Chapter 10 Who Will Walk Away pt2
Look no long note
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Sam landed at the front of the CDC. He knew there might be zombies, so he landed ready for action. There weren't any, so he took the time to shrink all the cars and RVs around the building. He knew Dale wanted his back, so it only made sense to take them all. Then he pressed the buzzer and looked into the camera. After a minute or two he was let in.
"Hey, Dr. Jenner, how is it going?" he asked the scientist as he entered the door.
"I thought I asked for a week," the man said in reply, moving aside, but still blocking the hall. "I am nowhere near done." He closed the heavy door and moved out of the way.
"I'm just here to see how it's coming along. And to check on Jessi," Sam said, moving past the man to where he heard Jessi doing something. It sounded like typing. He came to an office like room where she was indeed typing. "How's it going, Jessi?" he asked, sitting in one of the empty chairs.
"Good, I guess. I'm still trying to get Jenner to stick around, since he knows more about this disease than anyone else," she answered with a frustrating sigh. She had been up all night talking with the man, but no dice so far.
"Good luck with that," was all he offered. "Anyway, I'm here to put up wards. Where's a good spot?"
"Dr. Jenner," Jessi called out. The man had asked to only be referred to by his last name or title.
"Yes?" Jenner asked, coming behind Sam.
"We need to get as close to the earth as possible. Can you show us? Or have Vi guide us?" she asked, getting up and closing the laptop she had been typing on.
"Vi, show them to the lowest level," Jenner intoned and then turned and walked away.
"I don't think you're going to have much luck with him," Sam said, following Jessi, who was following the lights.
"You're probably right, I just hope any doctor or healer we get can follow his research," she sighed, pushing the button to the elevator.
"You coming back to camp?" he wanted to know. He knew he was thinking about staying here when it was open to them.
"No, I'm going to stay here," she answered, again sighing. "I need to still try and convince Jenner."
"Okay, but it's going to be a lonely week," Sam said, putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing.
"I know," was sighed. "I know that Jenner was a lost cause. He might be out only hope for a long time." She looked wistful.
"You're going to have to let that go," Sam said, still holding her shoulder.
"So how will you set the wards? There's no ley line here," she asked, changing the subject as if knowing it was a dead end.
"I shunted the one under the camp. I can draw it here. It'll think it is boosting the same wards as this is the same type of stone," he answered, hefting the green crystal out of his expanded bag.
"Can it come through concrete? I don't think we should cut a hole in the floor," Jessi asked, as if not wanting to make more friction with Jenner.
"Don't worry, if I have to cut a hole, I'll fix it," he said, calmly. He understood that she didn't want to anger the man. Still, the wards needed to be done and now was as good a time as any. "The wards will go through the concrete, but the crystal must touch earth."
"Okay, well we're here," she said as the lift dinged.
"The center of this floor would be best. I need it to reach quite a height," he explained.
"Vi, direct us to the center most point of this floor," Jessi commanded. "I always wondered, do the wards go under their target?"
"Acknowledged."
"Yes, think of this one, unlike the campground, which is oval, as a rounded cone. The wards will go up and then cascade down to a circle, then a flat ward will join them all. Like a bullet. Wards have to be all encompassing, or they don't work," Sam explained, following his friend.
"Oh, I guess that makes sense. I didn't know wards could be shaped," she said, thoughtfully. "How do you know what a bullet looks like?" she wondered.
"Different size territories, different sized wards." He shrugged like it was obvious. "Harry told me."
"Okay, I get it." She smacked his arm playfully.
They followed the lights to a blue circle in the middle of intersecting hallways.
"Looks like I'm cutting," Sam said, taking out his wand.
"Okay, I'll leave you to it. Come and find me when you're done." She started back down the hall. "I'll be in an office down here. Have Vi find me," she added over her shoulder.
"Will do," he answered and then went to work making a circle using the blue lights as a guide.
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"I think we should check out the old folks home. Your brother might be out of the city. We'll go check out these Vatos first. You know how to get there, right?" Sirius said, looking to Daryl and heading towards Rachel's car.
"Yeah, Merle's probably out of the city by now," the redneck agreed, following along. "I'll get you there," he added miffed.
"We'll find him, let's just do this first. I'll need to put up some temporary wards for them, until one of the warders can put up better ones," the dogman said, getting into the passenger's seat. The most he could do was ward the doors and windows. Still, it was better than nothing.
"Did he really just leave?" Rachel asked as the two men got in the car, not believing what she had just witnessed.
"Yeah," Daryl said, sneering at the road the Hummer had gone down.
"Why?" she inquired.
"Said he needed to help his buddy," the younger man stated.
"Yeah. Let's not dwell on it," Sirius sighed, then he pointed to Daryl. "He's going to lead us to the old folks home."
"Point the way, young man," she said, turning the car on.
"Yes, ma'am," the young man said and started giving directions. They had to go around many blocks to avoid the zombies and at one point had to leave the car behind. Daryl took the lead, Rachel in the middle and Sirius in the rear. It was only five blocks to the nursing home, and they only had to kill ten zombies to get there. Good thing none of them used a gun. Rachel was a very good shot with the piercing curse.
"Where'd you learn to fight like that?" Daryl asked the woman, who he respected a lot more now.
"At the camp. We have nightly sessions," she answered, keeping her eyes out for more zombies.
"If you stay, you and yours will too," Sirius added, watching the rear.
