Hi guys! FINALLY! I've been trying to get this chapter on all day but my doc manager was just not co-operating. Has anyone else been having issues? You do not know how relieved I felt when finally it uploaded. Anyway enough of the mini rant. Welcome to chapter ten. Again thanks to everyone who is reading, following, faving and reviewing (you know I love to hear from you, please ask any question or throw out some ideas you might have. I've got the broad strokes of this story planned but there's always room for more!) I appreciate them all and it keeps me updating. Cheers! D.S x
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or The Walking Dean. Any OC's are mine though.
Crossroads
Part Ten
Dean slept fitfully that night, his mind to focused on his next plan of attack, working on ways to find and capture a Walker, hopefully without killing it. It also didn't help that Kid was visited by night terrors. The boy had be doing better since they came to Alexandria, Dean had hoped that he'd been getting passed it. But he didn't begrudge getting up, moving into the boy's room and shushing him back to sleep. Nor did he care that once calm the boy refused to let go of him, so Dean was forced to carry the child to his own bed, where he finally went to sleep. It was the sound of raised voices that woke Dean, the cries pulled on his instincts and it took little time for Dean to shake the sleep from his mind, jump up from the bed and dash to the window. "What the ...?" Dean muttered as he watched Glenn, Daryl and a few others heading into Rick's house.
"Dean?" Kid's muffled voice asked. Dean spun, having slept in his clothes the hunter merely grabbed a jacket and the demon knife before running out of the door. "Dean!"
"Stay here!" he called back to Kid as he bounded down the stairs, running out of his front door. He didn't know if Kid had followed his demand, nor did he care, instead he rushed to Rick's house luckily arriving just as Aaron and Eric did. "What's going on?" Dean asked and Aaron shared a worried look with his boyfriend.
"That guy Rick and Daryl brought back, he escaped last night."
"What? How?" Dean asked, a feeling of mild panic welling up in him.
"It's alright, he's still here," Aaron tried to reassure, though it didn't really have that effect on the already wound up hunter. "He came to Rick's, I don't know what happened, but apparently he wants to talk." Dean raised a sceptical eyebrow, Eric sharing the expression.
"You believe him?" the ginger asked of his boyfriend who shrugged.
"Rick called a meeting."
"So Rick believes him, that must mean something," Eric said, though his eyes settled on something over Dean's shoulder. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"Dean woke me up," Kid said as he came up next to Dean, who scowled.
"Thought I told you to stay," Dean growled.
"We're in Alexandria," Kid said with a shrug, not looking at the hunter, whose green eyes were blazing. Dean would have to have another talk with Kid about following orders it seemed.
"It'll be fine Dean," Eric said, clapping the hunter on the shoulder and hustling Kid towards him. "Daryl and the rest are in there, this guy won't stand a chance if he tries something."
"You think he will?" Dean said, surprised as the four of them started to walk into the house. Eric shrugged.
"People have done stranger things." As the four moved into the living room they were greeted A gathering. Very few of the Alexandrian's had turned out, only Aaron and Eric really, though all of Rick's key members were there, like Daryl, Michonne and a black guy called Morgan. Dean had a lot of respect for the guy, his skill with his wooden staff was pretty impressive, for a none hunter. The attention of the group was taken up by a scruffy looking man in a trench coat. His hair was long, as well as his beard, along with a tall and lanky body, Dean assessed that this was a guy who either didn't eat a lot, or just couldn't. At their entrance a few people had turned to them, though they were quickly dismissed in favour of staring at the intruder. Dean found Daryl's eyes, who nodded at him, before sweeping to Kid, who was too busy staring at the new guy to notice.
"Aaron," Rick's rumble cut through the moment, stepping into view to nod to the recruiter. The leader of Alexandria drifted his stern gaze over Eric, then Dean and Kid. Dean wondered for a moment if Rick was going to send the pair away, strictly speaking they were not a part of Alexandria, at least not a permanent part. But Rick just inclined his head and turned to the stranger. "We're here, what do you want to say?"
"Perhaps introductions would be best first. I know your Rick, and that's Daryl," the guy nodded to Rick, then switched gazes to Daryl who stiffened, his crossbow twitching in his hand. "I don't know the rest of you by name, hopefully that will change. I'm Jesus." Dean could not stop the snort from coming up his throat.
"Jesus? You can' be serious?"
"Well that's what people call me," the now named Jesus said with a shrug. "It's the hair and beard." Dean took in the guy again, and couldn't help a smirk form twitching his lips.
"Guess that makes sense."
"What do you want ... Jesus?" Rick asked the hesitation on his name only making Jesus smile.
"I'm a scouter."
"You from a group?" Daryl asked and Jesus shook his head.
"A community, actually. Though I got to say you have a sweet set up here." That got people tensing up. Michonne gripped her sword tighter, Daryl's crossbow came up, even Rick pulled his gun and levelled it on Jesus who didn't even flinch. Dean's hands moved on their own, one to the demon killing knife and the other to grip Kid's shoulder, pulling the boy closer to him.
"Community?" Rick asked.
