Hi guys! So it's Sunday and that means time for the next chapter of Crossroads. Thanks again to everyone who is still reading, please follow, fav and review. I also have a question for all of you readers, I'm thinking about putting some of my own original work on Kindle Self Publishing, starting out free, of course, but maybe charging £1 or $1 depending on where your from. But I'm not sure, what do you think guys? Crossroads and my other crossover Hakken are good examples of my style, but the world of Crossroads is kind of similar to what I want to put on. Anyway I would be grateful for your thoughts, even if it's just to say stick to fanfiction! Cheers! D.S x
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or The Walking Dead. Any OC's are mine though.
Crossroads
Part Eight
"Jesus Christ," Dean followed up his initial yelp, eyes never leaving the kid, who looked for all the world as though he deserved to be there. "You a ninja or something" The kid raised his only remaining eyebrow.
"Ninja? Seriously?" Dean scoffed, descending the stairs while giving a discrete check around in case the kid had brought anyone with him. While he came closer he took a better look at his uninvited guest. He was older than Kid, more of a teenager than a boy, tall and lanky, Dean could tell that he hadn't had a lot to eat at some point in his life. A sheriffs hat rested on top of long dark hair which fell to his shoulders making him look like any normal teenage rebel, if it wasn't for the bandage on his right eye wrapping all the way around his head. He also had muscle, built around his legs and arms. As Dean came in front of the teen, he got the feeling that he shouldn't underestimate him.
"You shouldn't go round scaring the crap out of people like that," the teen shrugged which made Dean scowl in annoyance at the casual attitude. "You got a reason for being here?"
"They brought you in," the teen said it as a statement and Dean raised an eyebrow.
"You mean Aaron and Daryl?"
"Yeah, they brought you to join Alexandria," the teen said again and Dean had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.
"Not join, we're only staying for a bit," Dean clarified, but the teen didn't seem to care.
"Still means they brought you here. They haven't brought anyone new for a while, said it wasn't safe to bring in new people," the teen was giving him a searching look and Dean startled by how familiar the gesture was.
"And you wanted to know why they brought us in?" the teen shrugged again and Dean let out a sigh. "I don't know what to tell you kid. I didn't exactly plan to do this today."
"Dean?" the hunter turned to see Kid coming down the staircase. He looked like a wet rat, which his blonde hair for once not looking like a dirty mess, but plastered to his head as the boy let it drip dry.
"Kid, you should have at least dried you god damn hair," Dean grumbled, but the boy just ignored him. His eyes had already spotted the teen on the sofa. They widened for a second, a show of his surprise, before they narrowed in suspicion.
"Who are you?" he asked in open hostility. Dean was rather surprised when the teen ignored Kid's question, instead focusing his attention on Dean.
"Did you get asked the three questions?" Dean raised an eyebrow and frowned.
"Yeah, that leader of yours, Rick, he like to do that to everyone?"
"You want to join you have to answer the questions," the teen shot back, becoming defensive all of a sudden.
"He pointed a gun at Dean's head," Kid shot back, arms folding across his chest. "Jackass didn't have to do that just to ask some questions," the pout that followed the fierce look had Dean holding in a laugh, but it didn't stop the teen, who snickered.
"Dad likes to make sure people aren't telling him bullshit." Dean fought to keep the surprise off his face.
"Dad? That's guys your Dad?" Kid asked turning to Dean. "I thought he had a baby?" Dean grinned.
"That doesn't stop him from having another brat," the hunter said. "Though it is a little strange," He pointed looked at the teen. "She was burn before it after?"
"After," the teen muttered after a slight pause. Dean nodded, dropping the subject from the way the brat tensed up. Kid was frowning, coming closer to the teen, who was starting to shift a little uneasily under the scrutiny.
"What happened to your eye?" the question was actually quiet an innocent one, at least with Kid being an eight year old. But Dean saw the teen wince and shiver, glancing away to avoid eye contact. Dean couldn't help but be drawn to stare at the bandage himself. It covered his eye completely and the hunter didn't think what was left under there would be pretty.
"I ..." the teen tried to speak, but his nervous fidgeting clued Dean in to how uncomfortable he was. Taking pity on him, the hunter decided to change the subject.
"What's your name, kid?" the sudden change got him a grateful smile from the teen, but a withering look form Kid.
"Dean, I was talking."
"Like I care, Kid," Dean came up swiftly behind the boy and clipped him round the back of his wet head. "Your dripping shit all over the house."
"I didn't want a shower in the first place," Kid whined, the pout back in place.
