American Fashion

Percy POV

Bianca and Nico were driving the jeep with a large speaker system on the roof. A large siren started blaring from the jeep's speakers. You could probably hear it for half a mile. Most of the zombies turned away from us and staggered to the jeep. Nico gave a quick wave from the passenger window before Bianca started driving the siren away from us.

Luke approached us with his truck while all the zombies followed Bianca and Nico. The progress was slow, but the plan was effective.

Bianca and Nico slowly drew the zombies away via the siren.

Luke, Annabeth, and I shot the few spare zombies left behind. Annabeth and I quickly climbed down. Pain shot into my left leg.

"Where's Beckendorf," Luke shouted frantically.

"His corpse is over there," I whispered while pointing at the zombie. The entire street was littered with corpses, but only Charles's corpse mattered to me.

"We have to take him back to the camp," Luke said quietly. "I know that death is a part of our world now. However, Charles was such an important person to the museum. He needs a proper funeral."

Annabeth and I both agreed with Luke. He was speaking utter facts, and I appreciated him for it.

Since my ankle is injured, I worked on shooting any spare zombies nearby. There were still quite a few zombies in our street, but not nearly as many as before. I couldn't believe everything that happened in the past couple of minutes.

Annabeth and Luke moved Charles into the new truck.

Then, Luke opened the doors to the old moving truck. As I expected, a bunch of biology tech equipment was inside. South Sector is used as a research center.

However, how much progress were they possibly making? What's the point? It seemed like a waste of time to me.

I helped them transfer the equipment.

"How is Silena doing?" Luke asked while looking at the roof of the truck. We couldn't see them fully. "She must be devastated."

"That's not all, Luke. Silena was also a bit. Charles was a bit a lot, and he quickly transformed. Silena's bite was more superficial. Her transformation will be slower and painful," I expressed.

"We have to take her back too," Annabeth said quietly. A faraway look entered her face, but she cleared her throat.

Luke paused and went toward Annabeth. "I know she's one of your best friends, but she's going to die soon. We can study her transformation."

"That's sick," I exclaimed. "You can't do that."

"We have other subjects at the camp," Annabeth explained with a sigh. "Luke is being reasonable, Percy. If Silena agrees, we'll study her zombie."

I shook my head in disgust.

South Sector is private because they have other zombies in there. The science individuals at camp are allowed in there because they're helping with the research. Whatever it is. I hate this situation.

The old moving truck was beaten up. We transferred the equipment into the new truck quickly. Then, Thalia and Silena finally came down. Silena's body was shaking with a fever, and her eyes were bloodshot. She's still alive and herself though. I tried not to think about Charles as I helped her into the moving truck.

While Annabeth and Luke rode in the front, Thalia, Silena, and I rode in the back of the truck. This moving truck was larger than the last. There's more room for us to sit despite all the technological equipment.

"I'm so sorry, Silena," I whispered.

"A part of me is glad that I was bitten," she said shakily. Tears were flowing from her eyes. She was such a beautiful girl. She doesn't deserve this.

"What are you talking about, Silena? Don't say that," Thalia urged sadly.

"No, I am glad that I'm bitten. Pretty soon, I'll be a zombie, and I'll be dead. In a sense, Charlie and I will be dead together. We'll enter Elysium together. It must be so much better there than the hell we live in now," Silena expressed.

My head hung low as her words made an impact.

Once you turn into a zombie, you're dead. As such, Silena is correct. Beckendorf and Silena will be dead together, and they'll enter heaven together.

I couldn't argue with her words.

***

We were late coming to camp because we buried Charles Beckendorf in central park. We figured that Silena should be there for a simple funeral. She said a few kind words about Beckendorf. We all did.

After we arrived at the museum, all of us were ushered into the South Sector. I had a heavy limp that Will decided to check on.

Sitting in South Sector was unnerving.

We were in a large exhibit on the southside. It was the American Fashion exhibit with several fashion photographs and mannequins with weird clothes. However, the unnerving part comes from the zombies. The scientists at camp took glass exhibits from the other sectors and build cages from them.

Each zombie had its own cage.

"I know that it's a lot to take in. Dr. Claymore worked at the Center for Disease Control (CDC). he intends to study the virus and see if there's any cure. He's looking for an end to the apocalypse. We all are," Will explained.

"This just feels wrong. It's disgusting. they're people."

"No, Percy. Even you know that they're not people. They used to be people. Now, they are all corpses with no mind and no soul."

I winced as Will touched my swollen ankle. He continued to examine my ankle before deciding that my tibia had a small fracture. he quickly explained that he has to set the bone before any more damage can be done. I didn't realize that setting the bone would hurt like hell until he did.

Will counted to three before twisting my ankle back to normal.

"GAAAHHH," I shouted.

"Yeah, you're okay," Will soothed while rubbing my ankle. Then, the young medical student wrapped my ankle tightly before helping me with my shoe. "You'll be fine in a couple of days."

