Chapter 6 A Grimm Encounter

I added a bit to the last chapter. Bad habit. Hopefully it fleshed it out a bit.

Hphphp

A few weeks had passed since the first group had joined the magicals and friends. Many more were brought in, and quite a few didn't make it passed the wards. It was heartbreaking to see families that were turned away, but they couldn't allow those that intended harm to be in the wards. They tried to make the wives/husbands see that their spouse wasn't a good reason to put the children in harms way, but it fell on deaf ears six times out of ten.

Still the campgrounds were now teaming with people.

The full moon had been a doozy. They had debated on whether or not to tell the new people about werewolves, and they decided to share. It was quite a large debate. Most were terrified, they had all grown up with the myth, and knew that werewolves were deadly creatures. However, in the end, after it was explained that they would be keeping their mind and outside the wards, reluctant acceptance was given.

The three dogmen did keep outside the wards on the farthest part of their compound. They stuck to the woods and were not happy about how many zombies were roaming around back there. Granted it was only four, but that was four too many. Harry and Remus found out that the zombies didn't like werewolves, and that they tasted nasty.

"I'm never doing that again," Harry said the next day, still using mouth cleaning spells.

"I concur," Remus agreed, watching Harry try and get the taste that wasn't there out of his mouth.

"I can't believe you tried to eat them. I mean, they're dead," Sirius said, trying and failing not to laugh at his godson's plight.

"You ate one?" Sue asked in complete disbelief.

"No, we tried to run it off by biting it," Harry explained, giving up on getting the ghost of the taste out of his mouth.

"That didn't work?" she inquired.

"No, it did, but it was nasty," her friend said, sticking out his tongue and turning a bit green.

"We found out after, that they will run from our howls," Remus said, handing Harry his second Stomach Soother of the morning.

"Why aren't you freaking out?" Mike wanted to know. He was fascinated about the whole thing.

"I've attacked Inferi," was the casual reply.

"Right, those are magical zombies, correct?" Peggy said, laughing at Harry's exaggerated gagging.

"Yes, but they don't taste near as bad. Besides, you all have tasted some of our potions," Remus said, pointing out that they had tasted the nastiness that is wizarding medicine.

Now all the kids were making gagging noises.

"Okay, I'll give you that, but I'm not going to try and eat anymore zombies," Harry said firmly, no longer being silly.

"Right, I concur," his fellow werewolf said again, getting up and getting his day started.

"Let's just get people sorted," Sirius said, also rising.

Most of the new people were quite happy to do what was required of them, but there still were a few that just plain out were rebellious. Sirius had to threaten to turn more than one family out. As it was, he was the de facto leader. He had the papers that stated it was his land, so the rest of the original group left it to him to keep everyone in line. Now that they knew Harry and Remus were werewolves, they could be used as enforcers.

Ah, the beauty of myths.

"Okay," the kids said, going to their assigned tasks.

Hphphp

Other than that, not much happened except, the government had bombed Atlanta. Which was a huge thing, but it didn't affect the people at the campground. They all sat and watched the jets in complete disbelief but were relieved that they were safe.

Not that that helped any. More like made it worse. Only the non-zombies died. Now there was a large division between the healthy and walking dead, to the latter's favor. They had also sent in troops to kill the zombies, but the panicked military fired on everyone, again causing the ratio to rise. It was chaos, and soon those troops pulled out, followed by a large percentage of the healthy population.

The group did what they could, pulling responsive people off the highway. Mostly those with families. Not that they discriminated, just parents were more inclined to come. The wards had thrown out five adults, and there had been a few arguments as to whether the spouse would stay with the kid/s or join their partner. Most stayed, but a few left with the children.

Many magical people showed up as well. Most of them told the group that the schools and government offices had closed their doors to any more people. The goblins had gone to ground, and most magical creatures were in protective areas. Among the twenty or so magicals, they now had three warders, five healers, and a slew of house elves. They set them up in magical tents near the woods, mostly because the magicals weren't used to being near muggles. They were getting better at it, though there were complaints that they had to work to earn their place. Sirius told them they could leave, they didn't.

