Chapter 2 'The sheriff and the city of Atlanta'

October 24th, 2010. Day 59 since the outbreak. Rick POV.

Sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes woke up alone in a room that had seen better days. He thought his friend and partner Shane was there and asked him about him stealing a vase from his grandmother's house.

When he didn't get an answer, he looked around the room and saw wilted flowers, he also realized that the clock in the room had stopped at exactly 2:17:32 and that no other machine was on.

Weakened and dehydrated he tried pulling himself out of the bed, only to fall to the floor. "Nurse, help…" he called out weakly a couple of times, but no one came in the room.

A few minutes later he made his way to the room's bathroom and drank some water from the tap before exiting the room completely. He opened the door and moved the gurney that blocked the entrance to the room.

He walked around the dark and rather dishevelled hallways of the hospital, trying to call for help from the phone in the nurse's station but he had no luck. Eventually he found a box of matches while trying to get anything useful or something worth taking from behind the desk.

He continued making his way through the hospital until he came across a door that had been chained close and had the words "DON'T OPEN/DEAD INSIDE." He could hear moaning and groaning from the inside and a few seconds later he saw a pair of hands reaching through the doors, this caused him to stumble back and run away.

He left the hospital trough a dark stairwell lighting the few matches he had until he got to an exit. When he reached the outside, he saw hundreds of rather decayed bodies wrapped on the loading bay arranged in rows.

His view wasn't much better once he left the hospital, a military helicopter, sandbags, a few Humvees and other signs of a military cordon, all had been abandoned.

He wandered around until he found himself a bicycle in a park. Reaching for it he saw a badly decayed body reach for him, this was the mutilated body of a woman, it had no lips or legs, but was still reaching out to him while moaning. Startled, Rick fell to the ground but mounted the bike and rode away a few seconds later.

When he got to his home, he found it open, looted and deserted he tried calling for his wife and son but got no response from the empty house. he cried out for them on the floor for minutes questioning if any of this was real or if he was dreaming.

Alone and broken he walked to the porch of his home and sat on the steps. He spotted a man stumbling down the road when a boy crept up behind him and hit him with a shovel.

"Daddy, daddy." The boy called, and Rick hallucinating said "Carl. I found you"

"Daddy, I got the son of a bitch, I'm gonna smack him dead." The boy said holding up the shovel he had,

"He said something? I thought I heard him say something." Said a man after shooting the stumbling man and approaching the kid.

"He called me Carl." The boy answered.

"Son, you know they don't talk." Said the man, turning his attention to Rick who was on the ground. "Hey mister, what's the bandage for?" said the man turning his gun on Rick.

"What?"

"What kind of wound?" the main said still pointing the gun. "You answer me damn you, what's your wound? You tell me or I will kill you"

"WAIT! Don't shoot him!" a third voice called out before Rick finally passed out.

General POV. A few hours later.

Rick woke up tied to a bed. The boy, Duane, was standing guard with a baseball bat, Morgan and Harley arrived into the room a few minutes later.

"Got your bandage changed and gave you a little something for your dehydration. Smelled pretty bad." Harley said with a smile on her face.

"What was it? The wound?" Asked Morgan while cleaning something.

"Gunshot." Rick told him.

"Gunshot? What else? Anything?"

"Gunshot ain't enough?" Questioned Rick.

"Look I ask you answer. Is common courtesy, right?" Said Morgan sounding a bit annoyed. "Did you get bit?" he continued getting closer to Rick.

"Bit?"

"Bit, scratched maybe, anything like that?" Asked Morgan once again.

"No, I got shot, as far as I know" Answered Rick.

Morgan then checked his temperature while Harley waled to them. "Feels cold enough. Fever would have killed you by now."

"I could have told you that, I redressed his wound." Said Harley getting her switchblade from her pocket.

Rick stared at the woman when she did, but she only cut his restraints and walked to the door.

"Dinner is almost ready, come on down when you can." She said while guiding both Morgan and Duane downstairs.

Rick got down the house recognising it as one of his neighbours' houses, Fred and Cindy Drake if he isn't mistaken. He stumbled to the living room asking Morgan about this, but Morgan said he never met them, that the house was empty when they got there.

