SERENDIPITY ~ A. Chase

xiii ~ R.E.D. to the Rescue

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chapter thirteen ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
013. R.E.D. to the Rescue

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Cassie was in a bad mood when they found the tow truck. It was at the edge of the stupid trash dump and so old that she wouldn't be surprised if some mortal had just left it there.

Yet the engine still worked and the gas tank was full so they made the best of their luck, if you could even call it luck anymore. Thalia took the wheel and was surprisingly good at driving on actual land.

The daughter of Zeus didn't seem as stunned as the rest of them and could focus on the road.

"The skeletons are still out there," Thalia mentioned. "We need to keep moving."

She took them through the desert with barely any difficulty. Cassie stared up at the clear blue sky, it hurt to look down at the bright sand. The brunette was also keeping her tears at bay.

Zoë was in the front with Thalia while the other three squished in the pickup bed. The weather was nice and cool but no one could enjoy it with the loss of Bianca.

Percy turned the little figurine in his hand, inspecting it. Cassie glanced down noticing the movement and the two thought the same thing... what were they going to tell Nico?

The son of Poseidon didn't want to believe Bianca di Angelo was dead, but deep down he had the feeling she was gone for good.

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

Grover bleated in a panic. "It's bad enough Annabeth is gone, and now Bianca. Do you think I could stand it if..." his voice broke at the thought. "Do you think anybody else would be my best friend?"

"Ah, Grover..."

The satyr ignored him, "And what about Cassie?"

Both boys' gazes fell on the daughter of Ares. She was fiddling with her fingers which held a subtle red glow. Too lost in her own thoughts, the girl didn't seem to hear any of what they said.

"Grover..." Percy tried.

He just wiped beneath his eyes with a scratch piece of cloth that left black marks on his face."'m... I'm okay."

But Percy knew better than that. Grover wasn't okay and he hadn't been since the gust of wild wind in New Mexico. After that the satyr had been more fragile and emotional. The son of Poseidon feared him breaking into tears any time they spoke.

There is one good thing about having a more worrisome friend. Percy was ably to snap out of his depressed mood, he had to keep them going forward like Thalia was.

Speaking of the daughter of Zeus, her and Zoë were having their own conversation up front.

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When the tow truck finally ran out of gas the group was by the edge of a river canyon. The road was a dead-end anyways.

Thalia got out of the car and slammed the door behind her. One of the tires popped because of it. "Great. What now?" she huffed.

"Maybe don't take your anger out on the thing that got us here," Cassie suggested, running a hand over her tired face.

The daughter of Ares stared into the distance and wasn't impressed by what she saw. Desert extended as far as the eye could see other than random clumps of mountains every so often.