I'm really glad that so many of you like this story. I feel so proud when I see someone has voted or commented or even just looked for a second at what my friends and I have written. Here is the next part of the series. Unfortunately, I don't know how regular the updates will be because I am working on a Warriors NaNoWriMo novel and I'm in a few contests that require my limited time more than this piece. I will try very hard to get back to you guys and get this up, but until then, enjoy!

~Blaze

Chapter 3

It was a wasteland.

Everything was completely destroyed. Trees were damaged, cars totaled, buildings obliterated; destruction left in a long trail by what Kat assumed to be countless numbers of monsters. Even right then she could see in the distance large hulking black forms grabbing things and throwing them around. She didn’t want to think of what they were destroying.

Kat looked around her at the chaos, mouth dropping open. Was this happening everywhere? It felt like a bad zombie movie; any second there was going to be corpses reanimating, and she would have to hide in a breaking building only to fall to her doom or something. Kat shook her head, rubbing her eyes.

“Crap.” Was the first words out of her mouth, followed by uncontrollable coughs. The dust had settled on her lips and up her nose, and she could barely breathe without choking. She just hoped the monsters wouldn’t hear and come back.

Kat heard a rustling near her, and she dropped instinctively into a defensive crouch, looking for the source of the noise. What she found was John, trying desperately to push a large board off of his body.

“Stupid board,” he grunted, looking around hastily at the distant monsters, “Get off!” Kat snickered.

“You seriously can’t lift that? It looks like it’s no more than 20 pounds.” Kat giggled at his plight before sighing at him. “You look kind of pathetic. Here.” Kat reached down and lifted the board off of him, careful to hold it up until he could scramble out from beneath it, then lower it to the ground without noise.

“Where is Rowan?” Kat looked around until she spotted the familiar green head of hair. His body was simply lying there, unmoving. The ground around him was crushed as if many monsters had walked very close to him. “Rowan. Get up.” She didn’t want to yell, but he wasn’t moving. How could she wake him up?

Slap! The cracking sound rang. Kat gave John an angry look.

“What part of quiet don’t you understand! Very effective though.” She congratulated her fellow demigod as Rowan shot up, eyes wide and hand flying to his cheek. “Good morning sunshine! The Earth says hello! Today the forecast is cloudy with a high chance of death. Get moving before the monsters find us.” Kat kept a smile on her face throughout her monologue. Inwardly she was freaking out. Should they look for more survivors or just save themselves?

Her choice was made for her a moment later. A loud roar sounded a few feet away from them. Kat turned slowly to see a wolf, snarling and staring her down, slowly stalking towards her and her friends. It snarled again when it realized that it had her attention.

“Is this a monster wolf?” Kat asked nervously, pulling her knife from her boot. “Can we actually kill it? Will it get angry?”

“I wouldn’t really appreciate it if you killed him, so no that’s not an option for you sweetheart.” Kat whirled around, startled once again that she hadn’t seen or heard this guy coming. He was, she had to admit, rather attractive with his short curly brown hair, light green eyes, and easygoing smile. As she stared at him, his eyes flashed gold, then faded to a sickly yellow color. He was dressed in a simple jeans and t-shirt combo, but he made it look good.

“Hi! How are you? Is he your.. friend? If so, I’d just like to ask if you could just not bother us, and we wont bother or kill you, and this can all go very smoothly! You could just... let us go?” Kat rambled, unnerved by the man. Who was he, what was he, and what was that wolf doing with him. Out of the corner of her eye, Kat noticed John slowly backing away.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. It’s nothing personal, you know. God I sound like a walking cliche. Oh, and I’m being so rude! My name is Fengári. His name is Skylo. Skylo, say hi!” The wolf shot him a look before letting out a short bark. “So yeah, like I was saying, it really isn’t anything personal. I’m under orders, blah blah blah…” Kat noticed his hand move down to his side and make a weird movement. It was her only warning sign.

“Run!” Kat yelled, scrambling away from the lunging wolf. She stumbled over a stray piece of metal before catching herself and running after John and Rowan. “Rowan, help John!” She said as she spotted Rowan attempting to shoot the wolf with his arrows. Something told her that that this wolf would not die that easily.