The new house elves were assigned to babysitting any child under five. It took a lot of convincing to get the non-magicals to agree. However, after watching for a few days, they all agreed.

Hphphp

"We should head to the CDC," Jessi said one day at breakfast. "I know there's one here in Atlanta."

"Why? What's a CDC?" Sirius asked, looking at her confused. The rest of the main group listened in.

"It's a place that studies diseases," she explained, cutting up her sausage. "If anyone knows what's going on, it'll be them."

"How did you find out about them?" Sam asked, snapping out his napkin and putting in on his lap. Just because the world ended, doesn't mean one can't be civil.

"I'm muggleborn," she reminded him. "They have them all over the world."

"Oh, okay. If you think we need to go, gather who you want, and we'll go," Sirius said, sipping his tea. "We should bring Harry along," he added, waving at the boy in question, making Harry perk up.

"Why? He's just a kid," was her response.

"If there are survivors there, they might have children. He'll help with them. Also, let's bring one of our house elves. Not Dobby, but Slam or Dunk," he added.

"Aw, but I like Dobby," Harry said with a wicked grin.

Sirius liked the little elf too, not as much as Harry. Dobby was an acquired taste. One that Sirius had yet to develop. Still the little guy was okay in short burst.

"What do you need one of them for?" Jessi said, finishing her food and setting her plate in the middle of the table for the elves to get.

"In case they have to come and get something from the camp, they're gonna need to be able to pop here and pop back and they do it much better than we do," the dogman answered, also putting his plate in the center.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," she said, then added. "How about you, me, Sam, Harry and Sue. Keep it simple. I figure a smaller group would be better that way. I don't want to intimidate anybody. We'll bring Sue along as the non-magical so that she could let everybody know that magic is real."

"That's a good idea," Harry said, also putting his plate away and getting up.

It took about ten minutes for them to get everybody ready to go, and they got into one of the cars and drove down the highway as far as they could. They had spent the last month cleaning up the spaces in front of the campgrounds, about twenty miles in either direction. They would syphon the gas and then shrink the cars and put them in storage. They had enough gas for the generators. They also had a good supply of oil.

They got down the highway as far as they could. Then they got out the brooms. Sue rode with Harry. Jessi had a map of the city, and she knew that the CDC was downtown next to one of the Universities. They didn't see many survivors, but they did see lots of zombies.

The survivors they did see, bar the gang with guns, they swooped down and told them to head to the highway. They would try to pick them up on the way back. Most were so scared they just nodded. Harry didn't know if they'd listen or just wanted the evil people to leave. Oh well, it was up to them now.

It took them a good half hour to fly to the CDC. When they got there, there was a group of survivors banging on the door. They look to be in very poor shape. Skinny, ragged, and scared. Because they were surrounded by zombies.

Staying on their brooms, Harry, Sirius, Sam and Jessi. Started firing spells at the crowd of zombies. They picked the ones closest to the group and maintained air support. Sue was firing her gun at the undead. They all knew headshots only. They succeeded more times than they missed.

A man in a cowboy hat was talking to somebody inside the building. There was another man who had a crossbow who was shooting into the zombies. The women and children were huddled near the wall, trying to prevent the zombies from biting them. Three other men were swinging clubs. Another one was firing a gun.

Finally, whoever they were talking to inside opened the door and everybody ran in, or flew in, in the case of the wizards. As soon as the wizards landed, the man with the crossbow and the man with the gun turned their weapons on them.

The magicals raised their wands, and Sue aimed her gun.

"Who the fuck are you and how are you doing that?" the crossbow carrier asked, eyeing the strangers. He had a deep southern accent and looked to be one of the strongest amongst these people.

"We just saved your lives and you're going to pull your weapons on us!?" Sue exclaimed, not lowering her gun.

"What they did is unnatural," was the man's response.