"You were covered in crap," Dean argued, his own irritation raising. He kept quiet about Kid's shoulder and the carved anti possession mark, sure the shoulder had healed and the stitches were still in place, but Dean knew that it had to have been stiff. The hot water would have done it some good, as well as washed the probably scaring anti possession mark. A wheezing laugh brought the two out of their argument, turning the boy and hunter saw their guest laughing on the sofa. Once he realised he was being watched, he stopped, lowering his head a little so his hat covered his face.
"Sorry," he cleared his throat. "I'm Carl." Dean raised an eyebrow, but decided to let the teen off the hook. But that wouldn't stop the hunter from getting a little revenge for sneaking in and scaring the shit out of him.
"Well Carl, since you felt like breaking into our new place we're enlisting you." Carl frowned.
"Enlist?"
"What's enlist?" Kid immediately followed, which made both man and teen smirk.
"Enlist is when we make him do something he probably doesn't want to do," Dean explained, but that only made Kid tilt his head and furrow his brow.
"Isn't that a bit mean?"
"That's the point, Kid," Dean said, a hand coming up to pat the boy on the head. He looked back to Carl, who was watching them in fascination, Dean frowned a little at the close scrutiny, so quickly stepped away. "Show us round," Dean demanded, pouncing on the teen and pulling him to his feet. "Come on, hurry up, I want to see what this place has got going for it. There a bar?" Carl looked a little perplexed by the sudden change in situation, but allowed Dean to push him out of the door. Kid eagerly followed behind, his drying hair starting to curl as they stepped outside and into the heat of the day. With some encouragement from Dean and whining from Kid Carl showed them around Alexandria, unfortunately there was no bar, much to Dean's disappointment. Some people came up to them and introduced themselves, fawning a little over Kid, so the boy ended up with quiet a few pinched cheeks. Dean had to hide his laughter, all the while Kid's face darkened like an angry storm cloud. Carl seemed to get a kick out of it too, shouting over the most likely people that would coo over Kid like he was a baby. Others stayed back and watched with scowls on their faces. Carl expertly ignored them, showing Dean and Kid the pantry where there was quiet the collection of food stored on the shelves.
"Wow," Kid said, as he eyed all the stocked food hungrily, his eyes lighting up when he caught sight of something that all kids loved. "Is that chocolate?" Carl smirked and nodded. Kid gasped and looked up to Dean with a pleading expression, the hunter shook his head.
"Don't look at me," he said. "I don't run this joint."
"But you can ask for some, right?" Kid directed the last part at Carl, who shrugged.
"You can ask, but that doesn't mean you'll get it." Again pleading eyes turned to Dean, who huffed.
"I'm not giving you something that will have you bouncing off the walls."
"But Dean," the hunter ignored the whining, taking his own look around.
"This place only got food in?" he asked. When Carl had said pantry he had been expecting a room, not a building.
"We also put the guns here."
"Really?" Dean asked, hiding his curiosity. Carl nodded, pointing to a door with a padlock in place. Dean took note of it, he may have agreed to hand over his and Kid's guns and ammo, but that didn't mean he didn't want to know where they ended up. "They said we could check out stuff?"
"Only when going outside the walls, otherwise it's only personal stuff when in Alexandria. Though it used to be no weapons at one point."
"What changed?" Kid asked finally pulling away from staring longingly at the chocolate. Carl got a dark look on his face and he stared up a Dean with a knowing look.
"People came." Dean said nothing to that, Kid looked ready to question, but with a quick squeeze to the shoulder, the boy took the hint and stayed quiet. They moved on, walking back up the street and towards the gate where there were a few platforms up near the wall. "There's always someone on the gate, and we keep a watch on the wall."
"Ever had any trouble with it?" Dean nodded to the gate and walls, stepping closer to get a better look. They were well built, not just randomly stacked together, whoever had done it had known when they were doing.
"Not so far, only when something fell on it," Carl pointed off to where the remains of some kind of tower had fallen. Dean could see where the wall had been repaired, the work wasn't as clean or well put together as the rest.
"What happened?" Kid asked which earned him the answer that seemed to be the most common in this reality.
"People."
"You tend to get into a lot of trouble with people," Dean commented and Carl shrugged. Dean took a good look at the wall, "it's well made, who built it?"
"A guy who came here before everything went to shit. Him, his wife and a few others were behind it from the beginning," Carl explained.
"You're not from here originally?" Kid questioned and Carl shook his head.
"No, we're from up near Atlanta."
"We came from that way," Kid said which had Carl frowning.
"You're from Atlanta?"
"Not originally," Dean said. "Kid was on holiday in Chatahooche National Forest, with his parents. I'm a bit of a wanderer and ended up there when my car finally went down."
"You were in a forest?" Carl asked Kid who shrugged.
