The Harvest Trials

Chapter XXVII

Piper

"Are we almost there?" I asked Rachel. She rolled her eyes from behind the controls of the sky canoe.

"You've asked five times within the last hour, " Grover complained.

"I'm with Piper on this one," Katie said, leaning over Rachel's shoulder to look out the windows of the cockpit. "I just need to know that Travis is okay."

"We'll be there in twenty minutes, now would all of you shut up!" Rachel yelled.

I nodded and backed out of the cockpit, taking a seat in the interior. Even though it had been cleaned thoroughly, I could still see Jason's blood in my mind. The rescue itself was two days ago, or early yesterday morning, depending on how you look at it.

Immediately after we'd gotten everyone on the sky canoes, we flew off to the Caribbean Islands, where Thalia had a safe haven set up for her hunters. We intend to expand it a bit and really make it a home.

My eyes teared up as I thought about Reyna. She had been so brave. So selfless. Her only goal was to save Jason and she died for it. It breaks my heart over and over again to know that I lost her. I've lost too many people I love.

But thankfully, Will was able to save Jason. When we left, he was all wrapped up in bandages, confined to a cot. And Katie, Rachel, Grover, and I left right away for Hashima Island, the Second Drop Zone.

And now we were approaching it.

The crowded buildings prevented us from a proper landing so Rachel decided she'd keep it in a hover, while she stayed aboard. She sent down the ramp onto the top of the closest building and we sent Grover to scout out if the stairs were sturdy enough to navigate. We figured he was the best choice, being half goat.

He returned after ten minutes with a thumbs up. "Go get our friends," Rachel encouraged, and we were off. We got down the many flights of stairs as quickly as possible and broke out into the shadows at the bottom. About a block over from where we were standing, a figure emerged from a crumbling building, hand covering his eyes as he looked up at the helicarrier.

Katie recognized the figure before I did. "Travis!" She yelled, breaking into a sprint, Grover and I not far behind.

She reached him before we did and tackled him in a hug. He only barely managed to stay on his feet. My face hurt from how wide I was smiling, seeing the two of them.

Katie was crying, quick hard gasps escaping as she clung to Travis, cupping the back of his head with her hand. He had his arms tight around her middle pulling her close, his hands shaking.

Two others emerged from the doorway. I recognized them immediately as Clovis and Valentina. They were hand in hand, looking a bit frightened. Their hard stares softened at the sight of us.

Valentina's face crumbled and she wrapped me in a hug. "Thank the gods!" She said. I smiled into her hair and patted her back.

"We're getting you guys out of here," I assured. After all the sentiments, we led the three to the building and up the stairs to where the sky canoe was waiting.

"Connor," Travis said, "is he here? Can I—can I see him?" Travis's voice trembled a bit. He just wanted to see his brother.

I offered him a sad smile. "That's actually our next stop. You see, he was sent to Drop Zone Three the day after you were sent here."

Travis's eyes widened. "He had to be alone too? But- hold on, where's Drop Zone Three?"

"Chernobyl," I supplied. "The sooner we get on the sky canoe the sooner we can get there."