Stop. Trying. To. Hold. Me. Back" Adrian grunted out, punching me in the gut with each word.

"We have to go on without them. You know we do. I hate it as much as you do, but we have to focus on whats ahead now. We need to be strong for the ones we left behind and the ones that we'll be helping along the way" I said. And i meant it. I didnt plan on taking a liking to these people, but i truly had. They were the first people I think i could actually call friends.

Finally Adrian conceded and layed next to me, just softly crying. "How come we had to wait till now to become friends?" Adrian commented with a wet, half hearted, laugh.

"That is a very good question Adrian. But either way I'm glad you're the sister that got to go" I said truthfully.

Adrian soon fell back asleep, as we both sat and stared at the sky on this brihgt and starry night. With a laugh, I lifted her up off the cold hard ground and carried her back to our camp. Once she was safely in bed and I fed the horses, I too set off to sleep. It was going to be a long jurney for us.

Bright and early, I got back up as i always did. I felt lazy if i slept in too much and I always seemed to get more done in the early hours of the day when no one else was around. I layed out the map on the groudn before meand began to plan where we should go from here. Without Vande realizing, I had gotten the locations of all the camps from one of the hunters when we met up last. It was fine to trust in where it led us, but I wanted to be prepared, and it looked like it paid off. On the map, I marked where I was told the remaining camps were: Hermes was in Dallas, Zeus in the Rockies, Hephaestus was based out in the desert surrounding Area 51, Hypnos was in Seattle, and Hecate was in Oregon.

From where we were in Missouri, I knew Dallas would be the best first camp to visit. Not only was it the most convenient, but we had been allies in the gods war, so they would be more inclined to help us. The toughest sell would be Hephaestus, who we had declared our mortal enemies in the war. Hopefully it goes better than the Poseidon kids. It saddened me that I didnt get to know Danny more, with my head being stuck up my ignorant ass for most of the time while they tried to engage me. I always was too focused on the six fingered man. Once you get into the revenge business, though, its hard to get out. I just hoped I could keep my humanity, through the whole ordeal. I already lost so much to the six fingered man, I couldnt let him take my goodness. 

Suddenly pulled from my deep thoughts by a long groan on Adrians part as she squinted, crouching to exit her tent at seeing the bright sun over the horizon. "Why in gods name do you always get up so early" 

Torn away from my thought, I was a little frazzled, but I managed a "early bird gets the worm" if only to get a laugh out of Adrian. My joke was a success, and got a small chuckle out of her.

"Nerd" she retorted with a grin. "What you got there?" takig notice to my map.

"I may or may not have foudn out the location of the rest of the camps" I said, beaming. Adrian chuckled and patted me on the back.

"Nice going, So who are we getting first?" 

"The Hermes kids in Dallas. But then it looks like we'll have to go to the Hephaestus domain" I said, immediately killing the mood.

"Just like Vande visiting their enemies for their second camp..." Adrian stated, trailing off. 

"Hey come one. We have experience with this, more than Vande did. We'll get through it" I said encouragingly.

"Any bright ideas how?" She asked, anger in her voice. I hadn't seen this turn, I can tell you that much. I never would have thought she wouldve doubted this so much.

"For one, i'm not letting us get ahead of ourselves. That was Vande's problem, he had a way out but he couldnt take it because he couldnt see the malice in others. That's nowhere near the case for me, I always assume the worst of strangers" I half yelled in response.

"Im sorry for getting upset, lets just ride" Adrian said, suddenly shutting herself out. Quickly she swept her hair to the side and stood up to walk over to Phlogios. Large rough hands on his saddle, Adrian stood waiting for me to reach Aithon.

"Don't apologize. Be open with me, after all, all we have is the pair of us" I said, as we both hopped on our horses. Adrian gave a curt nod in acknowledgement, and then clicked her reins, sending Phlogios galloping at a fast pace. I followed soon behind and let Aithon's long strong legs thunder across the countryside.