The Underworld's Child

22 | Little Vixen

Guess who managed to finish editing this and assignments? Moi! Haha! I went on a spree and this is done! Still though, there might be some errors so feel free to point them out 👀

☀︎︎☽︎☾︎☀︎︎

They were crossing the Potomac when they spotted the helicopter. It was a sleek, black military model just like the one she'd seen at Westover Hall. And it was coming straight towards them.

"They know the van," Percy said. "We'll have to ditch it."

Zoe swerved into the fast lane. The helicopter was gaining.

"Maybe the military will shoot it down," Grover said hopefully.

"The military probably thinks it's one of theirs," she said. 

"How can the General use mortals?" Percy asked.

"Mercenaries," Zoe said bitterly. "It is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause as long as they're paid."

"But don't these mortals see who they're working for?" Percy asked. "Don't they notice all the monsters around them?"

Zoe shook her head. "I do not know how much they see through the Mist. I doubt it would matter to them if they knew the truth. Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters."

The helicopter kept coming, making a lot better time than we were through D.C. traffic.

Thalia closed her eyes and prayed hard. "Hey, Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?"

But the sky stayed gray and snowy. No sign of a helpful thunderstorm.

"There!" Bianca said. "That parking lot!"

"We'll be trapped," Zoe said.

"Trust me," Bianca said.

Zoe shot across two lanes of traffic and into a mall parking lot on the south bank of the river. We left the van and followed Bianca down some steps.

"Subway entrance," Bianca said. "Let's go south. Alexandria."

"Anything," Thalia agreed.

They bought tickets and got through the turnstiles, looking behind us for any signs of pursuit. A few minutes later we were safely aboard a southbound train, riding away from D.C. As their train came above ground, they could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after them.

Grover let out a sigh. "Nice job, Bianca, thinking of the subway."

Bianca looked pleased. "Yeah, well. I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn't here when we used to live in D.C."

Grover frowned. "New? But that station looked really old."

"I guess," Bianca said. "But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no subway."

Elora sat forward. "Wait a minute. No subway at all?"

Bianca nodded.

Now, she knew little to nothing about D.C., given that all her education about America came from a textbook but she didn't see how their whole subway system could be less than twelve years old. 

"Bianca," Zoe said. "How long ago..." Her voice faltered. The sound of the helicopter was getting louder again.

"We need to change trains," she said. "Next station."

Over the next half hour, all they thought about was getting away safely. They changed trains twice. She had no idea where they were going, but after a while, they managed to lose the helicopter.