The Walking Death
Fandom: Harry Potter x The Walking Dead
Rating: M
Pairing: Shane/Harry.
Warning: AU, OOC, Slash, angst, violence, gore.
Summary: What would the Master of Death do if the world ended in zombie apocalypse?
Disclaimer: Why do I have to keep writing this? Everyone knows if I own any of these then I wouldn't be here writing fanfics now.
Beta Reader: DGM otaku.
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Chapter 08
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The next morning, the group couldn't find Harry. Rick, Shane, and Daryl who were on the lookout on turns all night never noticed him slip away. They got worried, with Shane bordering on angry.
"Where do you think he was going?" Lori asked.
"He blamed himself yesterday when we found him unconscious in the woods," Rick sighed. "He probably went to search for Sophia himself."
"That. Stupid. Bastard!" Shane cursed, kicking a crashed car at each emphasis.
"He left some instructions for the meds for me," T-Dog came out of the RV, holding up the note.
"He's probably alright," Daryl said, looking at Rick, Shane, and Glenn meaningfully, "He can defend himself, remember?"
"Yeah," Rick nodded, catching Daryl's meaning. "He's probably fine. Okay, look. We stay on the plan. Dale and T-Dog can stay here, maybe Harry will come back while we're out there looking."
"Or we would stumble on him in the woods," Glenn said.
"There's that," Rick nodded.
They went to prepare. Rick laid down the collection of machetes Carl found the other day.
"Everybody takes a weapon," Rick said.
"These aren't the kind of weapons we need," Andrea argued. "What about the guns?"
"We've been over that," Shane growled, "Daryl, Rick, and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."
"It's not the trees I'm worried about," Andrea glared at him.
"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it!"
Andrea didn't look pleased at all being snapped at like that. Others began to pick their own weapon. Lori and Glenn each took one. Carl looked at the collection and counted.
"We're missing one machete," Carl said.
"What?"
"I counted it yesterday. We're missing one weapon," Carl told his father.
"Harry probably took one," Glenn suggested.
"Yeah, let's hope so," Rick sighed.
"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark," Daryl told them.
"Stay quiet and stay sharp," Rick instructed. "Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other."
"Everybody assemble your packs," Shane ordered. He had been irritable since they found out Harry was missing. T-Dog looked at him sympathetically while others didn't get what his problem was.
"Dale, keep on those repairs. We've got to get this RV ready to move," Rick said to Dale.
"We won't stay here a minute longer than we have to," Dale promised. "Good luck out there. Bring Sophia back."
Rick nodded. "Keep an eye on Carl while we're gone."
"I'm going with you," Carl interrupted. "You need people, right? To cover as much ground as possible."
Rick groaned and looked at Lori.
"Your call. I can't always be the bad guy," Lori shook her head.
"Well, he has all of you to look after him. I'd say he's in good hands," Dale said.
"Okay. Okay," Rick gave up, "But always within our sight, no exceptions."
Carl nodded happily. He went to help Lori pack the things they needed while going out searching in the woods: bottles of water and snacks. Dale turned around to see Andrea walking towards him with intent.
"Andrea, I'm begging you," Dale said, "Don't put me in this position."
"I'm not going out there without my gun," Andrea said firmly. "I'll even say please."
Dale looked at her. "I'm doing this for you."
"No, Dale, you're doing it for you. You need to stop." Dale was silent. "Oh what do you think's gonna happen? I'm gonna stick it in my mouth and pull the trigger the moment you hand it to me?"
"I know you're angry at me. That much is clear. But if I hadn't done what I did, you'd be dead now."
"Jenner gave us an option. I chose to stay," Andrea reminded him.
"You chose suicide!"
"So what's that to you? You barely know me."
"I know Amy's death devastated you…"
"Keep her out of this. This is not about Amy. This is about us. And if I decided that I had nothing left to live for, who the hell are you to tell me otherwise? To force my hand like that?"
"I saved your life," Dale argued weakly.
