Walking Dead Wizard

Chapter 10

The group was led towards quite a big room, with an abundance of chairs; it was almost like a classroom, perhaps a debriefing area for everyone? It was empty as well, Harry realized, it wasn't even late yet, so it wasn't as everyone could be asleep. There were a collection of Muggle vials, presumably where they were going to get their blood taken. The adults had no problem, except a little dizziness for the ones that hadn't eaten in near enough two days. Carl and Sophia looked ready to cry, evidently they didn't like needles, but with their mothers there they allowed it however reluctantly. He hadn't had any sleep in two days, no more than a couple of minutes where he nodded off here and there. Needless to say he was feeling rather drowsy; he couldn't wait to put his head on a pillow and sleep.

"Is she alright?" Jenner asked, looking concerned.

"We haven't eaten in days," T-Dog explained as he helped Jacqui sit down.

Harry peeled open his left eye, watching as Jacqui wavered slightly, she had been travelling with T-dog and was one of the few who hadn't eaten - they had barely stopped for the two days to get anything from the RV. They needed to start planning better otherwise they were going to be weakened, starving and it would inevitably slow them down and they could be killed. By 'they' he actually meant them, he was fully prepared for anything thanks to Hermione really; he'd learned it all from her during their stint on the run from Voldemort's forces.

"Next?" Jenner said clearing his throat, when Harry opened his eye again he found everyone staring at him. Shane looked ready to shoot him the second he began to be difficult. Rick was watching him cautiously, wondering if they were going to have a problem. Yawning tiredly, he stood up and made his way over, all the while stifling another yawn. The police officers relaxed feeling slightly stupid for their thoughts; they were all tired after all.

Sitting down he held out his arm, idly wondering if his blood test would come back different from everyone else's. The magic was in the blood sort of, it's why magic and blood didn't mix well together. Why it could also be used in rituals, he hoped it didn't end up causing some sort of malfunction in the Muggle machines. He knew the man would never guess he was magical, to a Muggle magic was something of a joke, something pulling the strings and most definitely not real - a scientist probably thought that more than anyone else. Surely magic wouldn't have remained hidden if it could take nothing more than a blood test to reveal it? The feeling of his arm being moved brought him right out of his thoughts, as he swiftly moved away from the scientist, grabbing the piece of cotton wool he'd used on the bit of blood, and out of sheer habit he put it in his pocket, determined to burn it as soon as he could. It was hard enough parting with the vial the scientist had.

"Follow me," he said after he gathered the metal tin that had the vials of blood in it. Harry paid close attention to the corridors, memorising items he could see, boxes, the occasional bit of coloured glass as if something had been smashed and not cleaned up properly, and general messes, things that hadn't been cleaned in a good long while. Compared to the outside though it was the picture of a sterile environment. Harry flicked his finger over the dust, creating small arrows as he went to make sure he had a good idea of where to go.

"Welcome to Zone 5," Jenner said as they approached another room, the lights flickered on, showing the room in all its glory - there was of course, one thing crucially missing.

"Where is everyone? The other scientists? Staff?" Rick finally asked, looking more than a little bewildered by the large room's vacancy.

"Just asking that now officer Friendly?" Merle stated mockingly

"I'm it, there's only me here, I'm sorry," Jenner said solemnly, knowing they'd probably came here expecting all their questions answered, truth was he had no idea what was causing it, it could be one of many things.

"What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori asked desperately, praying he was lying.

"Vi!" Jenner spoke louder, "Say hello to our guests, tell them….welcome," he was staring at the ceiling and for a moment Harry thought the scientist had lost the plot when the world went to hell.

"Hello, guests welcome," the automatic voice of a computer answered them.

"I'm all that's left," Jenner admitted.

Harry turned to face Jenner, there was definitely no cure here, nor was Jenner alright, he sounded as though he'd given up. He knew all too well how it felt, it was at that moment he had walked down to his own death after finding out he was a Horcrux, he hadn't known he'd come back, nobody had not even Dumbledore. That cold hard feeling had never really left him, what he'd had to do for the magical world hadn't left him. It had scarred him in ways he hadn't liked to think about. Merle nudged him as he passed; bringing him out of his thoughts, to realize everyone was leaving the room. Shaking off his lingering thoughts he followed everyone, a frown marring his features.

Harry sat at the table surrounded by the rest of the group, they were all drunk, loosening up and enjoying themselves. It was a good thing to do, got you through the bad times, but Harry was never quite able to lower his guard, too wired, too cautious to do such a thing. No, things always went wrong the second you lowered your guard so Harry would remain vigilant while everyone else got completely wasted.

"Kid's in France always have a little wine with their dinner," Dale tried to coax the parents of Sophia and Carl to have a drink.

"Then when Carl is in France he can have wine," Lori said giving a small laugh, as she stared at Dale then at her husband.

"Come on! Come on!" Rick said smiling in pride as he watched his family, still overwhelmed that he'd found them against all odds.

Lori amusedly admitted defeat, removing her hand from Carl's glass and allowing Dale to pour some wine into it, just enough to have a few sips.

"Eww that's nasty!" Carl grimaced as he put the wine back down on the table after tasting it.

