𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖑𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖊𝖋

PHOENIX HAD TO ADJUST TO BEING ON A FAST-MOVING TRAIN.

The first day on the Amtrak she got so dizzy, her vision blurred and she felt terribly nauseous. She tried to remain stoic and unbothered but Annabeth noticed her holding her head from time to time and whining softly under her breath. The blonde girl made an excuse for them and led her to the bathroom.

"Ugh." Phoenix groaned. She immediately leaned on the sink and held her head in her hands. The world was moving too fast for her. Annabeth squeezed herself in and closed the door behind them.

"Do you need to throw up? I'll hold your hair." She offered.

Phoenix shook her head. "No. I don't think so. I just—ugh." She hissed holding her head. She smacked the wall harshly. "Can this thing go slower!"

"Hey." Annabeth grabbed her hand and lowered it. She held on and covered it with her other hand. "It's okay. it's motion sickness I think. I used to get it too...Just here, Can I?"

Phoenix stared at their hands intently, "Erm—Uh—yes—Sure, whatever. Do whatever you want—"

Annabeth nodded. It was a tight fit, but she maneuvered herself to stand beside her in front of the sink. "Ugh, these bathrooms are so gross."

Phoenix bemoaned in agreement, "It stinks in here."

"Tell me about it." She laughed, cupped cold water in her hands, and turned towards Phoenix, "Come closer—"

Phoenix frowned, she inched away. "Anything but that. Water and I don't go together...."

Annabeth's eyebrows knitted together. "Oh?" She looked like she had many questions to ask but Phoenix winced again."Okay. Okay. Plan B." She pulled her hat out. "You distract whoever's working in the dining car. I'll steal what we need..." Annabeth informed.

"Wha—" Phoenix furrowed her eyebrows. "You're going to steal?"

She nodded, "What other choice do we have? We can't have you suffering the entire ride there."

"We can't?" Phoenix asked.

Her face softened. "Of course not." She continued. "Look, I know we haven't gotten to know each other a lot at camp...And since this quest started. we've had our tense moments...But we have to have each other's backs if we're going to work together. Also...Luke is fond of you...."

Phoenix scowled, "What does he have to do with it?"

Annabeth shook her head and looked down. "No, Nothing. It's just if he trusts you, and is your friend. I think maybe we could be friends too..."

Phoenix felt dizzier. "I...wouldn't hate that..."

Annabeth looked up and smiled, She raised her Yankees hat and flopped it around. "Ready to rob some ginger ale and crackers?"

Phoenix nodded, she stood a little straighter. "How should I distract her? Ask her the names of all the snacks? Ask her if she has any vegan options? Insult the weird uniform?"

"Yes yes and yes." Annabeth laughed, "Oh gods this is going to be something..."

On the second day, Phoenix wasn't motion-sick anymore. The dizziness faded the more distracted she was. With Annabeth making small talk next to her—it was easy.

Phoenix's braids were falling apart when Annabeth offered to fix them for her. Phoenix shrugged in response, getting bored of chucking ginger ale cans over for Grover to catch and eventually munch on.

"Hey! We were in the middle of something Annie." Grover whined.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "She'll finish the other can after, Grover."

Phoenix nodded. She took a swig of her soda. "Give me 10 minutes Goat boy."

Annabeth straightened Phoenix's back and pressed her own against the Amtrak window so she could see her long raven locks. She undid her braids and started brushing through her hair, starting from the bottom.

"Have you ever gotten a real haircut?" She asked.

"Once I tried." Phoenix said, "But Drew started saying she wanted to cut some bangs and to dye it lighter....So I ran back to the Hermes cabin."

"Good call." Annabeth nodded, "Your dark hair suits you and it's soft... The dye would have ruined it."

Phoenix's shoulders relaxed. She softly placed the ginger ale on the table. Feeling the blonde girl run her hands through her hair caused her to feel...relaxed. "Thanks..."

With a practiced ease, Annabeth began the process of French braiding, each twist and cross creating a neat pattern that hugged the contour of Phoenix's head and cascaded down to her tailbone.

