Chapter 3
Harrold tapped Kain twice on the head and the large dog lay down on its stomach and let her off. Once the girl had her feet planted firmly on the wooden floor boards, the animal rose again, allowing Harrold to sift through the bags she had strapped to his sides. She swapped her rifle for two hand held pistols and turned to face the group once again. Giving everyone a quick once over, she turned to face Castiel, pistols pointed steadily at his chest.
"You. Why're you different from everyone else? Cas looked her straight in the eye and shifted before he began to speak.
"I am Castiel. And I am an Angel of the Lord." The blonde girl lowered her weapons slightly and tilted her head, confused.
"You're the second person to say that to me today."
Castiel was silent for a minute or so before he made his was over to Dean, talking as he moved.
"I need to go, I will come straight back. Harrold, what did this person look like?"
"Uh, he was about your height, brown hair, I can't remember." Cas smiled and gave her a quick pat on the head. When she turned to look at him he was gone.
"Does he do that often?"
"You get used to it kid." Dean laughed inwardly, he knew Cas's disappearing acts all too well. Harrold blinked a couple of times and looked down at the guns still in her hands. A quick flick of her wrist and Kain was by her side once again the rifle she had been wielding before in his mouth.
Ellis walked towards the girl cautiously, tugging his hat from his head as he moved.
"Harrold?" The girl regarded him suspiciously, everyone else watching on silently, wondering what the boy was thinking.
"Ya'll don't remember me do you. I worked in the garage your mam gave birth to ya in." Harrold's eyes widened in surprise.
"You knew my mam?" Ellis smiled widely.
"Sure did sweetheart. Helped name ya to." Without warning Harrold pulled her arm back and punched the older hick in the face.
"Bastard. Harrold's a guy's name." Ellis grinned again.
"Suits ya jus' fine little lady."
The two Southerners chatted quietly in a corner while Sam spoke to Nick and Dean helped Coach with restocking the bags. As soon as the bags the restocked Coach signalled that they were going to continue moving on.
"But what about Castiel?" Harrold paused mid-sentence, worry evident on her features. Dean chuckled and patted her on the back as he handed her a new bag.
"Don't worry about it kiddo. He'll find us. He always does." The girl smiled at Dean's words and grinned. They left the house quietly, guns poised and ready. They were no longer following Castiels path so they were cautious about ever step they took and every corner they turned.
Ellis quickly began to chatter mindlessly, stories about some accident prone guy called Keith seemed to be the only thing that ever came out of his mouth. Occasionally someone would become fed up with the incessant chatter and attempt to politely get the older hick to shut his mouth. But it never lasted long. There was always something else that reminded him of dear old Keith. At times the group just let him talk. The babbling made the situation seem less dire. It stopped them from dwelling on the fact that they could die at any moment out. Dean once again surveyed the team from behind. Harrold sat strong atop Kain. Her small hands steady and knowing. She reminded him of himself as a child.
He thought back to the nights when he would sit up late at night watching over Sammy as he slept, jumping at every small noise, waiting for his father to come home. A small cough from somewhere up at the front broke Dean out of his thoughts. Ellis once again stood close to Nick, most likely chatting the poor con man's ear off. Coach walked silently at the head of the group, machete in hand with Sam lagging a small ways behind him, a sniper rifle trained over the large man's shoulder, taking out straggling zombies as they wandered into their path.
It wasn't until they had made it into the next safe house that Cas showed up again. Dean had been keeping watch for that night when footsteps sounded from outside the safe house. Poking the very tip of his shot gun through the metallic bars, Dean steadied his heart beat and waited. Just as his finger was moving towards the trigger, Castiel stepped into view. Immediately lowering his gun, the elder Winchester withdrew the metal bar keeping the red door shut and opened it for the other. Castiel walked inside quietly and Dean shut the door and replaced the metal bar.
"What did you find out?" Cas shook his head and tapped Dean lightly on the forehead with two fingers.
"Sleep. We will talk about this in the morning."
