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—THANKFULLY, everyone was on the same page when the train finally came to a rest. Everyone hopped down from their decks in a speedy manner, fearing it would start up again within seconds only to take them back from where they came. They didn't exactly have the time to go back and do it all over again.
Judith was also fortunate to find her foot was in exceptionally better shape. It no longer sent a pulse up her leg when she placed pressure on it, and she could actually wiggle her toes comfortably again. It wouldn't be long before the iron soaked socks would start to flood her nose wherever she walked, though. She made a point of breathing through her mouth whenever possible, which wasn't too difficult considering her nose was stuffed from the cold.
Speaking of, the only part of her body that wasn't freezing, was her waist line. Her hand traced around her hip, eliciting a hum from the deadly belt she wore. The heat from the new properties Ares had bestowed upon it warmed her just enough to be comforting like a personal heater — that probably hadn't been her father's intention, but it was nice perk.
After trudging through a few inches of snow for about a mile, they came up on a small ski town at the base of a snowy mountain. It was old-town style, all wooden infrastructure and frontier-like. It screamed 'western movie,' and Judith had never really been a fan; though, the mountain was pretty cool.
WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO.
Judith had never been to New Mexico. She'd been to many different states since she was an army brat, but never New Mexico, and especially not somewhere like Cloudcroft ( Dexter would hate it. And for that reason, Judith had to like it just a little ).
Behind her, she could hear Percy explaining the encounter the two had with Apollo the night before on the train. Looking over her shoulder, she could see Grover's uneasiness and had to wonder if he always looked like that. "That's good, I guess." He said, talking about San Francisco. "But we've got to get there first."
They stopped dead center of town, probably looking like delinquents in search of trouble. Judith turned in all directions. A K-12 school, useless. Tourist stores, useless. Cafes, noted. And a single grocery store, useless.
"Great," Thalia said, looking around as well. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."
"There's a coffee shop!" said Grover.
"Yes," Zoë said. "Coffee is good."
Suddenly, Judith kind of hated coffee. Agreeing with Zoë on anything just set off sirens in her mind, and Judith took them at face value. But still, her mouth watered.