"Hey, calm down, we're no threat to you," Jesus slowly raised his hands, in the universal sign of surrender.
"How do I know that?"
"Because people aren't storming in here all guns blazing to take you on," Jesus said, which did nothing to calm Rick.
"How long have you known about us?" he asked.
"Since you brought me here," Jesus said. "Look, just calm down and let me explain." Rick stood there a moment, gun so still that Dean was sure that he would shoot Jesus. Then suddenly he pulled back, dropping the gun, though he didn't holster it. Jesus smiled, his hands coming down and he took on a more relaxed pose. "Thank you."
"Just tell us what we want to know."
"I told you, I'm scouter, for another community, like this one, though we deal more with life stock."
"You have life stock?" Maggie asked, Glenn had an arm secured around her waist, and he was glaring at Jesus with clear distrust.
"Yeah, we raise crops to," Jesus grinned at Maggie, who did not return it. "My job is to scout for other communities."
"Why?" Rick asked.
"Because the world is over run with flesh eating creatures?" Jesus shrugged. "Look, the world is changing, it has changed and we need to start working together if we want to survive it." Dean couldn't help but agree with that little speech. Having come from a reality where this hadn't happened and only being in this one a month, he knew that this world was very different than the one that used to be there. The hunter doubted that it would ever be the same, even if the Walkers were gone, the experience had changed the survivors in ways that even they probably hadn't noticed. Humanity wouldn't be the same.
"Say we believe that this ... community is real," Rick said. "What do you want with us?"
"I seek out new communities to open up trade. I didn't see any crops or animals when I had the chance to look around," that got him a glare from Rick, who was not impressed with the guy's escape. "You must scavenge a lot."
"We get by."
"But you'd be better off if you could maybe trade with someone," Jesus said. "Someone who can grow the crops and raise the life stock you need to survive. It would be less risk than sending your people out every day for scraps."
"You're a trade negotiator," Aaron said in realisation. Jesus nodded.
"I find communities and help set up trade. We can only survive if we all work together."
"That only works if the community you're talking about is real," Rick said, the disbelief clear on his face.
"It's very real."
"And I'm to take just your word for it?" Rick raised an eyebrow.
"If my words not good enough, how about I show you then?" Jesus instantly challenged the man and Dean didn't know if that was a smart move or not.
"Ya'd tell us where ya' group is?" Daryl asked, shock colouring his tone.
"If it will get you to believe me, yes," Jesus's face was set and Dean didn't have to read him too much to know that he was telling the truth, or at least what he believe to be the truth. There was silence a moment, the gathering not sure what to think of Jesus and his words. Rick eyed the man, his own face unreadable, then finally he slowly nodded.
"Fine, you take some of us up to where this place is. If you're telling the truth, we'll talk. If not ..." Rick left the rest of the threat trailing, but Dean was sure that Jesus got the message from the way he paled a little.
"Fine." Rick nodded, then moved out of the room and into the kitchen. The rest of the assembled group took that as their queue. Daryl, Maggie, Glenn and most of Rick's core group followed the man. Morgan took hold of Jesus, following the others into the kitchen as the others filed out.
"Well, that was interesting," Eric said.
"Yeah," Dean muttered, he pushed Kid ahead of him as they moved out of Rick's house and into the streets of Alexandria.
"Was he telling the truth?" Kid asked and Dean shrugged.
"Think so, at least he thinks he's telling the truth."
"That doesn't make sense. If he's lying, he's lying," the boy said with a frown. Dean sighed.
"Look, sometimes people believe bullshit even when it's not real. Jesus might believe that he's from a community, but that might not mean that is what it is in reality." Kid's face just became all the more confused and Dean shook his head. "Forget it Kid."
"Rick will find out what's what," Aaron said as he and Eric came up to the two. "He won't trust this guy until he's seen that community with his own two eyes."
"So you think he'll go then?" Dean asked.
"Probably, it's not just about whether this community is real."
"Yeah, it's the people," Dean said and Aaron nodded.
"We need to know who they are, what they want. Alexandria can't afford anymore issues," Eric gripped his boyfriend's hand tightly, and Aaron seemed to gather himself together, enough to reach out and ruffle Kid's hair. "So don't worry about it, ok?"
"Fine, but does that mean I won't be able to do outside?" Dean stilled, he forgot about what he promised Kid, that he would talk to Rick about taking Kid out beyond the wall. He glanced at the down crested look and he cursed internally.
"You wanted to take him out?" Eric asked and Dean sighed.
"He's going nuts stuck in Alexandria," Dean said.
"The pranking?" Eric said and Dean nodded.
"I promised him I'd talk to Rick, but with all this ..."
"You should go," Aaron declared.
"What?" Dean asked and Aaron smiled.
"You should go, Rick will be dealing with this for a while, that's no reason for the rest of us to be on house arrest."
"But ..."
"We can go out? Can we Dean, really?" Kid's excited voice cut right at the hunter. He gritted his teeth, even as Aaron let a hand fall on his shoulder.
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Aaron muttered. "Besides, I guess you want to keep scouting, if you're going to be moving on."