"Don't open it, they'll see the light. There's more of them than usual." Was the warning Rick got from Luna when he approached the curtains.

"Sound draws them in, so now they are all over the street, it's better to use silent weapons." Harley said while serving the food.

"Yeah. It was stupid, using a gun. But it all happened so fast I didn't think. Morgan answered to Harley's statement.

"You shot that man today." Rick said.

"Man?" Morgan asked.

"It were no man" Duane answered and corrected himself after a look from his father. "It wasn't a man."

"You shot him, in the street, out front, a man." Rick accused once more.

"Friend, you need glasses. It was a walker. Come on, sit down before you fall down" Morgan told him, digging into his food.

"Well. At least the name 'walker' is better than calling them zombies, too much of a cliché if you do." Said Luna while sitting down to eat.

Harley chuckled while entering the room with Athena and giving her some raw meat.

While they ate dinner everyone else noticed Rick had no idea of what was going on as he told them that he had woken up today in the hospital.

Morgan informed him of what was going on, told him of what would have happened with the walker on the street, and how they are more active after dark sometimes and how they would be fine as long as they were quiet, how they would probably be gone by the morning.

"One thing we do know, don't get bit, they saw your bandage and got scared of the possibility. Bites kill you. The fever burns you out and after a while you come back." Harley said to him. Leaving the word muggles out of the sentence.

"I've seen it happen." Duane confirmed

"By the way, the name is Harley, this is my friend Luna, and these are Morgan and his son Duane." Harley told him.

"Rick Grimes." Said Rick after a moment of processing everything they had discussed.

A bit more into the night while everyone was in the living room talking a car alarm went off, they stood up blowing out the candles and turning off any light they had, while Rick peeked through the boarder up windows. The streets were filled with walkers, drawn in by the alarm.

A woman dressed in a nightgown walked up to the door and knocked, causing Duane to run away and cry and Morgan to go comfort him. Rick stared at the woman through the peephole. The woman gave up and wandered away after trying a few times to open the door.

Luna then told him who the woman is after Morgan said it was ok to say it and Morgan in turn told him that he couldn't bring himself to kill her when she turned.

The next morning after confirming how they are already dead and how to kill them again Rick approached a nearby walker with a face shield and a baseball bat, swinging it repeatedly until it died and becoming fatigued because of the GSW that wasn't fully healed.

While Rick recovered, Harley and Luna walked into the RV grabbing Luna's bow and checking their gear, Harley had everything on the storage spell, but she had to get ready without revealing magic, and she also grabbed a new belt bag Feesy just made her with the deer hide and her ruck sack that she had by the door.

They made their way back to Rick's house and he told them how his wife and son were still alive, he explained about the empty drawers and how the photo albums and family pictures were missing. Morgan laughed because his wife had done the same and Duane suggested they were in Atlanta. An enormous refugee centre had been set upby the military ad it hadn't been long since the broadcasts ended. Morgan also explained how the C.D.C. was rumoured to be looking for a cure, this, for obvious reasons sparked Harley's curiosity.

They got in the RV and a hummer Morgan had hidden and headed to the King County Sheriff's Department where thanks to a separate heating system, the men enjoyed a well-deserved hot shower before Harley and Luna did. Once they got dressed Morgan talked about how they were going to Atlanta but got stuck and how they met with the girls, Morgan mentioned to Rick how it was left in the air if he would accompany the girls to Atlanta but that there was a good chance he wouldn't yet and how he could catch up to them, Rick on the other hand, grabbed a duffel bag filled with all the guns and ammo he could find and handed Morgan a hunting rifle with its ammo

Everyone headed outside and to load the guns into a police cruiser that Harley filled with gas.

"Will you come with us? We never really discussed it properly when we met." Harley asked once everyone was set up.

"In a few days, by then I'll have taught Duane how to shoot and I won't be so rusty. It's better to do target practice out here than in a city." Morgan answered her.

"I see…" Harley replied not really wanting to leave them behind but understanding what he wanted to do. "… just promise me you'll take care of your kid and come as soon as you can."

