Walking Dead Wizard
Piece of Walking Dead Trivia - There was a gas station just down one main road from where they were camped at the end of season 2 - if IF Rick had listened they could have had gas within twenty minutes at least. The Gas station is then shown on season 4 where Daryl, Michonne, Bob and Tyreese find it with all the walkers locked inside who had 'opted out' after drinking antifreeze presumably when they ran out of food.
Chapter 27
Daryl and Harry had led the way in the truck, which had Merle's motorbike on it; Merle had driven the RV with Luna in the passenger seat. Driving towards a small town gas station, hoping to get lucky, at least where gas was concerned, they'd also circled around feed stores and possible places to spend what was left of the night. The first two places they'd checked had turned out to be a no go so they'd travelled on until they found somewhere for the night, even heading passed the gas station, the place was a large metal storage container.
Harry slid out of the truck, silently gesturing for everyone in the RV to stay where they were. Gun in hand, Anubis at his heels he did a sweep of the area, waiting until he was behind the building before whispering a spell, the blue light shot from his wand and disappeared as it encompassed the area, just an added precaution to keep them safe.
"Does it always glow like that?" Daryl asked, as always right next to him, crossbow at the ready. Ignoring Anubis urinating against a tree.
"When I use my wand yes," Harry whispered, not relying fully on his magic he continued the search, the building was big enough to fit the RV and Daryl's truck. He was lucky he did, Anubis started whining, and then he heard the telltale groaning of a walker, just beyond the ward he'd just set up. Before he could raise his wand to shoot it, Daryl had aimed and released his bolt; it hit the walker and imbedded it into a tree with a thwack.
"As apposed to what?" Daryl asked, as he walked over to the walker and yanked out his arrow before ambling back his blue eyes filled with curiosity.
"When I don't use my wand," Harry shrugged; at least Daryl wouldn't know how rare that was so he didn't feel the need to keep it quiet. It wasn't as if he would ever meet any other wizards other than him and Luna - well at least he assumed not.
"Why's it different?" Daryl enquired as they began walking around back end of the building and making their way back towards their new smaller group. It didn't escape his notice that the group had literally split in half, nine in each group.
"A wand is a focus point, it helps pull magic from a magical core, all wizards have them, all the elements, the words, the wand, it causes the colour, using your own innate strength to focus your magic without a wand…well there's no visible sign of magic being cast. Never really made sense to me either, but I know someone who would probably be able to give you a detailed description." Harry added wryly, and makes you feel stupid at the same time, that was just Hermione for you. He'd gone his entire childhood using magic without knowing it, without seeing colours just the reactions itself. Shrinking tops, summoning things, making them invisible from his relatives, Apparating he'd done more than he realized.
The men quietly went back to the front of the container, aiming the torch at the bottom, they found it was padlocked.
"We'll need bolt cutters for this," Harry said seeing it.
"You got it," Daryl said moving away towards where his brother was leaning against the door of the RV.
Harry could have used magic but he didn't want to reveal his hand too soon. After a few moments, Daryl was back and quickly used the bolt cutters to snap the padlock so they could get inside. Leaning down both of them yanked the corrugated shutter up so they could see inside. Shining the light inside, they quickly moved around, searching every nook and cranny of the place to make sure there was nothing inside that would endanger their lives. There was a ladder and some sort of walkway on top of the building, good emergency exit if they get surrounded but the likelihood was low. "This will be handy if we get more than a few walkers coming our way until we handle them all." he told Daryl absently as he flashed the light in that direction.
"Alright, Merle get the RV in, Daryl help me see if we can move this van to get the truck inside as well if there's enough space." Harry told them, Harry went behind the van that was presumably used to transport goods all over the place and found they could move it, but was it enough for the truck to squeeze in. Daryl had jumped into it and released the handbrake before sliding out and began to press it towards Harry. "Keep coming, keep coming, more, more, more, a little bit more. There that will do it." Harry called, as Daryl quickly put the handbrake back on.
The shutters were put down by Merle as everyone began moving around, except Sophia who was in the RV still asleep. There was absolutely no light within the container except the torch. Although it wouldn't be long until light began to creep up on the horizon, which the two small grates at the top would let in.
"Try and get some sleep, first thing tomorrow we'll head back to the gas station and hopefully get some gas and plan out a route to get to somewhere to stay the winter at least." Harry informed them.
"Why just the winter?" Carol asked confused, no longer shivering in cold as she had been earlier that evening wrapped in a jacket that Harry had gotten her before the farm was overrun.