"That is, if you still are," Eric added which only put more pressure on Dean. Two weeks and he still hadn't said one or the other. Things just kept piling on top of one another, snowballing until Dean wasn't sure he would be able to keep up.
"We're still thinking about it," Kid quickly jumped in for the save. "My shoulders still not right and Dean wants to be sure that I can keep up if we do move on." Eric smiled.
"Its good to take your time. You know you're welcome to stay as long as you need, we won't kick you out."
"Thanks! Dean, we should go to the pantry, I want to get my gun and knife."
"That so should sound more disturbing," Dean heard Aaron mutter to Eric as Kid dragged him away. "An eight year old should not be that excited about getting a gun."
"Thanks Kid," Dean whispered as they got further away.
"It's ok, I know you still don't know what to do," Kid said, a serious look making it's way onto his young face. "You have your mission, but you want stay here."
"Kid," Dean tried to protest but Kid cut him off with a look.
"You want to stay here, but we might have to move on. I'm just telling you that if we have to do that, I won't be mad. I go where you go. Now I want to get my gun." Dean hid his floored expression well, it helped that Kid was busy chatting away, not even bothering to wait for Dean to reply to him, content just to carry on talking as they went to the pantry. He knew that Kid wasn't dumb, the boy had survived the end of the world, then managed to get away with not turning into monster food, even while he lived on top of ones den. But he didn't know that he had learnt to read Dean so well. Even Sammy had struggled to read Dean, not that the hunter ever made it easy for his brother to read him, but you would think having been raised together Sammy would have more of an idea of what made Dean tick. Dean used to be able to read Sammy like a book, he knew when he was lying, when he was keeping things from him. The demon blood and everything that went down before he was ripped apart by Hellhound to come here, Dean knew, or at least suspected that something was going on. Sure Sammy had been able to suss out when Dean was hiding things, but nothing that Dean wasn't willing to be out in the open between them. Sammy never used to look deeper than what Dean projected and though he would never admit it, it had hurt that Sammy swallowed his shallow projection so easily. His gaze wandered to Kid as they came upon the pantry, the child still chattering on not even aware that he had thrown the hunter for six with his words.
"What are we going to be doing outside?" Kid asked as he pulled open the pantry door, stepping inside and making a quick beeline for the weapons room. Dean followed, making sure to shut the door. He didn't see Olivier anywhere, though he wouldn't be surprised if the woman was lurking somewhere. "Dean?"
"Sorry, what?" Dean asked, finally coming free from thoughts of Sammy.
"Outside, what are we going to do? Scout? Hunt?" the last was said so eagerly that Dean laughed. "Dean!" the boy whined as the hunter waved a hand.
"Don't worry, Kid," Dean said, thoroughly enjoying the frown on Kid's face, even as his eyes blazed in excitement. "I've got plans for this trip, plans that I'm pretty sure you'll be able to help me with."
Dean waited until after Rick and his chosen group had left. It was only an hour after the initial meeting at Rick's house, so he didn't have to kill a lot of time once Kid was through with grabbing what he wanted from the pantry. Dean had had to talk the boy out of taking an arsenal with him, instead restricting him to the silver knife and a gun. Dean also grabbed a gun, ammo, rope, and a few supplies, stuffing them in one rucksack so that they had less to carry. They both loitered near the gate, watching as Rick loaded up a car, Jesus taking the wheel in order to guide them to his community. Daryl was prepping his bike, checking the gas along with the tires in case they were damaged. Finally they cleared out and Dean and Kid strode to the gate. They got a few questioning looks, especially at Kid's appearance, but none questioned Dean too much, especially when Aaron came to see them off. "Behave out there," he said to Kid, who pouted.
"I know what I'm doing."
"I'm sure you do," Aaron said and Dean got the impression that Aaron was none to pleased that Kid could more than likely handle a few Walkers.
"He'll be fine. We'll be back before it gets dark, we're only going on a local scout."
"But Dean, I thought ..."
"See you later Aaron!" Dean called, grabbing the boy's shoulder and dragging him out of the gate. Once they were far enough away and Dean had heard the clang of the gate closing Dean released the child.
"Why are we only going local? I thought we would be scouting," Kid huffed as he followed Dean off the road and into the woods on one side.
"Did I say that?"
"You didn't have to, it's what you've been doing when you go out, isn't it?" Dean smirked at the sliver of doubt that laced Kid's tone, glad that he could still one up the boy every now and then.
"I have been scouting, as well as hunting, not that much of the hunting though, which is strange."
"Why is it strange?"
"Because this world is a monsters paradise," Dean explained which only made Kid frown more. "People are running scared, in smaller groups. Cities that were probably out of bounds for most creatures because of large populations have now opened up. They can pick off humans easily. Heck, if they want bad meat the Walkers are a moving buffet, put they're not."
"Why?"
"Now that's the question, Kid," Dean grinned as they trekked further into the woods. "They're running scared."
"How do you know that?"
