Do the Running Man!

Running down the stairs was not a good idea. He had to be careful so he didn't fall, which made him slow. And being slow was not good considering the fact there were four people chasing him. Two of them being freaking half-dragons who could fly. Though, luckily for him, they seemed to forget that they could and were running down the stairs after him.

"Wait, why are we running after that guy?" Eri asked. Her hand slid smoothly along the rail as she followed behind her three companions. She wasn't running; she was only quickly walking down the stairs because she didn't want to fall down.

"He wouldn't be running without a reason!" Ocotillo yelled.

"Isn't seeing a half-dragon like you a good enough reason?" Eri wondered.

The man was now on the ground floor. He ran left when he slammed right into Lina. They both went backwards from the impact. The man managed to stay on his feet, but Lina fell down.

Lina immediately got up, "HEY! Watch where you're going!"

"KILL HIM!" Eri shouted over the railing, "Or you know, punch him!"

"DIE!" Lina jumped and punched the man in the face. After that, she yelled, "Somebody get me some rope!"

"OW! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" The man's hands flew up to his face. He held his cheek where Lina had punched him.

Snow tossed a rope from the stairs, "Use your author powers next time to get a rope."

Lina grabbed the man's hands and tied them behind his back. "Oh, nothing wrong with me."

"Dude, she just leaped us here. Give her a break," Eri scowled at Snow.

"Yeah dude. So moody," Lina said.

"Though, in all seriousness, this guy has a reason to run. He did see a freaking half dragon," Eri said, "The only reason I flipped out was because you ran into my friend. Sorry about your face."

"Honestly, it wasn't that strange," The man said, "I have seen weirder things."

"So, why'd you run away?" Qibli asked.

"Well, your friend has one heck of a punch," He said.

"Thank you," Lina said.

"Answer the question, mister," Qibli said.

"Maybe you want info and think I have some, or maybe you are one of the crazies around here who will just want to randomly come and torture me. Or maybe you would torture me since I know things you don't. And since I just said that, you will probably want to know," He said.

"Well, you looked suspicious," Ocotillo said.

"Yeah, who hides in an armoire?" Eri questioned.

"True! Eri's asking the real questions! Though, he is VERY punchable," Lina said.

The man let out a sad sigh, "It sure feels like it." So, apparently they're not interested in the info I have.

"Whoa Lina. That's a little concerning," Eri commented.

"It's not! I'm just pointing out facts!" Lina said in defense of herself.

"Suuuuuure. Anyway sir, we would like to know some of that info you say we don't know," Eri said and added, "Please."

"There are other groups trying to stay going around the low country. Some are vastly bigger than yours. I also am aware that you didn't travel here in a normal way. In fact you took a shortcut, and a strange one at that," He answered and thought, I guess I spoke too soon on whether they wanted to know or not.

"How do you know we took a shortcut?" Snow asked.

"It was obvious. I can tell these sorts of things," He said.

"How so? Are you a stalker?" Eri narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, this is the first time I've seen most of you," He answered.

"Most of us? Then who have you seen?" Eri asked.

"You, and the girl who punched me. I saw you once at Kaminsky's. You were sitting at the bar eating chocolate cake with who I assume is your father. And I saw your friend at the South Carolina Wildlife Exposition here," He answered.

"So you just remember every young girl you see?" Eri asked.

"Nope. I remember lots of people who I barely know. The bartender at Joe Pasta, an old man that walked up the stairs here, a tourist from Japan, the cashiers at Publix. Yeah, you guys are just some of the many strangers in my memories. Don't flatter yourself," He said.

"Wait a minute! You dodged one of my questions! How did you know about the shortcut? And give me a real answer this time!" Eri demanded.

"Because I saw from the roof here I saw you guys randomly appear. And when I saw that you guys were headed here, I thought, 'What a weird group. They've got a dragon with them, they might be crazy and try to kill me.' So I got down and hid in the wardrobe," He answered in a matter of fact tone.

"Oh. Yeah we did kinda teleport right where anybody could see us," Eri said.

"Yeah. Can y'all do anything else?" He asked.

"Y'all?" Eri repeated.

"Nevermind. Forget I said that word," He said.

"What? YOU ASHAMED OF THE SOUTH'N ACCENT?! IT AIN'T A CRIME TO BE SOUTH'N. Y'ALL NEED TO GET THAT IN YO GOSH DARNED HEADS!" Eri yelled, going into her full-blown southern accent mode. "Just kidding, I don't talk like that. And yeah, we can do a lot of other stuff. Lina and I can conjure stuff, and I would go more into detail of what we can do but we've already told you too much."

"Should we untie him now?" Ocotillo asked.

"As long as he does not bolt or go crazy," Lina said.

"Will you bolt or go crazy?" Eri asked the man.

"There is no advantage to trying to take on a group that outnumbers me while I am unarmed," He said, "AKA, no. I will not go crazy."

"Then, you're free to go sir," Eri said and untied him.

He shook out his arms, "Thanks."

"Thank you for your cooperation," Eri said, "Now shoo!"

"Yeah I get it, I'll go," He said and left.

"HEY! We should go to the bookstore or library!" Lina said.

"OOH YEAH! WE CAN GO TO BLUE BICYCLE BOOK STORE!" Eri said excitedly.

"I think we should be looking for a suitable place to stay. No pit stops," Snow objected.

"Awww fine!" Lina said.