"Kid had some issues with his group, who'd set up a base there. Things went bad and we moved on. Went into Atlanta city ..."
"You went in the city?" Carl said, shock and revulsion lacing his tone. "Did you run into anyone there?" Dean narrowed his eyes at the too casual question.
"There was a group, set up in a hospital ..."
"Grady Memorial," Carl said and even Kid looked surprised at the sudden rage.
"Yeah," the boy muttered, shooting nervous looks at Dean. "They shot me, then tried to make us stay with them."
"Shit!" Carl cursed, then spun and started to march off.
"Hey, where are you going?" Dean asked, reaching out to grab Carl's wrist, jerking him to a stop.
"I have to tell my Dad."
"Why? How do you know those people?" Dean demanded to know.
"I need to see my Dad," Carl said through gritted teeth, but Dean refused to let go, even when the teen tried to pull away.
"Just hang on," Dean spoke calmly. "What do you know ...?"
"Carl, what's going on?" someone called, from above the three.
"Sasha," Carl breathed out, sounding relieved. Dean glanced up to see a black girl who was scaling down a ladder that led to one of the platforms. Dean checked her over as she landed on the ground, she had a shot gun, with an army like jacket that was too big for her wrapped around her shoulders. Her hair was pulled back so her hard expression hit Dean like a boulder as she stalked up to them. She took in the situation with a quick glance, eyes roving over Carl, then Kid, finally resting on Dean. She gave the hunter the once over, finding the demon killing knife easily, then transferring her gaze to where Dean was holding Carl.
"Everything alright?"
"Fine," Dean said, reluctantly letting go of the boy, who seemed unsure whether he wanted to rush off or try and explain things to Sasha. The young woman turned to Carl.
"Carl?"
"It's fine," the teen said and Dean was surprised that he didn't tell Sasha what had him so spooked. The black woman frowned, but didn't comment, instead looking back at Dean and Kid, who had come up next to the hunter, sticking close to his side.
"Who are they?"
"Dean and Kid," Carl explained.
"You're joining Alexandria?" Sasha asked, and Dean shook his head.
"Not permanently," Dean said, pulling out his most charming smile, one he used quiet regularly to pick up the hot chicks in bars after a hunt. "We just needed a place to rest up for a while. We've had some bad runs in out on the road."
"Yeah, we're guests," Kid piped up, fixing his own adorable smile on his face, that Dean knew was completely fake. Sasha looked sceptical, but it seemed at that moment that Carl was willing to help Dean and Kid out.
"Yeah, Daryl and Aaron offered them a permanent place, but they turned it down. Right Dean?" the hunter nodded his head, which Sasha after a moment did return.
"They seen Rick?" Sasha asked Carl.
"Yeah, he passed the questions, so they're fine to walk around. I'm just showing them the sights," Carl added at Sasha's raised eyebrow.
"He's been a good tour guide," Dean said with a grin. "Showed me the pantry and all the houses, you guys even have a church." That had tickled Dean when Carl had shown them. Of all things to survive the apocalypse, faith would have been the last Dean would have thought of.
"Glad you like it," Sasha commented.
"Better than what's out there," Kid said, surprising Dean with his sudden input. Sasha stared at the boy, who was too busy looking at the gates. The woman glanced at Dean and nodded at him, a bit of respect making it's way onto her face.
"Carl!"
"Dad," the four turned to see Rick walking towards them, face twisted into worry then relief as eyes landed on Carl. "What the hell do you think you doing, you're supposed to be resting." He laid a hand on the teens shoulder when he was close enough, Carl sighed in annoyance.
"I'm ok Dad."
"You forget what happened?" Rick looked pointedly at Carl's eye, who looked away with a bit of shame. Dean stepped close and waved a hand in apology.
"My fault, I got him to show us round," he gestured at himself and Kid, who nodded in agreement. "Collared him as he was passing our new digs, didn't really give him a chance to say no." Dean accepted Rick's irritated expression as his words had earned him a thankful look from the teen. "But I think he's got something he wants to tell you about," Carl looked surprised at the hunters reminder of his want to rush off to his Dad. Rick frowned but Dean just waved a hand, before clamping it back on Kid's shoulder. "Think we'll just head back to our place, get a bit of sleep you know." Rick watched him for a moment then slowly nodded.
"You can get your rations later, just go to the pantry."
"Will do," Dean walked off, practically dragging Kid along with him. The boy turned and offered a wave to Carl, who hesitantly returned it. Once out of sight Dean let go of Kid, veering off from the road back to his and Kid's new place.
"Dean?" Kid asked, stepping to follow, but the hunter turned and shook his head.
"You head back. There's something I want to check out."
"But, I want to come with you?" Kid protested but Dean was unmoved.
