Walking Dead Wizard

Chapter 37

"Hey," Luna muttered, speaking to Carol who was awake and cooking breakfast for everyone. Hotdogs, sausage and beans. Unlocking the door, Luna placed the keys on the hook, noticing that the other set were missing. "Where's Harry?" her eyes had automatically looked up to Daryl Dixon but he was there, sleeping, you rarely found one without the other she was surprised, but nothing on her face showed that she was. She plonked herself down on the chair next to Carol.

"I'm not sure," Carol admitted, as he stirred the large pot of food. "I noticed the key's were gone when I got up half an hour ago, I assumed Harry was maybe out with Anubis?" since the dog was also missing she had made that assumption.

"He ain't outside," Merle declared, that much he was one hundred percent sure of, unless he had somehow managed to make himself invisible, given his magic it might not be that far out of the realm of possibility. Luna had fallen asleep while they were on so called 'duty', and Merle had let her rest, she was trying to be too much like Harry too quickly. She wanted to ease the burden of him leading he'd bet, but all she was doing was exhausting herself. Harry wasn't sleeping due to the fact he couldn't sleep, Luna on the other hand didn't have that particular problem. Hell from the moment the boy woke up in he and his brothers cabin after that little magical display, he'd get no more than four hours sleep, and that is if he's lucky. It wasn't much of a surprise, Merle was still convinced the boy was suffering from some sort of PTSD; he had seen many others in the army go through it, until he'd screwed up and got pissed off at his commanding officer and punched his teeth down his throat and getting himself booted. It was ironically really that he could respect Harry more than his Commanding Officer. Ain't nobody gonna treat him like shit, like he don't matter, especially not a self entitled prick like his CO.

"I'm going to go look for him, let him know breakfast will be ready soon," Luna said, standing back up after just sitting down. "I have a funny feeling he's already started on cleaning out the prison." sighing in resignation she shook her head - that was just Harry all over.

"Is that what Harry plans to do today?" Carol queried, plating up the first lot, handing it to Merle, receiving a grunt and nod from the man.

"Probably, but you'd need to ask him," Luna replied, "How's Sophia?"

"She slept just fine," Carol said giving the girl a grateful smile of gratitude.

"I'll be back soon," Luna commented, grabbing the keys she quickly found the right one and opened the gate, only to find Merle following her, his empty plate already on the floor. "Close the gate behind us." she added, waiting until they'd done it before she began moving, once out of sight and hearing of them, she muttered the locating charm, her wand twitched in the direction she'd walked in, so he was in the other cell block. At least she hoped that's where he was.

Turning the corner, she noticed him right away, "Hey, did you even get any sleep?" Luna asked him, leaning against the open gate. Watching Harry work his magic on the cell block Merle she noticed was concentrating on the wand movements and the words. She'd need to ask him about that some time. Anubis bound over, tail wagging as he demanded their attention, both Luna and Merle, excited to see them as if he hadn't seen them for years not just a few hours.

"Yeah, slept nearly five hours straight," Harry commented, "The beds leave a lot to be desired, first chance I get I'm going to a store to get a proper wooden bedspread and a mattress it can't be hard to find a way to remove those bunk beds unless they're dug into the cement."

"They ain't but it will take a lot of work to remove them," Merle informed him.

"I couldn't care less, it would be worth it," Harry replied wryly, his wand going lax in his hold, pointing downwards.

Merle grunted in agreement, they certainly weren't the most comfortable but considering he'd been sleeping on his back on cement or dirt for months he'd take whatever he could get.

"Didn't you use your sleeping bag?" Luna asked slightly surprised, she had.

"Um, no, I didn't think I'd need one," Harry said honestly shrugging his shoulders.

"There, that's as good as I can make it for now," Harry said looking around, pinching the bridge of his nose. The first things he'd done was levitate the dead bodies and burn them outside the prison, letting the wind carry their ashes away. Then he'd gotten rid of the blood, after summoning buckets and water, just to be on the safe side if he was interrupted. The things he had to do to keep his magic under wraps. The second he was sure they could survive on their own he would tell them, it wasn't just Luna getting exasperated by the restrictions of magical usage he was too. The bedding had been stripped if it was covered in blood and burnt with the bodies, same with the mattresses, which was admittedly not many but enough, nobody was going to be sleeping on disgusting blood covered mattresses the idea was just disgusting. Despite the fact the place had been cleaned Harry could still see the bodies lying there as if it was permanently imprinted on his mind.

Harry honestly didn't know whether to feel relieved he didn't have to contend with prisoners or not, not everyone in prison were bad people, some might not have deserved that fate. There was nothing to be done now, the prison was his now, the groups, the prisoners and guards were gone never to return, which actually might be a good thing, this wasn't exactly a life they were living, it was pure survival at this point.

