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Harry Potter Through the Multiverse

Chapter 6

The Walking Dead Arc

Maggie held the small, plastic shopping basket in her hand as she looked over the list that Harry had provided. "Deodorant … toothpaste … cough drops …" she read, trying to find as much as she could. There wasn't much in the rundown store. It had been picked over long before they showed up. Harry was outside making sure that there weren't any walkers around to bust in on them. She told him that she'd wait inside and get started on the looting. Maggie hopped over the back of the counter to search for anything left behind. It was then that she heard a vehicle rumbling closer.

Her heart immediately began pounding. It wasn't Harry leaving. She was sure of that. For one thing, the noise was getting closer instead of moving away. Second, Harry had parked his car behind the store to hide it from the road. Maggie ducked low with just her eyes peeking over the countertop. When a ragged, old pickup truck squealed to a stop in front of the store, her stomach jumped up into her throat. Two men hopped out of the front cab while three more jumped out from the bed of the truck. They were hootin' and hollerin' something fierce, she thought. That wasn't a smart idea in a time like this.

The men were of various ages. Some appeared to be in their forties while a couple looked to be in their early twenties. All of them were dirty and unwashed. As they began walking toward the front door, Maggie gasped and slid down completely behind the counter. There was no way for her to escape through the backdoor. She'd have to move from behind the counter, and with the front of the store completely covered in floor-to-ceiling windows, she knew that they would immediately see her. Just as she was thinking about making a run for it, the door to the store opened. Maggie tried desperately to control her harsh breathing. Her heart was pounding so hard that it was starting to hurt.

" … just shut the fuck up already," one of the men said as they entered. "You talk a big game but probably never got a piece of pussy in your life before I came along." Maggie heard several of the men laugh.

"Fuck off!" she heard one of the younger men curse. "I got plenty of pussy … Probably more than you," he countered. The men laughed again. "Anyway … that girl yesterday didn't deny me the chance," he bragged.

"No fucking beer!" a different man slurred angrily. Maggie jumped and held back a yelp when the man kicked the glass door of the empty freezer. There was a loud pop of broken glass before it tinkled against the floor. Maggie slapped her hand over her mouth.

The first man snorted. "She didn't have a choice. Besides, she was already half-dead anyway."

Maggie heard them spread out as they started pawing through the leftovers. They weren't quiet about it either. They just ripped stuff off of the shelves and threw what they didn't want on the floor.

"You shoulda kept her alive, man," another complained. "I was just beginning to enjoy the bitch." Again, they all laughed.

"You want some action? Go fuck a walking corpse," the man who was clearly the leader countered.

"This place ain't got shit!" the drunk guy complained.

"Here! Have a bottle of cayenne pepper," one of them joked. The drunk man cursed, and Maggie squeaked softly as the plastic bottle hit the wall right in front of her. The bottle exploded from the impact, sending orangish-brown powder flying everywhere. Before she could stop herself, Maggie coughed quietly. Some of the men continued arguing and joking. She was just about to thank her lucky stars when pain erupted from the top of her head. Her entire body was pulled upward, and she was slammed onto the counter. She cried out in pain as her back hit the counter.

"I told you this place would have something good," the leader called out. "Ooooh weeee! She's a looker!"

Maggie got her first good look at him. He was unshaven and dirty. His teeth were completely covered in plaque. He obviously hadn't brushed his teeth since the catastrophe began. He was wearing a blue, flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off. His shirt was almost completely unbuttoned. His gross, hairy chest was dripping with sweat, and the man stank of booze and body odor. Maggie screamed and thrashed around, but two other men were quickly at her side, holding her arms down and pinning her to the counter.

"We got ourselves a live one!" the leader shouted, earning laughs from the others. "Let's see what she's got to offer!"

Maggie's mind nearly blanked as the man grabbed the front of her jeans and unbuttoned them. Though her mind wasn't completely there, her body continued to fight which only made the men happier. At that moment, she almost wished that it was a group of walkers tugging at her. At least it would be over quickly if it was, she thought.

