The Unknown (A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

19. I Meet An Old Friend

I updated! Whoop!

Okay so I've literally just found out that a new series from Rick Riordan, "The Trials of Apollo" Is coming out next month!!!!!! And it's got Percy Jackson and the other characters! I'm super excited because I've read the excerpt online and it's really good XD I can't believe I've only just found out haha.

Video above=nostalgia  

Okay so enough of me talking! Enjoy!

Chapter Nineteen

By the time we reached the theatre, it was too late.

The building was engulfed by a pillar of yellow and orange flame which climbed upwards with surprising speed, leaving a blackened skeleton in its wake. Bodies were strewn across the sidewalk; most of them charred and with the flesh still glowing red from the fire. The air stank of cooked meat and bubbling fat, sickly and sour.

We were still running, if a mixture of stumbling and fast walking counted as running. We were exhausted and we were coated in a layer of sweat, as well as splattered with traces of sewage.

"Where did they go?" I panted. My legs felt like lead and my lungs sucked desperately at the air.

Nico slowed as they ran past, his dark eyes sweeping the area with their usual intensity before fixing ahead and past the theatre. "Come on, this way." He started running again.

Will and I exchanged a weary glance before following him without question. My heart was beating against my rib cage and my palms were slick with sweat. A shadow of foreboding seemed to stretch over me with dark, grotesque fingers.

The streets were now empty except for a few dark shapes stumbling in the alleys at the sides of the houses and buildings. If any came closer, Will would release a perfectly aimed arrow and strike them down with ease. It was times like this I regretted being useless with a bow.

We turned a corner. The smoke was thicker here; the breeze was sweeping it in this direction with vigour, determined to choke us with the smell of rotting flesh.

"Put something over your mouth." Will said. He tore some fabric off his shirt and tied it around the lower part of his face.

Nico and I obeyed, but I could still taste the foulness of the air.

There was large parking lot tucked neatly behind the theatre, and another wave of foreboding made my chest tighten.

"It must have been a popular place." Will observed, glancing around with an aura of nervousness.

"Not anymore." I said. There was a mini bus, overturned and badly damaged, and a few vacant cars but aside from that, the place was empty.

And yet...my sense of dread seemed stronger here. Something was about to happen. Every instinct screamed at me and every hair stood on end. Grover's words repeated again and again in my head.

Nico and Will didn't seem to have the same sense of danger. They were striding further into the parking lot, weapons held loosely at their sides. Several more steps and they'll be completely out in the open.

I should've said something. I know I should've.

But before I could open my mouth to warn them, a single gunshot echoed through the parking lot.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS! GET ON YOUR KNEES!" A masculine voice shouted. "NOW!"

Will, Nico and I exchanged looks, before we laid our weapons on the ground and kneeled. A wave of tranquillity came over me. I wasn't waiting in suspense anymore, I could actually do something. That thought alone comforted.