I stop at the doors and try to control my breathing. The voice of the earth woman still rings in my ears, reminding me of my mother's death. I'm not letting that happen again.
I peek inside, and can make out the catwalk above us. Gray morning light is shining in from the hole in the roof. I see the dim shapes of heavy machinery along the assembly line, but no movement. My friends aren't anywhere. I want to call out, but something tells me not to. A smell. Something smells like burning motor oil and sour breath.
"Leo, help!" Piper's voice calls out to me.
I want to answer, but I hold my tongue. How could Piper have gotten off the catwalk with her ankle like that?
I slip inside and duck behind a cargo container. Slowly, gripping my hammer, I work my way towards the center of the room. I crouch behind a crane with a robotic arm.
Theo's voice calls out now. "Leo?" She doesn't sound so certain. Every molecule in my body wants to answer. I love her voice.
I peek around the machinery. Hanging directly above the assembly line, suspended by a chain from a crane on the opposite side, is a massive truck engine- just dangling thirty feet up, as if it had been left there when the factory was abandoned. Below it on the conveyor belt sits a truck chassis, and clustered around it are three dark shapes about the size of forklifts. Nearby, dangling from chains on three other robotic arms, are three smaller shapes. Only one of them is twisting around as if it's alive.
Then, one of the folklift shapes rises, and I realize it's humanoid. "Told you it was nothing." It rumbles. Not a human voice.
Another lump shifts and calls out again in Theo's sweet sweet voice. "Leo, help me! Help-" Then it changes, becoming a masculine snarl. "Bah, there's nobody out there. No demigod could be that quiet, eh?"
The first monster chuckles. "Probably ran away if he knows what's good for him. Or the girl was lying about a fourth. What quest has four demigods? Let's get cooking."
There's a snap, and a bright orange light sizzles to life. An emergency flare. I duck behind the crane and take another peep. The small dangling things are Jason, Piper, and Theo. Only Piper is awake. Theo looks to be asleep, and Jason has a welt the size of an apple swollen over his left eyebrow. Piper is flailing around, trying to free herself, her mouth gagged.
On the conveyor belt, the bed of the unfinished pickup truck is being used as a fire pit. A big metal pole is suspended over the flames. A spit to cook my friends.
Most terrifying are the cooks. Monocle motors. Cyclopes.
Two are standing, stroking the flames. The third is the biggest, and is sitting with his back to me. The two I can see are wearing a chain-mail loincloth and a ragged fuzzy toga made out of fiberglass insulation. Not comfy looking at all. They both have similar brutish faces and a single eye in the center of their foreheads.
My legs start quaking. These are actual flesh and blood monsters who want to eat my friends for dinner. I stare at Theo, praying she wakes up.I could use some all-powerful help. I'm so terrified I can hardly think. I wish I had Festus. My hammer looks super small compared to these Cyclopes.
This is what the sleeping lady had warned me about. She wants me to walk away and leave my friends to die. No way. I slip off my backpack and quietly unzip it.
The cyclops in the chain mail walks over to Piper. "Can I take her gag off now? I like it when they scream."
The question is directed at the third cyclops. The leader. The crouching one grunts, and Loincloth rips the gag off of Piper's mouth.