"Remember the demons?" Kid winced, hands moving to his forearm where Dean had carved the protection rune into his flesh. Dean ignored the pang of guilt at the pained expression, he did what he had to do to protect the boy, he wouldn't feel bad about it. "That one in Bobby's house, it said that the demons were ignoring their summons. Plus the ones that turned up were working with a human."
"And that's weird?"
"Very," Dean grunted, stopping by a tree that had a bloody stripe of blood running across the bark. "Demons hate humans, they don't work with them. So something must be forcing them to work with humans, something that scares them more than their hate for humans."
"What?"
"That's what we need to find out. Find out what scares them about all this and we have something we can fix." Dean said.
"And that's what we're doing now, trying to find out what scares the demons?" Kid asked.
"We're here to catch a Walker."
"A Walker?" Kid wrinkled his nose as Dean moved off once again, eyes down on the ground following the small blood trail that was leading them further from the road. "Why?"
"Because this all started when they appeared," Dean said.
"But they'll eat us."
"We know how to kill them," Dean said dismissively.
"So what, we're out here to kill a Walker so that you can look more at it?"
"No."
"Then what ...?"
"Just wait and see, Kid," Dean smirked as Kid huffed in annoyance. He let the boy stew in his frustration as he continued to follow the trail he had found. There was no guarantee that the blood they were following was from a Walker, but it was better than nothing.
"We could have just gone to a town," Dean heard Kid starting to whine. "There would have been plenty of Walkers there. Why did we have to ..." Kid was suddenly shut up as Dean rounded on him, slapping a hand over his mouth to shut him up. The boy grunted, but Dean pulled him tighter against him so that they were hidden by the trunk of a large tree.
"Shh," Dean whisper when Kid started to struggled. "There's one." Kid stilled at the words, eyes widening. Dean, convinced Kid was focused, released him, crouching down and gesturing for Kid to do the same. Once at a lower vantage point, the two peer round the trunk of the tree. There was a Walker, stumbling around as it's feet slip over the leaves and small stones that made up the forest floor. It didn't appear to have heard them, as it wasn't turned in their direction, but Dean wanted to get the jump on the thing before it started charging. He moved back around the trunk, signalling to Kid to keep watch on the Walker. Moving the rucksack around in front of him, Dean carefully opened it and pulled free the rope he had taken from the pantry. Placing the rucksack aside, for now, Dean moved back round so he could see the Walker. Kid eyed the rope uneasily, and Dean sent him a shit eating grin. He leaned down and whispered in Kid's ear, "need you to play bait." Kid scowled and looked ready to argue, but with a pointed look from Dean Kid scowled. He stood, still pulling free his silver knife, sending a sharp look Dean's way, as though daring him to argue. Dean didn't bother and Kid took a deep breath and stepped out towards the Walker.
"Hey!" the boy called to the dead animated corpse. It stopped what it was doing and turned to look at Kid. But the child was already moving, running away from the spot where Dean stayed hidden. The Walker followed the movement, moving forward at the same time as it started to chase. "Yeah, that's right, over here," Kid said, picking up a fallen branch from the ground and started to hit the side of one of the trees in order to make more nose. The Walker snarled, picking up it's pace to keep up with the boy. Soon it's back was to Dean and the hunter knew he would have to take the first chance he got, they couldn't afford to attract more Walkers with the noise.
Stepping out Dean shouted, "oi," before launching the rope passed the Walker and towards Kid, one end still wrapped around his fist. The Walker was surprised by the sudden new noise, giving Kid enough time to grab the rope and toss it back to Dean so that it wrapped around the Walker. The two managed to do this a second time before Dean had both ends again and pulled, toppling the Walker onto the ground, it's snarls muffled by the dirt. Dean dashed forward, placing a booted foot on the Walker's back as it withered, he made sure that the face stayed on the forest floor as he tied the ends together. Making sure that one end remained long Dean tied the ends in a tight knot so that the Walker's arms were pinned to it's sides. Once satisfied Dean dropped the shorted end of the tied rope, using the other long one to jerk the thing onto it's back.
"Will it hold?" Kid ask, who stared down at the Walker, a little ways away as it tried to get to its feet, but with no arms to help it, the action was proving a fruitless endeavour.
"For what we need, it should be enough," Dean said, stepping back a little more, his own eyes fixing on their catch in fascination. It was quiet the sight, he had to admit. Sure he'd killed Walkers, quiet a number considering he had only been in this reality a month, but he had never really looked at them in great detail before. It was a woman, at least Dean thought it was a woman. She was pretty disfigured, the skin falling from her face and any other exposed skin. Dean could see the rot in some places, and under the jeans that had somehow managed to stay on the thing the hunter was sure he could see the trace of grey coloured guts. The Walker's jaw snapped, the teeth clacking together like that of an animal. Kid shivered, edging even further away as the Walker got to its knees. Dean smiled, hoping that the gesture would be enough to reassure the boy, "it's fine, it won't get lose."
"What are we going to do with it?"
"Take it back to Alexandria," Kid gaped at Dean's answer and shook his head as though to dispel what he had just heard.
"What? We can't do that."
"We need to."
"Why?"
"I want to run some tests."