The makeshift group woke as the suns' rays filtered through the dirt encrusted windows, warming the safe house up ever so slightly. Sam shifted slightly, a small pained gasp bubbling forth as the muscles in his back tensed in ways they probably shouldn't.
"Sam? Is something the matter? You look pained." Cas was slowly catching on that human bodies functioned differently to how his vessel did whilst he occupied it. Sam grunted noncommittally and slowly pushed himself to his feet, wincing every so often.
"It's nothing I can't walk off Cas." Castiel watched him for another few seconds before resuming his silent stance beside the red door.
Ellis began talking almost less than half a second after he had woken. Most sighed quietly to themselves while Harrold encouraged it, the silence not settling well with her. Coach noticed Ellis mothering over the young girl whenever he was given the chance. The only time he really stopped worrying about her was when she and Kain walked alongside Dean, at that point the male hick would turn his attention straight back to Nick. Everyone was abruptly broken out of their morning musings, when Castiel spoke up.
"Dean, Sam. May we speak in private before we make our way outside?"
The Winchesters followed Castiel into the adjoining room and looked at the Angel expectantly. There was a brief moment of silence before Cas launched into his explanation as to what took him so long and then what he had found out.
"It is a Trickster." The boys confused looks prompted the other to begin explaining.
"Tricksters are immortal demi-gods. They can create anything out of thin air and tend to carry out deadly pranks on the high and mighty. They can however be killed by being impaled on a stake covered in the blood of its victim." The brothers nodded mutely.
"So this isn't real? These people, this place, none of this really exists?"
"I am afraid not Sam. But the danger is real. You may die if we do not find a way to escape."
A knock sounded from the doorway. Castiel bowed his head silently and walked out of the room. Sam turned towards the door and saw Coach standing in the door jam.
"We need to get moving boys. Grab some more ammo and shake a leg." Without waiting for a response the man turned on his heel and headed back over to the others. Dean watched as his brother scrambled around the room looking for anything that could help them later on. Either with killing zombies or going after the Trickster. It didn't take long for everyone to gather around the safe house's back door. Everyone waited for Coach to give the all clear, Ellis shifting his weight from foot to foot, anxious to get outside and start shooting.
The second they were outside they took their usual formation. Coach and Sam up front, Nick and Ellis a few meters behind and slightly to the right, Castiel stood about the same place but more to the left, and Dean, Harrold and Kain brought up the rear. Despite having some sort of history with Ellis, Harrold had opted to attach herself to Dean's side, Kain also seeming to favour the elder Winchester. Dean wasn't all that fussed about it. The girl was good with a gun, despite only being 10 years old. Though there were times when she had been grabbed from behind by a Smoker and Dean had no choice but to break off from the group and bring her back.
By the time they were a few block away from the next safe room, Coach was puffing heavily. His hand occasionally slipping into his bag and pulling out another candy bar. Harrold shook her head judgmentally, speaking loudly to Dean.
"He's gon' get sick eating all that." Nick snickered softly from his spot near Ellis. They walked in silence after that. Eventually Sam saw the tell tale read door of the safe room and ran towards it.
"Guys! Come on!" He wasn't watching where he was going so he never saw the giant rounded zombie that had meandered on the street.
"BOOMER!" The brown haired Winchester turned just in time to collide with the jiggling zombie and ricochet right back off of it.
Before anyone could do anything the zombie wobbled and promptly emptied it stomach contents onto the haphazardly sprawled Winchester. Nick shot the Boomer hurriedly. Other zombies began rushing in, spilling onto the street, all heading towards Sam. The first wave of zombies reached him before he could get to his feet, and the bile that now covered him made it increasingly hard to grip his gun. Dropping the now useless weapon, Sam pulled his machete off of his bag and defended himself the best he could while the others mowed the zombies down in an attempt to reach him. Eventually Sam gave up on fighting and simply ducked and bolted for the safe room. He could hear Nick laughing as the other's followed his example. Sam wiped at the bile still dripping from his hair, rubbing it on the con man's jacket as he walked by.
NaNoWriMo 2010 November 3