Stay Right Here

xxi

bigfoot fights the undead

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Hadley wasn't too surprised when the wheels fell off.

Arion seemed to have no care for the concept of space and time, leaving Hadley to wonder if this is how astronauts felt entering orbit. She had a very good idea of how fast they had been going since Ella had been muttering: "Seven hundred and fifty miles per hour. Eight hundred. Eight hundred and three. Fast. Very fast." Frank hadn't taken the ride well at all, having thrown up twice out the back of the chariot while Hadley held onto his arm to make sure he didn't fall off.

The horse sped north across Puget Sound, zooming past islands and fishing boats, and a very surprised pod of whales. They rocketed onto dry land. He ran along a highway so fast, the cars seemed to be standing still. And finally, the chariot wheels began to smoke.

"Hazel!" Frank yelled. "We're breaking up!"

She got the message and pulled the reigns. The horse didn't seem happy about it, but he slowed to subsonic as they zipped through the city streets, and the chariot started to rattle dangerously. At last, Arion stopped at the top of a wooded hill. He snorted with satisfaction as if to say, That's how we run, fools. The smoking chariot collapsed, spilling Percy, Frank, Hadley, and Ella onto the wet, mossy ground.

Frank stumbled to his feet. Ella fluttered around bumping into practically every tree in the vicinity and muttering, "Tree. Tree. Tree." Hadley landed on her back and Percy landed across her stomach.

"Ow," Hadley groaned. "Your ribs are stabbing me."

"I'll... stab... you," Percy grumbled, still disoriented. He got to his feet and pulled Hadley up next to him.

Hadley stood with her hands to her temples, blinking rapidly, while Percy started unhitching Arion from the ruined chariot.

Only Hazel seemed unaffected by the ride. Grinning with pleasure, she slid off the horse's back. "That was fun!"

"Yeah," Frank managed. "So much fun."

"Should I be able to taste colors?" Hadley asked, opening and closing her mouth like a dog with a mouthful of peanut butter.

Arion whinnied.

"He says he needs to eat," Percy translated. "No wonder. He probably burned six million calories."

Hazel studied the ground at her feet and frowned. "I'm not sensing any gold around here... Don't worry, Arion. I'll find you some. In the meantime, why don't you graze? We'll meet you-"

The horse zipped off, leaving a trail of steam in his wake.

Hazel knit her eyebrows. "Do you think he'll come back?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "He seems kind of... spirited."

"If he does come back, we should invest in helmets," Hadley told them. "And that's coming from me."

Hazel, Percy, and Hadley started salvaging supplies from the chariot wreckage while Frank leaned against a tree to recover. There had been a few boxes of random Amazon merchandise in the front, and Elle shrieked with delight when Hadley found a shipment of books. She snatched up a copy of The Birds of North America, fluttered to the nearest beach, and began scratching so fast, Hadley wasn't sure if she was trying to shred it or not.

They continued rifling through the boxes, Hadley was surprised and slightly disappointed at the lack of Amazon weapons. Although, she did find a large pack of fake metal nails sharpened into points like claws. Hadley glanced down at her hand and considered taking them for a moment before deciding against it with a shrug.