"No, Dale. I saved yours," she shot back. "You forced that on me. I didn't want your blood on my hands and that is the only reason I left that building. What did you expect? What, I'd have some kind of epiphany? Some life-affirming catharsis?"
"Maybe just a little gratitude."
"Gratitude?" Andrea said incredulously, "I wanted to die my way, not torn apart by drooling freaks. That was my choice. You took that away from me, Dale."
"But…"
"But you know better?"
Dale was silent again. Everybody was looking at their little confrontation.
"All I wanted after my sister died was to get out of this endless horrific nightmare we live every day. I wasn't hurting anyone else. You took my choice away, Dale. And you expect…," Andrea looked bitterly amused, "gratitude?"
The old man looked hurt and lost. "I…I don't know what to say."
"I'm not your little girl. I'm not your wife. And I am sure as hell not your problem. That's all there is to say," Andrea said then walked past him.
Everyone watched as Andrea walked by and began to move themselves. Dale looked as lost as he felt when his wife died. T-Dog watched him with pity as the old man contemplating what had just happened.
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Their search didn't go well. They didn't find either Sophia or Harry. Shane was worrying himself out of his mind. He even snapped at Carl. Not that it was something new. He did yesterday because he was still bitter about Lori and confused about what he had just learned about Harry.
And now the man was missing.
Going on a stupid solo mission to get the little girl back.
Shane was going to drill him into the ground when he finds him later. And he was going to find him, damn it! He thought he was going to have a heart attack when he saw the man was chased into the woods with Sophia by the walkers the other day. And then he found him unconscious on the ground with a dead walker, bathing in blood. He had never felt so relieved in his life when Harry snapped his brilliant green eyes open.
But after that, he learnt the younger man was some magician with hocus-pocus and whatever other tricks he could do. There were so many questions in his head. Suddenly, some of the things Harry did seemed to gain a new light. Like when he knew about Jim before Jacqui could even tell them about his bite. How he absolutely believed Jim wouldn't make it and the way his eyes were glowing. He thought he was imagining things at the time but now, he was not sure. There was also Jenner who decided to take them in because he saw Harry, Shane did notice that one; the whispered conversations between the doctor and the scientist. Harry also asked something about his blood to him and…Jenner…he let them out after hearing what Harry said, about knowing what he was. The scientist knew Harry's secret. Was he also the same as Harry? And there were so many other things he couldn't think about at the moment.
He didn't know what to think. So he did what he did best; avoid the problem. If he confronted the man, they would only end up in a fight. That was how it was whenever Shane confronts something or someone. He saw how lost Harry looked when Shane avoided him. There was even a flash of hurt in his eyes.
Maybe if he talked to him about it, instead of avoiding him, Harry wouldn't go on his own like this. He would be here with them looking for Sophia together. He would know how he was doing, hell, could see it with his own eyes instead of wondering if the younger man was still alive, still human.
No, he had to be alive. For the sake of Shane's sanity, he had to be alive!
Harry had been there for him since he appeared in their group. He had been most understanding for everything around him. Shane was just too stubborn to accept his offer at the camp. And when he finally accepted it, it felt like the weight of the world was just lifted off of him. Harry had been a good listener and gave him something to think about to help him and the more Shane thought about it the more he thought that maybe the younger man was right about the whole affair.
Shane snapped out of his musing when Daryl found a tent. They approached the tent carefully while never losing their attention from the surrounding area, just in case there were walkers around, Daryl in the lead. He motioned them to stop then pulled out a knife, checking the tent but didn't see anything inside. He waved them closer.
After all of the tension and Carol's hopeful words, though, they found nothing but rotting body inside the tent. The stench was horrible. Shane and Rick gagged and coughed outside the tent while Daryl entered bravely. Then they heard the bell, a sound that was usually produced by a large bell up on the steeple of a church.
They moved towards the direction of the sound until they found a church in the middle of a huge clearing surrounded by gravestones. There was no bell in sight, though.
"That can't be it. Got no steeple, no bells," Shane said.