"You're good at that," Percy commented when he looked over at the pair, he kept glancing around. His hands smoothed down a newspaper. He was using his free time by anxiously waiting for their next move. He was the one who couldn't relax at all. Despite them not being attacked in the past two days. "And you're quick with it."

Annabeth fastened the first braid and tucked her own long blonde braids out of her face. "Duh. I do my own hair too. Plus, Athena is the goddess of weaving. It's a talent she passed down to her children."

"Cool Cool." He said, sounding distracted. He ran his hand over the newspaper again. "We're splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. There's a photo of me and Phoenix on this one..."

"Don't worry," Annabeth told him. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure.

"Me? Let me see!" Phoenix reached out. Moving her head and accidentally pulling on her hair. "Ouch!"

"Don't move," Annabeth demanded. Straightening her head, Phoenix was forced to look at the booth next to them. "It'll come out crooked. Percy pass it to her."

Percy slid it over the table. "Grab it Nix."

Phoenix stretched out her arm, her hand patted the table. When she felt Percy's soft skin, a mild sensation of embarrassment coursed through her. She quickly snatched the paper away from
him.

She gazed at what read, THE TRENTON REGISTER.

It showed a photo of her and Percy taken as they got off the Greyhound bus. They both had wild looks in their eyes. The sword and pole-axe were metallic blurs in their hands. It might've been baseball bats or lacrosse sticks.

The picture's caption read:

Fourteen-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he and his delinquent friends accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene.

Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with three teenage accomplices. One pictured here beside Jackson—A witness reports seeing the girl swinging what looked like a baseball bat around and yelling out vulgar threats to the female passengers. Worrying, really.

His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.

"Annabeth! Stick this into my bag! I have to show Luke and Bella when we get back! The Stolls are going to be so jealous!" She bent her arm back awkwardly.

Annabeth shook her head. She quickly fastened the second braid with an elastic. "Yeah yeah, Khaotikomi," Annabeth said. "You can turn around." She grabbed her backpack from under the table and placed it in between them.

Phoenix turned to face them, she grinned softly as she looked down at her black-and-white face once more. Before shoving the paper into her already stuffed backpack. When she looked up, everyone had shocked expressions plastered on their faces.

"Did you just smile?" Percy reached across and touched the blonde's arm which rested on the table. He shook her, his face etched in complete disbelief. "Annabeth. Did you see tha—Ow!"

Phoenix slapped him away. She glared harshly, "You tell anyone what you saw and I'll give you nightmares."

"Oh, and she means that, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth confirmed.

"That goes for all of you." Phoenix pointed at them one by one. "Take it to the grave!"

"Yes, Ma'am." Percy laughed, he had a huge grin on his face.

"To the grave." Annabeth chuckled, her grey eyes looked a little brighter than usual.

"Got it." Grover nodded. Swallowing harshly. "No nightmares please Phoenix."

The rest of the day Phoenix looked out the window or played random games with Grover—Ranging from catch the ginger-ale can (He ate it) to I Spy.

Annabeth spent most of her time reading her book on Ancient Greek Architecture. Percy spent the time alternately pacing the length of the train—because he had a hard time sitting still—or looking out the windows.

Their reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase four tickets as far as Denver. They couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so they dozed off in their seats.

Phoenix only took short naps, falling in and out of consciousness. Annabeth slept beside her, at one point she rested her head on the raven-haired girl's shoulder, but Phoenix was asleep and didn't remember it...

It was also hard for the demigods to stay asleep with Grover's constant snoring and bleating.

Once, he shuffled around and his fake foot fell off. Percy
had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed.

Annabeth shifted beside her, her eyes flickered open. "Well, You drool, He snores and bleats. Phoenix what sleeping habits do you have."

"Night terrors." She shrugged nonchalantly,

"Oh?" Annabeth was speechless.

"So," Phoenix asked Percy who yawned. "Who wants your help? What happened in your nightmare?"

His face hardened. He stared at Phoenix suspiciously.

"Percy. I didn't give you the nightmare..." Phoenix sighed in exasperation. "I can only sense it. Trust me, I sign my work."