"I told them we were heading back. What if someone comes to check and no ones there?" Kid furrowed his brow in thought, then pouted as he came to the conclusion Dean was prodding him in.
"I'll go cover," he said, though he didn't look happy about it.
"Good boy," Dean praised, turning away too swiftly to see the small smile that played across Kid's mouth. Dean stalked off, leaving Kid to follow his order. Once he was a little further away he dipped between the houses to take a closer look at the wall. It was well made, with struts and supports to keep the thing up even when faced with force from the other side. Dean went closer, leaning his head close to the metal, he could vaguely hear the sound of moans and groans from the other side. He hardly reacted, so used to them by now that they were almost like background noise, so the hunter was rather surprised when a sharp scraping filled the air. Dean didn't hesitate, reacting with years of long practise. With ease he started to climb up, using the gaps as hand and footholds until he was at the top of the wall and could see beyond. There were a few Walkers wandering close to the wall, but from what Dean had seen so far they wouldn't be able to make that kind of noise. He watched as one hit the side of the metal, it grunted before continuing on its way, snarling at another which crossed its path. A crack of a branch breaking snapped Dean's gaze up to the trees that marked the way into the woods that seemed to surround Alexandria. The hunter couldn't see anything but he couldn't get rid of the feeling that something was watching him. Another snap came, Dean tried to track it but only caught a shadow moving across the top of the trees. "Now, that's interesting."
"Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Dean looked down to see a guy glaring at him from where the houses parted going into the street. "Get down from there." Dean sighed and jumped down from his perch so the guy could stalk up to him, the hunter frowned as he had to stare up at the guy. "Who the fuck are you?"
"Dean, I'm new." The guy looked him up and down, a sneer forming on his face.
"They brought you in," he said, the angry scowl getting deeper.
"Yeah, Aaron and Daryl," the lips turned up even more. "You got a problem with them ...?" Dean trailed off and stared at the guy expectantly.
"Spencer, Spencer Monroe," he said. "And yeah, I got a problem with that group."
"Group, aren't you all part of the same community?" Spencer snorted.
"They're not a part of us. Aaron, that bastard brought them in and because of that my family died." Dean could hear the rage, but kept his face calm.
"What, they kill 'em?"
"Might as well have," Spencer spat. "Coming in here, telling us we're weak, that we'd all be dead. They started this, if they hadn't have come here, people would still be alive." Dean allowed Spencer to rant, who was she to stop the guy when he was giving up information.
"You don't like 'em then?" Spencer snorted.
"It that obvious?" he sighed, brushing a hand through his hair in agitation. "It's just ... they don't belong here," he gave Dean a pointed look. "Neither do you." Dean scowled.
"You don't get to make that choice," he snapped, Spencer growled and looked as though he would push it further.
"Hey! There a problem?" the rough tone of Daryl interrupted the two, crossbow slung across his back as he stared the two down.
"No, no problem," Spencer said, backing away with a dark look at Dean. He passed by Daryl making sure to push his shoulder as he went by. Dean followed a bit behind, stopping so he and Daryl could watch the young man disappear up the street.
"Bitch," Dean muttered.
"Yeah," Daryl agreed. Dean glanced at the man, seeing the narrowed eyes as he watched where Spencer had disappeared up the street. "He a problem?"
"Nah," Daryl mumbled, fixing his attention on Dean. "What were you doing that pissed him off?"
"Nothing, just taking a look," Dean waved at the wall and grinned. "Pretty good thing, having that up in place."
"Yeah."
"You don't say much do you?" Dean said which earned him a scowl from Daryl.
"Not got much to say," he muttered before turning on his heel and walking away. Not willing to let things lye Dean followed.
"Why not? You brought me here, thought you would have plenty you'd want to say to me."
"Ya' not my problem no more."
"Now that hurts," Dean teased, plastering a shit eating grin on his face as Daryl muttered curses under his breath as Dean dogged him. "After you followed Kid and I all that way after we turned you down. I thought we had a connection."
"Piss off," Daryl growled, which just made Dean grin all the more.
"No way." The two made quiet a sight as Dean followed Daryl, some of the folk stared at the two in confusion, while others laughed at Dean's antics. Finally Daryl escaped into Rick's house, where Dean would not follow, though the hunter swore he saw the crossbowman smirk at him before he shut the door. "Damn guy," Dean growled. Then turned on his heel and walked back to his own house.