Rick then handed him a walkie-talkie with one battery and told him that he would turn his own a few minutes every day at dawn, to contact them and find them once they head out. He also opened another cruiser so Harley could take the CB radio and the walkie-talkies in it

"You guys thinking ahead." Morgan said.

"Can't afford not to, not anymore." Rick answered.

"Hey Rick, listen, there's something else. They may not look like much one at a time, but in a group, all riled up and hungry, you got to watch your ass" Morgan told him before getting in his truck.

Luna gave Duane a little pendant 'for luck' before they left, and with a few last words between them Rick saw a reanimated corpse of a former partner of his, he admitted that he didn't think much of him but that he couldn't leave him like that. He shot him with his revolver before Morgan and Duane left, Driving in the opposite direction and back to Rick's neighbourhood.

Back at the house Morgan nailed the door shut once more and Duane covered the windows. He then headed up with the rifle Rick gave him and started taking some walkers out, only to stop when his wife emerged once more, he broke down and couldn't bring himself to kill her.

Harley, Luna and Rick got back to the park where He intended to put down the legless walker. Harley stopped him from shooting it with his gun, handing him one of her mini crossbows and reminding him that silent weapons are better. He apologised before shotting her in the head.

"I really need to find a muggle camping store or something, we are going to need a few more crossbows. I wonder if there are crossbows available in one of their gun stores?" Harley thought once she got her crossbow back, not really bothering to retrieve the bolt as she knew it would get summoned back when she was far enough or simply disappear if it had been shattered.

Later , on route to Atlanta on highway 85, Rick sent a broadcast on his cruiser's CB radio, not knowing if anyone else heard it besides the girls that he knew had already installed the radio (unknown to him though, was the fact that Harley made it and the walkie-talkies compatible with the magical RV, getting them to run on magic like her magitek phone)

In a camp outside of Atlanta, a group tried fruitlessly to contact him, but he already had changed the frequency to talk to the girls on the RV if it was necessary.

Back on the road, Rick's car runs out of fuel due to a leak no one had noticed and heads out with the girls in the RV to see if the local gas station has any gas and any parts to repair it, with no luck on the gas part they leave the RV and walk for a bit to a farmhouse.

Luna peaks in a window and discovers a couple that committed suicide. They have no luck trying to find the keys to the pickup in the barn, but Harley gets the gas out of it and scavenges the hose Rick's car needed.

On their way out they spot a couple of horses on the property, getting closer to them Luna recognises one of them as a glamoured horse and quietly tells Harley about it, this makes Harley walk back to the house to find the keys to the corral, knowing that she wanted to save at least the magical horse. She then calls for her elves while looking around for the wands of the couple and tells them to grab the horses and their saddles once they are not in the property and to apparate them to the field in the magical space of the RV and make a small stable for them.

She had just finished looting the couple's potion supplies and anything she could find when Rick came in the house. She made an excuse of not finding the keys and when she faked finding them, they headed outside to release the horses, Harley winked to Luna before she opened the corral and shortly after she secretly gave her the wands and told her what she had told the elves.

The problem with that little plan was that Rick also wanted to save the horses and went right to the brown one with a rope. Harley and Luna looked at each other when this happened and giggled before retrieving the grey one (a.k.a. a Granian, a breed of winged horse) and got the saddles for them.

Rick rode out for a bit, not having done it for years, and the girls discarded the hose for the cruiser and recalled the elves and told them that apparating the horses wasn't needed yet, but the stable was a must in the long run. Once they caught up to Rick and got back to the RV, they removed the CBR from Rick's cruiser, knowing it could be used elsewhere. Luna got off the Granian and drove the RV to Atlanta.

When they arrived Luna stayed outside the city with the RV and what was now Rick's horse while he and Harley rode the Granian (now named 'Griseo' by Harley) into the city. The argument for this was that it was faster, and Harley knew that it could fly but said nothing to Rick.

They discovered there was no safe zone in Atlanta and that it was overrun after seeing a military helicopter and rode up to where a herd was. They fortunately avoided it completely thanks to not shooting, the speed of the horse and a young man named Glenn that had seen them ride down the street and contacted them through his radio.

The trio was now empty alley and about to enter a building, horse included, when Harley spoke up still on the horse.

