So I just started watching The Walking Dead and I love it so I just had to write this crossover. I hope you like it! This first chapter, and maybe the second also, wont have any twd characters involved yet... But I promise that is a thing that will happen. As always, feedback is greatly encouraged and appreciated. Tell me what you think :)
They always thought they could solve everything life threw at them. Hell, they have. They managed to stop a few apocalypses in their day. But this was different. This was cruel and this was a disease. All they could do was kill and keep killing, there was no hope, no saving people, no family business, no apocalypse, no God. Nothing. They thought they could handle every cruel thing life threw at them but they never once expected something like this. A dead end in more ways than one.
"Burn or bury?" Sam asked coldly from where they were temporarily staying in an abandoned cabin in the woods, far from the cities, hoping no walkers would travel out this far. Sam was kneeling beside a body, a body that used to belong to a friend, an alley they picked up along the way. A body that now belonged to the disease waiting to wake up from inside. Dean didn't say anything, just cocked his gun and motioned for Sam to step back, resting the barrel against the body's forehead and pulling the trigger.
"Hunter's funeral." He said simply before walking out of the cabin, receiving a sympathetic look from Castiel who was sitting on their sleeping bag, reading through an old Bible they had found in one of the drawers of this abandoned place, even though he knew the whole story from personal experience. Sam sighed and scratched the back of his head before bending down to pick up the body, receiving help from Kevin who had come jogging into the cabin from his and Charlie's watch when he heard the shot.
"Be careful. Don't do anything you would normally do." Cas called after him almost coldly as Dean walked out the door, slamming it behind him. It was getting closer to winter, they would need to find somewhere warmer to stay instead of staying on the road. This cabin was the first place they've slept besides the Impala after the virus broke out. But Dean knew it wouldn't be safe to stay in one place for too long. One way or another a herd always makes their way out of the city and into the woods in search of food, taking down whole camps. He's seen it happen before and couldn't risk it happening to his family. He'll take the yelling and cold stares from all of them as long as they're alive.
Dean placed his gun back on his belt, walking out into the forest to get some fresh air and space away from responsibilities when he heard Charlie call out after him from where she was sitting on the cabin roof, feet hanging over the edge and swinging back and forth, binoculars around her neck and a rifle at her side.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?"
"Out." Dean smirked sarcastically, waving her off before continuing on his trail.
"Not alone you aren't." He didn't bother turning around, listening as Charlie made her way off the roof, calling inside for Kevin to take back over the watch before running after to him. Dean sighed, peace and quiet was never an option with these people. Charlie didn't say anything, just filed in beside him, slinging the rifle over her shoulder as they walked. They made it twenty minutes into the forest before she spoke up. That had got to be a new record.
"Cas is worried about you." She deadpanned, looking over at Dean as if expecting him to break down and go back to the cabin with her just because she mentioned Cas. Dean just went back to looking forehead, watching for any movement in the trees that would indicate a walker.
"He's always worried about me, what's new?" Charlie scoffed, grabbing his arm and pulling him around to face her.
"Don't do this." She hissed, keeping one hand on his arm and brushing her fingers through her hair frustratingly with he other.
"Do what-?"
"Act like you don't care! You were close to Andy, I know it, we all were. And you just shot him in the head like it didn't bother you at all-"
"He would have turned, I had to do it. He was dead anyway, Charles-"
"That isn't my point and you know that. You've grown cold, Dean Winchester. I don't care if you think that's the only way to survive this, it's not. You haven't held a longer conversation besides how to dispose of a body, who's watch it is, or who would be going on the supply run next, with your brother. Sam is worried too he just doesn't show it as obviously. Kevin tries to help you out with runs and bodies and all you do is push him away. And Cas... you were engaged to him once upon a time before all this happened for God's sake-"
"God sure as hell has nothing to do with this." Dean breathed, pulling away and turning back down the trail they had come from, leaving Charlie watching after him in failure.