But Rick already started running towards the church. They had no choice but to follow. They ran to the door as quietly as they could. Rick motioned them to be ready. When the door was open, there were only three walkers inside, sitting on the benches like devoted Christians. How laughable.
Still, no matter how laughable the scene was, it was nothing compared to the disappointment and anger he felt. No Harry and no Sophia. Rick, Daryl, and he began to butcher the geeks mercilessly. Daryl finished his target with one swing while he and Rick showed everyone their more brutal self, stabbing into the walkers even after the things weren't moving anymore.
"Sophia!" Daryl shouted. No answer. He gave a look at the altar. "Hey, J.C. You taking requests?"
"I'm telling you, it's the wrong church. It's got no steeple, Rick," Shane said. "There's no steeple."
Suddenly, as if wanting to say Shane was wrong, the bell rang in the air again. Louder this time since they were inside the church. Daryl burst into a run. They went outside just in time to see Glenn shut the timer on the speaker off. It was just a record of a bell ringing.
"A timer. It's on timer," Daryl said.
Everyone sighed disappointedly.
"I'm gonna go back in for a bit," Carol said disappointedly.
Shane stood there as he watched around the field as everyone entered the church. Everyone except for him and Lori.
"What's the matter with you?" Lori asked. "You keep getting angry and you take it out on us, on Carl."
"What? Isn't that what you want? For me to stay away from you and Carl, to not talk to you anymore, that your family is off limits to me now? So, that way you two and Rick can be a happy family again?" Shane sneered.
"I didn't mean it like that. Especially if you're treating Carl like shit!" Lori hissed.
"I didn't treat him like shit! So, I'm not as open to him as before, so what? What do you expect? I have other things on my mind, too, you know!"
"What happened between us…"
"Have nothing to do with this, okay?" Shane growled. "You're the one who wants me to forget about it, so why do you keep bringing it up?"
Lori didn't answer.
"We have two missing members, right now. Can we stop talking about this until after we find them? The world doesn't revolve around you, Lori. Stop being so selfish and self-centered!"
"What…How could you…!"
"God, I can't believe this…," Shane snorted in irony. "Harry was right!"
"What? You listening to him now? Do you know what he said to me? He practically said that I'm useless and conceited…"
"Well, he's kinda right, isn't he? You never did anything more than whatever little things you're willing to do since the world ended. The others worked harder than you ever did, including Harry."
"Well, as useless as I am, at least I'm not the one who lost the girl!"
"Shut up, Lori! You shut up! Harry didn't lose her. He fought three walkers to protect her. Your husband is the one who lost her!"
"He…!"
"I don't wanna talk anymore, all right? Especially not with you of all people!"
Lori shot him a hurt look before turning around and stomping back into the church. Shane sighed heavily. He looked up to see Andrea standing on the side of the church. Shane scoffed at himself. That conversation would sure bring misunderstanding now. He turned to make a round on the field but Andrea chased after him.
"Why are you defending Harry so much?" Andrea asked. "You're not the type to defend a stranger so easily. What did he do to deserve that?"
"What did he do to you to deserve your hate?"
"He insulted Amy's memories and death!"
"Did he?" Shane asked. "Or did he just speak brutally honest to you so his words would drill through your thick skull instead of just being ignored? Stubborn people need cruel words to make them listen to what they don't wanna hear, right? Like what you did to Dale. What gives you the right to despise others for doing what you did?"
That shut her up.
"Maybe if you're not so stubborn, you would understand what he was trying to say. That he didn't do it just to be cruel," Shane said.
"You didn't know what he said to me!"
"Then tell me, what was so bad about what he said that makes you hate him so much when you were almost friends before?"
"He…," Andrea trailed off, her eyes welled up with tears. "He…said…that Amy asked him to…take care of me…"
"And that's bad?" Shane threw her an incredulous look.
"He belittled my pain!"
"Did he really? You do know what he's doing right now, out here and alone, right? Is that the type of a person that would look down on your pain?"
