Chapter 3 'The escape from Atlanta and the reunion'
October 25th, 2010. Inside the store. Rick's POV
Once Harley left, I headed inside the store with Glenn and the others. "She said it was important, and she has her weapons. She's gonna be fine right?"
Some people in the store were whispering about how she was crazy going out there with the herd so close. It didn't get better when a few minutes after I introduced myself the herd wandered just into the street by the entrance of the shop, we were in.
That was when a woman named Andrea asked where someone named Merle was. I didn't know what to answer and when Glenn suggested the roof.
We raced up the stairs and eventually came out into the roof where I saw this Merle Person looking down the scope of a rifle aiming down the street. I tackled him by the side before he could shoot, and we scuffled for a bit before I knocked him on his ass with his own rifle and cuffed him to a nearby pipe.
After a few choice words with him I pulled my gun on him and said. "If you want those things to come up here faster then please, give me a reason to shoot you and alert them to our presence here" I could clearly see he was high on some kind of drug, and when I fount it and tossed it off the roof he only got angrier, eventually he stopped and made me believe he was still smart enough to stop what he was doing and calm down a bit.
I wouldn't have shot him, but knocked him out completely? Yes, almost without thinking about it. Once he calmed down enough, I gave him the key to the cuffs with a warning to not try anything so stupid again.
It didn't take that much time until the group asked me what we were doing here. I answered about wanting to find the shelter and Harley wanting to find another thing but that I had no idea what it was, I also told them about the helicopter but another woman, Jacqui this time, said it was a hallucination.
Glenn and a man called T-Dog tried contacting the others in their group but failed to get a signal, apparently the same thing happened down in the store.
Doing the same I took out my radio and turned it on the frequency I was using to communicate with the girls and spoke in
"Hey Harley!"
"Rick, what is it?" she answered on the other side.
"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, sounding annoyed by the situation.
Glenn got closer and seeing the frequency he joined. "Yeah. It doesn't look good from here and I don't think the herd is going anywhere soon."
There was a brief pause before the answer came. "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."
I heard a chuckle from Merle, who had picked up his rifle, and asked "What did you find?"
There was another pause before Harley answered again "Permission." She paused once more.
"Look up, you'll have incoming in a few."
This confused me and Merle who was now close enough to us that he heard her, Glenn on the other hand was looking at the air like he knew what was going on.
"Look up? What could she- "He muttered in a whisper, almost like he realized something. "No, no way, but if she-, no there is no other reason for it. I wonder if she's got a broom or is the horse magical?" he continued, not knowing I could hear him.
"Magic? What is he talking about?" I wondered.
"Hey Rick, do you know Harley's last name?" He asked me, confusing me even more.
"No, I don't, you'd have to ask he-" I tried finishing my sentence but couldn't due to a neigh from what looked as a flying horse. Seeing and hearing this had the group confused while Glenn started laughing.
General POV. MACUSA rooftop a few moments earlier.
After putting her radio back in her bag, she mounted her horse removing the glamour.
"Ready to stretch those wings of yours?" She said to the horse petting its head. The only thing she got as an answer before galloping off the roof and into the air was a neigh from the horse.
The feeling of flying was good, she really enjoyed it, it was different from a broom, but it felt good, she wondered why she never tried to get a horse but remembered that she almost never was at home to ride it.
She guided her horse to do a couple rounds by the building before setting her course to the roof by the alley, the one that had the store in the ground floor. She couldn't help herself to giggle like a little girl, she always did when she was grounded for a long time.
As she got closer to the roof of the shop she pulled on the bridle, slowing down enough to land and making the horse neigh once more.
Harley saw their faces once she landed, the scene in front of her was priceless. She could see the faces of most of the group, there was confusion and the feeling of not wanting to believe that this was happening.
"Harley? I- what" was the only thing Rick could say amidst Glenn's laughter.
"Does thar horse of you have wings or am I just high girlie?" Asked Merle rubbing his eyes with one hand.
"Of course it does, it's a damn Pegasus." Said Morales staring at the horse not really believing it either.
"A Pegasus? Are you mad? What in Merlin's bloody name are you calling a Pegasus?" Harley said almost like it was an insult to the winged horse. "Pegasi are a myth you muggles made up after seeing winged horses in Greece." She finished.
