Deaths

Percy POV

Jason, Piper, and Luke are taking the jeep back to the museum. The rest of us decided to stay in the area with the moving truck. According to Annabeth, we aren't allowed to leave the equipment behind. Whatever's inside the truck is important to the camp.

"We should camp out in a nearby building until reinforcements arrive," Annabeth instructed.

Everyone agreed with her plan. The streets are littered with zombies, so the best idea is for us to find cover inside a fortified building.

We entered a crumbling office building. Most of the building collapsed into the lobby, but a large section of the lobby was still open. We entered this building because the door was small and easy to block. Beckendorf and I moved a large chunk of concrete against the glass doors while the girls terminated the zombies inside.

The lobby was dimly lit, and rubble was everywhere. The rotten smell of organs and blood permeated our nostrils.

"Maybe, this building wasn't the best idea," I surmised.

"Don't worry, guys. Luke will bring reinforcements very soon. We just have to hang out for a few hours at most," Silena replied.

I walked to the receptionist's desk which was still standing. A few feet away is where the building collapsed onto itself. I looked through the receptionist's station to find a few water bottles and drinks. High-end business buildings like this usually have drinks for guests. It's been a while since I enjoyed some Fanta. I would've preferred Coca-cola though.

"Anyone wants a drink?" I asked.

"Throw me a bottle," Thalai ordered. I tossed the tin can to her, and she easily caught it. We cheersed before gulping down the cool drink.

"We should've been more careful on the road. Stupid flat tires," Annabeht murmured.

"It's okay, Annabeth. We're only a few hours behind. The sun is still high in the sky, and it shouldn't take long for the others to come back with a new truck," Beckendorf supported everyone with his words.

Silena smiled at him before sharing a quick kiss. I smiled at their interaction. They truly loved each other, and it's so heart-warming to see that.

"What's in the moving truck anyway?" I asked again.

"That is a need-to-know basis," Annabeth responded firmly. "The work in South Sector is private and only the leaders of camp are allowed to know."

"I feel like the camp has a secret that's dangerous to us," I snapped.

"It is dangerous," Beckendorf interrupted. Annabeth shook her head at him, but Charles only shrugged. "We're keeping the South Sector private for everyone's safety."

"What's in there?"

They didn't respond. No one did. That's when I realized that I was the only exception in this room. Everyone else knows the dealings in South Sector. Even Thalia knows that she isn't willing to share. I felt like such an outsider.

I sighed while giving up on the subject. I walked to the front of the lobby and looked out of the glass windows. The zombies were banging on the glass doors and walls. However, the building is fairly secure for now.

However, based on the splintering corners of the glass, we don't have all day. The zombies would soon break their way into the lobby.

Yup. This building was not the best option at all.

Annabeth seemed to have the same thought. "We shouldn't have come inside this building just because it's the closest to our truck. It's too damaged."

"We can try to leave and go to another place," Charles suggested.

"Well, all the zombies are attracted to our scent right now. We have to lay low so that they can disperse. Then, we can try to leave for the office next door," Thalia said. "Yeah, there's too many zombies right outside our lobby."

"I agree. We should wait a while," I expressed.

Charles and Silena sat on the ground near the back. They were leaning against a big pile of crumbled rubble and talking quietly to each other. Thalia was sharpening her knives to satisfy her ADHD. Annabeth had her arms crossed and was looking through the window. I decided to go bother her again.

I don't know why, but I was feeling incredibly annoyed. I shouldn't have to be stuck here when I don't know the purpose.

Estelle is waiting for me at the camp, yet here I am. The longer I'm away from her, the more worried I get about possible dangers. I know the camp is safe and secure, but I still worry. I don't know how parents do it.

"I'm risking my life right now, and I don't even know why," I snapped softly.

Annabeth groaned before facing me. "Can you just shut up, Seaweed Brain? You're annoying the crap out of me."

"Really? I don't see any poop in your pants," I retorted.

