Getting out of the hospital without getting hurt or worse wasn't easy, but they did it. A rope made out of bed sheets turned out to be the trick, allowing them to climb down to the roof of an adjacent wing of the hospital from their window. Rick carefully lowered Harry down and then climbed down himself before they quickly used the outer stairs to get to the ground level.
There was quite a sight waiting for them when they made it down. King County was in a state of panic, sirens were blaring, explosions could be heard all over, screams echoed through the streets... mutilated bodies and a river of blood seemed to be everywhere Rick looked. Rick felt his own panic rise at the thought of Carl out there without him. What if something happened to Lori and Shane? What if Carl got bit and turned into one of those things? What if he couldn't get away from them and all Rick found of him was the remains of some monster's meal?
"Daddy," Harry mumbled softly with just a faint smile on his face before the reality of their situation came screeching back into focus when a woman screaming just a street over shocked him into jumping and pressing close to Rick again. "Daddy, what are we going to do?"
"We're gonna' go and find Carl and then we're gonna' get out of this town, go somewhere safe, okay, Harry?"
Harry nodded, biting his lip nervously as he jumped at another scream in the distance.
Rick saw the remnants of a construction site up ahead at the entrance to the alley they had climbed down into and he walked over to it and started searching through the junk. After a minute he found a heavy metal rebar that just might be what he needed. He swung it around a few times, testing its weight and then nodded his head. He had his gun, but Rick figured noise of any kind might attract the things walking around the city and a more silent weapon would be needed to keep Harry and him safe. He'd find a better one later, but for now, it would do the job.
Finally, grabbing Harry's hand, Rick took in a deep breath and stepped out from the alley heading towards home. He tried to keep Harry from seeing too much as they walked, but after the twentieth body they came across that was little more than half gnawed on bones and bloody clothes, Rick realized that horrifying as it just may be, this may be the new normal. They passed just as many people running or driving frantically, but luckily they hadn't come across one of those things yet.
The house was only a few blocks away from the hospital, so they made good time, but their luck didn't last. Just as they turned the final corner and stepped onto the street the house was on, Rick saw about six of those things tearing into what looked like a woman who thankfully was already dead. Rick pushed Harry back and tried to back them up as quickly as possible, but when Harry saw them he couldn't help but whimper in fear. The sound carried across the ten feet between them and the group of things, sending their bloody and decaying necks snapping towards them in a heartbeat. With growls and snarls, flesh stuck between their teeth, the monsters began to stumble towards them as it became clear a fresher prey was near.
Harry screamed and Rick turned to run with Harry in his arms, only to have bloody fingers grab his shirt and pull him towards the monster that was just a foot away, it's teeth snapping as it tried to bite him. Rick pushed and pulled, trying to get away from the quickly growing group of those things, yelling and screaming in the process. Harry was screaming "no, no, no" over and over, and then, with just a spark of vibrant green light that rippled out from Harry's hands, the things trying their best to rip into Rick and Harry, and eat the flesh from their bones dropped like puppets with their strings cut abruptly.
Rick stared in wonder down at the still bloody, gory, figures surrounding them and kicked one... bringing the rebar up in defense in case the thing decided it wasn't mostly dead, but truly, without a doubt, dead. When the thing didn't even twitch Rick breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is it over?" Harry whispered softly as he lifted his head from where he had it shoved in fear in the curve of Rick's neck,
"Yeah, baby, it's over... for now." Rick murmured as he kissed Harry's forehead. "You did so good, making that green light to kill them, such a brave boy."
"I did that?" Harry said in wonder, looking down at his hands and then around at the finally lifeless things scattered around them.
"Well, it wasn't me, I ain't special like that. See, magic isn't bad, you can use it to help people... to protect them like you did here and in the hospital when you woke me up." Rick said with a smile and looking around thoughtfully, he began walking with purpose towards the house, making sure to keep a close watch out for any more of those things on the way.
Stepping onto the front porch of his home, Rick set Harry down and took in a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what he would find inside. Lori's car was still in the driveway, the door halfway open and bags packed up inside it. There was no blood or bodies that he could see, but it wasn't exactly a promising start to his search for his family... well, his son... Lori and Shane made their choice when they abandoned him in the hospital without a second thought.