"All I'm saying is we need you to come back. The real you, the old you, not this shell of a man with nothing left to lose. It's breaking us apart." Dean kept walking, making sure to listen out for Charlie's solemn footsteps following behind him as the sun began to set. He knew she was right, he just didn't want to admit it to himself. After a few more paces he saw a movement in the corner of his eye and turned around just in time to send a knife through a walker's eye that had been a step away from Charlie's neck. Charlie had a delayed reaction, jumping to the side and pointing her gun at the fallen biter, just as edgy as always, causing Dean to grab her hand before she could shoot the dead thing and attract more than Dean already attracted with his stupidity earlier with Andy's body. Dean just sighed and made sure the body was disposed of properly before wrapping his arm around Charlie's shoulder. Keeping her close as the sun set and the woods darkened. He couldn't risk anything. Not anymore. They'd have to leave this cabin by tomorrow.
"Thanks." Charlie said softly a few minutes later, not sounding like she wanted to admit it.
"No need to thank a 'broken shell of a man'. What would he care?" Dean said sarcastically, managing a smirk and causing Charlie to laugh for the first time in a long time, playfully elbowing him in the side as they made there way back to the cabin.
It was dark by the time they were back, Sam was kneeling beside the burnt remains of the body, Kevin standing beside him, one hand on his rifle as Dean and Charlie made it out of the woods.
"It's about time." Sam muttered, not even bothering to look up as Dean passed them and walked straight into the cabin, Charlie staying behind. When he reached the door it opened before he had the chance to reach out for the knob.
"We need to talk." It was Cas. Dean knew this was coming sooner or later but he was hoping on the later. He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose before walking the rest of the way in just to get slapped in the face once the door was closed.
"What was that for-!"
"That was for acting like you've been, I can't stand it any longer, you're not you. At least not the you I know. First off, you act like you hate me-"
"Castiel... You know that's not true." Dean softened his stare and tried to reach out to Cas but Cas just hit his hand away. "I don't know what to do, I'm doing the best I can to keep you guys breathing! What do you expect from me-?"
"Your heart maybe? The way you've been acting makes it seem like that's what's missing." Dean looked away, unable to hold Cas's glare, wishing he could just leave everything behind him and reach out to him but knowing that it would never work. Instead he just tried to ignore him, walking over to their blanket and sleeping bag set up towards the back corner of the room before sitting down with his back rested against the wall, running his fingers through his hair and squeezing his eyes closed, trying to clear his mind of everything that's been happening and failing. Trying to think about what Charlie told him. He felt Cas's hand on his shoulder but didn't bother looking up.
"Everyone of you keeps saying the same damn thing." Dean said softly. He watched as Cas kneeled down in front of him, reaching out to lift his chin up and meet his eyes, red as they were and watering like always. It was easier to turn off his emotions and elect to ignore everyone else's arguments. But when the same thing was coming from Cas... It was near impossible.
"Then why don't you listen? Give up this stubbornness of yours. I know how you are, probably better than all of us, and I know how you'll keep everything inside until it kills you. The anger, the pain, the fear... the guilt. You just layer it all with sarcasm and ignorance. Let yourself be afraid like any normal human being for once. I am. I've been afraid since the beginning, it's hard enough dealing as a new human. Kevin and Charlie certainly are and you should be able to recognize that Sam is too. No one would think you're weak for letting yourself be afraid. It's what makes you human." Dean dropped his eyes, scraping the mud off his boots and trying to keep his mind away from fear, knowing what Cas was saying was true but also knowing it wouldn't help them survive. When he didn't say anything Cas just sighed and stood up, about to turn away and ignore him again just like all their fights and talks ended these days before Dean reached out and grabbed his hand.