HPTTM

Billy Joe turned and pig squealed at his brother, who was the leader of their new, drunken posse. His older brother began tugging her pants down when he suddenly stopped. Billy Joe blinked a few times until he realized that there was a machete buried right in the middle of his brother's head. His brother's eyes were wide and unseeing. His body began tilting until he fell backward with a brutal thump. As the realization hit him, Billy Joe became enraged. He turned, only to see a shotgun barrel pointed directly at him. Behind the gun was a handsome man with black hair and the greenest eyes he had ever seen. Before he could curse or beg, his ears began ringing and for some strange reason, his body hit the floor hard. He shook his head, but his ears continued to ring. He looked down and saw the front of his blue T-shirt turning red. He gasped and began to panic. His shirt was ripped to shreds, and when he pulled the shredded parts away, he saw that his bare chest looked like a pile of raw meat. That was when the pain hit him. He evacuated his bowels and screamed, clutching his ruined chest.

HPTTM

As Harry pulled the trigger, one of the men holding Maggie down flew backward. He moved the shotgun to the side and pulled the trigger again. On her other side, the man's head exploded in a mist of blood. Before his body could properly drop, the remaining two men screamed and began running out the door. Harry calmly walked after them.

HPTTM

Alan ran out of the store, chasing Jimmy. They both made a beeline for the truck. Jimmy was angling for the driver-side door, so Alan ran around the truck. As he reached the passenger side, Alan heard Jimmy cursing. The truck was a piece of shit, and the door handle almost always stuck. He was pulling and shaking the handle so hard that the entire truck rocked from side to side. He heard Jimmy cry out in triumph as the door finally opened. Just then, the driver-side window exploded, and Alan ducked down. He heard Jimmy groan pitifully, but Alan wasn't dumb enough to stick around to see what had happened to him. He got to his feet and bolted down the street.

Alan had never run so fast in his entire life. Not even in his senior year of high school when he scored the winning touchdown during homecoming. His legs were a blur, and he ignored the stitch in his side as he tore down the road. The further he got, the more he began feeling a sense of bliss. He had escaped almost certain death. That was why it was strange that he suddenly felt a searing pain in his leg. His leg gave out, and he hit the road hard. He cried out as his body slid across the blacktop, his skin scraping away. He grabbed his thigh and felt something wet. Holding up his hand, he saw that it was covered in blood. In a panicked state, he turned his head and looked back from where he had come from. On the road was the black-haired man with a pistol in his hand. Alan had never even heard the shot.

HPTTM

Maggie was shaking uncontrollably as she slowly pulled herself from the counter. Harry just stepped through the doorway, and Maggie jumped when she heard a gunshot followed by the sound of a car window shattering. A moment later, a second shot followed. After a third shot, Harry came back into the store and looked her over. Maggie just stood there, unable to decide how to proceed. Her mind was a complete mess. Harry cleared his throat and pointed down toward her waist. Maggie looked down. Her jeans and underwear were still pulled down so low that most of her hips were showing. Suddenly mortified, she pulled them back up. Her mind began working again, and she realized what had almost happened. Looking around, she saw three dead men lying on the ground. Harry pulled his machete from the leader's head. In his other hand was his handgun. He put it back in its holster and picked up his shotgun which was resting against the wall next to the door.

"Come with me," he told her. Maggie's body was moving before he finished his sentence. Within the blink of an eye, she was right behind him, nearly pressed against his back. She followed him out the door. As they made their way to the beat-up, old truck, she saw another dead man on the ground by the driver's door. He was on his back with a hole in his chest. Maggie saw that there was another hole right in the middle of his forehead.

"There's the other one," Harry said, pointing down the road. Maggie turned and looked. Sure enough, the last one was crawling down the road. He tried to stand up but only fell back down before starting to crawl again.

Harry just stood there silently, and Maggie knew what he was doing. He was giving her the opportunity to decide what will happen to the man. If she did nothing, there was no doubt he would decide himself, which surely meant a bullet in the head. Maggie's hand twitched, and she almost asked him for his gun, but then she stopped herself. She thought about it for a moment. She thought about how she was raised, and she thought about her religion. Then she thought about what would have happened to her if Harry hadn't been there. That was when she began to see red.

