𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 ✦ JACKSON

𝐢𝐱. 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝

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

Bianca looked very pleased with herself. "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."

Thalia sat forward, "wait, no subway at all?"

Bianca nodded.

I didn't see how the subway could be less than twelve years old. I guess everyone was thinking the same thing because they looked pretty confused.

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

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

Over the next half hour, all we thought about was getting away safely. We changed trains twice. I had no clue where we were going, but after a while we lost the helicopter.

Unfortunately, when we finally got off the train, we had reached the end of the line. We were in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow, lots of snow, it was freezing here.

We wandered through the railway yard, but there was just rows and rows of cars.

There was a homeless guy standing at a trash-can fire. We must've looked pretty bad since he grinned and said, "y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!"

We huddled around his fire. My teeth were chattering. I said, "well this is g-g-g-great."

"No voices are frozen," Grover complained.

"Feet," Percy corrected.

"Maybe we should contact camp," Bianca said. "Chiron—"

"No," Zoe said. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves."

I looked at Percy who seemed pretty warm in his new coat. He caught me eyeing up his coat and he smiled at me, "do you want it back?"

"N-n-n-no I'm doing great," I tried to smile back at him but I felt like I was about to turn into a popsicle.

Percy lifted his arm from one side of the coat and let me huddle under it with him.

"You know," the homeless man said. "You're never completely without friends. You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes, sir," Percy said. "You know of any?"

He pointed his hand at a freight train. It was gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of it said Sun West Line.

"That's... convenient," Thalia said. "Thanks, uh..."

She turned to the homeless guy but he was gone. The trash can was cold and empty, as if he took the flames with him.