The Walking Dead: Ghost Story.
Chapter 3: Wraith.
AN: So, for those on FFN (and therefore probably out of the loop, in this case) I put up the idea of this becoming a Multi-Cross on SB (aka, SpaceBattles), and people seemed to be cool with it, so that's a thing now.
I plan for the next "world" after "The Walking Dead" (aka, this current one) to be Stellaris, and I may or may not decide to change the name of the story to "Wandering Spirit" or something along those oh so very dramatic lines.
Wraith (Scottish folklore): Wraiths were traditionally said to be the embodiment of souls who are either on the verge of death, or who have recently passed on.
Atlanta, Georgia.
September, 2010.
A mere minute later, I glanced toward Glenn as he spoke into the handheld radio, "I'm back, got a couple guests, plus four geeks in the alley!"
Floating next to Rick and Glenn as they descended the metal stairs and we entered the alley, I narrowed my eyes at the two undead corpses shambling their way towards us, or, more accurately, the two flesh and blood human beings next to me, briefly activating my Aura Sight to see the black-woven forms of two more zombies through the corner of the building on our right.
Then, as two people in what appeared to be cobbled together padded gear ran out of a nearby door and proceeded to turn a pair of once-dead corpses into two twice-dead corpses, I followed Rick and Glenn as they ran to the door, the moans of the two remaining zombies cutting off as the two behind us closed the door.
Only for a woman greatly resembling Laurie Holden to promptly shove Rick into a stack of wooden pallets and shove a handgun in his face, one of the two people in padded gear attempting to shove me back by pushing the tip of their bat into my gut as I leaned forward and scowled at her, its holder paling and throwing it to the floor as if it was a live zombie head as the bat passed through my intangible form.
Apparently paying no attention to the fact that her weapon's safety was still on, Andrea glares at Rick before glancing at me, her eyes widening at the sight of a literal ghost before turning her attention back to Rick, stating that "We're dead because of these stupid assholes." before backing off as per Morales' request, the group manhandling Rick toward the front of the store as I hovered beside them.
Turning my attention to the glass doors as they continued to lambast Rick for his apparently poor life decisions, I promptly found my interest drawn by the sight of one of the zombies holding a piece of rubble over its head before slamming it into the glass.
Activating my Aura Sight, those who could see my narrowed eyes recoiled as they once again began to glow green, the world shifting into greyscale as I glanced at them in turn, the white of their living auras burning brightly as I glanced at what I knew sat there, waiting, before turning my attention to the horde of undead corpses clawing at the door, each one showing as a web of pure black, with the sole exception of the rubble-wielding zombie, my eyes intently staring at the pinprick remnant of white slowly burning out within its reanimated brain, the white of its last human creativity a mere candle when compared to the blazing infernos around me...metaphorically, of course.
As it continued to bash the piece of rubble against the glass door, I turned to look at the others and traded introductions, before glancing through the upper floors of the building to watch as a single glowing white figure approached the edge of what was most likely a rooftop, before raising something to their shoulder and firing down into the street, the zombies at the glass only increasing their efforts to break in as the report of the gunshots rang out, undoubtedly drawing even more to the building than before.
Floating through the ceiling as Rick dropped the bag of guns and followed the others up the stairs, I decided to ignore that option in favor of the quicker route available only to me.
Staring in exasperation as the others emerged from the stairway, almost moving as fast as I had in their need to confront the man whose next -and distinctly racist- words I blatantly chose to ignore in favor of flying forward almost as soon as the fight started, my intangible form entering his body the moment T-Dog's head bounced off of the metal pipe, Merle's body stiffening as my control overrode his and I caught T-Dog's fist in the hand of my new host, glowing green eyes and raised eyebrows not my own attempting to convey my irritation at both the attempt and the fact that Jacquez, Andrea, and Glenn would've continued to be completely and utterly useless during the fight, before I began to speak with Merle's mouth, idly ignoring the sensation of his mind futilely attempting to fight back against my control.
"You know, Merle, I...don't really like you that much. Not just because you're an asshole, or because you're a racist, though I must admit to not really caring for that either, simply due to the fact that I consider racism an utter waste of time for everyone involved.
"No, see, it's because you're both, and you take that out on everyone around you. Keep your opinions, your justifications, and your prejudices. I quite simply couldn't care less about that. However, what I will not tolerate is your apparently stupidity...after all, I may not need those bullets, but they could be the difference between life and death.
"Now, I'm going to release you, and if you do not behave, I'm sure Rick will be very willing to use those handcuffs, if need be."