"Wow, you're being a responsible adult for once," Eri remarked.

"Actually, I think this hotel is pretty good! It has rooms and there might be food still here!" Qibli said.

"I call living in the bookstore; is that an option?" Lina asked.

"The bookstore isn't here though. So unfortunately, no," Eri said.

Lina sighed, "Fine..."

"I can sleep in the room that guy was found in," Newt said.

"How about Newt and the rest of the glader guys can sleep there?" Eri suggested. "And Teresa and Brenda can share a room!"

"Sure," Gally said, laconic as ever.

"Sounds pretty good," Minho said.

Thomas said, "Okay, that'll work."

"I don't mind sharing a room with her," Brenda said.

"Same, I guess," Teresa said.

"Hey Lina! Can we share a room? With Moon and Kinkajou too?" Eri asked.

"Sure!" Lina said.

Moon nodded in agreement and Kinkajou said, "Okay!"

"So that leaves the other dragons Ocotillo, Qibli, Winter, Umber, and Turtle to have a room," Eri said.

Lina stifled a laugh, "Ocotillo will be completely surrounded by boys. That's pretty funny."

"Huh, didn't think about that," Eri said.

"Eh, I'm fine with it," Ocotillo said.

"So who's left?" Eri asked.

"I believe it's the wizards and the demigods," Lina said.

"Oh! And the Wonderlandians plus Snow and Abe," Eri added.

"We're the Ron Weasley group!" Ron said.

Hermione said, "Well actua-"

Ron covered her mouth with his hand, "Shh. We're now the Ron Weasley group."

"So I guess the Weasley sons and I will share a room together," Harry said.

"Okay, well Ginny and I can room together," Hermione said, "As well with Piper, Hazel, and Annabeth if that's alright."

"That works," Annabeth said.

Percy said, "And then the rest of us demigods can room together."

"Wait, where should Cassie stay?" Lina wondered.

"With us then!" Eri said.

"Okay!" Cassie said.

"So that leaves me with the Hatter, Rabbit, Cheshire, and Abe. Great, I'm stuck with three mad men and a former president," Snow said, "But then again, I did try to kill someone the other day."

"Yeah Snow, don't judge," Lina chided.

"Gosh. You're awfully moody today Snow," Eri commented.

"We still have time to go places," Lina commented.

"LET'S GO TO THE LIBRARY!" Eri said.

"YAY!" Lina said.

"Well, we're off!" Eri said, and she and Lina went to go to the library.

So, everyone decided to settle into their new rooms.

"I guess I'll just put my stuff down here," Ocotillo said and put her stuff down in the room.

"I wonder if Eri deliberately put you with a bunch of guys," Qibli said.

"She might have. Not sure why though," Ocotillo said.

"Well after the romance drama that Lina had, maybe Eri wanted to see you act all flustered," Qibli assumed.

"Well it didn't work, so HA!" Ocotillo said striking a triumphant pose.

"Who's gonna sleep on the bed?" Umber asked.

"Don't care," Ocotillo said, "I can sleep on the floor if somebody wants the bed."

"Ocotillo can have the bed; I just want a place to sleep," Turtle said.

"Oh okay. Thanks," Ocotillo said.

"It's pretty big, so you better be comfortable," Winter said. He was slightly disappointed that he couldn't have the bed, but didn't bother to argue. He grumpily walked over to the corner of the room, "This'll be my spot. Away from everyone else."

Turtle set his blanket down on the floor, and he laid on it, "Well, this place is certainly less cramped than the cave."

"You can say that again," Ocotillo said, collapsing onto the bed.

"Well, this place is certainly less cramped than the cave," Turtle said again.

Suddenly, the door to the Belmond Charleston Place loudly slammed open. Eri announced her presence, "WE'RE BACK!"

"WITH BOOKS!" Lina added.

Annabeth darted of her room, "Did you guys say books?!"

"We have tons!" Eri said.

"So many! And they're in decent condition," Lina said, "Though, some of the books were pretty bad."

"The poor books... Anyway, I'm going to set up my sleeping area now," Eri said and headed up the stairs to their room.

"I guess I will too," Lina said and followed her friend.

Cassie greeted the two girls with a warm smile and proudly said, "Kinkajou and I had a war over the who gets to claim the bed. I won!"

"I lost the war..." Kinkajou groaned.

"You sure did!" Cassie jumped on to the bed, "So this is mine now!"

Ocotillo passed by the room. Lina stopped her and shoved the Percy Jackson and Harry Potter book series in Ocotillo's face.

"Read these," Lina said.

"Lina! Don't just shove it in front of her face!" Eri said.

"But she needs to read them!" Lina said.

"Okay! Okay. I'll read them!" Ocotillo said. She took the stack of books from Lina, sat on the stairs, and she started reading The Lightning Thief.

"Anyway, I claim sleeping next to the armoire!" Eri said.

"Aww! I was going to claim that!" Lina said.

"Hehe! Too bad!" Eri chuckled.

"Well, I get to sleep with Smoke-Storm. So HA!" Lina said.

"What?! No fair!" Eri said.

The girls continued their banter and everyone else did their own things. Despite the new scenery, life seemed to be just as usual. And for the group, usual either meant trouble or drama.

Author's Note: If you had no idea what was going on in this, you did not read the description. Bad person! You don't get a cookie. But anyway, this is a continuation of my In an Apocalypse story. So yeah, go check it out.