"From what I understand the winter gets really harsh here, we won't be able to get far; snow will soon begin to prevent any real travelling plans. So we need to ensure we have enough supplies to last us throughout the winter and somewhere safe were we can set up. Even hunting will become a problem, so fresh meat will be scarce. After winter we can look for somewhere else, or if we are happy with the place we find we can stay there. It's something we will decide as a group, if you have other suggestions I'm happy to hear them." Harry informed them, explaining his actions to them so they didn't feel left in the dark or worried constantly. There was nothing worse than being kept in the dark and Harry knew that more than most.
"What kind of place?" Andrea enquired, taking an active interest in the conversation, honestly curious. She could barely make out anyone, only her sister who was as always close by.
"A gated community, somewhere with enforced fences, not that I would trust them on their own, I saw walkers tearing them down, just somewhere enclosed, that we can make safe and give us a home for longer than a week." Harry replied, "Now I don't know the surrounding area, like you all do, so it's a task I'll probably be delegating to Daryl and Merle, since they know Georgia like the palm of their hands."
Andrea relaxed, she liked the sound of staying somewhere longer than just a week, and they'd been on the move since the quarry nearly all the time. "I like the sound of that," she admitted, anything that wasn't a tent and outside while it was freezing cold. She felt a lot better just knowing what was going on, what they were doing and what they were aiming for.
"At this point we all do." Harry answered moving to the back of the van again, feeling for any padlocks but found none, and it was unlocked. Wiping the handle he shoved the shutter up, it was far from full, but there were boxes inside, hoisting himself up onto the van, he shoved the shutter up the rest of the way and knelt down beside the closets box and ripped it open to see what was inside. A box of toothpaste, not exactly useful for them right now but he wasn't going to turn his nose up at it, they needed to look after their teeth they didn't exactly have doctors anymore. Moving just slightly he began to nose around the second box, a box of chocolate Hershey bars whatever that was.
"Odd combination isn't it? I wonder if a family was filling this up to use themselves when something happened." Harry questioned, noticing Carol, Daryl and Merle were also in the van now. Carol bent down and took the two boxes he had opened and removed them from the van itself.
Daryl just grunted as he continued opening the boxes with Harry.
Most of the other boxes held mostly tins of food, but there was a box that held an assortment of stuff, cooking implements, pots, pans, and cutlery. "Would you look at that, a portable cooking stove, even has a full canister of gas unused," Harry said, "That will be easier than using a fire for a while." make it taste better too.
"Will this lot fit in the RV?" Harry questioned.
"No, the weight will put too much pressure on the tires," Merle murmured, gazing critically at the load.
"So it comes with us then," Harry shrugged, "Only if we have the gas, to get us wherever we choose to go, if not we'll just have to cut loose what we really don't need and take what will last longest and need the most." jumping from the van, he noticed everyone was eating.
"Here," Carol passed over a packet of beef jerky.
"No thanks," Harry said, grimacing at the sight of the dried out beef.
"You don't like beef jerky?" Amy asked, grinning behind her hand. Giving a piece of her jerky to Anubis who was watching her like a hawk, just waiting for a piece of something from someone.
"Not so much, I'd eat it if push comes to shove though," Harry admitted joining them, sitting on the foldable seats that had been salvaged when they all ran from the farm. Then again they'd all been packed up, since they'd been staying in the farm house. He did grab a Hershey bar though, and began to eat it.
"Do you think the others are alright?" Dale asked concerned, his eyes unseen by the others marred with guilt and worry.
"We've not come across walkers, so the chances are they won't either," Harry pointed out, "Rick will keep them safe. We might not have agreed on many things but I'm sure he'll do his best by them." plopping a piece of chocolate into his mouth.
"Then why were you so adamant about leaving?" Dale then enquired.
Harry frowned, hoping that this wasn't about to become another argument. "I know you dislike what I had to do to keep everyone safe, Dale, for some reason unfathomable to me, we heard his guilt through his own mouth, and he took part in raping kids. Look around you, there is no prison to put him in, and I couldn't in all good conscious let him go, not to let him hurt anyone else that crossed his path or worse one of our own." Harry stated sharply.
"Anyone would reveal things they didn't do during torture to make it stop!" Dale protested.
"Torture? Being kicked a few times? Punched? Threatened? You seriously think that's torture? Then you have a very, very narrow mind." Harry snorted derisively. "You don't know the meaning of the word torture, believe me."
Merle and Daryl shared a look, wondering what the hell Harry and Luna had been through, because it was obviously something extreme. While the others believed he was just speaking, both Dixons realized there was more to it than that, and Merle having seen Luna's scars knew something had occurred.
