Harry led Shane back out of the convenience store with a hand at the small of his back, carefully keeping his senses on high alert for any threat. There were a few cars around the parking lot in front of them, a few dead bodies that hadn't yet turned to walkers, but otherwise… Harry couldn't see or smell or hear anything for at least a mile or two.
The man next to him was nearly swaying with exhaustion, his legs shaky and his arms trembling. Shane hadn't said anything about the whole werewolf thing or the magic yet but he knew…
The afternoon sun glared down at them, hot and humid in the Georgian weather. There weren't any clouds in the sky that Harry could see but that wasn't exactly at the top list of his priorities now. Rain would come or it wouldn't though he didn't know a thing about the deep south. He'd just been in his own world three weeks before, listlessly wandering the world.
Harry led them over to Shane's car, the one that held most of Shane's scent, as well as gunpowder, water and metal. Shane was still quiet as a mouse, a quiet that set Harry on edge, made him grit his teeth. Shane hadn't seemed like a person who was quiet most of the time, the first time they had seen each other.
He gave Shane a light push towards the car, propping him up against the truck bed, and meeting his eyes. Shane smelled of stress, a kind of bitter scent that made Harry's nose wrinkle, blood, gunpowder, leather, sweat and come, making the wolf inside him growl delightedly. There were splashes of come on Shane's pants and the decidedly possessive curl of heat right underneath his ribcage grew.
"Shane?"
Shane's eyes were unfocused, wild, drooping closed for a second before Shane jolted, keeping his eyes open by sheer force of will. Harry ran a hand through his hair, his fingers coming away with dirt and blood, and looked around before swinging around to open the driver's seat.
"Where the fuck did you… I am not traveling with you!" Shane yelled, seemingly coming alive and swiping a hand down his face.
"You're three quarters asleep, Shane," Harry retorted, before walking back over to Shane and giving him a nudge around towards the passenger door. "I'm half asleep as it is and my gut's saying we should leave. Find a smaller space."
"Alright! Then I'll do it on my own! I can take care of my own damn self!" Shane argued, not even turning back to look at him as Harry gave him another nudge, rounding the truck, and stopping at the passenger door. Harry swung around to open it up and waited, arching an eyebrow. Shane glared at him.
"People shouldn't be alone," Harry said, propping his arms at his hips. "I'll drive."
Shane hissed under his breath before practically falling into the car. "You got the guns and food?"
Harry rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I did."
He shut the door after Shane settled in and ran over to the driver's seat, closing his door after him. "You headed anywhere?"
"No."
Harry shrugged and turned the keys, revved the engine, and pressed his foot to the gas pedal. The engine sputtered a little before turning on and moving and they left the convenience store behind, just as two walkers shuffled towards them from the opposite direction.
"Don't… take the highway," Shane whispered, letting his head fall back against the headrest and rubbing a hand over his relatively sleek scalp.
"Alright."
Harry drove the car towards what looked like a less traveled road, a back country road, and took off north.
He drove until the sun started to fall on the horizon, casting the world in bright oranges and reds. Shane had fallen asleep a few hours ago, after riding in silence for twenty or so minutes. The world around him was eerily quiet, no other cars moving on the backroads he had taken, and no heavy machinery was in use. Farms were quiet with no people moving in and out of barns, no one doing chores as the day came to a close.
They passed cows that had gotten out of pastures and horses that had saddles on but no riders, instead they had bits of blood in their mane. His heart ached at the sight, pitying the animals a little bit. He was pretty sure his wolf had found a carcass of a cow a week ago, before walkers had gotten to it, but ever since then, it'd been the occasional bird or pig. Sometimes even eating through a walker itself.
There was certainly no shortage of farms in Georgia, that was for sure, and no shortage of rednecks either.
Harry sighed and continued to drive, yawning a little bit, and focused on finding a small enough clearing to stop in for the night. He wasn't picking a rest stop and he wasn't on a highway, but there were enough campsites that… Harry stopped the car at one particular crossroads, about four hours after they had left the convenience store, rolling down the window of the driver's seat and sticking his head out.
Shane made a whining noise low in his throat at the pause in movement, twitching a little bit, his eyes moving underneath his eyelids. Harry turned to look at the man next to him and then reached out to squeeze his shoulder in reassurance. Shane turned away from him, shuffling towards the door, making Harry frown.