"I need to check something out here in the city, just a couple blocks away. Keep your radio on, yes?" she said while the others entered the building.

"Are you sure Harley?" Rick asked her.

"Yean, I mean, the streets are filled with those walkers." Said Glenn.

"I'm sure, it's what Luna and I were going to check. It's important." Said Harley preparing to ride out once more.

Rick, Glenn and the rest of the group inside the building were thinking she was a bit mental trying that, but Rick reluctantly agreed to it seeing the determination in Harleys eyes. "Alright, but I want you to turn around if you're in danger, I'd hate to tell Luna that her friend died here"

With those words from Rick, she headed out again to where she knew the MACUSA offices were, luckily enough, it was on the same street the store Rick and the group were.

When she got there and entered, she left the horse by the entrance and started searching around the place, not finding a single soul in the place. She came across the main office and saw an official notice from the ICW in a few newspapers and magazines.

"INTERNATIONAL STATUTE OF WIZARDING SECRECY TEMPORARILY REVOKED. WORLDWIDE CRISIS THREATENS BOTH MAGICAL AND NON-MAGICAL WORLDS."

That was the headline she read before finding a note that said that any witch or wizard was to head to MACUSA HQ in N.Y.C. and bring as many no-majs as they could, it continued by stating that there was an underground shelter made by the equivalent of the DoM and the auror department housing both wizardkind and muggles.

Seeing this derailed many things she considered to keep her magic a secret, not to mention she would have an easier time surviving and helping others do the same. She grabbed a newspaper and intended on leaving the building but was stopped by her radio. "Hey Harley!"

"Rick, what is it?" she called into the radio.

"The herd we saw before, it strolled up to the road we are on. I'm on the roof right now and it's bigger than any of us realized."

"And let me guess, it's blocking both the entrances to the store and the building I'm in… Great…" Said Harley, annoyed by the situation but not really worried.

"Yeah. It doesn't look good from here and I don't think the herd is going anywhere soon." Said Glenn when he joined the conversation on his radio.

"Don't worry I have an idea. And while I didn't find what I wanted, I got something good that isn't exactly what I expected."

Rick heard a chuckle from a guy the group fortunately stopped from shooting at the walkers and asked "What did you find?"

Harley was already on her way to the roof with her horse and said "Permission." She paused. "Look up, you'll have incoming in a few."

Author's Notes:

I got myself a ton of inspiration RN and the updates may be fast, but I won't promise to keep up the pace as I do have a life going on.

Not sure if I'll put every date from this point forward. I will however, put the dates at the start of the chapter. I will however put in the usual 'POV change' line when needed.

I'll be using some of the usual fanon for Lori being a 'queen bee' but I'm not going to make her a hypocrite or a complete bitch. She will also be kind of afraid of magic and won't really accept it, but she will have a little redemption arc from this fear.

Glenn on the other hand, I have planned to make him either a wizard that broke his wand and never got proficient enough at wandless magic or a squib that got cast out from his family but kept contact with the magical community (A coin toss from me will decide this).

I added a winged horse to start Luna's portable reserve because I didn't want a seemingly useless animal for the first rescued animal, but I'm unsure if after a few chapters it will have as much relevance in the story, now that Harley has confirmed permission from the ICW to use magic she will probably use one of her brooms if she needs to fly, perhaps someone else will use it more than Harley (the brooms are faster, more agile and more portable than a horse).

Rick's horse will survive Atlanta because it stayed out, it may not survive past the farm, I'll see what happens to it later (maybe another coin toss).

[The Granian horse I put in will be a recurring creature I'm giving to Harley in this and other fanfics I have planned but because it's not in chapter 0 and it won't be in the prequel if I make one, if I do give her one, the HOW she gets it and how much she uses it, will be different each time.

This time for example, it was because of going with a magizoologist in her trip and her wanting to save it.]

I'll be taking suggestions for other creatures if you want to see them, and I'll see if I can find a way to write them in though this has a few conditions, and I can't really promise they will be in the story:

The creature has to be either native, imported or found within North America like a 'Pukwudgie' or a 'Jobberknoll', or be a creature found worldwide like the 'winged horse' or 'fairies'.