“You can run, but you can’t hide. Oh, I’m saying cliches again. I need to stop, really.” Kat was tempted to roll her eyes at his rambling but refrained in favor of dodging another strike from the wolf.

“There’s a house over there!” Rowan yelled, taking long strides towards a building. John was panting and gasping beside him, having not exercised strenuously in the last century or two.

“Does it look safe?” Kat asked. Had they been able to look around at that moment, they would have seen the confused look

“I don’t care,” John panted, “I just can’t run any longer!”

“Well it says ‘Demigod Safe House’ on it. I’m not really sure if that’s a trick or not.” Rowan said.

“Just head towards it anyway!” Kat risked a sideways jump that took her momentarily away from the jaws of the wolf. Why wasn’t Fengari chasing them?

A moment later she felt something wash over her, as if she was running through a gloopy forcefield. It slowed her progress immensely, causing everything around her to move in a momentary slow-motion. Seconds later she heard what sounded like a pop, and everything around her sped up once more.

“What on earth?” John wondered aloud.

Kat chanced a glance behind her and actually stumbled in surprise. They weren’t chasing after them at all. Instead they were prowling around a few feet away as if they were stuck at some sort of force field.

“Did we seriously just find a safe zone right at the most convenient moment? This is literally the biggest cliche! ……..not that I’m complaining; this is really awesome for our lives.” Kat continued to head to the house, now slowly walking to recover her strength. She was still close enough to hear the annoyed howls of Skylo.

“Get in that house. John, you need to sit down and rest. The second we find Camp Halfblood, I’m personally putting you through enough training to get you sprinting a mile in ten seconds flat.” Kat stumbled up to the house after them, pushing her way through piles of debris and bodies. She did not want to know what had happened here.

“Uh, not to sound picky or anything but I’d rather not be around a bunch of corpses,” John stated, eyeing the bodies warily. Kat shrugged though he could not see it.

“I honestly don’t have the energy to care right now. Get in the house. I’m not carrying your dead weight around when you get tired.”

“I think I’ll try to manage then,” he muttered. Kat grinned. He was so sarcastic! It was kinsmet!

Kat walked up the wood stairs, suddenly uncharacteristically nervous to be stepping into this unknown house. It reminded her of something from a horror movie- with its dank, dark brown wooden walls and fragile looking structure. It did fit the atmosphere, she supposed, thinking of the corpses littered everywhere.

What surprised her was the wall of warmth that she hit upon passing through the doorway. The inside of the house was much different than the outside; while the outside looked creepy and foreboding, the bright, warm reds, browns, and yellows of the inside made the place cheery. It was like stepping into your grandmother’s house, with soft, plush furniture and little nicknacks and pictures everywhere.

What interested her most, however, was the amount of demigod supplies that covered every available surface of the room. Weapons of every variety were neatly stacked on tables, piles and piles of ambrosia-filled bags covered the floor, and she could see a brazier in the corner ignited with a little flame.

“Oh YES.” Kat cheered. She dropped her stuff on the nearest couch (ignoring its extremely cheerful flowery design) and made a beeline for the loaded tables. “This is stuff that we all really need; money, nectar, clothing, blankets, ropes, weapons, everything! This is the best apocalypse safehouse ever!” She picked up her backpack from the couch and began stuffing everything she deemed necessary into its depths.

“You’re not going to even question why this is all here?” John asked, incredulous, “For all you know there’s some price to pay for it. Maybe that’s why all those bodies were there. Kat stared incredulously at him.

“Those bodies are there because it’s an apocalypse. Everyone is dead everywhere. This is a demigod safe house or something meant for demigods like us. Honestly, I would be more cautious in another situation, but, well…” Kat pointed to the coffee table in front of her stuff, where a piece of paper was taped to the surface.

“Welcome Demigods to your safehouse; The place in the world where your odds of dying go down by 15%! Remember to stick together, help each other out, and try to live!” Kat turned back around and popped a pretzel into her mouth. “You need to be more observant.” She mumbled through food crumbs.