"Harry, I want you to stay behind me, okay? Stay as quiet as you can."
Harry nodded and then breathed in a deep breath before he stuck out his chin, putting on a brave face that Rick couldn't help but be proud of.
Rick tested the front door lock and the door opened without resistance, the door opening with a soft creak. Silently they crept into the house, moving from room to room, searching in closets, behind doors, under beds and even in the attic crawl space to be sure. Finally after searching the apparently empty house, Rick breathed a sigh of relief. Carl at least made it out of here alive, that was all Rick could ask for at this point.
Once the house was deemed safe, Rick made sure all the locks on the doors and windows were engaged, the blinds and curtains drawn to keep the knowledge of them inside from the monsters stumbling through the streets, and pushed heavy furniture in front of the doors to make it a little harder for those things to get in if they tried.
Once the house was secure, Rick took stock of what was left... enough food to last them at least a few days, a little bit of water (but not much), Rick's father's old shotgun and a few boxes of shells that had been shoved high up and in the back of Rick and Lori's bedroom closet away from Carl's inquisitive hand, and a few odds and ends that may prove of worth down the road. It wasn't much, but it would do for now... Rick needed to stock up on supplies and fast, figure out a way to keep them safe while they searched for Carl.
After a dinner of canned green beans and syrupy fruit cocktail, Rick tucked Harry into Carl's bed, kissing his brow and smiling as Harry sighed in contentment.
Sitting quietly in the dark of the living room, Rick contemplated his next move. The obvious first choice would be the sheriff's station. Not only would the station probably be filled with weapons that would be useful to keep them safe, but the city always kept a healthy supply of food, water and medicine in case of emergencies... which would prove useful for Rick and Harry. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad and the sheriff's station would be manned, filled with his co-workers trying their best to keep the populace safe from the veritable monsters roaming the streets... but he didn't have much hope. On the walk from the hospital it had been pretty clear that when the virus really hit the town it hit fast and hard.
With supplies taken care of the next thing would be to find Carl. Rick figured that Shane would want to get out of town and go to a more rural place, where people (and therefore those things) would be less likely to be around. They'd take the less populated routes, ignoring the congested freeways as much as possible. Rick figured they'd head east up into the high hills where it would be harder for those things to get. It was just guess work at this point, but Rick had been Shane's partner for ten years and he figured he knew that man about as good as anyone knew Shane in this world.
Rick heard the creak of floorboards long before Harry said a word, but when Harry stepped into the living room, a tense look on his face, Rick got up and pulled the boy into his arms. "What's wrong, Harry?"
"I don't like sleeping alone, will you lay down with me, daddy?" Harry sniffled slightly.
"Sure, baby, let's go to bed... we got big plans tomorrow."
Grabbing the rebar from it place on the table beside his chair, Rick walked down the hall and into Carl's room. Closing the door and locking it, Rick laid Harry in the bed and quickly took off his Python and gunbelt, putting both weapons within easy reach if something broke in.
"Are we gonna' find Carl tomorrow? I miss him." Harry whispered tiredly as he rubbed his eyes and snuggled into the bed.
"Me too, buddy. We may not find him tomorrow or the next day, but we're gonna start looking for him and we aren't gonna' stop until we do." Rick answered as he slipped under the covers next to Harry.
"'kay," Harry sighed and then cuddled up close to Rick, content with the world at least for now.
The next few days were spent gathering up supplies and finding a vehicle that would offer enough room for all their supplies, but would be easy on the limited supply of gas Rick could find. Once Rick, with Harry's helpful hands, had packed their supplies into the hatchback he'd found, they were off heading down the deserted backroads of King County.
They'd been driving for days, weaving in and out of the way of walkers and abandoned vehicles along the road. Occasionally, they had ran across a few other cars, all driving frantically in a search of loved ones and safety in this new deadly world.
It was early morning on the fourth day of their road trip when Rick pulled to a stop on the road a ways away from a truck with it's hood up that was swarming with walkers all around it. At first Rick thought that the people inside where goners, the walkers were so dense that he couldn't even see inside. However, then there was a gun shot, and another, then bodies began to fall around the truck... but there was still so many left.