I gazed at Silena who was sitting on the floor. Piper was talking to her intently while rubbing her arm. Piper aand Silena are very similar in personality, so it makes sense that they are very close. Silena was looking way worse. Dr. Claymore was near her and studying the progression of the Z virus.

I watched the other zombies in the room. They were clawing at the glass walls of their cages and groaning. Liquids oozed out of their gargling mouths.

I shook my head and forced myself to look away.

There were 8 subjects in total, varying in size, gender, and age.

"One of the previous subjects was also another one of my friends," Annabeth said quietly. I hadn't noticed her approach. "Her name was Zoe."

"Zoe Nightshade was one of the survivors at the museum. She was a cadet in the army, so she knew a lot about fighting. We went on many raids together, and she even taught me a few things about shooting weapons," Annabeth explained. "One of our raids went horribly wrong, and several members died. Zoe was also bitten, but she managed to survive until we came to camp."

Annabeth gestured to the glass cage a few yards to our right. I stared at the petite zombie with interest. Her bite mark was on the shoulder. Her clothes were tattered, and her skin was blue and bruised.

I couldn't even imagine what she must've looked like as a human.

I swallowed the heavy lump in my throat before meeting Annabeth's gaze again.

Annabeth brushed her hand through her hand and breathed. She took a few steps closer to me to make our conversation more private.

"Anway, how's your ankle, Percy?"

"It'll be fine," I shrugged. "Did you check on Stella?"

"Yeah. Baby Estelle is fine. She's taking a nap under Hestia's supervision right now. My brothers are also there. They're always glad to see me return, and I always check on them after coming back from a raid," Annabeth expressed.

"I wanted to go see Stella as well, but Will needed to set my ankle. I don't think I want to be here when Silena transforms into a zombie," I said firmly.

"I won't be here either."

Silence followed our conversation. It's been such a long day, and we lost two of our close friends. Overall, it was a really bad day for us, and I wanted it to end.

Annabeth gently nudged my arm. "Come with me."

I painfully followed Annabeth out of the American Fashion exhibit. We left Luke, Thalia, Silena, and the others in South Sector. Neither of us wanted to see Silena transform. We walked through similar fashion exhibits before coming to a forked hallway. Annabeth took the left hallway, which brought us to the exit of the South Sector.

I lost track of where we were going, but it led into a small hallway with a small room. My eyes traveled over the tall staircase that led to a hatch on the ceiling. Annabeth climbed the stairs, and I quietly followed.

Every step sent shooting pain into my leg.

The hatch opened to the marble roof of the museum. There was a light breeze wafting against my strained face. I pulled myself onto the roof before closing the hatch behind me.

Annabeth was standing near the backside and looking at Central Park.

I went toward her and stood a few feet to her right. A flock of birds flew over the trees before diving into an undergrowth. The sun had melted away, and dark clothes were settling into the sky. The wind picked up.

My gaze wandered to Annabeth's beautiful face. She had time to wash her face and changed her clothes before coming back to see me.

She looked a lot cleaner than how I did.

"Wise Girl?" I questioned softly.

Annabeth's hands shook against her side. Her soft pink lips quivered, and I could see her gray pupils were shaking. She was trying so hard to keep it together.

I gulped before going closer to her. I gently took her hand in mine.

That's when the tears spilled.

Annabeth turned toward me and melted against my body. Her face buried into my chest as she cried quietly. Initially, I froze. I wasn't completely sure what to do. Then, I wrapped my hands around her shaking body.

One hand rested and brushed against the back of her head. My right cheek leaned against the top of her blonde head.

Annabeth is so strong.

However, even the strongest and bravest individuals need to break down from time to time. I gently embraced Annabeth while she let herself go.

"I'm sorry, Wise Girl," I whispered. "They were wonderful people. Friends."

She nodded her head against my chest.

When Annabeth was ready, she pulled away from my body. She sniffled while wiping tears from her eyes. Her hand stayed connected to mine though.

I didn't mind her touch or proximity.

"Thanks, Seaweed Brain."

"Do you come to the roof often?"I changed the subject. "I've been living here for over a month, and no one's mentioned anything about the roof."

"I found the private hallway a few weeks after arriving. I didn't tell anyone because... I wanted a place of my own. It's easy to get crowded by the people in a camp, and I like to think up here," Annabeth responded.

"You brought me up here and showed me the way?"

"It's all right that you're here. Just don't tell anyone else. The roof can be our private place from now on."

"Sounds like a deal," I whispered.

We stayed on the roof for a couple of hours. It was easy for us to forget all of our troubles. We just enjoyed each other's presence while talking on the roof. The wind ruffled our hair, and we had to go inside when it started raining.

Annabeth went back to South Sector while I went back to Stella in North Sector.

Hestia was playing with Stella in my room.

She stared sadly at me before rubbing my forearm supportively. I tossed my bag on the ground before taking Stella in my arms. Hestia gave me a final reassuring smile before leaving the room.

I sat on my bed with Stella in my arms.

The baby chuckled while patting me with her tiny hands. I hugged her tightly against my body, and let her pure hope wash over me.

Things are tough all the time for me.

But, I can rely on Stella to always help me feel better.