All's Fair in Love and War
The Lightning Thief: Complete
The Sea of Monsters: Complete
The Titans Curse: Complete
The Battle of the Labyrinth: Complete
The Last Olympian: Complete
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The good news: the left tunnel was straight with no side exits, twists, or turns.
The bad news: it was a dead end.
After sprinting a hundred yards, the group ran into an enormous boulder that completely blocked their path. Warren heard the sounds of dragging footsteps and heavy breathing echoing down the corridor behind them. Something— definitely not human— was on their tail.
"Tyson," Percy said, "can you—"
"Yes!" He slammed his shoulder against the rock so hard the whole tunnel shook. Dust trickled from the stone ceiling.
"Hurry!" Grover said. "Don't bring the roof down, but hurry!"
The boulder finally gave way with a horrible grinding noise. Tyson pushed it into a small room and they dashed through behind it.
"Close the entrance!" Annabeth said.
Warren braced herself against the rock and pushed, Percy and Tyson ran to aid her. Stone ground against stone, and with a final heave the corridor was sealed. Whatever was chasing them wailed in frustration.
"We trapped it," Warren said.
"Or trapped ourselves," Grover said.
She turned. They were in a twenty-foot-square cement room and the opposite wall was covered with metal bars. They'd tunneled straight into a cell.
"What in Hades?" Annabeth tugged on the bars. They didn't budge.
Through the bars they could see rows of cells in a ring around a dark courtyard— at least three stories of metal doors and metal catwalks.
"I always knew I'd end up in prison," Warren joked. "But not so soon."
"Well I say it's time for a jailbreak," Percy said. "Maybe Tyson can—"
"Shh," Grover hushed them. "Listen."
Somewhere up above, deep sobbing echoed through the building. There was another sound, too— a raspy voice muttering something that Warren couldn't make out. The words were strange, like rocks in a tumbler.
"What's that language?" she whispered.
Tyson's eye widened. "Can't be."
"What?" Percy asked.
Tyson grabbed two bars on their cell door and bent them wide enough for even a Cyclops to slip through.
"Wait!" Grover called.
But Tyson wasn't about to wait. They ran after him. The prison was dark, with only a few dim fluorescent lights flickering above.
"I know this place," Annabeth said. "This is Alcatraz."
"You mean that island near San Francisco?" Percy asked.
She nodded. "My school took a field trip here. It's like a museum."