Andrea opened her mouth but no words came out. She looked uncertain. Shane scoffed at her.
"Why don't you take a little time to think about it first while I check around this place in peace, huh?"
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"Got to move here, man. These people are spent," Shane said as he approached Rick after he made his round. He found nothing. "There's only so many hours of daylight left. We still got a long way back."
"I can't stop yet."
"We still got a lot of ground to cover, whole other side of the Creek Bed. So we search that on the way back," Shane suggested.
"She would have heard those church bells. She could be nearby."
"She could be a lot of things."
"I can't go back. Her being out here is my fault."
"That's great. Now they got you doubting yourself, huh?"
"What about you? You doubt me?"
"Hey, we can assign all kinds of blame."
"This means something, finding her. It would be the miracle we need. We can't give up," Rick insister. "Don't forget about Harry. He was out here, too."
Shane's face hardened. "I didn't forget about either Harry or Sophia." Then he sighed. He walked back to the group, clearing his throat catching their attention. "Ahem…uh…Y'all gonna follow the Creek Bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough."
"You're splitting us up? You sure?" Daryl asked.
"Yeah, we'll catch up to you," Shane nodded sighing.
"I want to stay too," Carl said. "I'm her friend."
Shane looked at his best friend. He couldn't help but smile at the look on his face. Rick threw a look at Lori, asking her help. She smiled, walking up to Carl.
"Just be careful, okay?" she hugged him.
"I will," Carl promised.
"I'll be along soon enough," Rick pulled out his handgun and gave it to her, "Here, take this. Remember how to use it?"
"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed," Lori shook her head.
"Here, got a spare. Take it," Daryl said, handing her a small handgun.
Andrea watched in disbelief and scoffed bitterly at the unfairness. Shane watched them walked across the field back to the highway.
"Give me a minute?" Rick asked as he left them to go back to the church.
"Yeah," Shane looked at Carl. He smiled and ruffled his hair, earning a smile in return from the boy. "Come on."
They waited outside of the church sitting on the front steps. They could faintly hear Rick's talk and prayer inside from where they were. Both man and boy just looked ahead and didn't say anything when they heard Rick's angry growl. Seconds later, Rick came out.
"Get what you needed?" Shane asked.
"Guess I'll find out," Rick answered.
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"So this is it? This the whole plan?" Carol asked as she sat on a fallen tree trunk, stopping everyone.
The group had walked through the forest for quite awhile, following their previous track back with Daryl on the lead.
"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups," Daryl shrugged.
"Carrying knives and pointy sticks," Andrea added. She gave Lori a look. "I see you have a gun."
"Why, you want it? Here, take it," she handed her the gun. "I'm sick of the looks you're giving me. All of you."
Andrea looked at her, but took it anyway. That was what she wanted after all, to have a gun. Lori sat beside Carol.
"Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through. And I would do anything to stop it," she said to the upset mother. "But you have got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him. When Sophia and Harry ran he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second. And now this, he's not even the one who got her into the woods or lost her in the first place. He found her and hid her and be bait himself to the walkers so she would be safe. I don't know that any of us would have gone after them the way he did or made the hard decisions that he had to make or that anybody could have done it any differently."
Silence.
"Anybody?" she asked pointedly.
Everyone looked down.
"Y'all look to him and then you blame him when he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you," she huffed.
No one said anything. Lori looked up when she saw Andrea returning the gun to her. There was a guilty look on her face. She took the gun back.
"We should keep moving," Andrea reminded.
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After doing another sweep on the church ground, they decided to look at the other side of the woods. The three of them walked in silence, sweeping their eyes on the surrounding area looking for any sign either of life or walkers. Ten minutes into their walk, they heard some rustling that made them pause and alert.
They went to the direction Rick believed was the source of the sound. They stopped and lowered their guns, though, when they saw that that something was a deer. Alive and well and big enough for dinner and breakfast. Shane lifted his gun to shoot but Rick stopped him, nodding to an amazed Carl.
