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Annabeth POV

I didn't know how to react to Bianca's death. I watched Hazel crying while embracing Nico. Franka was next to Hazel, supporting her as she let herself go. Will was also consoling Nico the best he could even though they weren't together or anything.

Her death made me feel a little guilty. It's not my fault. I felt guilty that her death didn't affect me that much. I simply didn't know her that well. I can empathize with Hazel and Nico, and I feel sorry for their loss. However, I don't feel like I lost something by this particular death. I was a lot closer to Beckendorf and Silena. Their deaths affected me more than Bianca.

This is what the apocalypse does to you. It desensitized you to most deaths.

I was incredibly happy after seeing Thalia and Percy though. The whole camp was eager to see three former guards come back.

Not to mention, everyone at camp loves Percy in particular.

After hugging and kissing me, Percy went straight to Stella. I told him that she was with Grover and Juniper on the third floor, and that's where he went. I knew Percy would go straight to his baby sister to make sure she was okay. I would do the same thing for my brothers.

"I'm so glad that you're okay, Thals," I cheered. My arms wrapped around my best friend, and we just held each other for a few seconds.

Jason was wiping his tears in front of me. Piper and Reyna were both smiling brightly while digesting everyone's presence. The moment was phenomenal, and I felt giddy that my disco ball led them back here.

"We weren't sure where you guys were. That's why it took so long to find you guys. Let me tell you, any backup plan should be shared by all," Thalia exclaimed. She squeezes my hand firmly before greeting the other guards.

"By the way, Percy was so adamant about getting back to you," Thalia expressed.

I smiled while gazing at Nico again. Their group had pulled to the side. They were going through a loss right now, so it made sense that they wanted to be away from the celebration.

I knew they'd be okay though. Time will help.

A few civilians grabbed some food for the newcomers. I took a plate of food from Martha before walking to the staircase. I'm taking a full dinner to Percy. He's probably still on the third floor. There are a lot of empty rooms on the third floor as well, so that's probably where he'll be staying.

I couldn't wait to get some alone time with him. When I arrived, Percy was sitting in the lobby with Stella sleeping in his arms.

Grover and Juniper were smiling while gazing at Percy and Stella. Grover's going through the same thing I'm going through now. Our best friends came back to us.

"Seaweed Brain, I brought you some food," I said softly.

I set the food on a coffee table before planting a kiss on Percy's cheek. He smiled while looking up from Stella's face. His beautiful sea-green eyes sparkled and lulled me in. I kissed him on the lips once more before sitting beside him.

Percy kept one hand around Stella. However, his other hand reached out to me.

I placed my hand in his and let him intertwine his fingers around mine. Holding hands was such a teenage thing to do, but I couldn't stop the butterflies from exploding. His face looked so satisfied just then, and it made me feel so special.

I couldn't stop my elation. A part of me knew that he was still alive. I didn't feel his loss, and that's why I hung up the lights yesterday as well.

I felt it inside my intelligent mind that he'll still come back to me.

And, Percy did.

After a few hours, I was alone with Percy in his bedroom. Stella was sleeping on a love couch to the side of the hotel room. We had finally gotten some time to be alone.

I made Percy tell me everything that happened. He started at the very beginning (when he left me to find Stella in South Sector) and explained everything till the moment we were hugging again earlier today.

"Show me your back," I asked quietly. My fingers lingered on his shirt.

"I thought I was dead. I was confident that the zombie had bitten me because of the pain. If Thalia wasn't there to tell me it's NOT a bite, I probably would've gone mad. I probably would've ended my life," Percy explained.

He stood up from the bed and took his shirt off. My gaze wandered over his abdomen before Percy turned around. I stared at the deep scratch on his lower back.

It certainly looked like a painful wound.

I stood up as well and touched the injury gently. Percy sucked in a breath before wincing. He shook his head while retracting against my touch. His head was turned to the side so that he could see me over his shoulder. "It still hurts, Wise Girl," he whispered.

I kissed the back of his neck before leaning my forehead against his warm back. Then, I turned him around and placed my lips on his.

Percy reacted immediately by pressing his body against mine.

My hands snaked over his bare abdomen and chest before going into his hair. Percy sucked in a breath, disrupting our kiss. His back was probably flaring.

However, his sea-green eyes had so much desire in them still. I wanted to help him.

"This won't hurt a bit," I whispered. Percy nodded while happily accepting my lips again. I gently pulled him onto the bed before gently sitting on his lap.

His fingers trailed my waist before pulling my shirt off too. "You're right, Wise Girl. It doesn't hurt at all," Percy's voice purred between kisses.

"I'm always right, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it."

Percy smirked. "I am used to it."

Then, his lips captured mine again as our bodies fell onto the bed. I don't who to thank for Percy's survival, but I am so joyful and so grateful.

***

We initiated my plan for a settlement a few days after Percy, Thalia, and Nico came back. The first step was easy. We found an entire construction site a few blocks away. Apparently, Drexel University was building a new campus.

All the vehicles were still operational and buzzing with gas. It was easy to bring the vehicles back to the camp. We left them on the road as we planned the next step.

We have ten large construction vehicles that are strong enough to move cargo boxes.

"So, how is this going to work?" Luke asked.

"I assume we'll have to make dozens of trips to and from the port. There are hundreds of cargo boxes there that we can use to make a wall. We won't need all of them," I explained. "I estimate we'll have to make a lot of trips with all ten vehicles. We'll start the perimeter from two blocks away and stretch it for five blocks."

