Walking Dead Wizard
Chapter 31
Harry jerked awake, blinking sleepily as he blearily looked around, sighing softly as he stretched languidly, sitting up he rubbed his eyes glad he had taken the time to correct his sight before all this crap went down. The amount of running he'd done, he would have lost his glasses for sure, just like he had done in the past. He could hear shuffling around as if whoever it was - was trying to keep quiet out of respect for the others. Harry glanced down at his clock, five thirty; they would need to get on the move again pretty soon. He'd reluctantly taken half the pain reliever Luna had given him at two o'clock this morning after he'd been forced to go get some sleep instead of keeping watch - which he would have done all night and Luna knew that hence why she'd gotten up to make sure Harry at least got some sleep. He'd been too exhausted to argue with her and had gone to get some sleep; the potion had helped ensure that. So now he was pain free, refreshed and ready for whatever the day threw at him. He absently took a candle and lit it, where he was going; there was no light to be had without electricity - something they didn't have.
"Are you alright?" Harry called to Luna keeping his tone quiet as he called up the stairs to the stair window where Luna was keeping watch.
"Yeah, I'm fine, everything's been quiet, two walkers were nearby but they just passed us by." Luna explained, "We might run into them during the ride to the prison," just to be on the safe side she'd rather say something than lose someone due to negligence.
"You might as well head to the living room now, we'll be gone in half an hour," Harry called to her before absently giving her a wave before making his way to the basement to see if there was anything else they could take with them. The water was a good find, Harry gazed around, there were bins, cardboard boxes, shelves with a magnitude of different every day items, paint, brushes, items for every day use for kids, balls, basketballs, even swimming gear and the like.
Turning around he noticed food and other items nearer the door on home made wooden shelves that looked ready to tumble but probably stronger than they looked, toilet roll by the bundles, canned goods, all in large quantities in cardboard crates he would say fifteen in a crate. Including lady products, shavers, shaving foam, boxes of pads and tampons at the end of the shelf was a large selection of coupons for various items in a binder. It seemed impossible that they'd found the water and remained oblivious to all else…they weren't observant enough he would need to kick that up a notch. Make them see that they had to keep their eyes open or the consequences would be severe.
He honestly didn't want to have to haul it all up to the truck, so without further thinking he snagged the coupons off, returned his trunk to its normal size, before moving a little towards the door listening to see if anyone was nearby. Staying where he was, he whispered under his breath, shrinking the entire shelf and their contents down, before flicking it into his trunk, he would make up any excuses needed at a later time.
Honestly the thought of all this sneaking around and explaining himself, almost made him want to reveal his secrets, almost. There was no guarantee they would react well to his news, he still couldn't quite fathom why the Dixons didn't seem to even bat an eyelash at everything. Hell Daryl constantly asked questions when he saw him using magic to understand it more. He'd never had anyone in his life that wanted to understand his magic before; the Dursley's just made him feel abnormal all his life. Then there was the fact that Carol was a Christian. She believed in a man who could walk on water and turn water into wine yet thought witches should be burnt at the stake…as if anyone normal could turn water into wine! She hadn't thought it particularly but Harry knew what was in the bible, he couldn't risk her trying to leave with Sophia on her own, or the others, they weren't prepared for this world yet, but did that mean he would when the time came? He honestly couldn't say.
Sighing softly, he gave the area another look around before determining that he had everything they needed from this room. He shrunk and returned his trunk to his pocket, closing the door he wandered back into the main room; he noticed Carol was fixing everyone a quick breakfast, while Andrea, Amy and Dale boxed everything in the kitchen. Leftover venison and beans, not the worst combination.
"How can you look so awake with only a few hours sleep?" Amy groused at Harry, looking jealous of how awake and aware Harry was compared to her.
