Shattered

Night

They rode until sunset, which was about as much as Zoe's backside could take.

Riding the boar had been about as comfortable as riding a giant steel brush over a bed of gravel all day.

Not that Zoe would know what that would feel like, but she imagined that if she would ever experience it, this was how it would feel like.

She had no idea how much ground they had covered, but the mountains had faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry steppe. Then, the grass and scrub brush got sparser until they were galloping (do boars gallop?) across desert.

As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.

"This is as far as he'll go." Annabeth spoke up, "We need to get off while we can."

Apparently no one needed convincing, and it took the group approximately five seconds to get off the boar and waddle away with their sore behinds.

After its third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back toward the east.

"It likes the mountains better," Percy guessed.

"I can't blame it," Thalia said. "Look."

Ahead of them was a two-lane road half covered with sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door. Beyond that was a range of hills...

No...

Not hills...

The countryside was way too flat for that.

The hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

Zoe did not have fond memories of the place.

"Whoa," Annabeth muttered.

"Something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here," Thalia said. Turning to Percy she said, "I don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"

The demigod rolled his eyes.

They had decided to camp for the night and tackle the junkyard in the morning.

Zoe and Bianca produced five sleeping bags and foam mattresses out of their backpacks. Of course, their bags were enchanted, which allowed flawless and efficient packing.

Their bows and quivers were also magic. When the Hunters needed them, they just appeared slung over their backs. And when they didn't, they were gone.

The night got chilly fast, so Percy collected old boards from the ruined house, and Thalia zapped them with an electric shock to start a campfire. Pretty soon they were about as comfy as one could get in a rundown ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

"The stars are out," Zoe smiled.

There were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange.

"Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

"This is nothing," Zoe said. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you're not human," Annabeth pointed out.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"