Chapter 1: Dog Days Are Over

Rating: T

Word Count: 2,200+

Summary: Annabeth Chase has been on her for two months resisting the zombie apocalypse. She's run out of steam and doesn't know how much longer she can hold on. She needs a miracle.

Author's Note: So after writing Walking Dead prompts for a bit, I've had this idea about applying the zombie apocalypse to another fandom. Of course, writing a story such as that is difficult when you need to have the right type of characters and an interesting web-plot-thing. After I read Mark of Athena, I knew that Percy Jackson was the perfect fandom to use. I'm actually really excited to write this story and I really, really, REALLY hope that I can keep up with it.

Enjoy the first chapter! Constructive criticism and reviews are always welcome!

. . .

Annabeth ran down the narrow alleyway with a knife held in her tight grip and a backpack slung over her shoulder. She didn't dare look back to see what was chasing her – she already knew what it was.

Coming out of the alleyway, she quickly scanned the empty street, looking for a quick place to hide before the undead got to her. She found an abandoned truck across the road and quickly made her way over to it, avoiding all the dead bodies lying around. The truck was her best bet to lose the trail of zombies following her.

She kicked the window, shattering the glass and unlocking the truck. She slammed the door behind her, making her way to the vacant back trunk. She tried to ignore the stench of the dead bodies piled up all around as she sat down in the dark, small space, holding her breath as she waited for the zombies who were following her to pass.

Annabeth couldn't help but think that if her dad was here, she wouldn't even have to be hiding out in the back of some abandoned truck she found in the middle of a desolated city. He would have her and her two little brothers holed up in some refugee site that he had formed along with all his other co-workers. They would be working together to find a cure as well as keeping each other safe. At least, that's what she thought he would do.

But he wasn't with her. Instead, she was alone in a foreign city that was nothing like her San Francisco home. She was trapped hauling ass away from the infected and skipping from place to place. She couldn't even remember the last time she got a good night's sleep, in fear that they would come for her in the middle of the night.

She heard the distant moaning of the zombies as they stumbled past her hiding place. She placed her hand over her mouth, hoping to stifle her heavy breathing. Please, just let me live, she pleaded silently with her eyes closed. The groaning started to fade as they continued on, looking for the next meal. She uncovered her mouth letting out a sigh of relief. Loosening her grip on the knife in her hand, she slowly got up from her place on the ground. Quickly, she scanned her surroundings, checking if there was anything valuable to take with her. She found a small pack of first aid supplies stored under the driver's seat.

There was a low growling noise from behind her and before she could react, a zombie tugged on her ankle. She fell to the floor, releasing a small squeal of surprised. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the zombie try to take a big, juicy bite out of her calf. She instinctively kicked it square in the jaw and scrambled to her feet, throwing the knife down into its head before it could even think.

"Fuck," she breathed out, leaning over to pick up her knife. She cleaned it off with the bottom of her grimy shirt before placing it in her jean pocket. That was way too close, she thought as she exited the vehicle. She looked up and down the street and found it uninhabited by any infected.

Annabeth walked down the vacant street, keeping her ears and eyes alert for any sudden movement. The sun was dipping towards the horizon and she needed to find shelter soon. She continued to walk until she found an unoccupied pharmacy that still had a few useful things inside. She kicked the door open, holding her knife out to see if any zombies would come out and attack her.

Finding none, she closed the door behind her and made her way through the store, picking up medicine and band aids for later use. A zombie appeared from the next shelf over and she quickly ended it, shoving her knife into its head without even flinching. She continued onwards and found a back room that held a few medical beds that were probably used for sick patients.

"I think I'll stay here for the night," she said aloud to herself as she took off her backpack and set it down beside one of the beds. She closed the door and shoved one of the beds in front of it, hoping to keep any intruders out. For the first time that day, Annabeth was able to breathe. It was beyond stressful being on your own at a time like this. She wished that she had at least one companion to keep her company, to reassure her that it was worth to stay alive.

Back when it first started, her father, who was a scientist, had predicted that the outbreak would only last a few weeks before someone inevitably discovered a cure. Of course, she had believed him but if he could see the world as it was now, she thinks that he wouldn't have jumped to such hasty conclusions.

She often had nightmares about her dad and her brothers. Unfortunately, she had been there when they had turned. They were staying at a hotel in New York because her dad had suddenly been called to help to research the disease. It was a dangerous job, being so close to the infection, but she trusted her dad to be cautious and to return to them. Her step mother had been there too but she seldom stayed at the hotel, preferring to wonder the streets and go shopping with dad's credit card.

One day, her dad came home from work feeling a bit off. Annabeth wasn't too concerned since winter was starting and her dad often caught colds this time of season, but there was something different about this kind of cold. He would lie around all day and he could barely speak. She had tended to his needs, giving him medicine and forcing him to drink at least two cups of water a day. Then a week later, he turned into one of them.

She found him in the bathroom and was able to get her little brothers out as quickly as possible, but she wasn't as lucky. He pushed her to the ground and tried to bite at the flesh on her neck. Annabeth was a strong girl and had been adept to take care of herself so she was able to push her father off of her. But he just kept coming for her, trying to eat her. Finally, she cracked his head on the bathroom sink. She would never be able to get rid of the way he looked with the huge dent in his head.