"Why can't we do that here? You think they're just going to let us walk in with that thing? Even if we have it trapped I don't think they'll want it inside the walls."
"We're not going inside," Dean grunted, a hint of annoyance creeping into his tone as he yanked on the rope, forcing the Walker up onto it's uneasy feet. "We'll tow it back so that we're near the walls."
"What about the noise?" Kid asked, nervously looking about. Dean had to admit that the boy had a point, moving through the woods with the Walker would be hard enough, but the noise could attracted more Walkers to them. He could cut off the jaw, that would stop it from making too much noise, if only grunts. But Dean needed the jaw intact for what he wanted to test.
"We'll just have to be careful, grab my rucksack." Kid opened his mouth to argue, but Dean just started walking, not even bothering to look back to see if the boy was following. After a while a rustle came, no doubt Dean's rucksack being recovered and small feet caught up with him, making sure to skirt the Walker so that he wouldn't get too close.
"What do you want to test anyway?" Kid asked, the apprehension as he spoke making the fear he had for the thing obvious.
"Stuff."
"Like what?"
"You'll see," Dean smirked and the two made their way back to Alexandria in silence. Soon the walls came into view and the two veered off from where the gate was. They made sure they were far enough away that noise wouldn't carry, then made their way up to the outside of the walls, where the trees were cut off. "This'll do," Dean said, jerking the Walker to a stop so that it collapsed to the ground. Dean quickly tied the long end to a tree so that the thing couldn't walk away. Making sure it was secure Dean stepped back, "ok, stay here, I'll be back."
"Where the hell do you think you're going, you can't leave me with this thing!" Kid gestured to the Walker, that was trying to get back to it's feet.
"I need to get something for my tests."
"You couldn't do them with it dead?" Kid protested angrily.
"I need it alive for it to bite something," Dean said, which got Kid's head turning towards him so fast his dirty blonde hair, that had really started to grow out, whipped around him.
"You want it to bite someone?" Kid exclaimed.
"Not someone," Dean grunted, even as Kid continue to give him the evil eye. "I'm not turning anymore people. I mean something, like an animal."
"How are we going to find an animal for it to bite?" Dean huffed.
"Don't you worry about that, you just watch it until I get back."
"You can't make me stay with this thing," Kid protested, but Dean just clapped a hand on his shoulder and smiled.
"You'll be fine, I'll be thirty minuets, tops."
"Can't we just try worms?" Kid asked hopefully, but Dean shook his head, Kid swallowed then scowled. "Fine, but if that thing so much as snarls at me wrong, I'm finishing it and going back to Alexandria without you."
"Thought you wanted to get out of that place?" Dean asked with a smirk, but Kid only huffed, edging closer to the Walker, though he fingered the silver knife as the thing moaned. "I won't be long. Rucksack," Dean nodded at the bag on Kid's back. The boy scowled, shrugging it off and tossing the thing to the hunter, who caught it easily, slipping it on.
"You better not," Kid muttered as Dean turned and rushed back towards the front gate of Alexandria. He didn't go to the gate, instead stopping a little away from it, still next to the wall. Looking up he took in the surface of the makeshift barrier, luckily it wasn't very smooth, with a few hand holds with how the panels had been joined together. Dean took one last look around then started to scale the wall. It didn't take him too long, so soon he was perched on the very top, taking a quick scout to see if anyone was about, then dropping down back into Alexandria. Keeping away from the main streets Dean headed to his destination. The house was just the same as any other in Alexandria, white walls with a nice front lawn, you wouldn't think that it was set in a walled off community in the middle of the apocalypse. Dean was careful as he came up to the back of the property, checking the windows to be sure that no one was home. Heading to the back door Dean eased it open, which got him a hiss for his trouble.
"Hey girl, just quiet down now," he shushed the cat that was sat on the counter of the kitchen table. "Take it easy now." Dean slowly eased himself inside, shutting the door. The cat watched him, tail flicking back and forth as the hunter moved closer. Dean's eyes flicked to the door that lead further into the house. He was tempted to rush and shut it, but he didn't want to spoke the animal. Instead he approached, his hand out to placate the creature. "That's it, nice and calm now." His hand touched fur and Dean was surprised when the animal arched up into it. Smiling Dean petted the cat for a moment, it was a docile thing, no where near the monster Eric had painted it out to be when he was riling at Dean about the vicious cat that had been adopted by Mrs Pendle. Dean allowed the cat to get used to him, before picking it up, carefully he removed his rucksack and tucked the creature inside. He felt bad for having to zip it up, but hopefully, he wouldn't startle the creature to much on the return trip. Dean didn't hang about, getting out of the house and back to where he had jumped the wall swiftly. He hadn't seen many people walking around, it was lucky that Rick and his core group had been distracted with Jesus, it gave Dean more time and a better chance of not being caught. He scaled the wall, much more easily than the other side, dropping down which earned him a hiss from inside his rucksack. "Sorry," Dean muttered as he backtracked to where he had left Kid. As he got closer, he blinked as he came across a strange sight. Kid had moved closer to the Walker, leaned up against a near by tree, not even bothering to look at it, as the animated corpse strained on the rope as it tried to reach the child. As Dean got closer he faintly heard Kid's voice.