"I don't know what you're talking about. It's completely natural to us," Sam said tiredly.

It was a conversation they had had many times over the last month. It made them realize that the Statute of Secrecy was there for a reason.

A man in a lab coat put up his hand and said, "You came in here for safety, not to start a fight. I won't have you spilling blood inside this establishment."

The magicals slowly lowered their arms, keeping the wands handy. But showing they were willing to cooperate. The man with the gun and the man with the crossbow lowered their weapons as well.

"Like Sue said, we came here to help," Sirius said, smiling as best he could in such a tense situation. "We wanted to see if there was anything we could do to help you solve what's going on in the world right now." He directed that to the scientist.

"I will be honest with you," the man said, running a tired hand down his face, "I don't believe there is anything that can help." His face was so haggard and weary that Sirius knew he had given up. That and he seemed to be the only one here.

Many of the people in the crowd suddenly were not as hopeful as they had been when they first came to see the doors opened.

"There's nothing? Nothing at all that could help," a tall willowy brunette asked as she clutched the only boy to her side. A baldish woman clung to her daughter. They were all crying. This had been the last hope.

"Nothing," was the firm answer. "I've been working on this since the beginning. It's airborne," he finished, leading everyone to a lab.

"But you said we had to take a test," said the man in the cowboy hat.

"I wasn't going to tell you," the man said honestly, "but if these people can help you then I can die in peace." He sat hard in a chair, like it was the end for him. "I was going to just let you die with me. It would be a kindness for you rather than letting you try to survive out there."

"This is still one of the most fortified places in town," Jessi said, waving her hand around like she was encompassing the whole building. "We want to make sure that it stays up and running for survivors such as these people here."

"I can feed you for tonight. I can give you showers but after today this building will be no more," was his offer.

"If you show us where everything is we can clear this building out and take these people to a safe place," Sirius said, thinking if they couldn't change his mind then they could gut the place.

"No, Sirius, we need this building," Jessi rebutted. "Look at it. The more we help the more we're going to need the space."

"You have a safe place?" the quiet baldish woman asked. Her eyes suddenly full of hope.

"Yes, we have a secure place that we have had people coming to for the last month," Harry answered, giving the little girl a grin.

"How many people do you have there?" the cowboy hat man asked, putting his arm around the willowy woman. The dark-haired man with the gun looked on in jealousy, though he was discreet, he was still seen by the magical group.

"Right now, we have over 150 people. We take everyone who can accept us," Sam said, making sure that sounded like it was a requirement.

"Does the government know about you?" the brunette with the gun asked. "We've not heard anything of any safe place that has more than 50 people. Unless it's government run."

"No, I guess you could call it private," Sirius said, looking over the group and knowing they wouldn't all pass the wards.

"You'll take us there," the willowy woman asked, still clutching her child.

"As long as you can pass through our shields, you are more than welcome to join the rest of us," the dogman said, honestly.

"What do you mean past your shields?" the only black man asked. He looked starved, like he had lost a lot of weight in a short time. He led the only black woman to a chair. She looked like she was going to pass out.

"Is she okay?" Sue asked at the same time Sirius said, "That can be discussed when we get there."

"She's hungry," the man said, giving the teen a smile.

"Oh, I have some candy," Sue offered, digging in her pocket for some Reece's Cups. She pulled them out and handed them to the two.

"I have a few breakfast bars," Harry said, pulling them from his pocketspace, and handing them to the kids.

"How did you do that?" the little girl asked, taking the bar when her mother nodded.

"Magic," he said, still smiling.

"There's no such thing," the boy's mother said, though she did take the bar.

"We can explain later," Sam said, nodding to Sirius.

"I promise you," Sirius started up again, smiling at Sue, "we have a safe place for the women and children. All we ask is that you follow the rules, pull your weight, and not get violent."

"Is there any way we can keep this building standing?" Jessi asked, bringing the subject back to why she was here.

"This building contains a lot of very contagious and deadly diseases. I'm not sure I even want to let it stay up even if I don't want to be here anymore," Jenner, according to the name on his lab coat, said, looking around the room like something was going to escape.

