Harry groaned, stretched his legs and curled his toes. He wasn't on the floor of the CDC anymore, if what he felt when he curled his fingers was any indication. There were a few towels underneath him and a light blanket on top of him, plus his head was on a pillow. He sighed in contentment at the feeling of being on a soft surface; he had just the hard, white floor under him for the past two months.
And he could see a bandage on his left knee and when he moved around a little more, he could feel bandages on his back. Harry winced at the thought of people seeing his back. His past had not been pleasant by any definition of the word. But then again, the dead were coming back to life and eating people. Priority was, he supposed, to survive.
He tried to sit up only to realize he was restrained. Handcuffs by the feel of them. But he could feel... He turned to look at them and saw that the handcuffs had some fabric underneath them, like someone had thought that Harry might have panicked at being restrained. Possibly someone who had seen his back and connected the dots.
"Here."
Harry turned to see a woman sitting on a chair on one side of the cot that he was lying on. She was middle aged, maybe late 30's and had light green eyes. She was looking down at him with kind eyes, maybe a little sorrowful. She held out a cup with a straw toward him, offering.
"Thanks."
The woman nodded while Harry took a few sips of wonderfully cold water. The scientists and the military personnel that had taken him captive had not particularly cared whether or not he had received food or water. Or even medical attention after they performed their experiments.
The British Ministry of Magic had ordered him to go investigate the States, see if they were as affected as other parts of the world were. Long story short, they were. He had stopped in front of the building that the American magical government was housed and could feel the zombies walking around. The American muggle government was the same, maybe a little worse off.
Only, he supposed that someone had noticed Harry walking around without getting attacked. He only remembered being shot, being surrounded by people in military uniforms the nothing. It was all blurry. Needles being stuck into him, desperate voices yelling above him about zombies or whatever the scientific term for the walking dead was... As time went on, they had gotten more and more desperate to find a cure. Anything that would stop whatever it was that was causing this.
"You going to be okay?"
The woman had long since withdrawn the cup of water and had backed up a little.
Harry turned to look at whoever had spoken and raised an eyebrow. There was a young boy standing at the foot of his cot, alongside a young girl. Three other women were standing with them. One had straight brown hair and the other young woman had blond hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and the third was a black woman. They were all staring at him with concern and perhaps a little wary. There was a young man who looked like he was Chinese or Korean, perhaps, standing next to a man who held a big rifle. Finally, there was one other man standing around his cot.
The guy was of medium height, maybe the same height as Harry, and had a crossbow slung across his shoulder. He had short black hair and he was looking at Harry with a peculiar look. Harry didn't know what that look meant, as these people were still strangers to him. Even though they had opened the door to his 'cell', Harry wasn't particularly sure whether he could trust them or not.
Dr. Jenner was nowhere in sight again. Harry wasn't particularly surprised at that. Jenner had been one of the ones that had stood back when the more aggressive and desperate scientists had experimented on him. But he had not let him out of his 'cell', even when Harry had started to hear gunshots and started to feel people dying.
It was the boy who had spoken and who had continued to stare at Harry. The girl too was staring at Harry for some weird reason. It was then when he realized that they were staring at his forehead and he shuddered a little. The glamour that he had put on his scar had probably... There was no way it wasn't visible now.
Harry started to speak only to cough a little. "'M okay. Thanks for finding me."
"How did you know it was the kids that found you?" The woman with the blond hair asked, glancing between him and the other adults.
"Uh... I could hear their voices?" Harry quietly replied, hoping they would buy that reason. The door that had kept him from getting out of the CDC had been soundproofed on his side so he couldn't hear any 'classified' information that anyone had spoken. "Why am I being restrained? I'm not a zombie or a walker or whatever..."
"You could still be dangerous," the guy with the big rifle spoke. "Rick doesn't think you are though."
"Shane! You saw him! You still think he's dangerous?" the woman who was standing behind the young boy said.
"Yeah."
"He doesn't have a fever," the woman exclaimed, gesturing to Harry. "You know people who get bitten have a fever. He does not."
"Then why the hell was he in there in the first place?" the guy retorted, raising his voice a little.