"It's not that I'm scared of you. You were probably a perfectly lovely lady, it's just that now you want to eat me and I don't really want that to happen." The Walker growled and Kid seemed to take it as a response. "Yeah, I could have just stayed behind the walls, but that would be like lying, you know?" Another snarl followed and Kid shook his head. "Yes it is, staying behind the walls is ignoring the problem and I can't ignore the problem, I'm a hunter you know." Dean heard the pride at Kid's admission, followed by the small smile that crossed his face. "So I can't ignore it. Plus Dean would be out here trying to deal with all this by himself, and I can't let him do that. He'd be alone, now he doesn't have his brother." Dean stilled at those words. He had never really thought about that. If he hadn't have found Kid, Dean would have been alone. No Sammy, or Bobby, hell not even the radio. Just him, by himself. All those days in the Impala, on the road riding all those miles. The thought of doing them without Kid was a little horrifying, the loneliness almost too crushing to think about. But I found him, so it doesn't matter, Dean thought, wiping the pained look from his face as he moved forward, calling out obnoxiously.
"Talking to it now are you? First sign of madness that, talking to yourself." Kid jumped, startled at Dean's sudden reappearance. A blush creeped up his cheeks, but Kid tried to cover it with bluster.
"Where the hell have you been?"
"I've not been that long," Dean said with a laugh, coming up to check the tie that still held the walker to the tree. "It been any trouble?"
"Hasn't stopped growling, but I guess that's normal," Kid shrugged, eyeing the hunter carefully. "You get what you want?" Dean finished fingering the knot of rope, happy that it was still strong enough to hold the Walker. He turned to Kid and flashed him a grin, bringing his rucksack round in front of him, he quickly in zipped it and brought out the cat. "Bitch?" Kid asked, Dean frowned.
"Bitch?"
"That's what Eric calls Mrs Pendle's cat," Kid said. "What are you doing with her?"
"She's our test subject," Dean mumbled, stroking a finger through the cat's, Bitch's, fur to calm her. Kid stared at the cat, then his eyes tracked to the Walker.
"You're going to have the Walker eat Bitch?" Kid whispered and Dean forced himself to ignore the horror in the boy's face.
"Not eat her, just bite her."
"But she'll turn into one of them!" Kid shouted fingers that were wrapped around his silver knife tightening and Dean worried for a moment that the boy was going to throw it at him.
"We don't know that," Dean spoke calmly. "We haven't seen any animals so far that have the same type of symptoms as the humans that are infected. But we can't rule it out until we test it." Dean scratched behind Bitch's ears, which earned him a purr.
"But, it could kill her," Kid said, face turning to the Walker, which was now trying to crawl along the ground towards them. Dean sighed.
"I'll make sure it doesn't."
"Can't we find something else?" Kid asked and the sad puppy dog look that he aimed at the hunter made Dean feel like such a bastard.
"We wouldn't be able to find something in time and it would be too much of a risk to keep this Walker here for the length of time we would need to track and capture something else. This is the fastest way." Kid looked ready to argue again, but Dean spoke before he could. "I don't like it as much as you, but we need to start making some progress here. Everything we've tried has failed and I don't think the human race has time for us to be picky about whether it's right to let a Walker bite a cat. It's for the greater good." Dean winced when the words came out of his mouth. It made him a total hypocrite. He was willing to go against death for his brother, make deals with demons just to see him alive. Heck, he thinks he would let the world burn for those he loved, and here he was sprouting off about the greater good. Kid frowned, eyes downcast, but he nodded his head. Dean stepped forward, starting the task quickly so that he didn't have time to think about it. Pinning the Walker to the ground, with a boot on it's chest, Dean turned the cat so that it was facing away from the snarling thing. Bending, Dean brought the flank of the animal close to the Walker's snapping jaws. Bitch, sensing danger tried to wriggle away, but Dean held her in place, until finally the Walker lunged forward, sinking it's teeth into the cat's flesh to tear off a chunk. The cat howled, Dean backed up quickly as claws sunk into his arm as Bitch tried to get away. Kid whimper, his hands jerked as though to cover his ears, but he kept them down. Dean moved away from the Walker, that was too busy chewing on the piece of cat meat to care. Shushing the frightened animal Dean soothed a hand over the fur to calm it down.
"Is she alright?" Kid asked and Dean nodded.
"Yeah," he checked the bite, there wasn't as much missing as he thought would be. But still, quiet a lot for a cat. "Here, hold her," he dumped the cat into Kid's arms, who scrambled to hold her. "Keep her still."
"What are you doing?"
"I need a good look at that bite," Dean said, peering closer at the wound, while Kid tried his best to keep the cat in place. It was bloody, and didn't look any different to say a dog bite or something similar. Dean watched it for a few moments, waiting to see if anything changed colour, or maybe a rot set in that he could see. But it only continued to bleed, Bitch giving out tiny whimpers as Kid stroked her head. "Not weird?" Dean muttered to himself as he straightened, tearing off a part of the bottom of his shirt. "What the hell does it then?"