Once inside Dean immediately noted how quiet it was, panicking Dean called. "Kid!" when he got no response the hunter reacted, pulling out the demon killing knife and rushing into the main room. "Kid! Kid are you ...?" the rest of Dean's shouts were silenced as he clammed up. The knife that had been clutched in his hand nearly slipped to fall to the floor. Dean gaped at the sight of Kid, curled up fast asleep on the sofa, without a care in the world. "Damn brat," Dean muttered as he stashed his knife away. "So much for being the cover," even though he grumbled a smile had creeped it's way onto the hunter's face. Without really thinking about it Dean went upstairs, snagging one of the blankets from the bed. Once back before Kid he gently tucked it around the boy. The child stirred a little, but with a few soft strokes to his hair, he quieted and Dean retreated to the kitchen.
Sighing Dean vaulted himself up onto the island counter, crossing his legs, resting his elbows on his thighs and his chin on his laced fingers. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?" Dean muttered to himself. Sure he and Kid had a roof over their heads, a place to sleep and what not, but was it all a hindrance to his mission? The Gatekeeper wanted him to save this world, or reality was going bye, bye. He didn't know where his search would take him, so really, it would be best to use this small time to rest up and get a lay of the land. But a part of him, one that had insisted he take Kid with him, didn't want to leave and was presenting it's own very interesting arguments. Alexandria could become a base, it would save him time and supplies if he had somewhere to come back to. Plus Kid would be safe and for some reason that truly mattered to Dean. In addition the demons words from Bobby's place troubled him. Something was gathering demons and hunters, for what purpose Dean wasn't sure he wanted to know. But being alone, him and Kid would be easier targets, Alexandria offered a good hiding place. "I need more information," he said, the only thing that both sides of himself seemed to agree on. Only where was he going to find that? The people in Alexandria wouldn't be able to tell him anything, they probably didn't even know how it all got started. He needed to find a way to get accurate information, from a source that wouldn't lie to him. Demons were out, even under the torture Dean could inflict on them, they would most likely lie, or bend the truth in such a way that Dean wouldn't know how to take the information they gave him. Summoning was also out from what he had seen at Bobby's. High level demons would most likely have the information Dean wanted and if it was true and they weren't answering summons, Dean didn't fancy wasting time gathering the materials to give it a try. Or sacrifice a person as an unwilling host. That only left creatures and monsters, beings that would more than likely want to just kill Dean and eat him than speak, plus there was no guarantee that they would be intelligent. But what choice did he have? His thoughts drifted back to the shadow in the trees, it was most probably a creature of some sort, with Alexandria being in the area it had probably been drawn in with the prospect of fresh meat. The Walkers were rotting and even though easy to kill, probably weren't as satisfying. Perhaps it would know something, Dean thought to himself, depending on what it is it could know something. Dean sighed, leaning back so that he could crack the stiffness out of his back. Guess he had no choice, it was clutching at straws, but if it lead to something, anything, Dean would take a chance. A new hunt was on.
Going out to do a spot of hunting though, was harder than Dean had first thought. For one he wasn't allowed to leave Alexandria, he hadn't gained enough trust with Rick to grant him that privilege yet. So forced to remain inside Dean had tried to come up with a plan on how to sort out the whole end of the world mess. But again that proved difficult, Kid was going stir crazy, cooped up in one place. Dean didn't know if it was because the confinement reminded him of Darla and Finn, but the boy had become moody and a little withdrawn. They'd been snapping at each other a lot more, which hurt Dean in a way he forced himself to ignore. Dean had taken to storming out of the house when things looked to be heading in that direction, a plan that was proving difficult to keep up with the number of visitors they were receiving.
Kid and himself seemed to have become the new local gossip and so naturally people just had to come round for a gawp at them. From Sasha to Aaron and his boyfriend Eric, even Carol came by a few times along with a nice couple called Maggie and Glen. That had been an awkward meeting. Dean had finally discovered what had spooked Carl so much when he had mentioned Atlanta, apparently Rick and his group were the ones that had a bad run in with Grady Memorial hospital, when they kidnapped one of their group. Maggie's sister, Beth. It had taken some fast talking from Dean to cover up the startled reaction from Kid, which had caused Maggie and Glen to stare at the two like they were crazy. The couple had asked a few question about their experience with the group, Kid and Dean had once again had to lie through their teeth. Leaving out all of the spirit business and just stuck to the facts. Though Dean had told them that the building had been destroyed, Maggie's feral smile had been enough to send Kid to the kitchen out of fear and Dean rushed through the rest of the visit just to get away from her. So with the house tending to be always full Dean had found himself living in a state of constant annoyance, with always having to rip down all his notes from the wall whenever people came by. Also he was pretty sure Daryl was spying on him.