Percy inhaled sharply, "I'm sorry, I know...You just—"

"I know." Phoenix shrugged, "I bring it out of People. Now, what is it?"

He was reluctant to say anything. But he told them that it was the second time he'd dreamt about an evil voice from a pit asking for his help. How it was trying to pull him in...

Phoenix swallowed harshly,

The girls remained quiet for a long time, Annabeth broke the silence. "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."

Phoenix added, "Exactly, and why would it be Hades? What would be his goal... Zeus has a lot of enemies... Hades really only lives his life isolated in the underworld with his wife."

"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"

"I guess...Maybe he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld.' If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?"

Phoenix shook her head, "Too many things aren't making sense..."

Percy nodded in agreement,

Grover snorted in his sleep, muttered something about vegetables, and turned his head away from Percy.

Phoenix reached over and readjusted his cap so it covered his horns. She caught on quickly that they had to hide his goat boy status.

"Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time—"

"This time?" He asked. "You mean you've run into them before?"

Annabeth's hand crept up to her necklace. She fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree, one of her clay end-of-summer tokens. "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom."

"What would you do if it was your dad?"

"That's easy," She said. "I'd leave him to rot."

"Holy shit!" Phoenix reacted, She looked at Annabeth. Her face revealed that she was incredibly impressed despite it not being too expressive. Her eyes were widened in admiration. "That was my language. I didn't expect that from you at all."

"You're not serious?" Percy asked.

Annabeth's gray eyes flickered between them both."My dad's resented me since the day I was born," she said. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent."

"But how...I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital..."

"I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyros the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, Right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him—"

"Idiot," Phoenix growled lowly.

"When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist."

Percy stared out the train window. "My mom married a really awful guy, He was terrible to her..." He told them. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking."

Annabeth kept worrying at her necklace. She was pinching the gold college ring that hung with the beads. It occurred to Phoenix that the ring must be her father's. She wondered why she wore it if she hated him so much.

"He doesn't care about me," She stated. "His wife my stepmom- treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children."

Phoenix frowned, "Your own siblings?"

Annabeth nodded, "My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened—you know, something with monsters—they would both look at me resentfully, like, 'How dare you put our family at risk.' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."

"How old were you?"

"Same age as when I started camp. Seven."

"But...you couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself."

"Not alone, No. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway."Annabeth seemed lost in sad memories.

Both of them fell silent.

"My dad....He just left me in a basket at the camp border..." Phoenix's surprisingly gentle voice cut through the silence. Both demigods gazed at her intently. "I don't even know his name... Or what he looks like. Or if I look like him. I guess he didn't want me either? He threw me away the first chance he got. I wasn't even a month in...I guess...even as a little baby I put him in danger...I've always been a danger...."

"Hey, No." Percy tried, "You're not a...No, He sucks because he really missed out on getting to know you..." Percy struggled to come up with the right words.

Annabeth sighed, "What he means to say is that you were just a baby Phoenix. We were little girls... It's not our fault. They made their choices..."

Percy nodded, "Exactly that. It's their loss."

"You make me lose brain cells." Phoenix deadpanned, but after, a ghost of a smirk formed on her lips.

"But I made you smile this time." Percy teased back, "So I get points for that. Annabeth catch up."

"Seaweed Brain." Annabeth replied, "Is that a challenge?"

Phoenix frowned, "Shut up, unless you want me to make a joint nightmare of you two being chased by ugly clowns with electric razors for hands until they shave all your hair off."

Percy snorted, "That is not where I thought that was going."

"But oddly an effective threat," Annabeth added.

"When you see the orange bird before you wake up know that's my signature."

Annabeth and Percy fell into a fit of chuckles.

Phoenix felt a little warm inside.

The rest of the train ride they listened to the sound of Grover snoring and gazed out the train windows as the dark fields of Ohio raced by.

Toward the end of their second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, they passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis.

Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch. "I want to do that," she sighed.

"Err—Do a building?"

"Yeah What do you mean?" Percy asked.

"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"

"Only in pictures."

"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years.

He laughed. "You? An architect?"

Her cheeks flushed. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention."

Percy watched the churning brown water of the Mississippi below.