"Dean?"
"Hold her tight, I don't want her moving too much as she might bleed out." Dean reached out and started to wrap the ripped shirt around the bite, trying his best to keep it tight, even as Bitch struggled. Eventually he tied off the end and tucked the remainder away so that Bitch couldn't play with it, then he stood up.
"What do we do now?" Kid asked.
"Wait, I guess."
"For what?"
"To see if she turns," Kid's eyes widened and he glanced at the cat, whose eyes were starting to lower.
"How long will that take?" Dean shrugged.
"Who knows, could be hours, or seconds," Kid suddenly looked tempted to throw the cat back at Dean, but only the whimpering of the animal stopped him. "We'll wait an hour. With a body that small, whatever's effecting the humans shouldn't take that long to do the same to Bitch." Kid looked unsure, but Dean just plucked the cat from his grip and turned to sit down, leaned up against one of the trees. Kid watched him a moment, then came and sat beside him. Neither of them said anything while they waited, content to listen to the Walker's snarls and growls and Bitch's faint whimpering. Dean watched the cat carefully, alert for any sign of change, skin colour, or eye colour, even change in breathing. But nothing happened. Bitch just whimpered, and on occasion, when Dean poked at the bite, howled, snapping her jaws at him in annoyance. Once Dean was sure the hour was up, he handed the cat back to Kid. "So it doesn't effect animals."
"You're sure?" Kid asked, warily looking at Bitch, who merely blinked at him.
"As sure as we can be," Dean said, standing. Pulling free the demon killing knife, he moved over to the Walker.
"You're going to kill it now?" Kid asked, stroking the cat as he watched from near the tree.
"Not yet," Dean muttered, kicking the Walker so that it ended up on it's back. He placed a boot on its chest to keep it still. "Toss us a branch, will you?" Kid frowned, but did as asked, throwing a sturdy looking stick, so that it landed near Dean's foot. The hunter picked it up, glancing behind he to see Kid still watching. Maybe he should send the boy back? No, Kid would just kick off and they were already running out of daylight. Besides, it wouldn't be the worst thing that the boy would see. Placing more pressure on his boot on the Walker's chest, Dean jammed the stick in-between its snapping jaws, holding them open.
"What are doing?"
"Just, stay there," Dean said, bending so that his hands were dangerously close to the Walker's mouth. It snarled and Dean reacted quickly before the pressure on the stick caused it to break. In one swift slice, Dean severed the jaw from the head. His hand jarred as the blade passed through bone, but the thing could kill demons and Dean had been sure to keep it sharp, so it snapped them easily, so that it fell uselessly to the dirt. The Walker screamed, though it still continued to wither and reach for him.
"Dean!" Kid called, but the hunter ignored him. Moving down the Walker's body, Dean made quick work of its hands. Even pinned to it's sides by the rope the hunter had access to them, as they poked out at the bottom. He cut them away, allowing them to rest on the grass a moment before reaching over and picking one up.
"Interesting, it stops moving when separated from the body," Dean mumbled, tossing the rotting hand aside and fixing his focus on the feet. One had a shoe on, but the other was bare, covered in dirt and mud from where the Walker had been moving about. Dean quickly hacked them off, glad that the demon killing knife was sharp enough that it didn't take so many attempts. The Walker didn't even react to the removal of its limbs, just laid there, eyes watching Dean hungrily even though it's jaw was now missing. Dean leaned back, surveying his work with grim satisfaction. "Can't believe it's still alive," Dean muttered.
"Erm ... Dean? What the hell are you doing?" the hunter glanced over his shoulder. Kid was stood a little behind him, Bitch cradled in his arms as he watched wide eyed.
"We know that a blow to the brain is what can kill these things," Dean said, turning back to the Walker, using the knife to rip away at the clothing that covered the things chest area. "We know that they also eat human flesh."
"Yeah?"
"Why though?" Dean asked, pushing the clothing aside to expose the Walker's pale skin. A few patches were starting to rot, one hunk of flesh was missing, probably from where the woman had originally been bitten. "Do they need food? Is there some weakness in the brain, something we're destroying. How can it survive even when I hack it to pieces?"
"Magic?" Kid answered, uncertainly. He had moved closer, now standing just behind Dean. The hunter let out a soft chuckle.
"You may be right, but we need to get a better look at this thing." Dean cast a wary eye at the Walker, even with the jaw gone it looked as though it could still eat him. He placed a hand on the Walker's chest, right where it's heart would be. He waited, hand pressed tight to the dead flesh, he couldn't feel anything.
"What else can you do to it?" Kid wrinkled his nose as he looked down at the Walker, even Bitch, who seemed a lot better, hissed and raised her snout with an air of distain. Dean shot the boy a grin and plunged the demon killing knife into the flesh of the chest.
"We can take a look at its insides. We know that there's no visible signs of a heart beat, so does that mean that everything that should be working in here has stopped?"