"We can keep the building up and running," the busty redhead insisted, "I'm sure you have some sort of incinerator to get rid of all the bad diseases. We need a fortified place like this so that we can keep people safe."

"I'm almost out of power," the man argued.

"That is not a problem. We have generators, we have gas. We have fuel. We have oil. We have solar power. We have anything you need that would keep this building running," Jessi said, urgently.

Sirius could tell she really did not want to lose such a strong place. He agreed, now that they were here, the safety measure would be great. The door alone was worth it.

"Take these people with you. Give me a week," the exhausted man said, lowering his head. Maybe he was thinking of someone he lost agreeing with that decision. He seemed to nod his head at an invisible conversation.

"Do you have enough fuel to last a week?" Sam asked, looking around like he was already thinking on the warding that needed to be done on such a large place. Sirius knew the man was good, and since they been here, he had made a few stones. Sam was good enough to charge one a week, but they had others now, so the poor guy wasn't alone in that.

"As long as I don't cook or run a shower, I have enough to last me seven days," was the answer.

"Slam," Sirius called, hoping the elf wasn't busy.

The house elf popped in and said, "Yes, master Sirius, sir."

The elf's appearance caused a few gasps and whimpers from the non-magical crowd. The crossbow man raised his weapon for a second time but didn't fire.

"Sir, can you tell me what you need right now?" the wizard asked, as he too was going over how useful such a place could be. Not that he'd stay here, no he was staying at camp. They'd ask for volunteers to run this place. Probably Mac and Sam. They had said they didn't like the outdoor living that much.

"If you have gasoline," Jenner said, going over what was needed right now. "I can use that. If you have the oil that goes in generators, I can use that too. I have the solar power; we can hook that back up."

"Why did you unhook it?" Jessi asked but was ignored.

"Slam, go get what this man needs," Sirius requested in a kind voice. The elf nodded and popped away.

"Now just wait a damn minute here. We didn't say we go with y'all," the crossbow wielder said.

"You mean to say you want to leave? Go back out there, where the zombies are waiting?" Sirius inquired, with a great deal of snark. "Because I'm not going to force you on this man. He asked us to take you away for a week and that is what we're going to do. You can either come with us or you can go on your own. But I can tell just by looking at you, that some of you aren't doing very well on your own. We have food, water and shelter. What more could you possibly ask for?"

"If they have a place for us to go. We should go," the boy's mom said, looking at her husband.

"Fine, we'll follow y'all," the man said with a sigh.

"First, names," Jessi said, pointing to each of her group and giving their names.

When she was done the cowboy hat man said, "I'm Rick, this is my wife Lori, and our son Carl."

"Shane," the gun man said.

"Daryl," the guy with the crossbow stated.

"I'm Carol, and this is Sophia," the baldish woman replied.

"I'm T-dog, this is Jacqui, and he's Jim," the black man said, pointing to the black woman and the scarecrow man.

"I'm Dale," the oldest of the group said. He didn't look like he wanted anything to do with the magicals but was resigned to going anyway.

"I'm Andrea," the blonde woman said, sorrow in her voice.

"My name is Glenn," said the only Asian man.

"Great. We're going to leave via magic, once Slam gets back," Sirius said, nodding to Sam who took out his emergency portkey. It was a man's tie. Long enough for half the group to hold. Sirius took out his, which was a rope, for the rest.

Slam popped in and behind him was a box. "I is bringing what you is asking," the elf said, bowing slightly.

"You guys go," Jessi said, "I'll help Jenner."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, not sure if anyone should stay with the suicidal man who was more than willing to take people with him.

"Yes," she said, moving to stand next to Jenner.

"Okay, everyone, grab ahold," Sirius said and waited for them to tentatively put their hands on the rope or tie. "Hold tight," he said, discreetly casting sticking charms on the children.

"Mischief Managed," intoned both Sirius and Sam.

And they were gone.