The Wasteland Warriors

Chapter 3 Family

A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Chapter 3 Family

                Shortly after Nico said that, Percy returned with our supplies. I jumped into the last hummer, which was also carrying Delta, Sarah, and Leo. Leo looked like he was about to jump out of the driver’s seat from hyperactivity, so I simply shook my head and turned towards Delta. He was a tall, somewhat husky guy. His skin was darkened slightly, so I assumed he was a Mexican and his hair was medium length. Overall, he looked like the type of guy you’d call to kill a bear.

                 Next, I turned towards Sarah who was in shotgun, and since I was on the left side of the car, I managed to get a good look at her. She had long, black hair, similar to Mother’s when she was younger, and she had bright green eyes as well. She was slim and fit, and her skin was lightly tanned. Obviously enough, she didn’t do much traveling of the Wasteland because most people’s skin was harshly darkened. I didn’t do much traveling myself, so our skin tones matched slightly. I heard a large, crashing sound and I turned to look out the window. Percy was swearing loudly at a broken box of food he had dropped. He started laughing as he began to throw the bags of food into the back of the truck in front of us. In a moments time, he was finished and the trucks peeled off. We continued East, and for the next thirty minutes, we simply talked. Delta, Sarah, and Leo asked me about my past. Where I lived, who I lived with, things like that. I told them everything except for my mother’s real name and the story about Eli, even though they eyed my sword like they knew something.

                   We suddenly stopped, and I realized we were in the lot of a very, very large mansion. I got out and gaped at the towering structure, and then I noticed something next to the porch. It had a red, rounded top and a green base. I walked over to it and asked, “What is this?” Percy laughed at me. “It’s a flower. More specifically, a rose.” I turned towards him. “How’d you get it to grow?” He smiled. “It’s a secret.” He winked and walked inside the house. I quickly smelt the rose then followed, and once inside, I didn’t know where to go. Delta put his hand on my shoulder. “I can give you a quick tour of the house. Fyi, there’s more people here you haven’t met yet. Roughly twenty i’d say.” I blinked at him. He simply laughed and started walking. “It’s an exaggeration. Ok, so, straight up the stairs is the two halls. Each hall has about fifteen rooms and each hall is specific. The left hall houses boys, the right hall houses girls, well, unless Percy says otherwise. Each bedroom has it’s own bathroom as well. But, try not to use too much water. The sea only has so much.” I nodded, even though I was surprised they got their water from the sea. “Now, Percy and Annabeth are the only ones to share a room so far, so if the need arises, just ask. Their fairly nice. Um, near the front door is the kitchen. Breakfast is at seven, lunch is at two, and dinner is at eight. We have a lot of tables, so just find one and sit down. Other than that, your room is next to mine which is down this way.” He waved his hand, and in a moment he was opening the door to my room. “Here we are man. I hope you enjoy your stay at Percy Jackson hotel. Oh, I make myself giggle.” He said chuckling, shutting the door. I shook my head and inspected my room. It was larger than my previous room, and directly in the center against the far wall was a queen sized bed. It looked brand new, but then again, so did everything here. A door leading to the bathroom was on the left side of my bed, and on the right side of my bed was a small table. On the far right wall was a dresser, and on the left was a cabinet closet. I smiled, and then realized I didn’t bring any clothes. I swore and quickly walked to Delta’s room. I knocked three times and once he said enter, I did. “Hey man, I don’t have any clothes.” I said. “Are you sure?” He asked. “Each room is stocked with a week’s worth of pants and shirts.” I swore again for not checking, and as I walked back into my room, I could hear Delta laughing hard at me. I checked and just as he said, there was a week’s worth. I decided now would be a time for me to wind down, so I quickly grabbed a black pair of pants and a shirt and took a five minute shower. I walked out feeling more refreshed than I have been in a while, because they actually had hot showers here. I sat down on my bed and pulled my backpack closer to me. I unzipped it and took out the bible that Mother had given me. When I went to open it, a slip of paper fell out. I opened it and scrawled on the slip was a note from mother.

Dear Jack,

        I hope that you are safe and that you are doing well on your journey. I am writing this with the intent to make sure you stay on your path. To ensure myself that you will have faith in the lord. Look at your surroundings and think about the past. The lord has probably already done things for you in ways you can’t understand. Stay strong Jack, and don’t give up.           -Mother

I stared at the page for a moment until I understood. “Maybe he has,” I whispered. I folded the slip and stuck it back inside the bible, and I began to read. After a few minutes of reading I began to feel strange.

Genesis 3:17:

And unto Adam he said, “Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten off the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat off it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat off it all the days of thy life”

          I stopped momentarily, and then continued.

Genesis 3:18:

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.

          I sat, puzzled by the meaning of this sentence, and then continued.

Genesis 3:19:

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread

Till you return to the ground,

For out of it you were taken;

For dust you are,

And to dust you shall return.”

           I stopped again, this time slapping the book shut. I don’t know why, but I felt disturbed. Something didn’t seem right. An ominous silence filled the air as I breathed deeply. I then noticed that Genesis 3:19 was altered. It wasn’t saying thou, and shalt, and medieval words. “I guess Eli told it wrong,” I said.

            “And god said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.” Delta strolled into my room, and grinned. “I knew it.” I looked at him confused. “Knew what?” I asked in a hostile manner. He smiled. “I knew that you knew Eli. You have his headhunter, and his music player, and his trench coat.”

           “What’s it to you?” I asked. He laughed. “We all knew that you were hiding something, now we know what it is.” I slowly moved my hand over to the handle of my blade. “Why did you guys want to know so badly?” I asked, glaring at him. He noticed my hand, and then he rose his hands up in a surrendering position. “Hey, it’s not like that. I swear. It’s kinda like, well, around here, we don’t keep many secrets. We tell everyone, everything, because we believe everybody deserves to know. We’re a family.” I felt my sudden burst of anger leave, and I released my grip on my handle. “Sorry,” I said sheepishly. “The Wasteland is harsh, I can’t tell everyone I knew Eli.” Delta nodded at this. “Yeah, well he was pretty infamous among some people. We wanted to know because Eli was a symbol to us. A symbol of hope, faith, etcetera. We have idolized him in a way, respected him highly. But, now that that’s over with, I had originally come in here to tell you that dinner is in five minutes. For your information, we have a clock hanging over the doorway, so if you ever need to check time, it’s there.” I nodded. As Delta began to walk away, I called to him. “Delta!” I said. He poked his head back in the doorway. “Yes?” He asked. I grinned. “Thanks for...Well, everything.” He smiled back. “No prob.”

Author’s Note

So far i’m on schedule. I’ll continue posting until tomorrow, and then you’re gonna have to wait until next weekend for more. Thanks for the views everybody!

-N