"So you're going to look?" Kid asked, aghast. Dean didn't answer, too busy pulling at the skin in order to make the gap in the chest wider. The Walker still moaned, though at least it wasn't able to snarl anymore with it's missing lower jaw. Once the gap was big enough, Dean placed the demon knife on the ground and delved his hands into the Walker. It was disgusting, he could still feel the thing moving, even as his hands dug through its insides. His fingers found bone, probably the rib cage. He moved down, ghosting over hard lumps that were probably internal organs. It was cold, almost like a dead fish, gripping one of the lumps, Dean gritted his teeth and pulled. The effort he put into the action was wasted though, as the lump, a kidney Dean believed, came free easily, spraying blood and guts around the area. "Oi!" Kid exclaimed, jumping back to avoid being splattered.
"Sorry," Dean said, though he was already checking out the kidney. It looked rotted and a funny colour, even the blood didn't seem as bright as what he would have expected having just come straight out of a body.
"It looks dead."
"Yeah, if all the organs are like this, then we can assume that Walker's don't eat people because they're hungry." Dean tossed the kidney away, hands going back inside the Walker.
"Then why do they do it?" Kid asked. "If it's not to eat, then why do they attack us?"
"Not just us," Dean said, as he pushed deeper inside the Walker. "It took a bite out of Bitch, and from what we know, they eat any other animals they can get their hands on."
"But if they're not hungry, what's the point?"
"Maybe to spread whatever infected them?" Dean mused. "A programmed response, or instinctive maybe." Dean grunted, pulling free a stomach. It didn't look bloated, or any larger than a normal stomach, in fact Dean would say that it was a little smaller, like it was starting to shrivel up. "That could still make it magic or man made. Damn it." Tossing the stomach, Dean sighed and leaned back. Ripping apart the Walker anymore wouldn't bring to light anything more than he now already knew. The Walker's really did appear to be reanimated corpses, not able to feel pain and keep going even when hacked to bits. Dean eyed the head, he could try and crack the skull to take a look at the brain, but he didn't think he would be able to do that without killing the thing, and once dead he had no doubt that any evidence he could find would be gone with it. Shaking his head, Dean reclaimed the demon killing knife and without hesitation, stabbed it into the Walker's head.
"You're done with it then?" Kid asked.
"Yeah," Dean said, coming to his feet and dusting off his pants. That wasn't a smart move, as the blood that was coving his lower arms ended up on the jeans.
"Here," Dean turned to see Kid, holding out his jacket. Grinning, Dean took it, quickly running a hand through the blonde hair so that blood smears coated the tresses. "Dean!"
"It looks better on you, Kid," Dean said, wiping his hands on the jacket. He moved around Kid, so that he could access the rucksack still on his back. It didn't take long to find his trusty salt, gas and lighter and after only a few moments the Walker was salted and burned, along with the rope and the two started making their way back to Alexandria.
"So, you find out what you wanted to know?" Kid questioned and Dean sighed.
"The Walker's are a symptom to whatever is infecting people. It could still be man made, though it would have to be some strange science in order to get these types of result."
"So, magic then?" Kid said and Dean nodded.
"Most likely. Though that opens up the game. We should head back to Bobby's, the man has quiet the library of the supernatural."
"So we're leaving then?" Dean tensed, but shrugged.
"We could hold up at Bobby's, or bring stuff back here. We need to start researching what this could be and we need a base to work from. Alexandria would do." Dean shot a look at Kid, watching as his brow furrowed. The boy thought for a moment, then looked to Dean and smiled.
"I'll guess it'll do." Dean couldn't hold in his laugh and the two walked back to the front gate. They got a few odd looks from the guards, especially when they caught a look at the cat. "We should take her back to Mrs Pendle," Kid said, giving the animal a nice scratch behind her ear.
"You do it, it'll be more believable if a kid turns up with the cat," Dean said and Kid shot him a glare. As the two walked down the street, they were surprised to see quiet a number of people about, much more than when Dean sneaked back over the wall.
"Is something going on?" Kid asked.
"Not sure," Dean replied with narrowed eyes.
"Dean! Kid!"
"Eric!" The hunter turned to see the ginger haired man rushing towards them. He quickly dismissed their blood covered appearance, probably used to seeing people come back in worse states.
"Thank god you're back , I thought I was going to have to tell Daryl to go out and find you."
"Daryl's back?" Dean asked.
"Only a little bit ago. Rick's called a meeting, everyone has to be there," Eric shot a look at Kid, confusion blushing over his face as he saw the cat. "What are you doing with that bitch?"
"Found her outside. What's the meeting about?" Dean brought Eric back into focus.
"I don't know, but it's serious."
"And everyone has to be there?" Eric nodded.
"No exceptions, we have to hurry."
"We just got back," Dean looked down at his bloody appearance. "Gives us ten minuets to clean up."
"You best hurry. It's at the church," Eric didn't wait for a reply, dashing off in the direction where a few other Alexandrian's were already headed.
"Do you think somethings happened?" Kid asked.
"I don't know," Dean mumbled, picking up the pace back to their house. He didn't know if it was his hunter instinct or just his ingrained paranoia, but he had a bad feeling.
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