Harry just chuckled as he hastily began eating his breakfast, his body was used to not getting a lot of sleep, and he was always the first one awake at Hogwarts. He had been the one who had to wake Ron up, which was bloody difficult, Ron hated getting up for classes, and slept for ages during the weekends. Merlin, Ron would have hated this he mused, a couple of months into the Horcrux hunt he'd been a moody shit, the lack of sleeping on a bed, lack of sleep full stop, sleeping in a tent and hardly any food had taken its toll on him. He'd been too sheltered, too used to the good stuff in life. Hell even Hermione had struggled but she'd never complained she'd known it was too important for that. Ron wouldn't have done well in this new world, not that he'd had a chance he thought sadly. Ron must have been called out to deal with the first of the non-magicals to reanimate; he'd been bitten himself and must have died. The authorities must have known this and they'd come to deal with him only to find Ron gone and his parents there, and they'd killed them, either due to panic or Ron had bitten them…either way Molly and Arthur hadn't deserved what happened to them. Worse still, Ginny had found them, and perhaps seen that nearly her entire family was dead due to the clock and decided to end her life? It didn't seem like something Ginny would do, she was so strong, she'd stood up to Death Eaters and Voldemort himself, but Ginny had loved her parents very much, he would never know what she'd been thinking.
"Harry? Harry?" Luna called for the fourth time, her striking blue eyes observing him, worry the most prominent emotion on her face. She never once moved to touch him; it was never a good idea to do that. She'd sent the others to get everything into the vans. "HARRY!"
"How long has he been doing that?" Merle asked.
"Since he was seventeen," Luna sighed, "You don't seem surprised…has it been happening a lot? Did you touch him?"
Merle snorted, "No, I ain't stupid I knew better than to do that," he answered, "Usually I leave him alone or Daryl shouts to get him outta it."
Luna nodded, realizing that Merle hadn't told him how often it happened.
"We have to go, come on, Harry," Luna called out, she knew the second he came out of it, he stiffened further before relaxing, blinking at them blankly before his face took on a sheepish apologetic look. "It's time to go."
Harry shook his head, he needed to stop doing that, getting caught up in the past, and it was going to get him killed one of these days. Standing up he nodded grimly to Luna and the Dixons before wandering over to his little section of the room, behind the couch, grabbing his bag and compound bow. "Let's get to it." knowing it was going to be a long, long day. Thankfully he had slept for a few hours without even wakening up once. Thankfully neither Luna nor Merle or Daryl asked about it, all of them were used to him doing it by now.
"Has everyone checked we haven't left anything?" Harry called out from where he stood at the doorway.
"Everything's packed," Dale nodded, as he slid his hat on. "I had everything away before we began searching the house."
Harry nodded, idly noticing that Dale had one of the shirts on that they'd found yesterday. He'd looked at the map, and judging by how far they'd gotten yesterday he suspected they'd get the prison today or close enough at any rate. He sincerely hoped that there weren't too many pile ups, it was frustrating but admittedly rewarding, not all of the cars had anything of use, but one in ten actually did. They'd already been picked or whoever was in them had taken the more important things out and tried to make it on foot - which Harry suspected was more than probably the case. He, Merle and Daryl would have done the same if they hadn't decided to head to the quarry.
"Get in," Daryl grumbled as he got into his truck.
Harry just smirked a little before wandering over, as he'd thought Daryl wouldn't apologise, jumping in he closed the door. Before long they were reversing and rolling out of the property they'd stayed in, and making their way to the prison using the most direct route to get there.
The ride was smooth for an hour, they hadn't had to stop once, well until now that is. Jumping out the car, he grabbed his bow and put it over his head and shoulder; if anything came he wanted to be prepared. He groaned when he saw the pile of cars, this was going to take at least an hour perhaps more, depending on whether they'd ultimately decided to rake through each car.
"Take a car each if you're capable of it; check each car including the trunk carefully!" Harry cautioned them, "Dale can you go up top and keep an eye on the area?"
Dale nodded immediately climbing up the RV ladder as everyone got to work; between them they were shifting seven cars at a time, trying to make enough room for the RV which was by far the biggest vehicle of them all. Just as Harry suspected, they did begin to search the cars they'd moved, thankfully they never took longer than five to ten minutes, sometimes longer depending on whether there was anything in the car.
"Hey, little moon, look what ol' merle found?" Merle said, a wire hanging from his fingers.
