NEVER BE THE SAME . . . percy jackson

forty eight: the prison break.

THE AMAZON JAIL was at the top of a storage aisle, sixty feet in the air.

Kinzie led them up three different ladders to a metal catwalk, then tied their hands loosely behind their backs and pushed them along past crates of jewelry.

A hundred feet ahead, under the harsh glow of fluorescent lights, a row of chain-link cages hung suspended from cables. Percy and Frank were in two of the cages, talking to each other in hushed tones. Next to them on the catwalk, three bored-looking Amazon guards leaned against their spears and gazed at black IPads in their hands like they were reading.

"Get moving, girls," Kinzie ordered, loud enough for the guards to hear. She prodded Brooklyn in the back with her sword.

Brooklyn walked as slowly as she could, which wasn't hard because her feet hurt so damn much. Couldn't the Amazons invest in chairs? Jesus Christ.

She leaned in toward Hazel as inconspicuously as she could. "Do you have a plan?"

Hazel shook her head. Then, next to Brooklyn, she froze. Brooklyn followed her gaze to a shit ton of crates filled with jewelry, based on the signs.

"What is it?" Kinzie hissed. "Keep moving! They'll get suspicious."

"Make them come here," Hazel muttered over her shoulder.

"Why—"

"Please."

The guards frowned in their direction.

"What are you staring at?" Kinzie yelled at them. "Here's the prisoners. Come get them."

The nearest guard set down her IPad. "Why can't you walk another thirty paces, Kinzie?"

"Um, because—"

"Ooof!" Hazel fell to her knees and put on a nauseous expression. "I'm feeling nauseous! Can't . . . walk. Amazons . . . too . . . scary."

"Ugh!" Brooklyn fell to the ground dramatically, splaying her body on the ground. "My feet . . . hurt too much! Walked . . . too far!"

"There you go," Kinzie told the guards. "Now, are you going to come take the prisoners, or should I tell Queen Hylla you're not doing your duty?"

The nearest guard rolled her eyes and trudged over.

The first guard grabbed Hazel's arm. "Fine. I'll take custody of the prisoners. But if I were you, Kinzie, I wouldn't worry about Hylla. She won't be queen much longer."

"We'll see, Doris." Kinzie turned to leave.

The guard Doris pulled on Hazel's arm, reaching out to Brooklyn with the other. "Well? Come on."

"Not . . . feeling so good," Hazel groaned.

"You are not throwing up on me," Doris growled. She tried to yank Hazel to her feet, but Hazel went limp. Next to her, the boxes began to tremble.

"Lulu!" Doris yelled to one of her comrades. "Help me bring the other girl over."

Amazons named Doris and Lulu? Brooklyn thought. Okay, bro.

The second guard jogged over. Before she could haul Brooklyn to her feet, she tripped her with her outstretched leg. 

"Hey!" Lulu fell to the floor. "You insolent—"

The entire pallet of jewelry exploded with a sound like a thousand slot machines hitting the jackpot. A tidal wave of silver friendship bracelets poured across the catwalk, washing Doris and Lulu right over the railing.

A few hundred bracelets leaped at the guards and lashed around their ankles, leaving them hanging upside down from the bottom of the catwalk, screaming like lame little girls.