"Is somebody in trouble?" Harry asked as he sat up and leaned on the dashboard looking out at the truck about 150 feet away.
"I think so," Rick gripped the steering wheel tightly.
He hated not doing anything to help, there were too few people left in this world that the thought of just standing by and doing nothing to keep the few left alive safe made him feel sick. But, at the same time, Harry only had Rick to protect him and what if something happened to Rick... what would happen to Harry? Rick felt like the world slowed down to a crawl as he weighed his options, but at the same time as more shots echoed through the morning dawn he felt like time was speeding up... taking the choice from him.
Finally he made his decision, quickly turning around to the bag of guns in the backseat he rifled through it, grabbing the AR-15 and loading it. "Harry, I want you to stay here and stay quiet. I'll be right back."
"Daddy, I can help... I can do that green light thingy again." Harry puffed up his chest and looked up at Rick with determination, wanting to help even though he was only six years old. "Let me help, daddy, please?"
Rick sighed and shook his head. "Harry, you can do a lot of great things and you're such a brave boy, but you're still too young... let me take care of you for a while okay? I just want you to be safe."
Running a hand quickly through Harry's tousled black hair to try and soothe the refusal that had made Harry chest deflate, he told the boy to stay inside the car once again and then jumped out.
Quickly making his way towards the truck and the walkers swarming it, he began to fire shots into the herd. Walkers began to fall one by one as Rick made quick and efficient headshots. After shooting at least 15, there was still at least 30 more walkers left, some of them making their stumbling way towards Rick. As the crack of a window breaking sounded, Rick had a feeling that he couldn't save the people inside... maybe not even himself if he didn't book it back to the car.
On the far side of the truck where the herd had thinned out a bit, the passenger door slammed open and two men came barreling out guns, knives and crossbow at the ready, firing shots into the herd as they made there way towards Rick's position in the middle of the road 15 feet away.
The three men steadily took shots into the herd as they made there way towards the car, the sound of Harry yelling caught Rick attention and as he turned he saw another herd of walkers emerging from the trees near the car, no doubt drawn by the noise of the gun shots.
"Sonovabitch!" Cursed Rick as he started running for the car, shooting walkers as they got too close to his vulnerable son.
"Daddy!" Harry yelled as the walkers reached the car and began pounding on the glass, trying to get inside and get to the meal that was just out of reach.
"I'm comin', baby!" Rick yelled as he shot more walkers until the AR-15 was empty. Swinging the AR-15 by the strap onto his back and pulling his Python from it's holster, Rick took more shots, this time joined by the two men beside him as they all ran to the car.
"Daddy, I can do the thing... please, let me do the thing!" Harry screamed as he crawled over the seats and into the drivers seat, fear lacing his words as he stared in horror at the monsters clambering to get him.
"Do it, baby!" Rick screamed as he holstered the Python and pulled out his knife, stabbing walkers left and right as the two herds converged and began to surround them.
From one moment to the next, a green light erupted from the car and every single walker around them dropped dead in an instant.
"What tha' fuck?" Cursed a gruff voice beside Rick and he turned around, looking at the two men fully for the first time.
The one who spoke was a tall, well built man with a scruffy goatee, weathered tank top and battered jeans. He held the crossbow propped on his shoulder as he looked around, a frown on his face. The man must have felt Rick's eyes on him because his looked up and for a moment a gorgeous set of blue eyes met his straight on before they looked away, the man biting his bottom lip nervously.
The other man spoke. "Well, idn't that handy."
He was the exact opposite of the first man, shorter, more meaty than muscled, with a bald head and a stubborn look in his eyes that made Rick a little uneasy.
"Daddy!" Harry cried and stumbled out of the driver's side door over to Rick.
Picking the boy up and holding him tight, Rick pressed kisses to his forehead as the boy cried.
"You did so good, baby. You saved us, all of us. It's okay." Rick murmured as he cradled Harry in his arms.
For a few minutes the only sound to be heard was Harry sniffles and Rick's murmured words of comfort. But as Harry began to calm down, he raised his head and looked around, then his eyes widened.
"Mr. Daryl?" He whispered, excitement in his voice as he leaned around Rick's shoulder to get a good look.
