Lights

Annabeth POV

I gazed out the fourth-floor windows. The hotel is located in a very busy part of Philadelphia just like our previous camp. I could see UPenn's hospital system in front of me. There were multiple restaurants, stores, and university buildings on the other sides.

Groups of zombies were littering the streets. Even though it seemed like a large number, the zombie count was nothing compared to New York.

"You've been spending more time alone lately," Luke's voice disrupted my thoughts.

"I don't feel like interacting with anyone."

"Anyone but one person?" Luke asked. A hidden meaning played in his short sentence. Of course, Luke knew about my and Percy's relationship. Even though we said to keep it hidden, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.

Besides, Percy always wanted a fully committed relationship. He didn't mind telling everyone because he wanted people to know that we love each other. I hesitated on telling everyone because I wasn't ready yet.

I sighed as Luke settled next to me. We were staring out of the large ovular window. The lobby was empty because it was late in the night. The stars were shining brightly. I was surprised that Bob wasn't here. He was an astronomer before the apocalypse, so he's usually always looking outside on a clear day like today.

"I've lost people to the apocalypse. My parents died after the apocalypse started. However, I didn't expect losing someone to hurt that much again," I expressed quietly.

"You and Thalia were quite close, Annie. It's understandable. Furthermore, Percy was special to you. There's no denying that."

I paused and gazed over at Luke's face. Even though I'm tall for a female, Luke was way taller, so I had to look up. The moonlight shined against Luke's cheek scar. He received the scar before the apocalypse. His mom attacked him during one of her psychotic episodes.

"He wouldn't want you to be stalled on him," Luke said.

"I know that."

We stood in silence. I didn't know what Luke was thinking about, but I was thinking about Percy only. I missed him so much.

"I know that you didn't get along much with Percy," I replied. "And, I'm probably part of the reason for it, but thank you for saving his sister."

"I knew you'd always choose Percy over me," Luke said quietly.

Tears were sparkling in his eyes. Almost everyone has gone through what he was feeling. Imagine never being someone's first choice. Percy is always my first choice; Luke would always fall after him on the spectrum. Luke knew it too.

I didn't know what to say, so I let the silence speak for itself.

Luke patted my shoulder before leaving me alone.

I sat down on a loveseat near the window and continued to look at the stars. I only know of a few constellations. The big dipper was shining brightly in the sky. I always wondered about the people who labeled the constellations thousands of years ago.

They didn't have it any easier. Life is always hard. It's not easier for some people than others. Everyone goes through their own problems. Hopefully, the individuals will be able to grow stronger out of hardships. Hopefully, they can handle them.

I'm handling my life or (at least) trying to.

However, a part of me is also hopeful. No one saw Percy die. They definitely didn't see Thalia die. Maybe, they're still out there looking for me.

I smiled at the thought. Hope keeps you going, right?

I quickly retreated to my bedroom before grabbing my backpack. No, I'm running back to New York. I'm Annabeth Chase. I don't work on low probabilities. Besides, the people at camp need me to stay here and lead them.

However, I also have a life of my own.

My brothers were sleeping soundly. For some reason, they brought this colorful disco ball from home many months ago.

I chastised them about the ornament. Now, I'm finding a use for it.

I used the stairs to climb onto the roof of the hotel. The roof was my favorite place at the museum, and this roof had a similar feel. I looked up at the night sky before analyzing the buildings around me. We were in the center of the large city.

There is a dish antenna above the hotel. Most hotels have a very tall structure with an antenna dish on the top of their building to get better service.

My muscles ached as I climbed the tall, steel structure. The dish antenna was at the very top. Obviously, no signals were coming in or out. I didn't care about that.

Once I reached the top, the wind swayed me violently. I refused to look down. The top of the antenna was over thirty years above the roof. I wrapped my arms around the steel bars while fiddling with the battery-operated disco ball.

I switched it on, and the bright lights practically blinded me.

I almost fell off the antenna in the process.

"WHEEW," I breathed heavily while clutching the antenna. I attached the football-sized disco ball to the top of the antenna. The bright lights flashed all around, reflecting off the antenna dish. I was surprised that such a small ornament could give off such strong light.

Once I got back to the safety of the roof, I looked up.

The disco ball's rainbow colors were so bright. Besides the hospitals, the hotel's antenna is the tallest structure in the area. The disco lights could be viewed for miles.

I know the chances are small. But, if Percy and Thalia venture into the city, they'd be able to see the light from a short distance. Maybe, they'd find me.

Hope is a dangerous faith to have. It can come back to burn you. However, light and fire can burn you too, yet people need/use light and fire all the time. For me, the disco ball's lights gave me hope that someday Percy, Thalia, and Nico would come back to me.

Even though it's quite small, this is my way of helping them find me again.

***

It's fairly normal for hotels to have a kitchen. Usually, most high-end hotels serve their tenants' breakfast, which requires a kitchen. Fortunately, UPenn's nice hotel has all the proper amenities. Grover and Juniper were already setting up the kitchen.

Leo already geared some of the electricity into the kitchen. We had to conserve energy, so the electricity is only functional on the entire first floor, the lobbies of the other floors, and the kitchen. Everything else is of secondary importance.

The main lobby on the first floor has many couches and a bunch of tables. It was a casual setting, but it was enough to support about half the camp at once.