Phoenix pointed her thumb behind her. "Do I need to leave so you two stop fighting? 'Cause I swear I'm not even trying. Also....I'll get lost..."

Annabeth shook her head, "No, No, Stay Nix." Annabeth addressed Percy. "That was mean. I'm sorry."

"Can't we work together a little?" He pleaded. "All of us. I mean, We can cooperate, together. Right? If we all try. We aren't our Parents."

Phoenix shrugged, "Sure, whatever, but I still get to call you Fishface, Fishface."

"Deal, Sweetheart."

"I don't want any part of that." Annabeth decided. "But I suppose we can..."

"Sophitria." "Wise girl."

"You two are infuriating!"

𓌪

THEY PULLED INTO THE AMTRAK STATION DOWNTOWN. The intercom told them they'd have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver.

Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, "Food."

"Come on, goat boy," Annabeth called. "Sightseeing."

"Sightseeing?"

"The Gateway Arch," She gushed. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"

"Yes!" Phoenix decided quickly. "I've never seen a monument before. I wanna be on the top of one."

Annabeth grinned in excitement, "Ah! Come on! Oh—I'll tell you all about it!"

"Sure. Whatever." Phoenix hummed, then added. "I hope there are milkshakes."

Grover and Percy exchanged looks.

Even if they wanted to say no to them, Annabeth and Phoenix were already making their way toward the exit.

The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. They threaded their way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other historic artifacts from the 1800s. Phoenix eyed them curiously despite the others not being so thrilled with it.

Annabeth kept telling them interesting facts about how the Arch was built. Phoenix listened despite not really understanding it all as Grover and Percy exchanged Jelly Beans.

Percy kept looking around, at the other people in line.

"You smell anything?" He murmured to Grover.

He took his nose out of the jelly bean bag long enough to sniff. "Underground," he said distastefully. "Underground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything."

"Guys," He said. "You know the gods' symbols of power?"

Annabeth had been in the middle of reciting to Phoenix the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but they looked over. "Yeah?" They said together.

"Well, Hade—"

Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place...You mean, our friend downstairs?"

"Satan!" Phoenix tried offering a cover name.

The mortals around them started murmuring and looking around in fear. Some of them started chatting, others started making a cross over their chest.

"Um, sure," He said. "Our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"

"You mean the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth recalled. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."

"He was there?" Percy asked.

Phoenix nodded. She continued, "It's the only time they allow him to visit Olympus—the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than Annabeth's invisibility hat, It allows him to become literal darkness. He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Pretty cool right?"

"But then...how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" He asked.

Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks.

"We don't," Grover said.

"Why do we assume that it could have only been him again? Is it just because he's from the—" She looked around at the mortals that surrounded them, "Downstairs."

"No, it's not like that Phoenix." Annabeth sighed, "But he...He has every reason to hate the twelve..."

"No argument there. But, still—"

"Let's just figure this out after." Grover bleated, his gaze falling to the lady on the line that held her rosary to her chest and kept glancing at Phoenix. "When there's less ears around."

Percy sighed, sounding defeated. "Got any blue jelly beans left?"

They were shoehorned into a tiny little elevator car with a plus-sized lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar.

They started going up inside the Arch. Phoenix had never been in an elevator that went in a curve, and her stomach wasn't too happy about it.

"No parents?" the lady asked them. She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much.

"Mind your business Blue Jeans." Phoenix spat.

Percy snorted, "Fuck." his hand covered his mouth to muffle his chuckle.

"They're below," Annabeth was quick to intercept. "Scared of heights. Excuse her, She takes stranger danger seriously..."

"Oh, the poor darlings."

The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, Sonny. Behave." The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious.

Percy asked, "Sonny. Is that his name?"

"No." the lady told him.

She smiled, as if that cleared everything up.

"Hey lady, I'm sorry to tell you this— but you kind of look like your dog."

"Phoenix!" Annabeth chided.

"I said sorry?" She questioned.

Thankfully, the elevator doors opened. At the top of the Arch, there were rows of tiny windows looking out over the city on one side and the river on the other.

Annabeth kept talking about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor.

