Poseidon's Daughter; A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Junkyard

Y/n's POV

The boar let us ride it until sunset. I didn't know how much ground we had covered, or where we were, just that we were in a desert. Miles of flat land lay ahead of us with cactuses and brush spread across the ground. The only sign of civilization I saw was a cluster of three buildings: a house, a taco shop, and a post office. But none of them looked occupied. Or operational. Beyond them, huge hills loomed in the distance. Except they weren't regular hills. They were made of cars, appliances, and scrap metal.

"Whoa," Percy murmured. "Something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here. Grover, I don't suppose you've got another wild boar up your sleeve?"

Grover shook his head. "Nope."

"We should rest for the night," I urge. "Then tomorrow we can journey into that junkyard."

Somehow, Zoe and Bianca produced six sleeping bags and foam mattresses from their bags. We set them up around a makeshift fire we had made and settled in for the night. I laid in my sleeping bag and stared up at the sky, identifying the different stars and constellations. At camp, one of my favorite things to do was point out different shapes amongst the clouds on a clear day.

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

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

Grover sighed. "If only Pan were here. He would set things right. Maybe it was the coffee. I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee..."

"You think that boar was a gift from Pan?" I question. "I know you were on this whole quest to find him and everything, and I don't want to discourage you, but I don't think Pan would just appear in a random small town in New Mexico."

"He sent us help," Grover insisted. "I don't know how or why. But it was his presence. After this quest is done, I'm going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've got in two thousand years. I was so close."

"What I want to know is how you destroyed one of the zombies, Bianca," Thalia put forth. "There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

"I don't know how I did it. I just stabbed it and it went up inflames," Bianca stated.

"Maybe there's something special about your knife," Percy suggested.

"It is the same as mine. Celestial bronze. But mine did not affect the warriors that way," Zoe mentioned.

"Maybe you have to hit the skeleton in a certain spot," Percy figured.

"We will find the answer. Eventually. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas," Zoe guessed.

"No!" Bianca protested. "Not there!"

Percy, Grover, and I shared a look. We also had a bad experience in Las Vegas on our quest to return Zeus' master bolt.

Zoë frowned. "Why?"

"I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were travelling. And then, I can't remember..." Bianca trailed off.

And that's when it hit me.

"Bianca, you mentioned awhile back that you and Nico stayed at a hotel," I bring up.

"Y/n," Percy started. "You don't think.....could they have been there too?"

"I'm sorry," Thalia interrupted. "But what are you guys talking about?"