I was sitting with Jason and Piper while eating some grimy cereal.

We don't have much food in the hotel. We did some last-minute packing and that's it. Besides some cereal, canned foods, and bread, nothing else exists.

"We have to go on a bunch of raids this week," Piper acknowledged. "Is it wrong that I don't want to help?"

"No, it's not wrong at all," I expressed quietly.

Chiron was talking to Luke and Reyna about organizing a few raids. He already spoke with me about leading a raid in the southern direction. I will be taking Jason and Piper to gather some food in the restaurants and stores a few blocks south.

Luke and his group will be going west for more food and resources. Meanwhile, Reyna, Frank, and Hazel will go East. They'll get some medicines and equipment for the camp members. Essentially, we're going on a bunch of raids to replenish our camp. Also, raids are the best way to scope the nearby area for threats beyond the zombie population.

"All right, are you guys ready to go?" I asked firmly.

"Let's get this over with. Piper, you can hotwire the ambulance in the parking structure right. The ambulance will be easier to drive than the bus. Plus, there's a lot of storage space in the back if we get rid of the medical equipment," Jason suggested.

"Will already brought the ambulance's equipment inside. He raided it this morning, but we do need to hotwire it," I continued.

"I can hotwire. Percy taught me a few things," Piper faltered off.

Jason and Piper both stared at me cautiously. I let their words roll off my back before leading them to the parking structure's entrance. The Stolls opened the doors and let us out. We all carried knives and bats with us.

There were a few stray zombies in the garage. Jason took care of them for us. He needed to let off some steam anyway.

The ambulance was parked about fifty yards away from the doors. It was sitting on the other side of the parking garage, and it was waiting to be driven. Piper got to work in the front while I looked inside the ambulance. It was clean and empty.

Jason and I circled the ambulance for defense.

It was a perfect vehicle for bringing and storing supplies. We could fit a lot of food into the back and bring it back to our new camp.

"Philadelphia feels weird compared to New York. It's quieter despite both cities being large and populated," Jason said.

"It's just because everything feels new."

Jason nodded at me before the familiar buzz of an engine garnered our attention. Jason entered the passenger's seat while I got into the back. there was a little window inside the ambulance that we opened to foster communication.

Piper drove the white ambulance out of the garage and headed into the southern road. Some restaurants and stores were in the blocks to come. We simply bypassed all the zombies before stopping in front of a Giant Eagle.

"All right. Let's get as much edible food as possible. Leave the expired stuff behind. Let's not waste any space. Anything we can eat can go back," I ordered.

With some extra planning, Jason, Piper, and I bolted out of the ambulance.

The Giant Eagle was buzzing with growling zombies. They kept stumbling over their feet while coming at us. Compared o the zombies in New York, these zombies seemed less active. they were slower meaning that they don't get much stimulation. Philadelphia, in general, is less busy than New York City. Even the zombies seemed to feel the effects.

I grabbed a lot of shopping carts and loaded them with food. Refrigerated and frozen bread lasts for months. All the frozen foods are usually viable for a few years. I practically dropped the canned foods aisle into the carts.

The snack foods easily took multiple carts as well. Grover and Juniper are great at turning unhealthy snacks into healthier lunch/dinner alternatives.

A lot of the older moms in our camp are amazing at cooking as well. their creativity is unrivaled, which is why they handle the kitchen responsibilities.

"Annabeth, let's get this stuff back to the ambulance and keep moving," Jason said.

"I agree. All the carts are full," Piper affirmed. Her kaleidoscope eyes sparkled in the dim grocery store. She helped herself to some Hershey's chocolate bars.

Jason and Piper pushed the dozens of carts to the ambulance. I moved quickly around them with my knives and defended them from the zombies. Even though there were a lot of zombies, I've handled larger numbers on other raids.

We repeated the same process for an Olive Garden, a Kroger's, and Walmart.

We've been on so many raids together. Usually, Thalia is with us, and we definitely felt the loss of her presence. Regardless, we make a very effective and efficient team.

Within a few hours, we were heading back to the hotel.

We parked next to the buses in front of the hotel doors.

I smashed a fat zombie in the dome before slicing two female zombies. All three crumbled at the same time. At this point, I don't think of zombies as humans anymore because they aren't. They used to be humans, but now, they're just corpses.

Jason, Piper, and I defended the parking structure while some civilian volunteers took the food into the hotel. They quickly transported the resources while we took out any zombie that came too close to us.

"The raid went well," I reported to Chiron.

"That's wonderful, but do you have any more recommendations?" Chiron asked. This is classic Chiron. He's always looking to make the camp better.

We were sitting in the main lobby. I was watching the citizens of the camp transport the food into the kitchen. Grover and Juniper were leading the charge. Hestia was sitting next to us with Estelle in her arms.

Hestia and Chiron usually plan stuff together. Chiron makes the plans, but Hestia is good at affirming or denying the plans. She's honest and cares deeply.

I tapped Stella's hands while looking up at them.

"We need to fortify the parking structure. If we can somehow barricade the parking structure's large entrances, then we wouldn't have to defend and transport at the same time," I paused to think. "We need to make another perimeter. At least, we need a barricade for the parking garage."

Chiron and Hestia smiled while looking at each other. I knew that my idea was a good one. The hotel is fairly safe, but we can make it better.

"This is why the camp needs you, Annabeth," Chiron affirmed.