He couldn't help but smiled at the awe on the boy's face. So they let him to approach the deer carefully as not to frighten it. They held their breath as Carl got closer and closer. Just went he was about to reach a touching distance, something they didn't expect happened.
A shot rang through the air. Hitting the deer clean and through to Carl. The boy flew backward from the shot and landed on the ground at the same time the deer landed. Both men were stunned.
"Oh, no…no no no!"
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The group stopped walking when they saw Lori stopped, looking behind.
"You still worrying about it?" Andrea asked.
"It was a gunshot," Lori replied.
"We all heard it."
"Why one? Why just one gunshot?"
"Maybe they took down a walker," Daryl shrugged.
"Please don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker, or Shane. They'd do it quietly," Lori said.
"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol asked.
"There's nothing we can do about it, anyway," Daryl sighed. "Can't run around these woods chasing echoes."
"So, what do we do?"
"Same as we've been. Beat the bush for Sophia and Harry, work our way back to the highway."
"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV," Andrea assured her.
Lori nodded. Everyone began to get moving, except for Carol who looked lost. Andrea approached her.
"I'm sorry about what you're going through. I know how you feel," Andrea told her.
"I suppose you do. Thank you," Carol nodded. "The thought of her, out here by herself. It's the not knowing that's killing me. I just keep hoping and praying she doesn't wind up like Amy."
Andrea was stunned. Carol gasped as she realized what she said.
"Oh, God! That's the worst thing I ever said," she grabbed Andrea's hand in apology.
"We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth," Andrea smiled understandingly.
"I'll tell you what it's worth. Not a damn thing! It's a waste of time, all this hoping and praying," Daryl said impatiently to everyone's shock. "We're gonna locate that little girl. She's gonna be just fine."
Everybody looked at him in surprise.
"Am I the only one Zen around here? Good Lord," Daryl walked off quickly.
They had a feeling he was feeling embarrassed. Carol looked a little more relieved. Lori had to stifle a smile at the man's uncharacteristic show of caring for others. They continued their walk for another hour.
Suddenly, there was a rustling and something stumbled and rolling down from the upper ground. Daryl lifted his crossbow in ready. Everyone was tensed. The thing rolled down and came to a stop when it hit a tree with a grunt. It was a body.
Daryl approached the body carefully, weapon ready. The others stood there, waiting. The body was half covered in leaves from its rolling adventure from the higher ground. Daryl could tell it was a man, though. The body was unresponsive. Daryl stretched his leg and tapped the body. No response. He used his feet to turn it around and he was surprise at who he found.
"It's Harry!" Daryl reported. He crouched down to check on the man.
"What?!"
"Is he alive?"
"He hit his head, but he's alive," Daryl said as the others crowded around them.
"What's he doing here?"
"He looks like he just fought a herd of walkers," Lori said worriedly.
"Harry! Hey, Harry! Wake up!" Daryl slapped the unconscious man softly.
"Do you think he got a concussion from the hit?" Glenn asked.
Suddenly, Harry snapped his eyes and gasped up. His eyes roamed around wildly before he sighed in relief, though he still looked confused.
"Hey, you okay, man?" Glenn asked.
"I…what happened?"
"You fell and hit your head, man," Glenn told him.
"Looks like that's a habit of yours, huh?" Daryl smirked.
"Oh shut up…" Harry grumbled.
"What happened, Harry? Why did you go missing like that? What if something happened?" Carol asked.
"I…Sophia…"
"You found her? Where?"
"No…I lost the trail…," Harry looked down. "Sorry…"
Then Andrea, who was the only one who didn't approach the unconscious man because she was still bitter, looked to the side when she heard soft snarl and saw a walker approaching her quickly with its hands reaching out to her. Andrea screamed as she tried to get away but only ended getting farther away from the group.
"Andrea!"
"Guess we know why you fell and rolled around on the ground, now," Daryl jumped up with his crossbow.
"Hey!"
~ To be continued ~