Harry was confused when Maggie jumped in the truck. Harry didn't even have time to get in the passenger side when she started the rumbling engine and tore down the street. Harry watched with wide eyes as the front tire flattened the man's belly. Guts spurted out like he was an overly-ripe tomato that had been squeezed too hard. Harry heard his agony-laced wails as the truck continued onward. The truck's tires suddenly squealed, and the truck turned sharply, doing a one-eighty. She stepped on the gas and aimed right for him. Harry heard the double thunk of a front and back tire hitting the man. By then, he was little more than paste. Harry was quite shocked actually. He didn't think the girl had it in her. She drove back and stopped right in front of him. Harry walked around and jumped in.

"Park around back next to my car," he ordered. Without a response, she did as he said and parked next to his vehicle. They both got out of the car. As soon as she did, she bent over at the waist and began throwing up. For several minutes she vomited until there was nothing left to throw up. When she was done, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Harry handed her a bottle of water that he took from the car. As she drank it down, Harry began siphoning the gas from the truck into a red, plastic gas can.

Maggie finished off the bottle and coughed. Her stomach still hurt, but it felt a little better. "Thanks, Harry …" she told him. "For everything," she added. Harry nodded.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, looking concerned. Maggie didn't know what to say.

"I don't know," she honestly answered. Harry nodded again, also not knowing what to say.

"Sadly, there are worse things out there than walkers," Harry told her, putting the gas can into the back of his car. "Hard times usually bring out the worst in humanity. Believe me, I know."

Maggie could only nod. She still hadn't come to grips with everything that had just happened.

"Do you want me to take you home?" he suddenly asked. His voice wasn't harsh or annoyed. He sounded as though he actually cared about her well-being. Maggie closed her eyes and shook her head. "You want to keep scavenging with me?" he asked. She silently nodded.

"Okay … Just stay close to me this time," he said. He didn't need to tell her twice.

HPTTM

Harry looked at Maggie out of the corner of his eye as he drove down the winding backroad. The girl was very quiet, which wasn't surprising in the least. 'She's probably going to be traumatized for a while,' Harry thought as he followed her quiet directions.

"Left here," she said, pointing. The dirt road that they were on was coming to an end, and Harry could see a normal, asphalt road creating a T-shaped intersection. Harry slowed down and turned left. "The apartment building is about a mile down," Maggie told him. Harry nodded and continued down the road.

It was only a couple of minutes until Harry saw the apartment complex nestled safely between a thick crop of trees. Had Maggie not told him exactly where to go, he didn't think that he would have ever found it. The complex wasn't very large, and the buildings looked old. The bricks making up the buildings were of various shades of brown, and the trim throughout the buildings was painted forest green. Harry figured that there were maybe two dozen apartments between the two buildings that made up the complex. Harry backed into the parking lot just in case they needed a quick getaway. Harry turned off the car and looked at Maggie. She was still looking straight ahead as though she was thinking deeply.

"You ready?" Harry asked her softly. Maggie turned to him and nodded. When she opened her door, Harry opened his as well, and they got out. Harry adjusted his gun belt and attached his machete to it. Maggie was suddenly at his side.

"Can you teach me how to use that?" she asked. Harry looked down, wondering what she was talking about.

"The gun," she clarified.

"I don't think your dad will …" Harry began but was cut off.

"I'm an adult," she firmly replied. "Don't worry about him."

Harry could see that she was serious. Harry went into his car and came out with the second gun belt that he had taken from the police station. He tossed it to her. Maggie grunted when she caught the heavy, leather belt. She clumsily tried to put it on before Harry stepped in and helped her. He spun the belt until it was facing the correct direction, then he tightened it. Maggie looked down and examined it. She then took a step back and asked, "How does it look?"

Harry's eyes traveled over her slim waist and flared hips. The belt rested right on top of them, emphasizing her womanly shape. Harry smiled at her. "It looks good on you."