Phoenix told her that the floor and big windows were a great idea since some people would be 'scared shitless' and it would be hilarious watching them crawl their way around the arch.

The blonde probably could've kept them up there for hours, but luckily for Percy—who really seemed to hate it up there— the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.

The green-eyed boy steered his quest mates toward the exit, loaded them into the elevator, and was about to get in himself when he realized there were already two other tourists inside. No room for him.

The park ranger said, "Next car, sir."

"We'll get out," Annabeth suggested. "We'll wait with you."

"Naw, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom."

"We shouldn't split up." Phoenix looked up at the Park ranger, "Why don't you get out Man, Or one of you." She turned to the other two in the elevator. The three of them stared at her in offense. They started to grumble but Phoenix didn't care to pay them any mind.

"Nix, It's fine.." Percy reassured

Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, but they let the elevator doors slide shut. Percy disappeared behind the elevator.

"I still say we should've kicked one of these randos out." Phoenix shrugged.

𓌪

SO, PERCY BLEW UP THE GATEWAY ARCH. Or at least that's what the reporters were saying.

Phoenix, Grover, and Annabeth were just waiting around, wondering why he was talking so long. When Phoenix started feeling her powers stirring, she tried to tell them they should go back up and look for Percy, but the noise of the explosion shut her up. 

Phoenix was now shadow traveling— trying to look for any sign of him or what happened to him. Grover and Annabeth stayed close by and comforted each other.

Phoenix couldn't admit it to them, mostly because she couldn't even understand it herself, but she had a pit in her stomach.

She hardly reacted when it happened, but she spent her time jumping from place to place in hot pursuit of a sign of life.

Come on Jackson, where are you?

She was a block away when every emergency vehicle in St. Louis surrounded the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead.

She tried to remain discrete as she stared around, her eyes focusing on every shape and shadow. Then she caught a glimpse of someone coming out of the river. The moment she saw black hair and a lanky tall boy she jumped closer.

"Percy!" She called, and he looked up. His chest rose and fell harshly.

"Phoenix." He sighed in relief and ran over.

Phoenix ran forward, they stopped in front of each other. She sighed, "You're alive. I thought you blew up, oh gods. What happened? And why the heck didn't you blow something up while I was there!"

"It's a long story...I didn't mean to...Enchinda was the lady and the chihuahua was a chimera and wait—where's Annabeth and Grover?"

"Come on." Phoenix started walking, she called him over with her hand. "We can't get too close, the cops are looking for us."

"Us? Why Us?"

Phoenix glanced up at the blown-up arch, then looked back to him.

"Right."

A little girl said, "Mama! That boy walked out of the river. and That girl just appeared out of thin air."

"That's nice, dear," her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.

"But he's dry!"

"That's nice, dear."

A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch."

They pushed through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line. Phoenix remained alert in case they needed to quickly make a run for it.

"An adolescent boy," another reporter began saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities ..."

They both backed away and kept their heads down.

"They're waiting over here," Phoenix whispered and led him away carefully.

Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere.

A familiar voice bleated, "Perrr-cy!" He got tackled by Grover's goat hug. He said, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"

Annabeth stood behind him, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see him. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"

"I sort of fell."

"Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?"

Behind them, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua!"

"Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."

"I'm not crazy! This boy jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared."

Then she saw him.

"There he is! That's the boy!"

"Go go go go." He whispered in a rush, The four of them quickly turned and scattered away. Percy pulled Phoenix and Annabeth along and they disappeared into the crowd.

"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"

He told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, his high-dive act, and an underwater lady's message.

"Whoa," said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."

Before Annabeth or Phoenix could share their two cents, they passed another reporter doing a news break, He said, "Percy Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. One woman reports seeing him with three other unidentified teenagers who are also wanted, one includes a dark-haired girl who seems to be a Satanist. Many are claiming them to be a traveling teenage gang or cult. But nothing has been confirmed. The group is said to be heading west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."

They ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.

"I'm wanted?" Phoenix mumbled, "This just gets better and better." She added monotonously.

"First things first," Percy told them. "We've got to get out of town!"

Somehow, they made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. They snuck on board right before the train pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west.