(Re) Zo̱ntanoús Nekroús - Chapter Eight

Veronika Lecter:
"Quickly, Ser Fides." I, crammed rather unceremoniously between Tristan and the window, asked. "You seem a smart boy.Tell me what has become of Camp Half-Blood."

Nobody seemed eager to answer. Charlotte twitched in her seat, touching the light green patches of bruising from the rocket pumping of the gun. Eleanor and Carter were quiet in the trunk, and Nathan's grip tightened against the warm leather of the steering wheel. Allison covered her face with both of her hands.

"...I don't really know." Trive said absently, looking up to the car's ceiling, torn slightly but otherwise good as new. "I never really had a reason to go." He paused and shuffled his shoulders a bit, rubbing his arm against his neighbors. Charlotte, good.

"...Eh, Charlotte. You were at Camp Half Blood, right?"

"...Not since the invasion started." A longer pause.

"It was horrible." Tristan muttered beside me, a voice trying not to break with emotion. He sounded almost too stagnant, his hands in his lab stone and cement.

"The scouts barely made it in." Nathan continued after a moment. "Seventeen of them, all from Hermes. Only five came back."

"Our parents were allowed to come in temporarily." Carter cut in from the trunk, his eyes focused on the back window. "Only about sixty made it. The rest.....they-"

"The barrier held for four days." Eleanor stopped him, her eyes glass as she looked to the rest of the group. "No one came in, no one got out. It was peaceful - those we believed, anyway."

"But the fifth day," Allison was barely speaking above a whisper from the passenger's seat. "The barrier went down, and they came in. There was so much blood...." She paused as her voice cracked."

"Most of the buildings were destroyed, save for Apollo's. But I doubt they would have enough food in there to last."

"I don't know, Imogen was one of the smartest at camp."

"Imogen?" I asked, turning to Eleanor.

"She was the counselor of Apollo's kids. Cabin was made of solid gold and in the right light could fry a zombie into ashes." Eleanor explained. "...But no, she's.....probably gone too." I nodded slowly. Camp Half-Blood was a distant memory, but I could remember vague things about it. The gold cabin especially, a staunch contrast to my own - black and hard as obsidian.

"Why are we going back there?" I asked again once tensions seemed to have fallen again.

"Where else is there to go? I figure we can meet at the Apollo Cabin and make plans. Sleep a little. Then from there....." Tristan trailed off.

"We could get a boat." Trive said, still looking upward. "They had boats, right? I can manipulate the water around the boat."

The car immediately became dead silent. This thought.....could we really just.....build a boat? Build a boat and escape?

"I doubt the boats are even there anymore - they've probably just floated away or broken." Carter mused from the back, looking over his shoulder at the group. "And even if we managed to get a boat, where would we go? Most of the continent - if not the world - is full of these things. We're just some kids."

"It's the best plan we have right now." Nathan chimed again from the front. "But Carter does have a point. What if there are no boats? Do we really want to risk being trapped in Camp?"

"I know how to build a boat." I said quietly. Allison turned to see me, her face showing an unusual amount of cheer. The lines around her mouth that were usually fret with worry had disappeared for the moment.

"Really?" Charlotte asked increduously.

"Yes, it was one of many tasks Lady Artemis taught us to do." I nodded.

"....A-and I can help." Allison finally said. "I can weave a canopy over the boat, maybe even help cut down trees. I c-could even help with food while we wait for the boat to be finished."

Nobody moved. This sounded like a plan - shelter, food, protection. The dense woods of camp and the vast ocean - they could make it out of the state.

Nathan slowed the car down at the top of the hill and allowed everyone to unload. Charlotte gently hoisted Trive from his seat and allowed him to feel the grass under his feet - one of the few times he'd ever been able to, considering he was used to the cool concrete of the city. Tristan followed, then Eleanor and Carter from the back. Allison shut her door quietly and leaned against it while Nathan slipped across the hood of the car and pocketed his keys.

Hundreds of cabins: destroyed.The old bonfire circle - just a thick ring of ashes. The last one standing was, as expected, Apollo's golden one. Not even Zeus nor Hera's cabins survived, and I was a bit shaken by my old cabin, Hades', half broken open in the front. The door myust've been ripped off the latch - had it been obsidian like the rest of the cabin, maybe they too could have survived.

"So let's review." Tristan said, pointing the the valley, trive's wrist firmly locked in his other hand. "We try to avoid the other camper- zombies," He swallowed as he said the word. "And get into Apollo's."

"What if their cabin is locked?" Trive asked innocently.

"Natenka and I will handle it." I nodded to Nathan, who scrunched his eyebrows but nodded in agreement.

"..Anyway, we set up base in Apollo's cabin. Allison will get us food, and I expect Eleanor and Carter will keep watch over night?"

"Of course." Eleanor nodded, pulling her crossbow from the storage space in the trunk.

"During the day, we'll sneak out and get materials for building the boat. We should also scavenge the other cabins for supplies - starting with Hephaestus. At night, we'll take turns guarding."

The group nodded in silent agreement, but Trive still seemed a bit upset by the idea.

"...Are we sure this is going to work?"

"No, little boy. But it is our only option." I said quietly. I shook hands with Tristan and smiled before we waved the group behind us, ready to infiltrate the old camp.