"Did you put the ward on the gate?" Luna enquired; it looked much better, cleaner in fact you wouldn't think anything had happened. "Wait where did you get the cleaning stuff?" it was some heavy duty bleach.

"Yeah, and it was already here I just summoned it, it was actually really good at getting the blood out, at least the little bit I tried it on." Harry shrugged, he'd used magic to remove it all, just tried out of curiosity and to have the smell of bleach in the air if someone came down, as for the bleach, not surprising really, they probably had to deal with blood quite a lot, the inmates at least some of them, were bound to be violent to the extreme some day. "Not that cleaning is important right now, ridding the damn prison of walkers and making sure its safe is the most important thing. I want to see if I can get some sort of blue print of the prison from the guards office, so we know where we are going, and mark it off maybe once we clear and secure every part. I mean will there be anything like that? Or would that make an escape attempt too easy?"

Merle scratched the scruff on his chin thoughtfully, "There could be," he admitted, the chances were slim but still there.

"What about using magic?" Luna enquired her blue eyes thoughtful.

"Nah, it isn't that easy otherwise everyone would have known the complete layout of Hogwarts, like the Marauders map, they actually added to it every time they found somewhere, making our own one I suppose could be possible…have you ever heard of a spell that creates a map of any property?" he didn't claim to know every single spell in the world, and Luna was a Ravenclaw, if anyone knew handy spells it would be her.

Luna frowned thoughtfully, "No, but I might know a rune that does," she wasn't exactly sure how it worked though; she'd need to read her books, which wasn't easy as it seems. "I'd need to check." perhaps being on watch would be a good thing, she might actually get the chance to read without being interrupted.

"A Rune?" Merle muttered curiously showing interest.

"Yeah, they're drawings imbued in crystals or walls or even paper, that not only draw the magic from the person but its surroundings," Luna explained, "I'll show you, they're not easy to explain. They're also not the most popular aspect of magic anymore." it was easier just to mutter a spell and boom that was it done, runes require more than that and the ability to remember accurately the design.

Merle grunted in agreement, nodding once.

"It might be making a come back," Harry said dryly, runes and wards he'd bet were going to be on the top of their lists when it came to protecting themselves against walkers.

"Breakfast is ready, you should go get something to eat," Luna told him, "I'm hungry myself." she added knowing that Harry wouldn't fuss if she said that part. Harry wanted to get everything done at once, but he knew it wasn't realistically possible so he was trying to do it all alone, using magic of course, but there was only so much he could do even with it. He would need to pace himself; it was going to take weeks to get this place straightened up and safe.

Harry slid his wand in his pocket, and began moving towards Luna and Merle leaving the cell block behind and the memories too, Anubis padding beside them, his tail still wagging. "I'm thinking of going on a hunt today, get something fresh to eat," Harry commented, as he picked up the buckets, scrubbers and mops their cell block would need cleaned by hand if everyone was there.

"You plan a lot, what next? Build a school? You need to calm down Harry, please, if you exhaust yourself you know what will happen, it will make you tired and you'll end up making mistakes." Luna told him, giving him a pointed glare.

"Funny," Harry replied dryly, his lips twitching, "Everyone else can concentrate on cleaning the cell block, while I get some meat for dinner, later we should clear out another area, although I'd really like a map before we do more, this place is too big." he was sure he could grab enough squirrels or rabbits for dinner.

"Alright then, we can go investigate the guard's offices after breakfast." Luna suggested, as they reached their cellblock, Luna was just about to ask Harry where he'd stashed the keys so they could get in when Sophia opened the door.

"Sounds like a plan," Harry, smiling at Sophia giving her a nod of pride and approval. She'd come a long way from the terrified little girl who ran away when confronted with walkers. She still got scared, there was no doubt, but she was stiffening her spine against that fear and learning to fight back. She'd taken three walkers down almost simultaneously yesterday, that's bound to help her grow confident in dealing with the walkers. That and she getting to see what you do and don't do when it comes to fighting like Andrea yesterday. He still needed to find something other than the dagger for her to use, maybe the brothers would have an idea on what would be suitable for her. They were bound to know more about weapons than him, since his weapon of choice had been a wand, he'd learned more about weapons these past few months than he cared to think about. "Good morning," he said to everyone as he put down the bucket and things he'd been carrying.

"Dear god that looks foul," Amy said wrinkling her nose up at the red water.

Harry glanced at it, bemused, it was more of a reddish-brown colour actually, he wasn't sure why she found it so disgusting, but girls could be strange about things like that. It was nothing stranger than the fact they pissed and shat in a bucket because there was nothing else to use welcome to the world before plumbing was invented. He just shook his head and sat down, sighing in relief, the pain potion had helped the majority of the pain in his leg yesterday, but it was still a little tender. Maybe he shouldn't go hunting; he should probably wait for his leg to heal up a little. Daryl wanted to go though, he could sense that he wanted to get away for a while, him going on his own didn't sit well with Harry but he had a spell on him and his crossbow so he would know if anything was happening and he'd be able to find him too.