The first man, Daryl, turned at the sound of Harry's voice, having given them a little privacy, and his eyes widened when he saw Harry. "Harry?"
Giving an excited giggle, Harry motioned for Rick to set him down and then ran over to Daryl with a huge grin on his face, barreling into his legs and wrapping his arms around the man.
"I missed you! Where did you go? You said you would come back and then bad things started happening, and I met daddy, monsters started eating people and, and... I missed you!" Harry babbled as he looked up at him, grin still in place.
The man blushed, ignoring the pointed look from the other man, rubbing the back of his neck nervously before taking a knee in front of Harry.
Rick watched on in wonder and with a little suspicion as the man... as Daryl... spoke to Harry.
"Went back, but you wasn't there anymore," Daryl said gruffly. "The hotel said you and those good fer nuthin' people you was with checked out."
"Oh." Harry said softly. "Uncle Vernon didn't like what you said to him... he, he punished me and I had to go to the hospital."
The boy frowned and balled up his hands into fists, his voice wavering as he spoke.
"Ya alright now, right?" Daryl asked with a frown, running his hands over Harry's arms and legs to look for injuries. Then he looked up at Rick before turning back to Harry with a questioning gaze. "And, ya got yerself a daddy, huh?"
Harry grinned at Daryl's words, ran over to Rick and pulled him back to Daryl by the hand.
"Uh huh, daddy meet Daryl Dixon... Daryl, meet daddy." Harry giggled and rocked back on his heels as he looked from Rick to Daryl and back again.
"Uh, Rick's fine." Rick laughed and held his hand out to shake the other man's hand. "Rick Grimes."
Daryl gave Rick a long look for about 30 seconds, so long that Rick was worried that he'd offended him somehow, before finally he nodded his head and shook Rick's hand.
"How did you meet Harry?" Rick asked, very curious about how such a gruff and stoic man could seem to make friends with Harry.
"Aunt Petunia told me to leave her alone and go to the park down the street, so I was playing in the park for a while... but I saw a squirrel and wanted to play... so I kinda ran into the woods after it." Harry whispered, biting his lip as he spoke.
"Found the kid close to two days later after he'd spent the night twice in the woods, lost. Gave him some food, cleaned up a few cuts. Took us a day to get back to the town they was at, but I got him back to the hotel and those good fer nuthin' family a'his."
Rick stared at the man and the down at Harry, and then back up. "God, thank you... I can only imagine what might have happened to him if you hadn't found him."
"At least ya said thanks, that family a'his just tried to slam tha' door in ma' face... 'course, they wasn't any happier when I told 'um off for lettin' the boy wander off."
Rick opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted.
"That's swell, Darylina, but what I wanna' know is how tha' boy did what'ver he did?"
"Merle, ya' don't need ta' know-"
"Hell, I don't! Never seen nuthin' like tha' before!"
Rick stiffened and brought Harry in close to him. "Harry's got a special gift, there's noting wrong with it, saved your life didn't it? And, I won't having you say anything bad about it."
"Hell, I don't care 'bout that, just want ta' know how he fuckin' did it." Merle said with a scowl.
"I got's magic, Mr. Merle." Harry said quietly before Rick could respond.
It was quiet for a few second before Merle laughed, "Well, I'll be damned, Darylina... looks like you're sissy mother-henning ways actually proved useful. We got ourselves a wizard as a protector!"
Daryl rolled his eyes, catching Rick's eye for a moment... another blush... before turning his eyes away. "Knock it off, Merle, he's just a kid."
"Hey, I like kids!" Merle huffed and then frowned. "Well, na' I don't like kids... but this one ain't so bad."
"This dumbass is ma' brother Merle."
Just then a growl and moan could be heard from a little ways down the road. The four of them snapped around and watched as two walkers stumbled out of the forest.
"Your truck down for the count?" Rick asked quickly as he hustled Harry into the car.
"Yeah, engine's shot." Daryl groused as he looked back at his truck.
"Best get your gear and come with us then, the noise is liable to bring walkers from miles around."
Quickly, Daryl and Merle ran to the truck and started pulling their stuff from it. Once Rick had Harry in the car he shot the two walkers that were making their way towards him and another one that came next. A minute later all four were locked up tight in the car and on their way down the road.