Harry couldn't help but smirk in amusement, but it faded fast as he thought about the others, the Morales family, for the sake of those kids he hoped they were alight.

"Why don't you stick to soda pop, there bud?" Shane said watching them, his face pretty impassive but his eyes showed something else, something dark brewing behind them.

"Not you, Harry, I want to see how red your face can get," Daryl challenged.

Harry raised a single eyebrow, "Your face is going to get red enough for the three of us that aren't drinking," he replied lips twitching. Merle's boom of laughter caused nearly everyone to jump, they weren't sure how they were expect Daryl to react to what Harry said, perhaps expecting a fight but for both Dixon's to laugh? Yes, it was unexpected to say the least. They could imagine just what would happen if it had been them saying it, the Dixon brothers were volatile sometimes.

"Why aren't you drinking? You are at a legal age aren't you?" Shane asked turning to face Harry his dark look hadn't abated any, if Harry had to guess the drink was only making his anger more visible.

"You forget that Brits drinking age is lower than Americas," Harry replied easily enough, he wasn't scared or intimidated by Shane he was a coward behind his swagger.

"Wine ain't good enough for you?" Shane asked pointedly.

"Shane," Rick warned, rubbing his eyes tiredly, he was trying to pick a fight, had been since the moment he came back and he didn't understand why.

The rest of the group became quiet, cursing Shane under their breaths; they'd been enjoying themselves for the first time in a long time - truly feeling safe. Yet Shane had to start something, if they'd thought anyone would be a problem they would have said hands up that his last name ended in Dixon not Walsh.

"I have no desire to drink," Harry carefully enunciated each word slowly. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Ain't natural," Shane said winding him up deliberately.

"Shane," Rick put more warning into his word, the entire group was tense now, well except Harry, he didn't even look remotely bothered by the conversation he was having with his irritated brother in all but blood.

Harry burst out laughing, which caused Shane to grit his teeth; he didn't like being laughed at. "Me, not drinking is unnatural? But the dead roaming around is perfectly acceptable is it?" Harry shook his head scooping up the last of his pasta and finishing of the remnants of his water before he settled back down almost challenging Shane to start up again.

"Did someone you know die due to heavy drinking?" Dale asked his voice delicate but he was very curious. "Forgive an old mans curiosity."

Harry snorted derisively, "No, but let's put it this way, if the drinking didn't get him a heart attack would have…the probability of him walking around as a walker is pretty high, as slow as they are, he's slower." he probably should feel guilty about the fact Vernon could have been outrun by a walker, but all he felt was a sense of amusement.

"What a thing to say," Dale admonished quietly shaken by his words.

"There are people in this world, Dale that you cannot possibly conceive that exist. Before the world ended I'm sure you opened your newspapers, read everything, wondered how anyone could do it then you'd close the paper and forget about it. Went about your life as if everything was alright in it, and that's fine, its human nature to ignore peoples suffering, insisting it's none of their business. You'll need to open your goddamned eyes now, it isn't just the walkers you have to watch out for, but people, and people without fear are very dangerous, hell the world was screwed up before this happened." Harry informed him. "You'll just be on the front lines instead of reading it in the paper while eating the morning's breakfast. Time to wake up if you want to survive."

Surprisingly Shane remained quiet, staring at Harry as if he was seeing him for the first time and more importantly agreeing with him fully. Of course, he wasn't the only one; both Dixon brothers had known this before and knew everyone else here was blinded by everyone's true nature.

"In fact you already did ignore peoples suffering and insist it wasn't your business." Harry told them, grimacing in disgust. He didn't need to say a single word more for understanding to dawn on them, as their eyes shifted to Carol and her daughter looking extremely guilty. Three days into Carol, Sophia and Ed being there Harry had pulled the man aside and warned him off hurting his family, getting very descriptive on what exactly he would do to the man if he so much as lay a hand on them again. He hadn't, until his very last day on earth beaten then bitten, it honestly couldn't have happened to a nicer person.

Dale looked crushed, everyone had become sombre at his words, ironically enough they were still cursing Shane for starting this.

"So when are you going to tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane asked, sobering the mood further. Rick tried his best to get Shane to drop it, but the other cop was persistent it seemed he was truly trying to ruin the entire evening.

"Well, when things got bad, people just…left," Jenner began, looking to Shane as he spoke. The others were quiet as they listened, still holding their wine glasses in their hands with their eyes lingering on the tabletop. "They went off to be with their families. Then, when things got worse the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane asked, getting a glare from some of the people at the table.

"No," Jenner answered, looking Shane directly in the eye. "Many couldn't face walking out the door. They…opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." He trailed off as he spoke, looking away from Shane's eyes for the first time, down at the table top.

"But you stayed," Andrea pointed out, "Why?" holding Amy's hand in comfort.

"I just kept working," Jenner answered honestly, "Hoping to do some good." There was a brief silence in the room, before Glenn stepped forward to sit at the table, looking to Shane with a depressed expression.

"Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man," he said softly, drinking the remaining alcohol in his glass before he made his way out of the room, many others followed him wishing to get away before it started back up again.