Harry stepped up to her and reached down. He unsnapped the button on the strap that was holding the gun in the holster. He then pulled the handgun out and handed it to her. She gripped the handle tightly. Harry readjusted her grip. "This button here," he showed her. "That's the safety." Maggie pressed the safety in.

"Now pull back on the top slide."

She pulled back until she heard it click. She then let the slide snap back into place.

"Now it's loaded and ready to fire. Don't pull the trigger unless you mean it," Harry warned. He watched as she carefully put it back in the holster.

Maggie stayed close to him as he had earlier suggested. There were only a few cars left in the parking lot, but Harry made sure to siphon off as much gas as he could. After the gas was safely stored away and he had grabbed his crowbar, they moved to the apartments. Harry noticed that the complex seemed mostly untouched.

"I wonder if everyone left when this all started. There are only a few cars left," Harry said.

"I don't know," Maggie replied. "It was mostly older people who lived here. We used to sell fresh eggs to the people here. That's how I knew about this place," she told him. As they approached the first door, Harry kept quiet. He was listening for any sign of life within, but he heard nothing.

He arrived at the first door and pressed his ear to it. Again, he heard nothing. He knocked on the door softly. No one answered. Harry turned the knob and unsurprisingly found it locked. He jammed the bar between the door and the frame and pushed. The wood cracked and splintered as the door was forced open. He pushed it wide open and waited for a moment. No walkers came for them. He decided to give her a lesson. "Gun out," he ordered. She quickly complied.

"Keep your finger off the trigger until you might have to fire it," he told her.

"Okay," she replied in a shaky voice. She was clearly nervous.

"Whenever you go to a new location to scavenge, always try and clear the place out of walkers before you start looting … especially if the place is small."

Maggie nodded, and she felt his hand on her lower back, pushing her in front of him. She was momentarily confused. "Walk down the hall slowly and quietly," she heard him say. With her heart beating a thousand times a minute, she did as he said. Her hands were shaking even though they were wrapped around the handle of the pistol. The apartments were small, and the hallway was equally so. There were only two doors, and both were at the end. She walked down as quietly as possible until she reached the door on the right. She looked back at Harry with wide eyes.

"Push the door open quickly and be prepared to fire," he told her. She was just about to reach for the doorknob when he stopped her. "Remember to be sure before you shoot. You never know if a living human is behind the door," he reminded her. Maggie nodded, not feeling especially confident.

Grabbing the handle, she slowly turned it. Once it was fully turned, she shoved the door open and aimed the gun.

BANG!

She flinched badly as the gun went off by accident. Before her was an empty bathroom with a bullet hole in the far wall. Suddenly, she heard the familiar wheezing coming from the door behind her. She heard shuffled footsteps before something began banging on the door. She turned toward Harry in a panic, expecting him to be furious for accidentally firing. Instead, what she found was him chuckling at her actions.

"Put your gun away," he ordered, amused at her behavior. When she had, he pulled her by her arm until she was behind him. "I'm going to have to train you a little more," he told her, pulling out his machete. "Don't fire your gun unless you have no other choice. Every walker in the complex is now awake and alert."

Maggie swallowed hard. "S-Sorry," she stuttered out an apology. Harry waved it away.

"It's okay. Mistakes happen," he gently told her. "You'll need to be trained using melee weapons as well."

Before she could respond, Harry walked in front of the door and kicked it in. Maggie squeaked in fright as she heard the door slam into the walker. She then heard a loud thump of the walker hitting the floor. It then growled menacingly before Harry walked into the room and began hacking away at it. When she was sure that the walker was dead, she slowly followed him into the room. The walker turned out to be a little, old lady. At least she had been before turning into the disgusting, decayed thing that she currently was. Her head was cut open, and her rotting brains were leaking onto the floor. Maggie had to look away. Her stomach was already feeling very iffy. Harry didn't appear to mind in the least. He was going through her stuff as though he didn't have a care in the world. Maggie bit the bullet and joined him in looking for loot.