stollen things || c. stoll

3.5~ I Eat A Dam Good Taco

We all trudged miserably to a tow truck nearby. Thalia drove, the most level-headed one of us at the time.

"The skeletons are still out there. We need to keep moving," She'd say.

I sat in the pickup bed with Percy, but it wasn't bonding time. We grieved together in silence, the cool morning air whipping through our hair. I had no idea how I was going to break it to Nico that I hadn't been able to fulfill my promise. I wondered how he was faring at camp. Maybe he'd been claimed by now, living with more than two people in a cabin. Ares, maybe. Or Hephaestus. Perhaps even Hermes. I'd love it if he turned out to be a Hermes kid.

•

The truck ran out of gas at a river canyon, dropping us right off at a dead end road. Just as Thalia got out of the drivers seat and shut the door, a tire blew. "Great. What now?"

We looked across the horizon. Nothing but desert in every direction, other than the river canyon. The river was maybe fifty yards across with a few rapids, nothing fantastic. We followed it about a half a mile before coming to a slope that led down to the water. There was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season, and we grabbed two. We set them in the water to go upstream. I got landed with Thalia. Percy had the naiads pushing us up the river before I even got both legs in the canoe.

"So," I started, looking at Thalia. "I figure that if we want to survive this trip maybe we should, you know, be acquaintances? Or at least find a middle ground?" I expected her to glare at me and maybe punch me, but all she did was look down. I continued. "After Bianca, the prophecy states that one more of us will... you know. I know it'll be me, and I want to not have any bad feelings before we get to San Francisco."

"Why do you think it'll be you?" She frowned.

"All it takes is one glance, Thalia. I'm certainly not the first choice for this quest, we all know that. Sure, I'm powerful for a Demeter kid — don't deny it — but for a demigod? Not next to you guys. Put me inside anywhere and I'm powerless."

"Maddy, I don't think you give yourself enough credit—" She started, but was stopped by Percy's words.

"The Hoover Dam... It's huge." We all looked up to see the massive curve of concrete in the middle of the river. The naiads dropped us off at the shore, and headed back downstream.

"Seven hundred feet tall." He said. "Built in the 1930's."

"Five million cubic acres of water." Thalia said. "Largest construction project in the United States."

"How do you know all that?" Zoë raised an eyebrow.

"Annabeth. She liked architecture." Percy sighed.

"I wish she were here." Thalia nodded in agreement, both of them misty-eyed.

"We should go up there, for her sake. Just to say we've been." Percy suggested. I thought it was a bit of a waste of time, seeing as there were only two days left until the solstice, but if I was as close with Annabeth as the two of them were, I would've wanted to do the same.

"You are mad," Zoë decided. "But that's where the road is." She pointed to a parking garage next to the dam.

"Sightseeing it is." I said.

•

We walked for about an hour before we found a path that would lead us up to the road. It was cold and windy at the top of the dam. One one side, there was a massive lake. On the other, a wildly high drop-off.

"There's a snack bar in the visitor center." Thalia said.

"You've been here before?" I asked.

"Once. To see the guardians." She pointed at two big bronze winged statues. If I knew anything about Greek History, it was this: