the desert surprise

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I woke up flying through the air

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I woke up flying through the air. And my first thought was wow no dreams.

But that was before I looked around and realized we were flying through the air—well not flying but jumping—on the back of a boar.

I almost fell off too, Binaca was sitting behind me holding my waist but she was falling asleep and I started to slip. I gripped the person in front of me which happened to be Thalia.

I quickly let go and tried to get my bearings back.

After looking around I saw that we were in a desert. Cacti and little scrub bushes were the only plants in sight.

As the sun set and the sky became dark the boar came to a stop at a creek. He started to drink the water then ripped at saguaro out of the ground and chewed on it.

"This is as far as he'll go," Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating."

We all slipped off the boars back and got quickly away while he was busy with more cacti.

Then the boat squealed and ran back east.

"It likes the mountains better," Percy guessed.

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

She pointed to a road half covered in sand, on the other side of it was a couple of buildings a boarded up house, a taco shop that looked like it was never opened, and a post office with a sign that read: GILA CLAW, ARIZONA.

Beyond the buildings was a junkyard of sorts with many old cars, appliances and other things that looked out of place in a desert piled up in small hills.

"Whoa." Percy said.

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

Grover did his tracking spell with acorns again, he looked concerned.

"That's us," he said. "Those six nuts right there."

My head snapped up, six of us, were in a desert. A land without rain. One of us isn't getting out and I'm making sure it's not me, zoé or Bianca.

"Which one is me?" Percy asked.

"The little deformed one," I answered.

"Oh shut up."

"You asked." I shrugged.

"That cluster right there," Grover said. "That's trouble."

"A monster?" Thalia asked.

Grover looked uneasy. "I don't smell anything, which doesn't make sense. But the acorns don't lie. Our next challenge..."

He pointed at the junkyard. I felt like a cold wind just blew past, looking into the junkyard it felt forbidden and dark.

We decided to set up camp for the night and try the junkyard in the morning.

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