They rode until sunset, which was about as much as Zoe's backside could take.

Riding the boar had been about as comfortable as riding a giant steel brush over a bed of gravel all day.

Not that Zoe would know what that would feel like, but she imagined that if she would ever experience it, this was how it would feel like.

She had no idea how much ground they had covered, but the mountains had faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry steppe. Then, the grass and scrub brush got sparser until they were galloping (do boars gallop?) across desert.

As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.

"This is as far as he'll go." Annabeth spoke up, "We need to get off while we can."

Apparently no one needed convincing, and it took the group approximately five seconds to get off the boar and waddle away with their sore behinds.

After its third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back toward the east.

"It likes the mountains better," Percy guessed.

"I can't blame it," Thalia said. "Look."

Ahead of them was a two-lane road half covered with sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door. Beyond that was a range of hills...

No...

Not hills...

The countryside was way too flat for that.

The hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

Zoe did not have fond memories of the place.

"Whoa," Annabeth muttered.

"Something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here," Thalia said. Turning to Percy she said, "I don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"

The demigod rolled his eyes.

They had decided to camp for the night and tackle the junkyard in the morning.

Zoe and Bianca produced five sleeping bags and foam mattresses out of their backpacks. Of course, their bags were enchanted, which allowed flawless and efficient packing.

Their bows and quivers were also magic. When the Hunters needed them, they just appeared slung over their backs. And when they didn't, they were gone.

The night got chilly fast, so Percy collected old boards from the ruined house, and Thalia zapped them with an electric shock to start a campfire. Pretty soon they were about as comfy as one could get in a rundown ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

"The stars are out," Zoe smiled.

There were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange.

"Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

"This is nothing," Zoe said. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you're not human," Annabeth pointed out.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"

"For you," Thalia corrected. "Not thee"

"But you use you for the beginning of a sentence."

"And for the end," Thalia said. "No thou. No thee. Just you"

Zoe threw up her hands in exasperation. "I hate this language. It changes too often!"

Percy chuckled at her expense. The conversation had gone down exactly as last time.

"What I want to know," Thalia said, looking at Bianca, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

Bianca shook her head. "I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames.

"Maybe there's something special about your knife," Percy bluffed.

He had no way to explain how he knew Bianca's father was Hades...

"It is the same as mine," Zoe said. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you have to hit the skeleton in a certain spot," he argued.

Bianca looked uncomfortable with everybody paying attention to her.

"Never mind," Zoe told her. "We will find the answer. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we may hitchhike to the nearest city."

Percy perked up at that.

"Bianca. I need to talk to you about something. Could you please follow me?" Percy got up, a motioned her to follow him.

Bianca nodded and complied.

The rest of the group fell into a comfortable silence around the flames of their campfire.

Zoe could make out certain aspects of the conversation between Percy and Bianca.

She could only make out a few words from her distance from them.

"–Las Vegas"

"How did–"

"A couple years– ... –makes time speed up."

"–not possible!"

"–got you out."

"Yes."

"–look like– ... –say?"

"–don't remember. Please– ... –about it."

Zoe sat forward, her eyebrows knit with concern. She knew where the conversation was heading. Percy was confronting Bianca about her past.

"–Washington– ... –changed– ... –subway."

"Yes, but–"

"–president–"

"Don't be silly,"

She mentioned the name of the current President.

"–president before that?"

"Roosevelt."

"Theodore or Franklin?"

"Franklin," Bianca said. "F.D.R."

Zoe leaned in further.

"Bianca," Percy said. "F.D.R. was not the last president. That was about seventy years ago."

"That's impossible," Bianca said. "I... I'm not that old."

She stared at her hands as if to make sure they weren't wrinkled.

It didn't seem as though the others were paying attention to the conversation between Percy and Bianca.

Annabeth was in a deep conversation with Thalia, their hushed whispers inaudible to Zoe.

As Percy and Bianca began to make their way back to the group, Zoe could hear the last of the boy's words, "it's okay, Bianca. The important thing is you and Nico are safe. You made it out."

Before Bianca could reply to the statement, the group was hit with a blazing light from down the road.

Headlights of a car appeared out of nowhere. Despite her hatred of the god, Zoe was half hoping it was Apollo, come to give them a ride again, but the engine was way too silent for the sun chariot. Besides, it was nighttime.

The group quickly grabbed their sleeping bags and got out of the way as a deathly white limousine slid to a stop in front of them.

The back door of the limo opened right next to Percy. Before he could step away, the point of a sword touched his throat.

Zoe and Bianca drew their bows. As the owner of the sword got out of the car, Percy was forced to move back slowly to avoid the pressure of the blade under his chin.

The man with the sword smiled cruelly. "Not so fast now, are you, punk?"

He was a big man with a crew cut, a black leather biker's jacket, black jeans, a white muscle shirt, and combat boots. Wraparound shades hid his eyes, but Zoe knew what was behind those glasses—hollow sockets filled with flames.

"Ares," Percy growled.

The war god glanced at Zoe's friends with a smug smile.

"At ease, people."

He snapped his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground.

"This is a friendly meeting." He dug the point of his blade a little farther under Percy's chin.

Ares turned back towards the son of Poseidon. "Of course I'd like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."

"What lady?" Thalia asked.

Ares looked over at her.

"Well, well. I heard you were back."

He lowered his sword, and shoved Percy away.

"Thalia, daughter of Zeus," Ares mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company."

"What's your business, Ares?" she said. "Who's in the car?"

Ares smiled, enjoying the attention. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoe and Bianca. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? It'll only take Percy a few minutes."

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoe said.

"Then stay, Huntress. Aphrodite would like to speak with thee too."

The mocking tone in his voice was more than obvious.

"Besides," Thalia managed, "the taco place is closed."

Ares snapped his fingers again. The lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN.

"You were saying, sparky?"

"Go on," Percy told his friends. "We'll handle this."

They reluctantly headed over to the taco restaurant. Ares regarded Percy and Zoe with loathing, before opening the limousine door like a chauffeur.

"Get inside, punks," he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."

In the limo, awaited the most beautiful women, Zoe had ever seen.

She was wearing a red satin dress and her hair was curled in a cascade of ringlets.

Her face was flawless: perfect makeup, dazzling eyes, and a smile that would've lit up the dark side of the moon.

Zoe had heard much of the beauty of the goddess of love.

"Ah, there you are, Percy," the goddess said. "I am Aphrodite."

Percy slipped into the seat across from her and said something like, "Um uh gah."

She smiled. "Aren't you sweet? Hold this, please."

She handed him a polished mirror the size of a dinner plate and had Percy hold it up for her. She leaned forward and dabbed at her lipstick, though Zoe couldn't see anything wrong with it.

"And you too, Zoe dear."

Nodding slightly, Zoe took a seat beside Percy, subconsciously sitting closer to him than she needed to.

Something that didn't go unnoticed by Aphrodite.