The guy just seemed to follow him everywhere, turning up whenever Dean least expected it, sometimes even sitting on Aaron and Eric's porch and staring blatantly across the street. Kid had found the whole thing hilarious when Dean had started ranting about it, poking fun whenever he could just to piss Dean off. But that hadn't stopped him from leaving signs up in their windows, blocking the view inside with lovely messages for Daryl to read. Dean didn't want to know where Kid had learnt half the language he scrawled on them, luckily they were never spelt correctly, but most of the people in Alexandria found the little battle funny, so Dean left it. Unfortunately the fight between Kid and Daryl really cut into Dean's scouting duty. He'd wanted to walk the wall at night to look for the shadow again, but with Daryl's stalking it was proving difficult. The man did not seem to sleep. Dean had a feeling he had brought this on himself, what with refusing to come to Alexandria at first, then everything that went down at Bobby's house. If the roles were reversed he would be doing exactly the same thing, the thought did nothing to soothe the hunter though. It was as Dean and Kid were sat on their sofa, for once not arguing and actually rather enjoying a game of cards. Kid had asked Dean to teach him poker, which the hunter was regretting as the little brat was picking it up quick, the front door opened for the first time that day to admit Carl and Rick. "Oh, to what do we owe a visit from the fearless leader?" Dean smirked and Rick rolled his eyes as Carl smiled.
"You're an asshole."
"I know," Dean smirked.
"Got a surprise for you," Rick said, putting a hand in his pocket and pulling out a small box. He tossed it at Dean who caught it.
"What?" Dean started to ask, but when he pulled open the box he saw the gun and a full clip. "Your giving me this back?"
"Thought I'd let you have it," Rick said. "For when you go out beyond the wall." Dean stared at the man, surprised.
"I'm off lock down?"
"For now," Rick said. "You'll get your gun and ammo for when you leave the community, but you'll hand it back at the gate when you return." Dean nodded, willing to take the restrictions if it meant going out beyond the wall.
"Awesome," Dean said, this was what he had been waiting for, finally he could go and look for the shadow, that he was sure was a creature. He'd seen it quiet a few times when he'd been able to check out around the walls. Sharing a smile with Kid, the boy grinned and they high fived. Kid turned expectant eyes on Rick.
"Where's mine?" he asked and Dean was glad that he was not the one to answer that question.
"You're not getting a gun," Rick grumbled, and the happy expression vanished from Kid's face.
"But Dean's got one."
"Dean's an adult." Kid snorted at that.
"Really?"
"Hey," Dean nudged the boy in annoyance, but he could already see the pout forming.
"It's not fair that Dean gets his gun back and I don't. What if I want to go out beyond the wall."
"That's not happening," Rick said.
"You can't stop me," Kid glared right back. "You took all my stuff when we got here and I've been just as good as Dean."
"What about you're signs?" Carl asked, a teasing glint in his eye.
"That bastard should learn not to look in our house," Kid mumbled and Dean couldn't stop his smile. "Dean let me have a gun and knife when we were on the road."
"That was then, this is now," Rick said. "You're in Alexandria now and as long as you're staying here, you follow my rules." Kid pouted, pleading eyes resting on Dean who shrugged.
"Not my decision Kid. You're gonna have to work on him." Kid scowled, but turned a calculated look to Rick and Dean thought he might have just unleashed a monster on the former sheriff.
"Why hand me this now?" Dean asked, lifting the gun out of the box and sliding the clip back in place. The weight felt good in his hand, he hadn't realised how much he had missed having a gun.
"Figured you would want to get out of town for a while," Rick said with a smirk.
"Yeah, think you've been getting a little cabin fever from what some folks are saying," Carl added.
"If they would just piss off for a while," Dean muttered, Kid nodding along with him in agreement.
"Hey, it's your own fault for being so mysterious," Carl teased which got him twin glares from the two.
"If you're going out today make sure to be back before it gets dark. We don't like opening the gate then," Rick said.
"Fine," Dean stood up. "Come on Kid, you can come and wave me off."
"I should be going with you," Kid moaned as they walked passed the two Grimes's and out into the streets of Alexandria. They headed to the pantry first, Kid grabbing a bag and stashing a few provisions in it for Dean to take with him.
"Make sure to get some matches, salt and gas," Dean said. Kid sent him a smug grin, swiping something from one of the shelves and flashing it at Dean. A lighter. Nodding Dean left Kid to his provision gathering. His eyes found the door that hid the weapons from view. Maybe he should ask to take more than just one gun and the demon killing knife?
"Going out?" a voice called and Dean turned to see a large woman with glasses looking at him.
"Ah, yeah," Dean said, as the woman turned from him to Kid, who had not seemed to notice her entrance. Her glasses flashed and she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Hey, watch how much you're putting in there," she snapped. Kid stopped and gave the woman a scowl.