"Can I pet it?" asked Glenn coming closer to it. This threw Harley for a loop as she didn't expect that question being asked at that moment.
"Uh… yeah go for it" she paused, a bit confused but shrugging it off. "Remind me again, you're Glenn, right?"
"Yeah, Glenn Rhee, I'm a Squib, my sisters went to Ilvermorny a few years ago, they were on their last year before all of this happened." He answered.
"I see. I hope they are still on school grounds- Where are my manners, I'm Harley, Harley Potter." She said and chuckled when she saw Glenn's eyes go wide with recognition.
After the confusion died down and told the others that it wasn't a Pegasus, but a winged horse Harley and Rick heard from Morales that there was no safe zone in the city, but that they are with a larger group taking shelter outside the city. Having the permission from the ICW she mentioned the shelter in New York made by MACUSA and that with the wards and aurors acting as guards it could be safe, Rick told her that that was along way from Georgia to travel by road, but Harley simply said that while it would be hard they could find a 'portkey' to MACUSA HQ in other cities with magical communities.
With the streets being full of walkers that didn't seem too keen on moving on, Rick suggests the sewer system to escape and after not finding a manhole cover in the alley, Jacqui said about how an older building like the one they were on would have drain tunnels into the sewers in case of a flood.
The group, except Harley, T-Dog, Merle and Griseo (the horse), travel down the stairs into the basement. There Andrea volunteers to go into the tunnel with Glenn but he tells them about how up until that point he got in and out alone with no problem, only for things to go to hell when he brought a group.
After a few moments of Glenn telling them his reasoning, discussing who stays and who goes with him, Morales joins him in an attempt to try and find an exit.
Back on the roof Harley is petting Griseo while merle looks down at the walkers and T-Dog tries to contact their group with no success. Merle mocks his attempts and makes a few racist comments but leaves it be because of the strange and beautiful woman and her horse. He eventually tried flirting, but she told him that she wasn't interested in older men, Moments later and leaving Griseo with T-Dog she heads downstairs
Glenn and Morales explore out for a bit, only to find a grated tunnel, they discussed cutting through but discard the idea when they see a walker chewing on a rat. When it notices them and tries to reach for them, they head back to the store where Rick, Andrea and Harley talked.
Rick had given her a tip to remove the safety of her gun before shooting before she noticed a mermaid necklace.
"See something you like?" Asked Rick.
"Hm, not me but, I know someone who would…" she answered. "My sister. She's still a kid in some ways. Unicorns, Dragons; she's into all of that, but mermaids. They rule, she loves mermaids."
"Why not take it?"
"There's a cop staring at me." She said half joking. "Would it be considered looting?" She asked.
"Nah, I don't think those rules apply anymore." Said Harley approaching them, Rick only nodded to Andrea telling her it was ok to take it.
"Oh, that's cute, only sirens look like that in real life." She said when she saw the necklace Andrea was grabbing.
"What do you mean?" Andrea asked after putting the necklace in her pocket.
"Merpeople except sirens are usually hideous or they are considered not as beautiful as sirens are, there was a selkie colony on the lake outside my school" Harley answered while looking and trying on some rings.
When the two men walked in, they saw that somehow a couple of walkers managed to break a glass door outside, calling even more of them because of the sound.
"We need to find a way out. Soon." Said Andrea while Rick aimed his gun.
They made their way to the roof where Rick spotted a small cargo truck a few blocks away, they argued how to avoid the walkers and get to it and Morales told Rick how they can hear you, see you and smell you; Andrea spoke about how the walkers smell dead and they don't, giving Rick a terrible Idea.
When they got back to the store Rick started grabbing some clothes and rubber gloves speaking how the walkers would eventually break the remaining doors but before they could get one of the dead walkers in the alle Harley spoke up.
"You do realize I have a flying horse, right? I also have magic." She flicked her wand out into her hand to prove it and watched the faces around the group before continuing. "What do we need besides the truck?"
"The truck and the keys, and something to make noise just in case." Glenn answered.
"Alright, while I get that, I need someone to go around the building gathering whatever supplies they find. I'm talking clothes, food, cleaning stuff, some stuff from that car section over there." She gave out her rucksack to Glenn and told him. "Once you have that stuff just throw it here, don't worry abut it filling up, it's pretty much bottomless."
