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VII • paralyzed force

CHAPTER SEVEN

P A R A L Y Z E D  F O R C E

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The room was close to silent as Annabeth and Esperanza ate their way through the pantry that Drew had opened up for them. The hunger inside Annabeth was ravenous, but something inside of her forced her to slow down her eating, and she made sure to instruct Esperanza to do the same, lest they end up vomiting everything back up. It was torture to refrain from eating as fast as she wanted to, but she already felt slightly queasy.

Esperanza grabbed another slice of plain bread and stuffed it into her mouth, crumbs falling into her lap haphazardly, but she either didn't notice or didn't care enough to brush them away. The mean-looking girl, who had introduced herself as Clarisse, was scowling as they eat, but something told Annabeth that the scowl was commonplace for the girl. Drew was eating with them, popping grapes into her mouth every so often. Chris and Cameron were in the room with the couch, a large map spread over the coffee table, quietly arguing about something that they had yet to disclose to Annabeth. But at the moment, she couldn't care less, so long as there was enough food.

"I take it's been awhile since you've had a good meal," Drew said dryly, but not unkindly.

Esperanza eagerly nodded her affirmation. "I can't remember the last time I had fruit," she said before grabbing a banana and ripping it from its peel.

Annabeth allowed a small smile to grace her face before arguing from the other room erased it completely. It was Cameron's voice, and though she hadn't known him long, she could tell that he was angry.

"It can't be in New York!" he shouted, and something loud clattered to the ground. Annabeth couldn't help but to flinch at the sound, and she instinctively reached out for Esperanza. Drew detached herself from the chair in which she had been lounging, and gracefully flitted over to the boys. Annabeth watched her cautiously.

"Cameron's right," Drew said, glancing down at the map, "we scoured all of New York already. Camp Half-Blood has been burned down and the Empire State Building's connection has been completely severed. No one can even get a mile near it without Her monsters killing them. We have to look elsewhere."

Drew was speaking English, but everything she said sounded foreign to Annabeth.

"But where else could Olympus be?" Chris pressed, gesturing wildly at the map. "There's nowhere else that makes sense!"

"California?" Clarisse offered half-heartedly, peeling herself from the chair and her station of watching Annabeth and Esperanza in exchange for also huddling around the map.

Cameron shook his head. "San Francisco was destroyed after New York. Basically anywhere with connections to the gods was turned to rubble."

"Maybe it's somewhere completely random?" Drew suggested while playing with a piece of Clarisse's hair. The other girl scowled and smacked her hand away.

Annabeth could feel anger radiating from Cameron. "That makes everything so much harder; it's a needle in a giant haystack, except the haystack is full of monsters that want to kill you!"

Drew rolled her eyes. "No need to be so dramatic, Cam; we don't even know if the gods are still, you know, around."

Annabeth heard the hidden word as loudly as anyone else; they didn't know if the gods were still alive. That thought should have terrified her, but she was too hungry to care. Instead of contributing to the conversation, she grabbed a small, round, unidentifiable fruit and bit into it, pleasantly surprised by the sweet juices that burst into her mouth.