The Fourth Chance (book 1)

Chapter V

        We tried everything we could think of to wake Eli, such as kicking him in the shins and groin, slapping and punching him, and more, but nothing worked. We began losing home, and, when we ran out of ideas, I knew we had to leave.
        I kissed his cheek lightly, as if to apologize for not having been able to help him. His right eye twitched and realization dawned on me. Before I could stop myself, I kissed him, full on the lips. He blinked in confusion a couple of times then leaned down and kisses me back gently.
        At just that moment, Jimmy and Shayne happened to walk in and they just stood there and stared at us awkwardly. When we finally broke apart, Jimmy clapped Eli on the back and said, "Wow, Eli! I didn't know you had it in you."
        Eli looked at him as though he had no idea what Jimmy was talking about. Then, he turned back to me and muttered, "Sorry."
        I told him it was fine and that it was my fault. I informed them all that I needed to leave. They asked me where I was going and I said West. Walker and Zack complained about how that didn't tell them anything and how that would take us to the mountains. I told them they weren't coming with me. Eli offered me a place to stay while I was there, but I told him I was staying at my old house because the place had been too destroyed to sell to another family. They wanted to tag along and I let them, after they let their parents know they'd be out.

        Once at my old house, I took a very long and needed shower and started to pack supplies into my camp pack. My family left in such a hurry, they forgot a lot of stuff, including the beds.
        It started growing dark and we all settled in for the night. Because of the monster attacks on my family, I suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and woke up screaming, covered in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. That night, my PTSD left me shivering under my covers and yelling out. Eli came in to check on me and woke me from my terrible nightmare. After I had calmed down, I  told him about the constant nightmares and he told me to think of something that will anchor my mind to keep from thinking of anything that might trigger the nightmares. He climbed into bed with me and waited till I fell back asleep.
        The next day, we moved on, hiking from my house to Farmington, New Mexico. A day later, we reached a small town near Parker Dam. By the beginning of the third day, we reached the boarder of California. From there, I followed a pull I felt in my gut.
        We reached Berkeley a few hours before nightfall and kept going to the Caldecott Tunnel. Once there, two teens in armor, hopefully demigods, were guarding the middle support of the tunnel. We carefully crossed over to them.when they saw us, they readied their weapons. I approached them cautiously, showing them I wasn't a threat to whatever they were guarding. They walked closer, keeping their weapons up in case I tried to do anything. I knew I could take them both and win just as easily as they could swing their swords, but I didn't try anything. I just stood their as they looked me over. As soon as they identified me as a demigod, one of them took us all into a tunnel made into the support.
        On the other side, we were looking into a beautiful valley, covered in lush green plants. A few scars from a recent battle showed in a few places and an aqueduct was broken in the distance, but, otherwise, it didn't look like such a bad place to live.
        As we walked, we passed through an invisible force that held back everyone but Eli, the guard, and myself. The guard told the others to stay put and that he's send someone to come and get them. He didn't pay Eli any attention, which meant he either hadn't seen Eli or just didn't care for his presence. The guard led us through a maze of streets to a tall building, with large, embellished double doors, through which we entered.
        We walked down a long hallway with red walls and a mural of the gods on the ceiling, at least, they looked similar to the gods. At the end of the hall sat a big desk with two thrones behind it. In one of the chairs at a girl, about sixteen, with black hair that stopped at the middle of her back. The other chair was empty, as though it was reserved for someone special. When she turned to look at us, a shiver crept down my spine and I knew she was the one in charge and I wouldn't want her as an enemy. The guard stepped forward and bowed politely to the girl.
        The girl looked straight at me and the guard said, "We have company."