She didn't have any time to mourn because she heard her brothers shouting down the hall. She made her way out into the hallway to see that her little brothers were being ushered down the stairwell by some of the hotel staff. Her voice was hoarse from screaming at her dad so she could barely call out for them. Before she had any time to think, her brothers were being pushed down like she had been only moments before. Except they weren't able to break free and the zombies were feeding on her flesh.

If she wasn't being pushed down the hallway by one of the room service ladies, she would've thrown up. She was able to get away from the hoard of zombies and found a dumpster to hide out in for the night. Never before had she cried so much in her life. In a matter of five minutes, she had lost her father and her brothers.

Ever since then, Annabeth's been on the run, trying to find some help. She was beginning to believe that she was really the only one left on this planet and that terrified her. She was at the end of her rope. Why shouldn't she end her life? The whole world had gone to hell and she had killed too many of infected people to count. She never imagined that she would one day have to wield a gun and shoot the undead.

She lied down on the medical bed, wrapping her sweater tightly around her skinny torso. The winter was starting to kick in and Annabeth was in no way used to it. She lived in California; there was no such thing as seasonal weather there. If the zombies didn't kill her, she was positive the dropping climate would.

Slowly, she closed her eyes, hoping to at least get in a few hours of sleep before she was awoken by the moaning of the zombies. Behind her closed eyelids, she saw her father slumped on the bathroom floor with rotten blood oozing out of his head, murmuring her name. Suddenly his eyes opened and he was on her again except this time she was in no shape to fight him off. He dropped his head and took a hearty bite out of her neck, making her cry out in horror.

She shot up in her bed, breathing heavily as she realized that it had only been a nightmare. A terrible, terrible nightmare, she thought. She lay back on the cot, brushing her unruly hair out of the way. Closing her eyes again, she tried to pretend that she wasn't in this shit hole of a place. She was back in California with her dad, her brothers, and her horrid step mother. She thought of the warm weather and the beach outside her house and the Italian cuisines her dad always made. Shortly, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

. . .

A few hours later, she was awoken by the noises coming inside the pharmacy. She scrambled out of bed and threw her backpack on her shoulders, pulling out her knife in case she needed to defend herself. Quietly crawling to the door, she leaned against it and heard muffled sounds. Hopefully if she stayed where she was, the zombies would be gone and she could stay for a little bit longer if she wanted.

She heard one of the shelves fall over. What the hell? "Piper!" she heard someone yell. "What the fuck are you doing? Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Oh, shut up," another responded, "there are no geeks anywhere in the vicinity. We can handle ourselves." The first person didn't respond, instead deciding to continue on with her earlier activities.

People? Annabeth thought baffled. There's no one that there are other people just ten feet away from me. She could feel her heart beating faster at the prospect that she wouldn't have to face this problem alone anymore. She could finally depend on someone else to get food and find shelter and fight off the undead. But they could be dangerous, the logical part of her brain thought, halting her from moving the bed that blocked the door. Annabeth was positive that she could take down anyone, but taking on two people at once was a little risky.

Do you want to be alone for the rest of your short life? Her mind questioned, persuading her to shove the bed out of the way. It clattered to the floor loudly, alerting the two others that they were not alone. She heard them make their way towards the back room where she was hiding. Cautiously, she held her knife in a defensive stance before opening the door quickly.

The three girls glanced at each other, all of them with some sort of weapon pointed at someone. They stared Annabeth down, confirming that she was indeed not a zombie but an actual living human being. Slowly, they lowered their weapons and backed away from her, showing that they meant no harm.

"Are you bitten?" a girl with short, black hair asked, gazing over every inch of her body to make sure she wasn't infected.

"No." she answered hastily, relieved that she had found someone.

The two glanced at each other, speaking without words. Annabeth felt anxious as the tanned skin girl with braided hair looked her over again. She began to shuffle her feet and fidget with her hands, waiting for them to say something.

"Are you alone?" the tanned girl asked.

"Yeah, I lost my family a few weeks ago." She admitted.

They didn't say anything, knowing that any condolences could not make up for what any of them had been going through.

"You've survived this long on your own?" the short haired girl asked again. She nodded her head vigorously, taking in the impressed expression of the girl. "What do you think. Piper?"

Piper looked at her again, a smile ghosting her face, "I think she can come."

"Come where?" Annabeth asked in confusion.

"Don't worry, it's safe. It's our base." Piper said, turning to leave the pharmacy.

The distinct moaning of the zombies came around the corner, making the trio stop dead in their tracks. They quickly ducked behind the shelves, hiding from the herd that came into view. Annabeth leaned her head against the metal shelf, Can't a girl get a break?

"Dammit," the girl with the short hair said, peaking around the shelf. There were about twenty zombies waltzing around the streets, "I told you, Piper!"

"Oh, please," she rolled her eyes, "let's not forget that time in the grocery store."

"Are you ever gonna let that go?"

"Hey!" Annabeth whisper-shouted, gaining both of their attentions, "Can we focus on getting out of here alive?"

"Newbie's right," the short haired girl stated, "we need a plan."