"They ain't mine," the redneck grumbled. He didn't even like anyone in that group. Maybe Carol and the girly, but the rest was just numbers to him.
"You came with them, until you decide what you're going to do, they're yours," was the rebuttal. "How far?"
"Next block. There'll be a bunch of cars piled up. That's their wall," Daryl stated, looking around the corner.
"Good plan that," Rachel said, waiting for Daryl to move.
"Yeah, they ain't stupid, just gangbangers," he grumbled. "They are taking care of the old folks, so they can't be all bad." He shrugged.
Sirius agreed, thinking about what Glenn had told him of all the different races the Vatos were tending to. He knew nothing about gangs, but if they were like Death Eaters, then they must have gone soft. Which was a good thing. He didn't think any DE would take care of the sick and elderly. More like claim natural selection and kill them off. Arseholes, the lot of them.
They came to the piled-up cars and went through the opening. "Guillermo!" Daryl called out after the gate was shut.
A Hispanic man came out surrounded by gang members, all toting firearms. "What you want, homey!" he asked, looking surprised to see them there. He looked warily at Sirius and Rachel.
"This man here wants to talk to you, the woman is a healer," Daryl said, shrugging his shoulders.
"What you want, man?" Guillermo asked, looking at Sirius like he was a joke.
"Can we take this inside? My healer wants to take a look at your patients," Sirius said in a firm voice, not showing an ounce of fear. He wasn't afraid of these guys, now that he knew they'd only fight to protect what was theirs.
"You told him about them?" the man said accusingly.
"No, Officer Friendly did," the redneck defended.
"Fine, come in, but you make one wrong move, it'll be your last." He moved to go inside, but Sirius' next words stopped him.
"Before we start, I want to let you know that she's going to be using magic to heal your patients," the wizard stated, waving to Rachel, who held up her wand.
"Magic, man, are you on crack?" one of the gangbangers stated, laughing.
"No, I can show you," Sirius said, waving his wand at Daryl, turning his clothes pink.
"Not cool," was all the redneck said, not wanting to have anything worse done to him.
Sirius agreed that the man looked horrible in pink, so changed him back.
"Diablo," cried one of the gang members.
"No," Guillermo said, holding up a hand. "My abuela knew of them. They are not the devil."
"The hell you say," Felipe said, spitting on the ground.
"I tell the truth," the leader said, waving to the home. "I'll bet a few of them know too," he added, thinking that if his grandmother knew at least one of the elderlies did as well.
"Look, all we want is to cure your sick, and if you're willing, put up some wards to keep the dead out. I'm not asking for shelter, or anything in return. We truly just want to help," Rachel said, lifting her healer bag, like it would help convince them.
"Heal, you say?" Guillermo asked, he then turned to Felipe, "If they are healed, we can move them somewhere safer. It's what you've always wanted to do."
"If you want, we can set up a hospital, or make this place safe," Sirius suggested, hoping to get this over with. "We have a building coming in a week, we can set them up there. Or ward this place. Either way, you and yours will be protected. There'll be rules, but nothing you can't follow." He noted that that got them thinking.
Guillermo and Felipe talked in whispers for a while, then nodded. "Your healer," the leader said, nodding to Rachel, "she can stay. If she does what she claims, you come back and make the home safe. If she doesn't then…" he left off threateningly.
"Rachel can take care of herself," Sirius said to him and Daryl who looked a might worried.
"Yes, I can," Rachel said, moving to enter, making the men around her step out of her way, either in fear or awe.
"Rachel, we're going to see if we can't find Merle. Do you need us to come and check on you, or are you okay getting back?" Sirius called to her before she disappeared.
"I'll be fine," she clarified, not stopping in her quest to see her new patients.
"Come on, let see if we can find your brother," the dogman said, walking to the opening. Not wanting to preform anymore magic there.
"Sure," Daryl grumbled, but was anxious to see if Merle was close.
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Remus was getting tired of the woman's complaining. She had not stopped gripping about how they scared her child. No matter how much it was explained to her that it would save the boy's life, she still moaned on and on about it. "Look," he finally snapped, "you can leave. How long do you think your boy will last out there?"
"We were doing fine without you," she rebutted, but looked out of the campground like it would bite her.
"Then go, I mean, seriously, we won't put up with spoiled rotten people. Everyone here is equal in our eyes. You work, you get to stay. That includes the kids. The game is their job," the werewolf explained again.
"But," was all she got out when Remus snapped again.
"There is no buts. You get out of self-defense, but you're going to learn hide-and-run with your kid. they learn it in the afternoon and evening. You will join them in the evenings. If you don't participate then you can leave. I'm done talking to you," he said, walking away.
"You know," Mac said as he joined him, "there's always going to be one."
"Yeah, but I don't have to like it," Remus grumbled, still walking to the meal tent. He wanted dinner.
"True," the other man agreed.
"I just hope, for her kid's sake, that she stops. I mean the wards won't kick her out, but Sirius might," the werewolf said, pickup a table to sit at.
The meal hall was full and noisy. Everyone there was talking about their day and making small talk. There were many happy faces, and that made Remus relax a bit. He wasn't going to let one woman get him down when so many were content. They were doing a good thing here. He just hoped Lori would get that.
"It'd be her own fault. You can't please everyone," Mac said, digging into his meal.
"No, I guess not," Remus agreed as he too started eating.
It was up to Sirius now.