Champion of Olympus

The Suite Life

I was sitting dazedly when suddenly the truck started to shake to a stop. I jolted in my seat as I rushed to wake up Annabeth.

"Annabeth! The truck's stopped!" I shook her harshly.

Annabeth's eyes snapped open and she jumped to her feet. "Quick, wake the others." she said hurriedly.

I nodded and shook Grover up first and moved to wake up Percy.

"C'mon Percy! Wake up." I shook him as he slowly opened his eyes in grogginess. "The truck stopped and I think they're coming to check on the animals."

"Hide!" Annabeth hissed.

She put on her cap and turned invisible. The rest of us had to dive behind the feed sacks and hope we looked like turnips.

The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.

"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animal's dishes.

"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face.

The lion roared in indignation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.

My hand clenched into a fist. I wanted nothing more than to give this guy what he deserved. Grover was also tense next to me and I know that if it wasn't for Percy next to us, shaking his head at us, we would have ran out there and given those chumps a piece of our minds.

The trucker threw the antelope a squashed looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least, we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

The zebra, wild eyed with fear, looked straight at Percy.

My anger started to bubble out at the injustice. I started to stand up to my feet when there was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.

I froze as the trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"

A voice outside shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"

"What are you banging for?"

Knock, knock, knock.

Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?"

Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot.

A second later, Annabeth appeared next to me. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal."

"No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"

"We've got to free them!" Grover said. Annabeth and Grover looked at me and Percy, waiting for our choices.

Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but I knew they'd be coming inside to torment the animals again any minute.

Percy made his decision and grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the Zebra's cage.

The zebra burst out and bowed to Percy.

Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing.

Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the streets.

Maurice and Eddie made an attempt to chase after the zebra, but I leaped down from the trailer and grabbed the two by the cuff of their shirts. The injustice I viewed in front of me made me lose control.