Before I could look at her pants to confirm, Annabeth grabbed my jaw and straightened my gaze to her face. Her gray eyes pierced into my soul.

"Stop playing with me, Jackson. I'm not in the mood," she said in a dangerous voice. I resisted the urge to back off. Instead, I gulped the nerves in my throat and pushed her firm hand away from me.

"What's wrong, Wise Girl?" I asked in concern.

Annabeth sighed. "I just have a bad feeling. I focus on the facts and statistics. My brain demands me to do so. When one thing goes wrong, I can't stop thinking about all the other things that can go wrong."

"You think way too much," I stated. "You need to learn to relax sometimes."

She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. I couldn't help but feel a dread creep into my stomach. I was also developing bad feelings. I couldn't shake it away.

"Annabeth," I murmured.

She turned to me again and waited for me to continue.

"Before life went to hell, I was studying marine biology at NYU. I like studying the ocean and sea animals. Um, I had my own fish tank in my room. Guess which fish I collected?"

"I don't know. Goldfish?"

"Not even close. I collected the various fish that were in Finding Nemo. I had two clownfish, a blue tang, a yellow tang, a Moorish idol, and a pink starfish. It was a lot of fun to build the tank gang," I explained.

Annabeth chuckled lightly. Her face illuminated with pure happiness, and I liked seeing her laugh. It was a pleasant sight. Through her eyes, I could see her mind relaxing.

"That is so like you, Seaweed Brain!"

I laughed along with her quietly. However, our joy was interrupted suddenly.

The sound of glass splintering and cracking spread through the lobby. It was loud, and it was dangerous. Groans and screeches echoed through the room. The zombies had broken through the left wall. Shit.

I grabbed Annabeth's hand quickly. "We have to get out of here."

Annabeth nodded while grabbing her gun. She fired at the zombies while slowly back up. Beckendorf and Silena were also shooting. Thalia and I didn't have guns, so we were working on demolishing the back wall of the lobby.

The weak wall crumbled under my hard kick.

I yelled out as pain shot through my ankle. I cursed internally while pushing through the rubble. Pain exploded through my bones with each movement.

"Oh god, Percy, are you okay?" Thalia asked.

"I'm fine,' I shouted. "Everyone, come on. We have to run right now."

The weak wall was bordering a dark alley. One side of the alley was closed, so we could only run in one direction. Thalia and I ran while stabbing into zombies that we passed. However, I skidded to a painful halt at the edge of the alleyway.

An entire horde of zombies was growling in the street.

"Aw, shit," Thalia snapped.

Gunshots fired behind us as Beckendorf, Silena, and Annabeth ran toward us while firing at the zombies behind us. There's only one direction to go.

"The truck!" I exclaimed.

Everyone understood what I meant. The closest possible safe point is the truck. Thalia took out her crossbow and started firing. The zombies dropped, but there were too many. Everything was too loud and too obnoxious.

Pain shot into my leg with every stride. I used my knives to slash through the group of zombies. It was more effective to show the zombies than terminate them.

Thalai reached the truck first. She climbed onto the top of the moving truck and quickly continued to fire at the zombies. Annabeth reached the truck next. They both provided excellent coverage for the rest of us to reach the truck.

I jumped up and grabbed the edge of the top of the truck.

Annabeth grabbed my sleeve and pulled me up. I landed on the roof of the moving truck with a loud thud. Pain rocked my ankle. It was either fractured or sprained.

Silena and Beckendorf were still fighting on the street.

I had been in some pretty nasty situations, but this was one of the worst. There were so many zombies in the city, and they all were sensing our presence. I was sitting on the roof of the truck.

I quickly rummaged through Annabeth's bag and pulled out two guns. I loaded the ammo and started firing at the zombies near Beck and Silena.

We all were shooting near them.

Beckendorf and Silena finally reached the truck. It was quite impressive that we managed to get through the crowd of zombies without being bitten. I reached down and grabbed Silena's pale arm. Her foot slipped against the wall of the truck. She was struggling to climb out of exhaustion, and her leg was bleeding a lot.