"What are we doing today?" Andrea asked, from where she sat next to Amy, her breakfast almost finished.

"Cleaning," Harry said after swallowing his mouthful of beans, wincing at the pain in his leg, he shouldn't be sitting on the floor; it seemed to be aggravating his leg. "Probably clearing out another part of the prison, we have to make sure it's completely secure." grunting again as Anubis wedged himself into his side; Harry automatically began petting him as he spoke to the others. His hair was so healthy, glossy; it meant he was in good health surely? It wasn't matted anymore either, he was one lucky dog they'd been the one to stumble over him.

"You think there are walkers in here?" Sophia asked her eyes wide.

Daryl quietly and inconspicuously joined the group, accepting the food from Carol who didn't miss a thing. It was little wonder with a violent and unpredictable husband she will obviously have mastered the task of being observant at all times.

"More than likely," Harry said honestly, ignoring Carol's concerned look, most probably due to his honesty. "But that is why we are in here, they can't get to us, and the prison seems to be locked up so they'll be in different places, we'll be going out and making sure they're all put down, so it's safe to walk around without worrying we'll be ambushed. Once its secure the gates will be left open and you can do whatever you like."

Sophia nodded, automatically calming down with Harry's honest but assuring voice. She had learned to trust him through the fact when Harry spoke, he kept to his word, he said he wouldn't leave her and he never had, he said she was safe and nobody and nothing would hurt her - nothing had. Back at the quarry he said her dad would never hurt her or her mum again and he hadn't got the chance to again, even though Merle had been the one to save her mum from her dad.

"How are we doing that? Splitting up?" Andrea asked interestedly.

"I'm still not sure, all of us coming is a bad idea, the hallways are very narrow in some places, so if we got walkers coming at us, we'd only end up hurting ourselves or getting bitten." Harry mused thoughtfully, his gaze slightly vacant as he thought on all the potentials before them. Temporarily stopping in his petting of Anubis much to the dog's disgruntlement as he nudged at Harry trying to get him to continue. Anubis' persistence won out as Harry began to rake his fingers through his fur. "Three at time might be the extent where we can comfortably move without risking each other two to be on the safe side. Dale you would need to stay here, you aren't fast enough to run if we need to, without room to manoeuvre running is our only option. Carol you are best staying as well with Sophia,"

"But I want to help!" Sophia protested she'd done good before.

"I know you do, and you did brilliantly yesterday, you were very brave, but in dark corridors it isn't as easy to hit your target, and until we get you something like a sword like Luna I won't risk your life." Harry said calmly, "Using a gun in an extremely volatile environment and in the dark is asking for trouble, you might even end up hitting one of us, and you don't want that do you?"

"No," Sophia replied immediately not even having to think of the answer. "So I'm going to get a sword like Luna? Awesome!" she cheered grinning widely.

"Something similar yes," Harry answered, "We'll just have to find it."

"What about us?" Andrea enquired, speaking for both her and her sister. She knew the answer before she even asked; she'd totally screwed up and made Harry's trust in her crumble. "If you don't let me join in there's no way I can prove myself…"

"Listen, it's not about proving yourself to anyone, it's about you, you having the ability to deal with the walkers, yes you messed up and acted like a complete and utter idiot by attacking one instead of killing it. I honestly did wonder what the hell you were thinking through, you'll get there, and there will be plenty of times where you'll be needed, especially when we start going out and salvaging shops in the areas." Harry informed her, "You've known since the Quarry how to deal with those things, two months nearly now, back then Rick and Shane decided to do a dance with the walker they saw before it was finally stabbed through the head. Bashing it with a baseball bat I mean honestly…how they survived so long I don't know." snorting derisively, rolling his eyes. "All that aside, we must play to our strengths, and do it realistically. Luna, Daryl and Merle all know how I move, I know how they move which makes it very easy to get into a rhythm, even during the heat of a battle, hopefully there will come a day where we can all dance to the same tune and do what needs done."

Andrea reluctantly nodded her head in understanding; she'd seen it herself and knew Harry definitely wasn't lying. Dale placed his old hand on Andreas giving her comfort as she was forced to stand down by pure logic again.

"I'm actually hoping to investigate the cafeteria and kitchen, it's bound to be packed with stuff, hopefully something different other than pasta or beans," Harry said grinning wryly, he saw Luna grinning the same way, both of them thinking of the meal they'd had yesterday which had incidentally been pasta too, best they'd had in a while admittedly.

Those that are familiar with the prison season will know what's coming next ;) big question is will Harry deal with them before they cause trouble? or will he give them the benefit of the doubt? Read their mind and know they're trouble? so many possibilities ;) will they be given the other cell block or allowed to integrate themselves into his group? or will they have to prove themselves? Who will be with Harry when he encounters them? will they see him using magic? R&R please