"Dean needs provisions," Kid said.
"Does he now?" the woman said, eyeing the sweets that were still in Kid's hand. Seeming to notice what she was looking at Kid quickly stuffed his hand into the rucksack, dumping his 'provisions' in it. Dean shook his head, hoping that Kid had at least put something in that wasn't sweets in.
"You'll want more than just provisions, I guess" she sighed and moved over to the other door Dean had been eyeing. She fished some keys out of her pocket, opening the door. "What do you want?" she called out as she stepped inside.
"Can't I just pick it out myself?"
"No way," the woman snapped, turning so that her big frame filled the doorway, stopping anyone from slipping by. "I let you in and you mess up my system."
"System?" Kid asked and the woman huffed.
"Do you know how long it takes to keep a record of everything that is taken, used and brought into this place?" she groaned. "People are supposed to write down what they take and how much. Does anyone do that? No, of course they don't. Just leave it to Olivier, she'll do it seen as she's got nothing else to do."
"I'll make sure to check what he's put in there before we go," Dean spoke quickly, over riding the woman, Olivier.
"Good," Olivier nodded, satisfied. "Now what do you want?"
"There a make shift bludgeon in there?" there was some shuffling and Dean was happy when Olivier came out holding his bodged together weapon. He smiled at the sight of it, quickly snatching it from her hand. "Thanks."
"Where the hell did you get that thing anyway?"
"I made it."
"Made it?" she repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"
"I needed to catch something," Dean said with a smirk at Kid, who stuck out his tongue at the hunter. Olivier watched them like a hawk for the rest of the time they were there. Making sure they filled out exactly what they had taken from the pantry. Mostly sweets, as Dean's provisions, thanks to Kid, the bludgeon and Dean asked for Kid's silver knife, which had the boy even more irritated.
"I might need it," Dean explained to the put out boy as they headed for the front gate, having finally escaped from the clutches of Olivier.
"But I thought it was my knife?"
"It is," Dean assured him. "But they won't let you carry it around. You're a child."
"I'm eight."
"As I said, a child," Kid growled and huffed, turning his head away. Dean sighed, stopping just as the gate was coming into view. He bent down, grabbing the boy by his shoulders, turning him so that they were facing one another. "Kid. Look at me, Kid," the boy did, though reluctantly. "I know you can handle a knife, hell you can handle a gun. But these guys run this place, we have to play by their rules. I don't like it as much as you do, but that's the way things are right now."
"But, on the road ..."
"Was on the road," Dean said. "Here things are different, for me to. You think I like handing over my gun?" Kid shook his head and Dean squeezed his shoulders. "Things will get better, we'll be out of here before long."
"We're still moving on?" Kid asked and Dean paused before answering him. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do yet. Staying and leaving both had pros and cons, he hadn't decided if the pros out weighted the cons yet.
"We'll see," Dean mumbled, standing back up and with a clap on Kid's shoulder started to walk towards the gate. One of the Alexandria's nodded at him, as they approached, opening the gate for him to pass through. Dean stopped, turning to Kid to give him a harsh glare.
"Be good," the hunter said and Kid smirked.
"Will do," the boy sang at him, lifting a hand to wave to Dean as the hunter crossed the boundary. Dean watched as the gate was moved back into place along with the screen, blocking Kid from view and leaving Dean out in the wilderness. Dean didn't think he would feel any different when he was outside the walls. But the open space, with no where and everywhere to go in front of him, it felt good.
Dean didn't stay on the road that led to Alexandria for long, instead veering off to head into the woods. Hopefully he would find something that led to the creature he thought was in there. Keeping an ear out for Walkers Dean moved on, the trees giving him some cover from the hot sun above. It wasn't long before he found the first sign. He fingered the claw marks on the tree, blood on the bark as though something had been dragged across it. Dean didn't dwell on it long, quickly moving on, finding more marks higher in the trees as he passed by. Finally Dean found what he had been looking for, a body. He assumed it wasn't an Alexandrian, no one had mentioned anyone going missing, so Dean had to believe that this was a passing traveller, or maybe even from another group that had been coming through. It was half mauled, not reanimated like most of the other dead walking around, with the head having been bit clean off. Dean hunkered down beside the body, checking it over with assessing eyes. It would look like any grizzly bear attack, that is if Dean didn't know what to look for.
