Silver Tears - Ethan Nakamura

Thirty-four: We will never catch a fucking break will me? RIP Astra's burrito

I LOVE JUST HAVING SUCH POWERFUL FRIENDS YOU KNOW ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY LAUGH AT YOU. I'M LOOKING AT YOU ASTRA ROMANO.

At the edge of the dump, we found a tow truck so old it might've been thrown away itself. But the engine started, and it had a full tank of gas, so we decided to borrow it.

Astra drove. She didn't seem as stunned as Zoe or Cassian or Grover or me.

"The skeletons are still out there," Astra reminded us. "We need to keep moving."

She navigated us through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. Thalia sat up front with Astra. Grover, Zoe, Cassian and I sat in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow wench. The air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after losing Bianca.

I thought about the little figure that laid on Astra's lap. I still couldn't even tell what god it was supposed to be. Nico would know.

Oh, gods... what was I going to tell Nico?

I wanted to believe that Bianca was still alive somewhere. But Astra had confirmed that Hades had taken her already.

"It should've been me," I said. "I should've gone into the giant."

"Don't say that!" Grover panicked. "It's bad enough Annabeth is gone, and now Bianca. Do you think I could stand it if..." He sniffled. "Do you think anybody else would be my best friend?"

"Ah, Grover..."

He wiped under his eyes with an oily cloth that left his face grimy, like he had on war paint. "I'm... I'm okay."

But he wasn't okay. Ever since the encounter in New Mexico—whatever had happened when that wild wind blew through—he seemed really fragile, even more emotional than usual. I was afraid to talk to him about it, because he might start bawling.

At least there's one good thing about having a friend who gets freaked out more than you do. I realized I couldn't stay depressed. I had to set aside thinking about Bianca and keep us going forward, the way Thalia was doing. I wondered what she and Astra were talking about in the front of the truck.

I could make out a couple of words, like sorry, lighting, skeletons and boiling. My best guess was that Astra was apologizing.

The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well, because the road dead-ended.

Astra got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. "Great. What now?"

I scanned the horizon. There wasn't much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below us.