DIVINE! | percy jackson

chapter eleven - in which they lounge in expensive cars

CHAPTER ELEVEN
☽ 𓆉

          THERE WAS a long stretch of silence for the car ride until they crossed over the Potomac. Percy and Estella leaned over and looked out the window, their cheeks almost pressing together. A sleek black helicopter was on their trail, one that was similar to Westover Hall.

"They know the van," Percy broke the silence. "We have to ditch it."

Zoë moved into the fast lane, but the helicopter was gaining.

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

"The military probably thinks it's one of theirs," Percy said. "How can the General use mortals, anyway?"

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

"Not surprising," Estella said.

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

Zoë 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."

Estella's eyes were still on the helicopter, which managed to lessen the distance between them. Zoë was having trouble managing the traffic.

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

The sky stayed the same: grey and snowy.

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

"We'll be trapped," Zoë said.

"Trust me," Bianca said.

Zoë made her way across the lanes of traffic and to the mall parking lot. The helicopter was somewhere in the distance because Estella had trouble finding it in the sky. They left the van and followed Bianca down some steps.

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

"Anything," Thalia agreed.

They quickly bought their tickets and made it onto the southbound train, heading away from D.C. When the train came above ground, they all peered out the window to see the helicopter circling the parking lot.

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

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

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

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

Thalia sat forward, intrigued. "No subway at all?"

Bianca nodded.

Estella knew there was no way the subway could've been built in only a few years. She didn't live in D.C, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that the subway system was a lot older than Bianca made it seem. The rest of the group seemed to think the same thing because they all looked quite confused.

"Bianca," Zoë said. "How long ago..." Her voice faltered at the sound of the helicopter coming closer.

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

The next thirty minutes consisted of them changing multiple trains in hopes to get rid of the helicopter. Eventually, they lost the helicopter. But the price was that they ended up at the end of the line, in the middle of an industrial area decorated with snow.