"Shit," Dean spat, pulling his rucksack round so he could delve inside. He soon found what he was looking for, a small can of gas and the lighter. "Damn wendigo." Dean muttered, stashing the two items in a pocket. He'd dealt with a wendigo in the past, a pain in the ass case if there ever was one. It had freaked him out when he had first read up on the grizzly subject. A wendigo was once a man, a hunter or traveller, whose group or people were lost or starving. In order to survive the man would eat it's own group or people. Over time they turned into a wendigo, a being faster and stronger than a man. Dean curse, the thing was probably having the time of it's life with all the fresh corpses around. Dean started walking, searching deeper into the woods for a cave or any small dark space, the thing was more than likely hiding during the day. The hunter was grateful that Kid couldn't come with him. Wendigo's were difficult to tackle and, not matter how well intentioned, Kid would just be in the way. A few walkers stumbled across his path and Dean dealt with them swiftly, using the demon killing knife in favour of the gun. He didn't know how far he went from Alexandria, but the sun moved over the sky and soon the day was coming towards its end. As Dean cleared some trees, the sound of a large growl filled the air. The hunter stilled, crouching low as he creeped closer, only to stop again as voice came to his ear.
"What the hell was that?" someone asked.
"I don't know."
"Think it was a geeck?"
"What part of I don't know did you not understand?" Dean edged closer until he could see a small group. They looked like bickers, with the leather jackets and jeans, standing out like sore thumbs in the woods, though Dean was surprised by the amount of weapons the group had. Something shifted in the trees around the group, Dean tried to track it but wendigo's were too fast to catch with the human eye.
"We should head back to the Sanctuary," a younger man said, nervousness clear even as he clutched a gun. Dean frowned, he'd heard that before, Sanctuary. The guys in Louisa had mentioned it was part of their group, what was their name again? Dean stared at the bikers, sinking further down out of sight.
"Oh no, no, no, no, no," another strutted through the assembled mass, face hard with a small scruff of beard. "Negan wants us to check out this community he's heard about. It's round here somewhere," the guy glanced around and Dean ducked further into the trees. The hunter frowned, who was Negan? Was it Alexandria they were looking for? How could they know about it?
"Help, please! Somebody help me!" a voice suddenly called. The group jumped, spinning in circles, guns up as they tried to track where the sound was coming from. Dean bit back a curse and glanced up above. He needed to get rid of this group before the wendigo got bored of taunting them.
"Ok, who the fuck is that?"
"Should we go look?"
"Yeah," two branched off, Dean was unsure of what to do. Should he go after them, try to stop them. If he was right and these men were part of the same group, that jumped him and Kid, should he even bother? The decision was taken out of his hands when screams filled the air. Dean cursed, he couldn't let these guys get eaten by a wendigo, he wouldn't be a hunter if he did. Pulling out his gun he dashed forward, weapon raised and pointed at the group.
"Everyone piss off out of here now!" Dean called. The group swivelled, still startled from the screams.
"Who the fuck are you?"
"Someone who'll kick your ass if you don't move it on out of here," Dean said lowly.
"You the one who was making them weird noises?" scruff man said, Dean assumed he was the leader of the little group. "You take out our guys too?"
"Look, we don't have time for this," Dean tried to say but with the guns pointing in his direction it didn't look like his words were having much of an effect. "Just listen ..." a growl cut off the rest of Dean's words, the group flinched some turning in circles to find out what the hell was going on. Scruff advanced on Dean, gun right at his forehead as he snarled.
"What the fuck are you doing?!"
"You need to run, now!"
"Tell me what ...!" scruffs words were cut off when a pale, thin, long wendigo landed behind him. Skeletal hands wrapping around his throat, twisting the neck before hauling it's prey as back up into the trees with a giant jump.
"What was that?"
"It took Thomas."
"Did it kill him?"
"It snapped his neck! What do you think?!" Dean shot his gun into the air and the group startled like deer.
"Get out of here!" Dean yelled and the group didn't hesitate, scattering into the woods as fast as they could. "Come on you son of a bitch!" Dean yelled into the tree tops. "Come on!" The leaves rustled, Dean thought he heard a branch snap, he only had time to shoot his gun off as the wendigo came down on him. Rolling to the side Dean avoided the nails and teeth. The wendigo was quick to follow, Dean ditched the gun to reclaim the gas can and lighter, igniting the spray easily and aiming it at the creature. The wendigo screamed as flames licked its skin, catching a light with ease. Dean watched it for a moment, allowing the flames to weaken the wendigo, the he kicked the thing to the ground. As it rolled in the dirt, Dean took off his jacket, using it to put out the flames. It was difficult to bat at the fire as the creature withered, but Dean managed to get most of it under control. The wendigo was still burning in places, the pale skin red, raw and bleeding. Dean tossed the jacket away, the thing pretty much destroyed from the fire. As he was distracted the wendigo tried to crawl away. "Oh no," Dean said, placing a foot on top of the wendigo, stopping it's escape and peering down into the once humans morphed face. "I need to talk to you."
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