VIDEO GAMES! (p. jackson) (#1)

- nine

act i, chapter viii
december 19, 2018
gila claw, arizona—hoover dam, nevada

AT THE EDGE OF THE DUMP, they found an old truck that looked like it hadn't been touched since Kennedy was president. But the engine started, and it had a full tank, so they decided to borrow it.

Thalia drove. She didn't seem as stunned as the rest of them.

"The skeletons are still out there," she reminded them. "We need to keep moving."

She navigated them through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. Zoë sat up front with Thalia. Grover, Percy, and Rose sat in the pickup bed. The air was cool and dry, but the nice weather felt like an insult after losing Bianca.

Grover had fallen asleep. Percy was still clutching the figurine Bianca had given him.

"It should've been me. I should've gone into the giant."

"Don't say that," Rose said. "It's bad enough Annabeth is gone. We're not losing you too."

Percy fiddled with the statue.

They continued sitting in silence, neither of them in the mood to talk. Rose tried to set aside thinking about Bianca to keep moving forward like Thalia was doing. She wondered what she and Zoë were talking about in the front of the truck.

The truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well, because the road had come to a dead end.

Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. "Great. What now?"

Rose scanned the horizon as Zoë helped her out of the bed. There wasn't much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below them.

"There's a path," Grover said. "We could get to the river."

Rose tried to see what he was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face.

"That's a goat path," she said.

"So?"

"The rest of us aren't goats."

"We can make it," Grover said. "Probably."

Rose looked over at Thalia, who had gone pale. Her problem with heights... she'd never be able to do it.

"No," Rose said. "I think we should go farther upstream."

"But—"

"Come on. A little walking won't hurt us, especially after being cramped up in that truck for so long."

Rose glanced at Thalia. Her eyes said a quick thank you.

They followed the river for about half a mile before coming to an easier slope that led down to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season. On the counter, Percy left a stack of drachmas and a note that said IOU two canoes.

"We need to go upstream," Zoë said. "The rapids are too swift."

"Leave that to me," Percy said. They put the canoes in the water.

Zoë and Percy rode in one canoe, with Grover, Thalia, and Rose in the other.

As it turned out, Percy didn't need to control the currents. As soon as they got in the river, Rose looked over the edge of the boat and found a couple of naiads staring back.