Reyna, Luke, and I nodded to each other. We split the team into three groups, and we were leading each of the groups.

My group will be driving the vehicles and transporting the cargo boxes. Luke's team will drive cars and have enough weapons on hand to protect my group in the process. Reyna's team will coordinate the team here. She'll be the point person for directing where the cargo boxes will go and protecting the hotel while the other guards are busy.

The plan was made, and we're ready to start.

We exited the hotel. The other guards were waiting outside. My team was already on the street, manning the construction vehicles. Luke and his team were already prepared to protect us. They were also waiting outside.

"Reyna, you have the walkie-talkie, correct?" I asked. Reyna nodded with a smile. "Yup, let's do this thing."

We shook hands before I set out to leave. Most of our civilians were driving the construction vehicles. I got into a crane vehicle, being driven by George.

I watched Percy wave at me from his white Tesla. He was right next to my yellow vehicle, and he was being a complete goofball. "Hey, gorgeous, do you like my ride?" he asked smoothly. "You can hop in anytime you want."

"I prefer sports cars, Seaweed Brain," I shouted at him.

"Looks like I'll have to find a sports car," Percy cooed. He smirked while starting his car, and we started driving toward the port near the river.

The port was buzzing with zombies.

Luke's team of guards drove around the entire port area while swinging knives and bats out of their windows. Leo also devised spikes onto the cars so that simply driving around would impale the zombies. Needless to say, the plan was working well. We have way more protective guards than cargo transporters, so the plan is working well.

We borrowed some chains from the port and hooked cargo boxes to the construction vehicles. I had pretty much thought about everything.

George and I transported two cargo boxes back at the same time. I was surprised by the strength of these construction vehicles. However, Bob Titan was driving a crane, and he was easily pulling three cargo boxes at the same time. It was fantastic.

"Hey, gorgeous, maybe you should reconsider the Tesla," Percy teased while driving around me for a second time. We were driving back to the hotel.

"Oh my god, can you stop being an idiot?" I exclaimed.

Percy's laugh probably brightened the entire street. He jabbed his spear at a zombie out the passenger window before turning to me again. "I'm flirting with my girlfriend, Wise Girl. It's called being romantic," he said.

I chuckled while shaking my head.

George was smiling next to me. Percy's and my interaction continued all the way back to the University of Pennsylvania. We started the perimeter in the East, beside a large field. Normally, students would use the field to study outside or hang out. We dropped the first 25ish boxes around the field. We want to be inside our walls so that we can use the grassy terrain for gardening. This was Katie's idea, and we all liked it.

Including this field, the wall would encompass several blocks of land. We'll incorporate multiple buildings, fields, and roads. We're creating a community.

A whole day of hard work led us to build half the wall.

We stacked two boxes to make a tall wall. We can't even see over the wall, which was good because it offered safety against the zombies. Leo proposed that he'd make a ladder on various sections of the walls to climb up. He'll also make a railing of some sort on the wall so that the guards are safe from falling.

Guard duty can happen at the top of the walls as a precaution, and it will be safe.

We were on the last trip of the day. The sun was setting over the distance, and we were all tired of moving around all day. Sweat clung to my forehead. Even Percy wasn't joking around anymore out of exhaustion.

George went outside and connected a few more cargo boxes to our vehicle. About half the other team had already gone back. This shipment of cargo boxes would fulfill over half the wall. The entire North and East sides are finished. We made great progress on the first day. I was surprised by the efficiency of our group.

But again, the camp members make an amazing army.

After the cargo boxes were hooked, we started driving out of the port. I wiped some sweat off my brow while looking out the window. Percy was driving in front of us. Luke was at the very beginning of the line, leading us back to our settlement.

Then, George hit on a sudden brake.

"Woah, why did we stop?" I asked, frantically looking around. "Sorry. A part of me zoned out. Did I miss something important?"

"Mr. Castellan seemed to have stopped," George informed.

I looked out the side window by arching my neck outside. The port was empty besides the cargo boxes and zombie corpses. Overall, it was safe here at the moment. From what I can see, Luke stopped in front of a small group of zombies.

However, this group was too small to stop. Luke could've easily barreled through them and kept going. I didn't understand why he stopped all of us.

"I'm going to see what's happening," I expressed.

I got out of my vehicle and rushed toward the front of the line. The group of zombies was slowly dragging themselves toward us. There were five male zombies of various stature and one female zombie. Blood spurted from various injuries on them. The female zombie was the cleanest and most recognizable as a human.

Percy also got out of his car and walked beside me toward Luke. Some of the others started honking. "What's going on?" Piper asked loudly from her car.

I shrugged while pausing next to Luke's jeep.

He was simply staring forward at the group of zombies. He almost seemed frozen (not in fear, but something else).

The six zombies were only yards away now. I unsheathed my knife while Percy aimed a gun a the zombies. Just then, Luke stepped out of the car and blocked our shot.

"NO, don't shoot them," Luke choked on his voice.

Percy moved closer to me while we both stared at Luke in confusion. My gaze returned to the zombies that were getting too close to us.

However, Luke was making no motion of defense. What was he doing?

"We need to leave or attack," Percy affirmed.

Luke released a shaky breath while his blue eyes flitted between us. His tired face tensed as he placed his hand over Percy's weapons. He shook his head sadly. Then, his gaze fixated on the female zombie, staggering from several yards away.

"Luke-"

"She's my mother," Luke sighed in a choked voice.