Glenn took the bag from her with a nod and called Morales and T-Dog to help him, they made quick work of the other sections while Andrea and Jacqui gathered the clothes.
Before walking to the stairs to go up to the roof she noticed a camping section in the store that while it had been looted, there was still some stuff worth taking, she spoke into the radio not wanting to shout and told Glenn to get everything from the camping section.
Harley and Rick went to the basement for the fire-axe they planned on using before the current plan and then made their way to the roof where the horse had been tied to a pipe. When they mounted, Harley told Rick to hold on and took off once more and they headed to the construction site.
Once the group finishes up with looting the place, and being amazed by Harleys bag, they make their way to the roof once more and see where that their former plan would have failed or at least be incredibly difficult, it started raining as soon as Harley made the horse land right on the other side of the fence.
Rick got the keys to the truck and tried them while Harley contacted Glenn and told him to get ready. Glenn told her about the roll up door on the side of the building. She passed along the message to Rick who started the truck and told him that she would take care of the distraction.
She took flight with her wand on her hand just in front of Rick and casted a few [bombarda] when she got to the front of the building, alerting the walkers and making them follow her. She cast a 'Sonorous' charm and called out to the walkers just to be sure thy followed her.
The rest of the escape went without too much trouble, they were ready for it so when Rick put the truck to the door everyone else got in, not knowing that the walkers were entering the building.
The group made it out of the city to where Luna was waiting, she looked surprised by Harley landing after the truck stopped.
"Welcome back." She said when Rick got out of the truck.
"Hi Luna, here, don't ask, read it yourself." Harley said handing Luna the newspaper she grabbed before.
Luna read the headline with an "Oh" and a chuckle before acknowledging the others and asking "Hello, who are you?" with her usual soft voice.
After introductions were made, and Harley forgetting they could keep the horses in the RV, she wandlesly reapplied the glamour and they got on the road once more, this time Glenn, who wanted to try horse riding, rode on Rick's horse.
The way to the camp was rather silent from everyone else, Harley (who by now had retrieved her rucksack from Glenn) spent some time charming the battery from the group's radios but like her own, they would need an electrical charge from time to time.
It was a rather good thing the saddles were spelled from before or Glenn would have fallen many times trying to go faster and slowing down too quick.
In the camp we join the rest of the group going about their business, with a woman named Lori cutting her son Carl's hair and a man named Shane who promised carl they could catch frogs later in the quarry nearby. The moment gets interrupted when the CBR crackles up with Morales' voice. He tells the man who answers how they are a few minutes out and that they have 3 more people that helped them in Atlanta with them.
Ture enough not 15 minutes later the neigh of horses could be heard by the entrance of the camp.
Harley arrives with Glenn at the camp, she is telling him how to dismount from the horse and to be careful getting his feet stuck. Dismounting herself before they were approached by a young woman asking if everyone and specifically her sister is alright.
"Who is this?" Interrupts Shane a bit condescendingly when Glenn is telling everybody how everyone else is fine.
"This is Harley. Answered Glenn before Harley spoke.
A few seconds after the RV and the truck approach the camp drawing almost everyone's attention once more. Harley takes the horses back to the RV while everyone steps out and ties them up to a nearby tree.
What ensues is a very emotional reunion from Andrea and her sister Amy, as well as from Morales' family and himself. Everyone was relieved for the groups return and Shane (who hadn't heard how the group was about to arrive) asked what had happened. His answer came from Morales telling him that they got stuck in a store before being interrupted by Glenn speaking how Harley and one other man helped them gathering more than they would have thought and helped them escape.
Shane looked curiously at the truck with the gun he was cleaning on his shoulder and Harley seeing Rick was not yet out of the truck went to him. After a quick conversation with him she knew he was exhausted and a bit apprehensive to meet even more people, but either way he stepped out of the truck.
She was pretty much with the rest of the group when she looked back to Rick. He and Shane were trading confused and stunned glances as they recognized each other. Even more tears fell to the ground when carl ran to his father while Lori stared at Rick and soon followed her son.
Harley and Luna looked at them happy while the rest of the group stared dumbfounded at the reunion. Pretty much everyone but Harley missed how Shane was trying to smile his pain away. Rick on the other hand turned his gaze to Shane and sent him an honest smile.