"Wait." Was all he had to say for Cas to stop in his path and tighten the hold around his fingers. "I'm sorry. I'm trying - But it isn't enough. I can't focus on the heart of the situation when the brain is the thing that kills, the thing that comes back full of disease. I need to focus on keeping you guys alive but it's hard when you all look at me like that. I am afraid, Castiel. I'm fucking scared as hell. But not for the same reasons. I'm afraid of losing all of you, whether it be a walker or just my own damn self not showing how much I care about you-" Dean stopped talking before Cas could hear his voice catch. He wasn't weak. Dean winchester may be cold, but he wasn't weak. Cas finally turned around and kneeled down in front of him, not saying a word as Dean staggered foreword and finally broke down for the first time since all of this started, hiding his face in Cas's shoulder as if he could protect him from everything.
Cas was the only one who could take the fear away and multiply it at the same time.
"What do you think is happening in there?" Kevin asked after hearing the shouting, leaning on his shovel. Sam scoffed, shaking his head as he continued to shovel up the small grave they were going to bury the remains of the ashes in. They couldn't leave Andy like this, out in the open, burnt on some firewood and dead leaves.
"I don't much care to find out. Cas will break that stubbornness of Dean's one of these days, hopefully sooner than later." Sam looked over at Kevin who was still staring at the closed door and sighed when he decided to ask another question.
"Why don't you talk to him-"
"Because I'm not his fiancé. You'll learn a few things when you get older-"
"Pretty sure that's not how it works, you're just avoiding talking to him about anything that concerns your feelings because both of you are apparently Vulcan. And I'm not a kid, dude, I'm 27." Charlie snickered from the roof but went back to watching through her binoculars when Sam glared up at her. It took awhile to finish digging the grave, but by the end of it all there had only been about two walkers making their way out of the woods, only to be stabbed in the face by Sam and Kevin. They didn't want to risk firing a gun again, it would just attract more. They'd have to leave soon, it wasn't safe enough here, not after Andy was attacked on a firewood run and the two walkers that showed up tonight.
By the time Sam took over watch and Kevin and Charlie walked inside, Dean was already asleep, wrapped in Cas's arms like always as if everything was always okay, there as no use waking Dean up now to ask about the leaving plans, he needed sleep. He hadn't slept in days, it was a miracle Cas got him to sleep tonight. Kevin led the way into the side room that him and Charlie shared, falling down onto his sleeping bag and watching as Charlie walked over to hers, picking up the old copy of The Wizard of Oz to read it for the thousandth time.
"You miss her?" Kevin asked from his corner of the room after a few minutes of silence, turning on his side and nodding to the cover of the book that showed Dorothy walking down the yellow brick road with the scarecrow, tin man, and cowardly lion. Charlie smiled as best she could.
"Yeah. Yeah I miss it all, but mainly her." Kevin nodded laying on his back and shining his flashlight on the decaying ceiling above. Everything here was dark, decrepit, and dying if not already dead. But they too were dead already. The dead walking. Once they die they'll turn into those things, no matter if they get bitten or not. Either way it all ends in death and more death. Kevin pictures Oz as the best sanctuary to be at the time, forget the flying monkeys, he would take them and the wicked witch of the west over the walkers and this disease any day.
"Do you think we could ever... find a way back there?" He asked. Charlie didn't say anything, just kept reading the same tattered story that she's read front to back, wishing she would be sucked into the book.
"I don't know, Kev. I want to hope but I also don't want to rely on that hope."
They left that morning, fitting anything and everything they could as far as necessities go into the Impala. Cas filed into the back seat next to Kevin and Charlie, Kevin complaining about being squished in the middle as always, Charlie watching out the window and listening to her iPod that only had about 30 percent battery life left since the last time they found an actual working outlet and generator to charge it. Sam was finishing up loading some more stuff before walking over to the passenger side, about to get in the car before Dean stopped him.
"Sammy, wait." He said, standing on the driver's side with his elbows resting on the roof of the Impala. Sam looked over at him, putting one more bag down before nodding his head for Dean to continue.
"About how I've been... acting since this all started... I'm-"
"I know." Sam interrupted, managing a small smile, "Me too."