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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗 the mid season american backpacking tour
——— 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐀! ( BALTIMORE )
THEY DROVE FOR MORE THAN an hour before anybody even said anything. They had left Pennsylvania ages ago, and entered Maryland not so long ago. Connor was still driving — the car was shaky and he would swerve every now and then, but for somebody who had learned to drive in the one week he went to visit his mom with Travis, he was pretty good at it. Fay had fallen asleep in the back seat about half an hour into the drive, after munching on a tin can or two, and Emilia had woken up for a total of ten minutes from her unconscious state to drink some nectar and nibble on a piece of ambrosia — she was basically unconscious again, though Verona thought she just needed a good night's rest. They all did, even if it was only nearing evening as they drove into Maryland.
Connor was rigid in the front seat — his eyes had been glued to the road since they had started driving, and Verona was sure the reason he was driving so cautiously was not so they wouldn't be killed, but so they wouldn't be stopped by the police. Even the mist couldn't solve the issue of Connor and Fay both not owning a legal license, and Connor not even being old enough to get one — Verona was pretty sure Fay's illegal license photo had his horns in the picture. Even Verona had never learned how to drive a car — there was no one to teach her, she had spent her whole life at camp save for the trips out of camp during the winters every now and then to places like Olympus. In all honesty, though she missed the outside world, she didn't mind much. The world was a dangerous place filled with many monsters, and Verona was safe behind the shield of Camp Half—Blood.
Baltimore, 5 miles...Verona read as they passed the bright green sign.
"We should stop for the night," Connor suddenly said. His voice sounded tired, and a little bit sore, probably from screaming at the cyclops as he fired bullet after bullet at it. He looked tired too — he kept rubbing his eyes to stay awake and Verona was pretty sure they were swerving a bit more on the highway.
"Baltimore's close, we can stop there," Verona reassured, picking at a hole that had been created in the knee of her jeans when she had landed onto the ground after the cyclops threw her. Her injuries had healed for the most part, but she could feel a sting still on her cheek from where she had gotten scratched when she hit the hard pavement — Verona was trying to ration the ambrosia and nectar for more serious injuries like Emilia, knowing full well they would need it later. "I think I saw a sign for a motel coming up ahead."
"That's good," Connor paused as he tried merging into the exit lane so they could get off go ahead, he hissed when a car honked at him before eventually merging nervously. He glanced Verona's way before turning back to the road. "Can I ask you a question?" She hummed out a yes. "What's our plan — like, when we get to New Orleans? Do you even know where the girdle is?"
