The cliffhanger from the previous chapter was a monstrous one now wasn't it?

1) I don't own PJatO... seriously, just take my word for it okay?

2) Wow... I really don't have anything else to say other than... READ!

Chapter 16:

I looked at the sun; it looked to be about 1:00 in the afternoon. Hadn't it been about noon when Percy left to go get food? After Percy had left it had only taken me an hour or two to find an adequate shelter for the night, or at least until we figured out where in Hades we were going. I had been skirting the edge of the clearing thinking about the best place to make shelter when I saw a small opening in the tree line revealing a little stream that ran through a patch of really tall trees. The trees had looked so familiar I was surprised that I hadn't figured them out at once: they were Redwood trees. California Redwood trees to be exact. That meant that I had the vaguest idea of where we were. Well, I thought, it's certainly a start.

Not long after spotting the Redwoods I found a tree nestled in behind an especially tall Redwood making it pretty much invisible no matter what direction you were looking at it from. I decided that it would be the perfect spot to temporarily make shelter so I began to collect the necessary supplies we would need. After making a check list of mandatory survival items I set to work collecting: fire wood, water, rocks, leaves, branches, and different varieties of foliage. I practiced making fires (which turned out to be a lot harder than the History channel let on), and busying myself with pretty much anything that would keep my mind off of Percy.

Soon, I ran out of things to do and worry set in. I anxiously looked at the sun, it looked about 3:00ish. How could it possibly take him four hours to find food? I decided to try and contact him telepathically, Percy! No answer. That's it I'm going to go find that Seaweed Brain, I thought. I walked for a few seconds before I stopped dead in my tracks. Seaweed Brain… where had that came from? I quickly shook off the useless thought and sprinted to the clearing where Percy and I had parted ways. I took the path he had taken earlier today and dashed along a small stream and then I eventually reached a line of trees with the familiar buzzing of cars on a highway and… an ambulance? Oh gods, what has he done now? I peeked around the trunk of one of the trees only to spot at least a dozen police officers with dogs hanging around the edge of the forest. One of the dogs abruptly stopped smelling the ground and stuck its head in the air. It looked over to my position in the trees and I felt my eyes go wide.

What I did next was what all Legendary World-Saving Demigod Heroines would've done: I turned around and ran like my pants were on fire. The dogs let out a chain of hostile barks and quickly pursued me. Instead of just running around I actually used my head (seriously, who just runs for their life without a conscious idea of where they're going? They could end up practically anywhere without even realizing it; like in some random person's yard for example) and common sense to navigate away from our shelter and toward the town. I broke through the tree line and bolted straight for the highway while sending up a silent prayer to the god of Californian Rush-Hour Traffic wherever he/she may be. Apparently they heard me because I got across unscathed except for the occasional honking and the cursing that was sure to follow (I will never think about or look at my mother the same way again).

But I wasn't done then, not even close. Even though "Sparky" and his pals were probably already road kill, I just kept on running. Then out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of flashing blue and red lights, then the roar of a car accelerator jolted me back to life and sent my legs into over drive. I heard the car gaining on me; I took a quick look over my shoulder to see a frustrated police officer trying to push the gas pedal through the floor of the car. Then it hit me: I was running at a rate of at least 120 mph (193.1 kph). Just as realization had dawned on me I heard the sound of splintering wood coming from a nearby yard. I looked in the direction of the sound to see a police car chasing a purple blur then- WHAM!

I smacked head on into the blur and we both rolled and tumbled across the pavement until we were both sprawled out on our backs in the middle of the road. I was breathing heavily when I looked up just in time to see the police cars slam into each other and tumble exactly as the blur and I had. I was too tired to move or protest so I just watched as the two cars landing not two inches (5.08 centimeters) from my face. I was still winded from my run so I looked over to the blur at my side. As it turned out, it wasn't a blur it was Percy. I composed myself and asked as nonchalantly as I could manage, "So, how was your day?"

He smiled weakly and replied, "Pretty darn good. How was yours?"

Well would you look at that? KeeponReadin has gone Metric System friendly ( *cough cough* Google *cough cough*)! Who was that? Man, we need to get some cough drops up in here. Review please and I almost forgot: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Don't forget to tell your beautifully amazing mom that you love and appreciate her! For Percy's sake at least get her a card!