Luna just gave him a blank yet amused look at the fact he was speaking about himself in a way she'd never heard before. "It's a charger, it'll fit the I-pod." he explained, having to refrain from rolling is eyes at how clueless she was, but she wouldn't be for long, he'd teach her everything she needed to fit in. "It will charge it so you can listen to it." with that explained he slipped it into his pocket, he'd show her later.
"Thank you," Luna said after a few moments, she might not know much about Muggle technology but she knew Merle had noticed she liked the music and was giving her a way to listen to it again. She blinked when his eyes glinted in shock, before blinking again as he turned his back on her, he obviously wasn't used to being thanked for anything she summarised. Which was just horrible, what kind of life had the boys had that just a simple thank you tripped them up and made them even more socially awkward than they already were? It was little wonder Harry had gravitated towards the Dixons, damaged people gravitate towards damaged people. She didn't like to think of Harry in such a way, but he was damaged, hell it had just happened earlier than everyone else in the magical world. They'd all been left broken by a war that had started when they were fourteen (thirteen in her case) years old.
In some ways the Dixons had it worse than Harry, but at the same time had it easier. Both boys had each other to rely on during their childhood and adult years. Harry had been alone, until he was eleven, but then he'd made friends while it appeared both Dixon boys hovered on the hinges of society without trusting anyone. Their attitudes she'd imagine were a defensive measure, they had shields up to stop anyone hurting them, they lashed out first, but those that managed to get through their shields and become friends with the Dixons like Harry, become an added part of them. Instead of the Dixons moving as two they had a unit of three…maybe four now due to her being there. They were obviously well deservedly trusted, they hadn't spilled Harry's secret, so they could be relied on and Luna had to admit she liked it. Liked knowing if she actually told them something in confidence it wouldn't get around.
On to the next car, she removed the hand break and grunted as she pushed the car so it was in line with all the others well out of the way of the road. She didn't stop until it hit the rail, sighing softly, rubbing her shoulder, she wasn't used to this kind of work, she half wished she could just use her magic and get done with it. If the others hadn't chosen to come, they'd already be at the prison by this, but she didn't grudge the others for coming. They knew that Harry was their best option, Rick was declining, and the stress was causing him to come undone. Harry said he had the capability though, and she never doubted him, so underneath that panic stricken man was a leader waiting to come out. Harry had just given up waiting on him coming out, that and he'd said the absolutely wrong thing to say to Harry ever. Her best friend had put up with one dictator after another trying to play Harry like a fiddle, there was no way he was going to let a Muggle like Rick Grimes do the same.
A search of the car was quick and easy since it was empty of anything; there wasn't even an empty bottle under the seats. She abandoned that one and made her way to the next in the long, long row waiting for them. Nobody stopped until well after lunch time, if the fact Harry was telling everyone to stop and eat lunch was any indication. He handed Dale his first, before handing them out to everyone else. Merle was leaning against a car smoking by that point taking a well deserved break. She'd actually seen Harry smoking as well! Now that had been a sight she'd never expected to see. Considering the world they lived in now though, there was little chance of anyone dying of lung cancer.
Luna climbed onto the car, sitting down on the bonnet, as Harry passed a packet of crisps and two biscuits over; she observed everyone was pretty much doing the same in their own little circles. Amy and Andrea, Carol and Sophia, Harry and Luna and of course the Dixon brothers - dale was on his own on top of the RV taking his duty of looking very seriously - never wanting a repeat of the last time they'd been stopped - they'd almost lost Sophia and Andrea when the herd passed through.
"What if we are doing this and the prison is still functional?" Andrea mused out loud, everyone despite being on different cars were clustered together for safety and were able to hear her. It was a lot of hard work going into this and if it was all for nothing it was going to be infuriating and annoying.
"Did you mean to say that out loud?" Harry asked her, staring pensively.
"I mean come on, you can't think civilisation is completely gone, the likelihood of us being the only decent group of survivors is ludicrous. It can't be that hard to believe that a prison structure could withstand the apocalypse. They're trained for riots…for anything really; I just think that…they may have been able to keep themselves standing that's all." Andrea explained her reasoning, and making very valid points.
"You forget what Jenner said in the CDC," