daylight - percy jackson¹

008

At the edge of the dump, we found a tow truck so old it might've been thrown away itself. But the engine started, and it had a full tank of gas, so we decided to borrow it.

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

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

She navigated us through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. Zoe sat up front with Thalia. Grover, Percy, and I sat in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow wench. The air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after losing Bianca.

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

"Don't say something like that!" I panicked. 

Grover sniffled. "It's bad enough Annabeth is gone, and now Bianca. Do you think I could stand it if... Do you think anybody else would be my best friend?"

Percy's eyes widened. "Ah, Grover..."

Grover wiped under his eyes with an oily cloth that left his face grimy, like he had on war paint. "I'm... I'm okay."

But he wasn't okay. Ever since the encounter in New Mexico—whatever had happened when that wild wind blew through—he seemed really fragile, even more emotional than usual. Of course, I could sense it, but I got the feeling you didn't need Aphrodite as a mother to realize the state he was in.

I had to set aside thinking about Bianca and keep us going forward, the way Thalia was doing. I had to stay strong for my friends- Thalia, Grover, my siblings, Percy. Gods, Percy. Things had been tense between us two ever since our chat with my mother. I pushed aside my thoughts for now- wondering what Thalia and Zoe were talking about in the front of the truck.

The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well, because the road dead-ended.

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

I scanned the horizon. It wasn't very pretty. 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, but nothing special- green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below us.

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

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

"So?" Grover asked.

"The rest of us aren't goats."

"We can make it," Grover said. "I think."

I thought about that. I didn't favor cliffs but I knew I could handle them if need be. Then I looked over at Thalia and saw how pale she'd gotten. I could feel the fear coming off her. Her problem with heights... she'd never be able to do it.

"No," I said, jumping to her aide. "Let's not."

"I, uh, think we should go farther upstream." Grover said, "But—"

"Come on," I said. "A walk won't hurt any of us."

I glanced at Thalia again. Her eyes said a quick thank you.

We followed the river 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, but we left a stack of golden drachmas- demigod currency- on the counter and a note saying IOU two canoes.