HephaestusTV.com (Companion to HephaestusTV and a Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

The Day Before Leaving: Zach's Perspective

Chris Rodriguez picked one up and said,"These are just Leo's paper flowers. But what are they doing here?"

"We can ask him. He's coming right now," Travis said, pointing to Leo and Chloe, who were going over a last-minute checklist.

Sure enough, when the two entered, they were still checking things off.

"Extra clothes?" Chloe asked.

"Check," Leo replied.

"Tech equipment?"

"Check."

"Backup generator? Mini-fridge? Extra Fonzies?"

"Check, check, and a million times check."

"Good. That should be everything," she said, putting her clipboard down and suddenly noticing the cabin. "Hey Valdez, did you and Calypso have a date here or something?"

Zach watched as she picked up a flower and read the peice of paper on it. Travis and Connor also read a few and so did Chris.

"This doesn't make sense," Leo said, looking at a slip. "I was never here and I'm too lazy to write all of this.

Chloe pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, and exclaimed,"Guys! I know what these are. They're song lyrics. Each line is on a seperate peice of paper. Look, here's part of the chorus. This is one of my favorite songs."

"Wait," Leo said. "Isn't that your idea of-and I quote-'the world's most romantic song'?"

"Shut up," she said, trying to mask her smile.

"I don't know this song," Chris said.

"Let's just say that it is the best love story. And I usually hate love stories."

Zach spotted the back door, which was opened a little bit. He took his chance and slipped out of the cabin and went back to his own. He plopped down on his bed and grabbed his computer under his pillow. His cabinmates weren't back yet. He logged onto a bunch of social media accounts on different tabs to look like he was there the whole time. Suddenly music started playing loudly and he scrambed to figure out where it was coming from. He shoved the computer under his pillow because it wasn't the source of the sound.

"Hey," Annabeth said behind him.

"Wha- ow!" Zach exclaimed, falling out of his bed, which happened to be the top bunk.

Annabeth gave him a hand up and said,"Where were you? You missed dinner."

"Busy," he said simply, brushing himself off.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Why do you care?" he said a little more rudely than he intended. "Sorry. Just got stuff on my mind. I'm fine."

"Are you sure-"

"Yeah. I'm just gonna go for a walk."

"It's almost dark."

Zach grabbed his dagger from between his mattresses and a flashlight from his desk drawer. "I'm all prepared," he said.

"Okay then...at least take a jacket. It's cold out."

He grabbed his dark grey sweatshirt from the closet and put on his Green Bay Packers hat. "I'll be back later."

"Don't run into monsters," Malcom said absently. Zach rolled his eyes and went out the door.

Outside of the camp borders, snow piled up to his knees. It was mostly dark save for a few faint stars. He blamed light pollution, because the stars were so much brighter when he lived in the Wisconsin suburbs. His breath hung in the air whenever he exhaled. Icicles hung from the trees, which were just black silohuettes against the blueish-black sky. In the distance, he saw the dim glow of Bunker 9-probably Leo or Festus or something. Just then, a few fluffy white snowflakes started falling from the sky, melting as they touched his jacket. He walked along the dark trail, thinking of everything from how his flower plan went to his friends and siblings to what might happen in the future. Just, you know, life in general. He didn't realize where he was walking until he ran into something. Or specifically, someone.