Beckendorf turned around and hoisted her up by the waist. I pulled her onto the roof before quickly turning to grab Charles.

However, it was too late.

Beckendorf screamed in agony. Two zombies had their teeth sunk into Beckendorf's thigh. He had climbed halfway onto the truck, but the zombies pulled him down. While helping Silena, he had left himself vulnerable to attack.

The zombies pulled Charles away from the truck while continuing to feast on his flesh.

"BECKENDORF," I shouted after my friend.

I tightly clutched a screaming and crying Silena. I held her on the roof. Her sobs echoed out and vibrated both of our bodies. She seemed like she wanted to jump back into the crowd of zombies.

However, she can't.

It's too late.

The zombies had already gotten Beckendorf. They had already bit him meaning that he was dead. His agonizing screams washed away.

Thalia and Annabeth continued to shoot at the zombies who were coming close to the truck. They were scratching at the tops of the truck, but they weren't skilled or smart enough to climb the truck. Their scratching and banging vibrated teh truck violently, but we held onto the roof.

My arms were tightly wrapped around Silena's shaking body. Tears sprouted in my eyes. Charles was one of my best friends at camp.

He's so helpful and useful to everyone's survival.

I still remember all the times he helped me with Estelle. She liked him just as much as I did. Now, she'd never see him again.

My eyes scanned a large zombie that just stood up.

Emotions burned my eyes as I looked at the zombified Charles Beckendorf. His eyes were bloodshot, and several bites littered his body. He died very quickly because so many zombies got to him.

Now, he's a zombie himself.

Thalai crouched next to me while shaking her hands. She grabbed Silena and held her in a tight embrace. I grabbed her gun and swapped places with her.

Thalia and Sielna were sitting on the roof of the struck. Annabeth and I were standing back to back. The heat from her body pressed against my back and shoulders. We shot the zombies in different directions, slowly taking out the giant horde.

However, more zombies kept flooding into the street.

They were coming at our truck from all sides.

"PLEASE, SHOOT HIM," Silena screeched. "Let go of me. Let me be with Charles," she screamed and cried. She fought against Thalia's arms.

However, we can't let her sacrifice herself to the zombies.

"SHOOT HIM. He can't be a zombie," I said to Annabeth. "He wouldn't want that."

Annabeth turned to the Charles zombie. Beckendorf is a large man, so his arms were easily scratching the edges of the truck's roof. Annabeth hesitantly went closer to Charles and pointed her gun down.

She turned to Silena sadly, but Silena simply nodded.

Silena buried her ear-stricken face into Thalia's chest. I turned toward Annabeth just as she fired her gun. The bullet pierced into Charles's brain and ended his misery.

"If there weren't so many zombies, we would've taken him back," Annabeth whispered. We continued to shoot the zombies on all sides.

"Like, for a funeral?" I asked between gunshots.

"No, we would've taken zombie Charles back to the camp. That's what we're doing in the South Sector. We're scientifically stuyding the zombies."

I simply stared in shock.

Suddenly, Silena screamed violently. We all turned to Silena to see her face start to pale, and dark bags were under her eyes. Dark blood spurted from her calf injury. Annabeth gasped at the dark/deep bite mark on her leg.

No one realized that she was bitten. Oh, God.

It wasn't a simple scratch wound. She had a large, bleeding bite mark. Thalia quickly grabbed her bag and used extra clothing to pressurize the wound. Silena screamed in agony while fighting to stay alive.

But, it's only a matter of time.

We all knew that. Anyone who is bit turns into a zombie.

I quickly wiped the tears on my face as Annabeth grabbed my arm. She pointed at two trucks that were barreling into our street. Luke was driving the large truck while Bianca and Nico were in the other jeep.

"HELP IS HERE," Annabeth shouted excitedly.

Yeah, but it's too late. We already lost Charles Beckendorf, and we're slowly losing Silena Beauregard as well.