The scent of water drew him away from Shane for a moment, the clear, if a little dirty scent making him thirsty on the spot. Harry pulled the car over to the side of the road, taking in the sight of the three forks in the road. It wasn't too defensible for a spot but then again he'd smell the walkers coming before he saw them. And he'd put wards down. The walkers hadn't been able to get through those or see through his wards at all.
He got out of the car and looked around at the small clearing off to the side of the road. They hadn't passed a farm in a few minutes but there was a neighborhood maybe twenty minutes away, visible if he stood on the tips of his toes. A small town, he supposed. There were a few cars parked a mile away to the north, ones that he suspected had run out of gas. The scent of death emanated from them, sharp enough that he could smell it.
He reached into his duffel bag and rattled around it for his tent before pulling it out, the corner of his mouth turning up in a fond half grin almost against his will. He'd been through a lot with his friends, his pack, now former, in the tent and otherwise, his heart aching at the memories that flashed through his mind. There wasn't a railing at the edge of the road so he didn't have to step over one but he did pick his way through weeds, over to a spot between three trees.
He quickly set up his tent there, watched as it set itself up, before walking around it, spelling a ward out. He kept the truck inside the wards, walking around it as well. Magic spilled out of him in a trickle, the gates on his power opening up just a bit to provide enough protection and defense. It took five to ten minutes to set up, the magical wall visible for another minute before vanishing, sizzling quietly. If he tilted his head and squinted, he could see the flickering wards around the site.
Harry nodded in satisfaction before going to the car and opening the passenger door, brushing a few curls out of Shane's face as he fell into his arms. The man was still asleep but he woke up slightly as Harry pulled him from the car, arm around his waist, right over to the tent.
"No… Carl! No…" Shane mumbled in his sleep, trying to tug his way out of Harry's hold and mostly failing. The man was lighter than Harry had expected but not by much. More muscles than anything.
Harry sighed a little bit and pushed the tent fabric open, walked around the couches and chairs. Shane slumped against him further and Harry let out a small noise at the motion, stopping right before the bunk beds off to the side of the tent. He slowly lowered Shane onto the one in front of him, putting him on top of the covers and taking off his shoes. Running fingers through Shane's very short buzz cut of hair before letting the man sleep.
He moved to the other set of bunk beds and curled up on the bottom one, falling asleep in minutes.
Shane woke up to a growling stomach and the shine of light through… He blinked and jolted upright, his heart already hammering in his chest at the thought of being moved. He glanced down at himself, noting that he was still wearing what he had been wearing before, his old work pants and shirt that had lost its buttons. His fingers clenched into the sheets before he pinched himself.
"The fuck?"
The smell of bacon and eggs littered the air in the tent around him as Shane stared, his eyes widening a lot. His heart thundered in his chest at the sight. There was quite clearly a 'living room', a bathroom that was curtained off, an office, and a kitchen, all packed into one tent. One giant tent.
"What the fuck."
Someone cleared their throat to the right and he startled, turning to see the guy from yesterday standing at the stove. He met those bright green eyes, amusement spreading over the man's face, and flipped him off.
"Holy shit. Am I hallucinatin'?"
"No. I'm a wizard," Harry offered, lifting his shoulders in a small shrug as he stirred food around in a skillet. "There's nothing holy about this."
Shane's breath stuttered and he stood up, walking on mostly steady legs over to the curtained off bathroom. Shoved the curtain aside to find a toilet and a sink. Looked around for piping. When he didn't see any obvious pipes, he stuck his head back around the curtain, staring at Harry.
"Wanna explain that?"
Harry gestured around the tent and then at himself. "I'm a wizard. You know, like Merlin? Gandalf? Any of this ring a bell?"
Shane glared at the man. "I know who those people are. I'm not stupid."
Harry's lips twitched bemusedly. "Alright. I'm not accusing you of being stupid."
Shane ran a hand over his scalp and ducked behind the curtain to use the toilet. After he was done, flushing the toilet and watching as it was refilled with clean water, he walked-
"Wash your hands! Merlin knows where they've been!"
"I've been in worse conditions!" Shane yelled back.
