Zombie Parade

22: Outbreak

Annabeth POV

Percy and I were staying in his room. Baby Estelle was with Hestia in daycare, so he got the afternoon off. Since we were both off-duty, we decided to spend it together. I was laying on top of Percy's chest, and his fingers were playing with the curls of my blonde hair. His steady heartbeat soothed me beyond belief.

I shifted my head to look up at his face. Percy was already smiling down at me before giving me a quick kiss on the lips.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked. "For wanting to keep our relationship private."

Peryc chuckled before saying, "I'm just glad that you decided to give us a shot. You've made me the happiest man alive (which isn't many men right now, but still)."

"That's so corny, Seaweed Brain," I murmured against his chest.

"Well, it's true," Percy laughed.

We lay in silence for a few more minutes. It felt so good to be in his arms, and it felt even better to be able to wrap him around in my arms. This is what I've been missing out on all this time. I rested my ear against his chest once more.

I allowed my eyes to close, and my mind to go blank. Percy's presence is enough to calm me down, and he manages to give me hope for a possible future. It's illogical, but I feel as though some good can come even in a zombified world.

"Wise Girl," he murmured again.

"Yeah?"

I didn't even bother lifting my head. I was only a few moments away from falling asleep, and the cuddle was too comfortable to get disturbed. Besides, at this point, I'm used to Percy's ADHD and inability to just lay still.

"Do you hear that?" he asked quietly.

Silence followed as we both strained our ears to listen. I removed my head from Percy's chest to get a better angle. Percy must have a superhuman hearing because I only heard the sound after it was completely silent. It's hard to explain the sound because of how quiet it was. It sounded like a rumble or a series of awkward groans.

What the hell?!

I snapped into a sitting position. Percy rushed to the crib out of instinct. However, Estelle wasn't there since she was with Hestia at daycare.

I rushed to the doorway and swung the blue curtains open. I couldn't see anything in the hallway, but the sounds were closing in. Now, the noise was apparent. Several others started emerging from their rooms as well.

"What's going on?" Reyna demanded from the room next to ours.

"I don't know," the Stolls said simultaneously. One of them had a knife in hand while the other was still holding some Mythomagic cards. They must've been playing a game.

I ran toward the window on the opposite side of the hallway. A baren stature was next to the window, which I ignored. Looking out the window gave a horrible explanation. A horde of zombies was scurrying through the perimeter. There were hundreds of zombies growling and pushing their way through the perimeter. Oh Shit.

The zombies got through the perimeter. And, from the looks of it, there were too many zombies to exterminate. We were having another day of zombie migration. A large influx of zombies was traveling through the city today. That's probably why they were powerful enough to break through the perimeter.

Oh, God. This is bad.

Suddenly, my walkie-talkie buzzed with activity.

"Hello, we have a problem," I shouted into the machine. "I'm looking at hundreds of zombies that broke through the perimeter near the east side."