“I’ll try my luck at being cautious,” he murmured, staring at her pretzel. She rolled her eyes.

“You are going to need a crash course in the modern world and its conveniences. Thank God Rowan won’t be so needy.” Kat picked up a pre-packaged bag of basic demigod survival and sorted through it, adding certain items that she thought John might need.

“Ok! You need to come here and choose a weapon. I think a smaller melee would be best for someone like you… unless Rowan can train you with a bow. I’m ok with most weapons myself, but I’m a horrible teacher.”

“Would you suggest anything in particular?” He asked, his eyes already glazed over from looking at the variety. Kat took in his shorter, lean stature and his skinny, rakish arms.

“Well nothing like a broadsword… Would you prefer to get up close with something like a dagger? You need a smaller, lighter weapon.” Kat stopped in front of a rack of swords, admiring their crude but efficient shapes and forms. She turned to advise John something more, when she noticed that he was not moving.

He seemed transfixed by something buried in a pile of small daggers and knives. He reached forward, carefully shifting the sharp blades until he pulled out a bronze tinted gun with a vent ribbed barrel and polished wood handle.

“This is nice,” he commented. Kat observed the way he handled the gun, turning it back and forth and grasping it with a grip that seemed familiar. Kat nodded in approval. She picked up the nearest dagger, one with a smaller handle and serpentine blade.

“Take this for close range. I’m not sure where you’re going to find ammo, but good luck with that. Maybe Rowan could teach you. Where is Rowan anyway?” Kat looked around the room and finally spotted his form half-buried in a closet. All around him clothes were strewn carelessly, boxes and shirts flung everywhere.

“Rowan, make sure you look for something for John to wear. Male things are not my problem on this journey, just as woman things aren’t yours.” Kat’s brow furrowed as he continued to dig through the closet. “What the hell are you looking for anyway?” Rowan seemed to almost disappear as he reached deeper into the closet.

“Yes! Got it!” He crowed, before appearing from the doorway with something bright red clutched in his hands. Kat snorted as he placed what she could now see was a red beanie on his head while looking extremely self-satisfied and smug. It clashed horribly with his green hair.

“Good for you, Rowan. Now help John quickly, and get over here so we can make a plan for once we get out of here.” Kat spent the next hour exploring the house, gathering food, clothing, and possible weapons for their group. When the boys were finally done fooling around, she sat them both on a couch and looked them in the eye.

“I have a lot to explain to you about the past century or so. Yes Rowan, this is directed more to John than to you. Just shut up and listen anyway. So, in the late 1840’s…..”

It was a few hours later that she finally stopped speaking. On the floor beside them was twelve empty packages of chips and over twenty bottles of water. Most of that water ended up on Rowan as he made fun of her speech and inputs during the lesson.

“I’m not entirely sure what is happening right now, but whatever it is, we need to stick together. I’m pretty sure there aren’t that many people left, and with our Demigod stench we’ll stick out like beacons.”

“Then what are we going to do? Do you have a plan?” John questioned. Kat shrugged.

“Do I ever have a viable plan? Well actually you wouldn’t know since we only met like a day ago. But I honestly think our best bet is to find other demigods and/or work our way to Camp Half-Blood for some information. And of course, we should help whatever demigods we see. I’d also like to find my family, which shouldn’t be too long of a pit stop. While we’re still here, you know? We can try to find out what happened to yours as well.”

“That sounds as good an idea as any,” he shrugged.

“Ok.” Rowan said. Kat clapped her hands and stood.

“Great. Now lets get out of here. The day is still young, and we have plenty of time to kill before nightfall!” She wrapped a light jacket around her waist and shrugged her backpack on. On her side her broadsword hung in its sheathe and on her right thigh she strapped her dagger. Countless knives of various sizes snuck their way onto her person and in her bag.

“I don’t have enough space for the things I want to take!” Kat wailed in not-so-fake sorrow. She really wanted to make sure she had everything she needed, wanted, and might need in the near future.