Harry sighed. "This is just great. From one state of captivity to another one."
The women in the room all widened their eyes.
Harry glanced down at the kids and reconsidered what he was about to say. "At least you guys cleaned my wounds. I appreciate it."
Most of the adults in the room blanched. The guy that was apparently named Shane did not, just kept staring at him wearily. Though it wasn't like the rest of the group didn't look exhausted and tired. Harry just... If he ended up... Well, whatever he would do after this, he was going to be cautious around the guy.
"What's your name?" the young boy asked, glancing up at the adults. "No one's asked."
"Harry Potter. That's me," he answered.
"What are your names?" Harry returned, a little curious.
"I'm Carol," the woman who had given him some water said. "My daughter, Sophia, is one of the kids who found you."
Harry nodded at them, smiling at Sophia a little. She was holding onto a doll tightly, like she was a little afraid. If he wasn't sure that everyone would freak out and if he had his wand with him, he would produce a patronus. Most wizarding children loved seeing his patronus, probably non-magical children would too. "Hi."
"I'm Carl." The boy that had first spoken said then pointed at Harry's forehead. "What's that from?"
"Carl!" the woman standing behind him scolded. "That's not polite."
"I'm not going to take offense," Harry tentatively replied. "I've heard worse."
Someone snorted and Harry glanced to where the guy with the crossbow was then glanced back at the woman.
"Still, that's not okay. I'm Lori Grimes."
Harry nodded at her. "I assume he's your son?"
"Yes."
"Shane, he awake?"
Everyone in the group turned to look at the doorway where two men were heading their way. Harry turned his head to assess the newcomers. One seemed to be the leader of the group since everyone was now looking to him for answers. He was wearing a police officer uniform, with a gun holster at his side. The other man was carrying a rifle that wasn't as big as the one Shane was carrying.
"Yeah. He's awake. And talking."
"Did the doc have something'ta say about him?" Crossbow guy asked, turning to focus on one of the men.
"He said something about hot showers," the guy carrying the rifle said with a wide smile.
"Showers?" The guy that looked Chinese asked, eyes brighting up. "Hot showers?"
"Yeah."
"That is awesome!"
"I would love a shower right about now," Harry remarked, glancing up at the police officer.
"Shane, you kept him handcuffed? I told you that we probably could remove them."
"That's my dad," Carl whispered. "He's the leader."
"Oh," Harry whispered back. "What's his name?"
"Rick," Carl replied. "He used to be a police officer."
"Dr. Jenner wouldn't say anything," Rick spoke, looking first at crossbow guy then at Shane.
"He's not going to say anything," Harry commented, stretching his foot out a little. "The man's a coward."
"Did they do that to your back?" Rick asked, going over to stand next to Lori.
"Rick..." Crossbow guy trailed off with a meaningful glance at Harry, who had paled and shuddered a little.
"I'd rather not talk about that," Harry replied. "But-"
"Why the fuck were you in there?" Shane asked, taking a step toward him.
Harry narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath. The guy was already getting on his nerves but he could understand the need to know. Harry was a little annoyed but he had put up with Draco back in school so he was not that affected.
"Shane, stop it. You're not helping," Rick said, holding out an arm to stop Shane from moving any closer.
"People can be so... cruel sometimes," Harry finally replied, eyes going to the ceiling for a minute. "That's all I'm saying about the matter. Now, can someone finally get me out of these handcuffs? I promise I won't hurt any of you or create trouble."
He stared at Shane then at Rick.
Crossbow guy huffed, strode over to Rick and held out his hand. Rick dropped two sets of keys into crossbow guy's hand. Shane sighed and strode off, muttering about dangerous people and needing to get another drink.
Harry watched as crossbow guy came closer. Carl and Sophia shuffled out of his way, moving toward their parents.
"So... I've been calling you crossbow guy in my mind. What's your name?" Harry asked idly.
There were a few quiet chuckles in the room.
Crossbow guy stared down at him, raised an eyebrow.
"What? I'm not telepathic here," Harry retorted, returning the look.
"Daryl Dixon."
"Ah. Much better. Calling you crossbow guy would have been a mouthful."