"I am sorry about your friends and colleagues," Harry said from the doorway causing Jenner to jump in shock and abruptly turn to face him.

"I am too," Jenner said quietly, he wasn't sure what to make of the young man; he seemed to have what it took to survive out there though. Ironically enough he was also the first person to say something like that to him.

"It isn't easy being secluded, but considering what's out there…it isn't the worst thing," Harry said wandering in further. "How are you feeling?"

Jenner stared at Harry, wondering if he was for real or if he was really making small talk just to find out what he knew. "Defeated," the words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop.

"Yes, it all seems too big for any one person to handle isn't it?" Harry said grimly, sitting down next to him. "I knew before coming here that the chances of finding answers or a cure was for naught. Not because I don't have respect for you all, but this virus spread to far and too fast nowhere is truly safe least of all here or the army bases."

"It did," Jenner agreed looking and sounding exhausted, he wasn't getting more than a few hours sleep and it had been that way for a long time.

"You're close to giving up, I can sense it, and without something to live for I know that the feeling won't go away." Harry said carefully.

"She's the reason I've continued trying," Jenner said delicately taking the picture of his wife from his desk. "She made me promise to do all I could, I failed her…she was the Einstein, she was the best, me? I just…I'm nothing she could have fixed this…not me."

"She asked you to continue trying so that you would live; she gave you a reason to continue on for as long as possible because she must have known how much pain you would be in." Harry said quietly, "It's going to take a miracle for this to be cured, tell me do you still get the internet?"

"Yes," Jenner replied giving Harry a curious look.

"Would you give your results to all the tests you've ran to my people?" Harry enquired, "They don't have a lab like this of course, but they're underground working on a cure, every piece of information is vital for a cure being found." hell it might take a combination of Muggle and Magical to cure it. Hermione his smarter than should be possible best friend, had found a way to get Muggle technology working in Hogwarts, especially for occasions like this. It had been back then though, before things had gotten way worse.

"We're all infected," Jenner whispered tiredly.

"What?" Harry blurted out in surprise, standing up pacing a little, "Well that makes sense, and it explains how it got so bad so quickly, without pause…airborne I assume?"

Jenner blinked and nodded dumbly surprised by Harry's calmness.

"I half suspected it, some of the reanimated corpses didn't seem to have any bites, I convinced myself that perhaps it was a scratch they had or something." Harry revealed sitting back down, feeling the need to explain to the scientist who seemed dumbfounded by his non aggressiveness. Grabbing a pen and a piece of paper Harry scribbled down the email address Hermione had given him, "This is the email address you should send it to if you still feel up to it, but given what's just been revealed, it might open new doors for them."

"You are very observant, you should get a shower, while there's still hot water," Jenner simply said before he stood up and moved out of the room without so much as a goodbye, but Harry noted that he'd taken the paper with the email address on it. Communications were down yes, but not the internet, not yet anyway, there was little point to emailing someone since there was nobody there to receive them or read them, let alone reply.

Harry stared pensively at the picture of Jenner's wife, the scientist was still hiding something, and he seemed so sure of his own end that it was a feeling of more than just suicide, like a certainty. Jenner had embraced the thought of his own death, accepted it, Harry grunted in frustration, but he was missing a piece of the puzzle still. He could have used Legilimency but that would have busted him, instead he had tried to get a read of him but surface thoughts and no deeper.

Sighing heavily, there wasn't going to be an answer tonight, he might as well try and get some sleep. Standing up he left what he assumed was Jenner's office and made his way back to where they were told they could sleep and shower earlier. A hot shower did sound divine, when he was eleven just starting at Hogwarts hot water had been a luxury that he'd never had, he'd always had to wash with cold water, his relatives had saw to that. Damn Shane to hell for making him think of them, damn Dale for trying to dig everything up.

Once he was alone in his 'room' he returned his trunk to its normal size, grabbed his toiletries and a new change of clothes, right out of the package too. He shrank it again, not willing to risk anyone realizing he hadn't brought it in with him and slid it in beside his toiletries, he wasn't ever going to go anywhere without the damn thing. That done he wandered to the showers, glad to be alone if he was honest being with new people all prodding at wounds he tried to keep closed didn't help his desire to help them, it hindered it. He wasn't looking for friends, he had just wanted to survive, although he did like Merle, Daryl, Carol, Sophia, Carl and surprisingly Rick was alright all things considered. Most of the girls were alright, but he could only tolerate them in small doses, the gossip got a bit much for his tastes.

Stepping under the warm spray, he closed his eyes and relished in the feel of the warmth. Nothing, absolutely nothing could beat this. He would need to write to Hermione tell her what he knew, just in case the scientist didn't manage to sent it or didn't want to.

There we go :) so will anyone stay behind at the CDC? as i said last chapter they aren't going to be fully in character (Merle and Daryl) although during a Com-Con questioning thing it was revealed that Merle wouldnt care if his brother was gay as long as they took care of him BUT also that Merle was a selfish man and would want his brothers attention all the time! So regardless of whether they're out of character i'm going to try and make them as in character as possible! just for those who reviewed their concerns :) R&R please