She watched as John studied the gun in his hand before slipping it into the belt loop of his pants. He then hefted the backpack over his shoulders, buckling under its weight. Kat watched Rowan expertly sling his bow and quiver over his shoulder, strap on his sword, and slip a dagger into his boot.

“What the heck is in this thing?!” John hissed. Kat grinned.

“Your life. Don’t lose that, we don’t know where the next safe-house is.” Kat checked the house one more time, sorry to see the comfortable place go. Everything out there was a miserable wasteland.

“Alright. Lets go!” Kat led the way out the door. She scanned their surroundings, ignoring the dead bodies that still littered the floor. The guy and his wolf seemed to have left. What was his name again?

“Yo.” Rowan hissed and tapped her shoulder. Kat turned to see two figures standing over one of the corpses. Kat dropped down into a crouch, approaching them from behind. When she got close enough, she could hear their conversation.

“It is a nice day, isn’t it. It’s been pretty sunny all around, not too many clouds, and only one major explosion! That’s tame compared to last week.” The curly black haired man told his blonde friend cheerfully. Their bodies were obscured by long black cloaks, so she could only see their exposed heads.

“Last week was very horrible. Wasn’t that the reason for all these bodies? You’re welcome for the sun, by the way. I wasn’t in the mood for clouds.”

“You’re never in the mood for clouds.”

“Can you blame me? The sun is gorgeous! The moon is cool too, but you know how I prefer the day.”

“The sun is great and all, but I’d be happy if they’d get here already.”

“I’d be happy if you guys would put your hands up and turn around.” Kat spoke sharply, sword leveled with the brown haired guy’s neck. Beside her, Rowan had his crossbow trained on the other guy. John lingered behind them, fiddling idly with something shiny and metallic.

The two guys turned around slowly, hands in the air. What Kat saw, she did not expect.

They were humans, judging from the looks of them, (or perhaps humanoid, but who cared for specifics at that point?) equipped with two arms and two legs; something that made Kat happy. She wasn’t in the mood for any more monsters. The exciting part was how they actually looked.

They were gorgeous; tall, broad shouldered, mildly muscled and very attractive. A god could have chiseled them from rock. On their waists she could see celestial bronze swords. The blonde had a bow on his back. The black haired one had familiar looking sandals on his feet, and were those snakes crawling around the hilt of his sword?.

“I do hope you aren’t going to try to kill us.” The black haired one told her cheekily. Kat blushed as she realized she had been staring at them for far too long. She lowered her sword from his neck, dropping it by her side but not putting it away.

“How the hell did I miss two attractive demigods like you two at camp? I wasn’t gone for that long, was I?” The two of them shared an amused glance, grinning at each other and then at her.

“We don’t go to Camp Half-Blood.” The black haired one said. Kat put a hand on her hip.

“How did you survive without being at the camp? And for that matter, where did you get those weapons from? The safehouse?” The two of them shared another look.

“I don’t think she’s realized it yet.”

“No, I don’t believe she has.”

“Should I tell her?”

“No, I’m enjoying this. Keep going at it, it’s funny.” Kat was going to say something to them until she felt Rowan nudge her. He was staring at the one with the bow with a wide eyed look. Bow-man noticed and waved, to Kat’s amusement.

“What?” She asked Rowan when he nudged her again.

“Dad.” He pointed at the blonde. Kat frowned. Dad? His dad was Apollo, not this random guy they found during the apocalypse… wait.

Wait.

She peered at Bow-man, taking in his features. You’re welcome for the sun, by the way. He has a bow, and he’s involved with the sun? No…

But then who was the other one?

She looked at her curly brunette, the one she had found oh-so attractive. Who would be hanging out with Apollo besides another God?

The sandals. The sword has snakes on it.

Now that she looked closer, she could see the little wings fluttering by the back of his sandals, and the snakes were gently twisting around his sword. His cocky smile was erased when she looked back up, replaced instead with a warm, inviting, and slightly sheepish grin.

“Holy crap.” She looked into his playful blue eyes with a gasp.