As I pushed myself from his body and floated to his left, the man flinched, before his first action was to pull a pistol from his belt and point it at my intangible head, my expression undoubtedly showing my immense disappointment before Rick promptly slammed the stock of Merle's own rifle into his head and handcuffed him to one of the smaller pipes.
Zoning out as Rick proceeded to have an oh so polite conversation with the combative racist, near-visibly projecting his unique "I'm fucking crazy and you shouldn't fuck with me" vibe, I idly wondered why Merle would choose to cut off his hand rather than just sawing through the pipe or the handcuff link.
Silently casting off the train of thought as very "for the future", I paid attention just long enough to hear the conversation about the sewer tunnels, amusing myself with the fact that it would be very easy for me to scout them with my Aura Sight, lack of smell, and distinct incapability to die.
Following the five of them and nodding in agreement as T-Dog settled in to watch Merle, I listened as Glenn went over the plan, before I chipped in with a few possible changes.
"Hey Glenn, I've got some thoughts."
The former pizza delivery boy turned to stare at me, as did the rest, before replying. "Yeah, man?"
Motioning to the tunnels beneath us, I spoke, "I'll come with you, and we can have Morales stay with Jacquez. I...have the ability to see souls, or at least something resembling them, and both the living and the dead show up, so I can see them even before you will, and you won't have to worry about me jamming you up, due to my intangibility, since you can just walk right through me, if you need to.
"Plus, let's be honest, I can't smell any of the probably literal shit down there, so that's one more plus, hmm?
"So, Glenn, how about it?"
As we watched the man consider it, he muttered, "Shit, yeah, that...that could work."
Nodding to Morales in an attempt to convey an apology for taking the role that he would've had, despite the fact that he would most likely never know that there was a "role" to be taken, I floated down to hover just above the water covered floor of the pipe's entrance.
Watching as Glenn climbed down the ladder that I could no longer truly use, I turned to regard the tunnel ahead and activated my Aura Sight, eyes glowing green as the world's color became muted and every surface shifted to the same transparent grey as my body, a quick glance upwards confirming the sight of dozens of zombies roaming around the street above, with hundreds more in every direction that counted.
Turning at the sound of dozens of tiny screeches, I watched, momentarily confused, as over a dozen tiny white lights scurried away, every rat in the sewer pipe running from my presence as soon as they recognized that what they were seeing actually existed.
Inclining my head in Glenn's direction, the man briefly flinching at the sight of my glowing eyes, I moved in front of him and began to silently float forward, the sound of Glenn's watery footsteps accompanying me as he followed my path, the light of his flashlight passing through my body as he swept it through the pipe ahead of us.
Briefly pausing at the barely-there surface of a door, tiny white lights scratching frantically at it in order to get away from my presence, I held up a hand to signal for Glenn to wait, before sticking my head through the metal of the door, though the gesture was more meant for Glenn's benefit than mine, before turning the raised hand into a thumbs up to signal that it was clear and floating through the door, the edge of its metal surface passing through my body as Glenn opened it, both of us glancing down as the rats ran ahead.
In a fresh round of screeching, dozens more rats joined the first ones in running, spreading themselves through the sewer pipe and branching off to crawl through the grates...including the one currently blocking Glenn's intended path.
Grimacing as a human-shaped web of black pushed itself against the grate and the white figure that was Glenn flinched back, I spoke, "Well...fuck. Alright then, that's certainly an issue, huh?"
Turning to stare at me, Glenn barely blinked at the sight of my glowing eyes, "Can we cut through it?"
Deciding to take a cue from Morales' line from the show, I idly replied as I deactivated my Aura Sight, both of us watching as the zombie pushed itself against the grate and moaned as if it was trying to present the torn-apart rat as some sort of morbid gift, "With a blowtorch and half a day, yeah. I sure as hell can't, though."
Then, the sound of breaking glass echoed through the pipe, both of us exchanging a glance before Glenn carefully took off running back the way he came, with me floating beside him, the hungry moans of the zombie that I hadn't had the time to kill following us as we made our way back to the building.
End of Chapter Three.
AN: So, yeah, feel free to tell me what you thought of this chapter, and whether or not the Multi-Cross sounds like a good idea. Honestly, the main reason I want to do the Multi-Cross is because then, it would give the SI things to do and experience outside of The Walking Dead, especially since humanity, well...the population isn't exactly recovering to the level of being able to, for instance, leave their version of Earth, and so, if humanity did die out, I'd rather the SI not have to eternally wander a dead world for the rest of time.
Shit's a bit too grimdark, in my opinion.