"You used your hands when you gave me a blowjob!" Harry argued, his voice full of irritation.
"If you say so." Shane turned back in to wash his hands, using soap reluctantly, and cleaning underneath his nails. His gaze was stuck on the shower in the corner for several minutes, imagining getting his whole body clean and shivering. But… "And the for the record, I ain't gay! The fuck is going on? The fuck are you?"
He walked out of the bathroom, passed the kitchen-deciding to deal with the smirky motherfucker in a moment- and walked over to the tent door. He nudged the fabric open and stared out at the landscape in front of him, beyond the tent. He could see the road from here, see that his car was parked right by the tent itself, with only a few feet between the vehicle and the tent.
Three walkers shuffled along the road, groaning lowly. Shane's heart froze in his chest at the sight and he dropped his right hand down to his waist only to find no gun.
"It's alright. They can't see us or hear us or smell us."
He could feel Harry's breath on the back of his neck. Shane startled so much that a strangled sound left his throat, a noise that he would deny making to his dying day and turned around, at eye level with Harry.
"The fuck."
"The tent is warded. Think of it as magical shielding," Harry explained, reaching out to poke his chest. "Breakfast is ready. Come on."
Shane stared at the guy, watching as he turned around and headed back into the tent. His stomach growled at the mere mention of food, of real food, the smells making him almost whine. "The fuck is the power coming from? The stove, the toilet flushing…"
"This is all powered by magic," Harry offered, as Shane followed him. "My magic."
Shane sat down at the table at the back, the one that was covered in scrolls, and blinked, rubbing a hand over his smooth scalp. "Magic. Like comic books?"
Harry nodded slightly as he brought over food, putting out a plate of scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon. "I don't have a chicken in my trunk or a pig so this is all that I have left, at least for the eggs and bacon. So eat up."
Shane stared at him and then at the food, glancing at the utensils, his eyes widening at the sheer normalcy of sitting down to eat. He dished out some of each to his own plate, picked up some eggs with his fork and pointed at Harry, as the man did the same.
"So. Talk."
Harry snorted, his eyes flashing with something dangerous. Something predatory. "I'm… not from around here."
"Duh, man. I could tell that from the first minute I met you. You gotta tell me something else."
"Something else? Hmm. I'm stuck here and I can't go back home? My parents died when I was 1? I went to a school for magic?"
"That what this is? Magic?"
"Yeah. Magic. The whole wolf thing came after. Got bit when I was 14. It was a whole thing," Harry said, taking a bite of bacon with his fingers and licking them clean of grease after. Shane's breath caught at the sight and Harry eyed him in bemusement. He flipped him off as he took a bite of potatoes. "Not… walker bit but bit by another werewolf. Granted, I don't think Voldemort was going for making me stronger, faster, sturdier, but that's what happened. I think he was pissed later, given what Snape was like."
Shane blinked at the words leaving Harry's mouth. "I think I only understand every fifth word out of that mouth of yours."
"You don't need to understand more than that. It's in the past. I'm not a threat to you."
Shane studied the man across from him, watching as Harry took another bite of food.
"So… why were you alone then? Anything I should know?" Harry questioned, gesturing to him. "You kill your previous group or something?"
Shane glared at him before shaking his head, gritting his teeth at the memories. "No. They did that themselves. Or at least, are gonna do that. I don't care about them."
Even he could hear his voice becoming more vehement the longer he talked but… Shane crossed his arms and eyed Harry, the man who was apparently both a wizard and a werewolf.
Harry lifted an eyebrow, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Like he could see right through Shane's words. Shane watched as Harry took a deep breath, his chest expanding and contracting quietly. "You wanna talk about it?"
"Holy shit, no, I fucking don't."
Harry held up his arms in a conciliatory gesture and nodded. "Alright. You wanna travel together then? Watch each other's backs? I was going to check out that town ahead of us and then move on."
"Yeah, sure. Don't see why not. As long as you don't kill me in my sleep."
"As long as you don't kill me in my sleep either," Harry retorted, finishing off his food and standing up. He waved a hand over his dish and Shane's before heading over to the bathroom.
"How does that whole werewolf thing work anyway?"