"Harry," Luna said softly, cautioning him, they couldn't understand what they'd been through, even if they were told they'd never be able to contemplate the idea.
Harry huffed quietly, standing up, "I honestly don't care whether you like me or not, Dale, but you have to respect me if this is to work out. I really don't want questioned on everything I do as if I'm somehow doing something wrong. You have my word that I will try my damn hardest to make sure everyone remains safe and alive and more importantly healthy. You also don't have to like what I did, just accept it and move on." with that Harry moved away from everyone and yanked open the shutters and left into the cold dark night with Anubis on his heels.
Luna stood up ready to go with him.
"I'll go," Merle told her, grabbing his sword and leaving the group before she could get a step further.
"Is it just me or has he changed?" Andrea said, after Merle had left the building, completely forgetting Daryl was still there.
"What do you mean?" Luna asked curiously, wanting to know as much as she could about Merle.
"I think I've gone an entire week without being called a whore and a rugmuncher," Andrea said bemused.
"A what?" Luna asked confused.
"Its vulgar slang for a lesbian," Andrea said rolling her eyes.
"Oh," was all the blonde had to say about that piece of information. It seemed as if Harry hadn't been exaggerating when it came to Merle and his…crude ways.
"It's not true in case you're wondering," Andrea felt the need to add, feeling slightly awkward, she hadn't expected to have to explain what those words meant. It made sense though, she wasn't from around here, and slang was probably different in the UK.
"I wasn't," Luna replied honestly, "I don't discriminate people on who they chose to love, or their gender."
Hearing Amy yawn, "We should get some sleep, sounds like we'll be up early tomorrow." and she was actually looking forward to it, no more getting reprimanded for not doing the washing and drying, they were actually going to be productive, it was about survival with this group and she knew it.
"You girls take the room," Dale said, as always extremely gracious, always thinking of them first before himself.
"I'm fine here, I'll just get my sleeping bag," Luna informed him, "Five in that small room is a bit much anyway." standing up she quickly opened her trunk and removed her things. She'd had to lie to everyone and say she went back for it when she unshrunk it having appeared without one. Thankfully nobody had so much as batted an eyelash, they had obviously believed her.
"Then use the RV floor, it will be much more comfortable than the cold concrete." Dale suggested.
"I'll be fine," Luna said giving him a smile, her sleeping bag had a softening and warming charm on it, making it as comfortable as a bed. "You should use it, it's your RV."
It didn't take much for Merle to find Harry, he was a hunter, and he had been a hunter since he was a kid. He was at the top of the property, just a step away from the road. He always thought he was a damn mystery to himself, yet compared to this guy he wasn't so damn mysterious.
"What happened to her?" Merle asked, staring straight ahead, giving none of his thoughts or feelings away.
"You mean Luna?" Harry questioned, but by the resignation in his tone he already knew the answer to his own question.
"You ain't stupid," Merle stated sarcastically. "I ain't stupid either."
"You use that a lot as if I somehow make you feel stupid, Merle," Harry said walking to the side and sitting down.
"And you're avoiding the subject," Merle noted shrewdly.
"It's not really my tale to tell," Harry answered seriously, "It's entirely up to her if she wants you know it's not something that's easy to talk about. I will tell you this though, Merle, do not screw her over, I won't be held responsible for my actions if you do. So think long and hard before you even think of approaching her. Well…that's if there's anything left of you for me to deal with…I mean, she can look after herself," Harry chuckled almost evilly.
Well that's not how i expected that to go, I half wanted Harry to actually say what had happened to her, at least in some sort of way without revealing the details...hmm how the hell do I get the Dixon brothers fully understanding the magical world i wonder...well that will bear some thinking about sorry for the lack of Rick's group i'll add something from their POV next time but it will probably be the last time until they meet again...which begs the question...how quickly do you want them to find the prison? will someone get to DC and send all the relevant information to Hermione? or will Harry manage to run a prison and get things done? or will it take a while for that to happen? dont want to end the story too soon after all ;) who wants to see the gov in this? will Harry utterly destroy the opposition when he finds out about them? or will Harry and co already be away leaving the prison for D.C by that point? where do you want to see the two groups meet again? Terminus? the Prison? Alexandria? although to be honest i dont think Rick's group would last long with the best defenders gone...all Rick has is Glenn and T-Dog and Maggie she grew to be quite fierce i suppose! R&R Please and let me know what you think of the chapter since its a total deviation from the series and I honestly worry that it falls flat!