Harry twitched as they walked into the town, his eyes on their surroundings. The sun was out and bright, glaring down at them. Sweat had already broken out on his back, making his shirt stick to his skin. Shane was walking beside him, keeping a tight grip on his rifle. They'd left the truck behind, tucked under a ward or two, and taken off on foot, making much less noise.
"I'm sometimes on four feet. I can shift whenever I want. My sense of smell is stronger than yours. That kind of thing."
He spotted an ammo shop with broken windows and no door to the left, jerking a thumb towards it in question. Shane glanced towards the shop and then down at his rifle, his gaze dropping to the pistol in the holster at his hip.
"Yeah, might as well. It's probably fucking already looted but yeah. Gonna need more ammo."
They turned and headed right to the door of the shop, with Harry gesturing for Shane to come to a halt. Harry brought up his fingers for half a second before dropping them, inhaling quietly. He'd halfway been tempted to sign in Auror sign language, the signs that he'd been taught by his professor during boot camp. Maybe… Maybe he could teach Shane at some point. His heart ached at the thought that he'd never sign with Ron again or Hermione, remembering teaching her in secret. They'd always been a trio, a pack of three, and now…
Shane paused as Harry did, staring at him with slight interest in his brown eyes, the only giveaway that he was impatient was the way that Shane rocked back on the heels of his feet. Shane's heart thundered in his chest, the look on his face more or less rough.
When he didn't smell anything, walker or otherwise, he nodded to the other man. Shane walked in straight away and Harry stayed at the door, keeping an eye out for walkers or other people. He spotted a walker a mile away, shuffling around the corner, what had been a woman with dyed hair. She was down an arm, blood splattered all over her, her mouth covered in dried reddish brown liquid that Harry refused to think about.
Metal jostled behind him in the store but there was no yelp, no other noises of surprise.
The stench of sweat and gunpowder announced Shane before he even appeared back beside Harry. He turned to look at the man, seeing Shane carrying a new pack.
"Got everything you need for now?" Harry casually asked, keeping an eye on the walker, already scenting another. This one was closer, maybe on the other side of the street, down an alley. The scent of walkers was strong, more so that there were no people around. No other scent but death and blood.
"Depends on your definition of now," Shane muttered, shaking his head. "Carl's comic books say that werewolves are weak to silver bullets."
Harry sputtered and looked at the man again. "I'm not even from this world, Shane! Werewolves in this one are just that, comics. Fictional. Besides, I don't even know about werewolfy weaknesses in my world."
He eyed the female walker that was just five minutes away, contemplated Shane's words, and cast a cutting curse its way. Just like the one in the gas station, this walker was cut in half in two ways, once at the waist, and again at its head. Guts spilled out onto the cement and Harry coughed, pinching his nose shut at the smell.
"Fuck. Warn a guy before you do that," Shane argued, walking out onto the street again, his shoulders curling inwards. Tension spilled outward and Shane reached up a hand to rub at his temples.
"Warn you before I kill a walker? Yeah. Not doing that. You're just jonesing for a way to kill me," Harry remarked, following the man and falling into line with him. He kept his eyes out for a gardening supply store and spotted one about two blocks away, to the north. "What the fuck did your previous group do to you?"
"Who says I had a previous group? Huh? Might have been all alone for the past four months. Might have been hallucinating all this."
Harry snorted and inhaled, scenting Shane's scent, hearing the man's blood race in his body, his heart stutter and beat. He was quiet, up until they reached the windows of the garden store, and then shoved Shane right up against the building.
Shane's breath fell out of him with an oomph, his eyes wild, a little frantic. Harry curled his fingers around Shane's wrists, keeping him from pointing his gun at him. Being shot wouldn't kill him, by any means, but it would hurt. And they didn't have the time or resources to fix that.
"Mate, you're not dreaming. I'm not going to try to kill you. And if you'd been alone for three months, you'd be crazier than you are now."
Shane just stared at him, panting, his nostrils flaring, his heart thundering in his chest. His mouth parted a little but Harry tried to ignore the pretty sight, knowing that they were out in the open. He just stood there, looking right into Shane's eyes, before nodding. "You need anything?"
"No." Shane deflated on the spot, his shoulders relaxing, his hands loosening under Harry's. His breath evening out.
"Alright. Let me grab some seeds and such."
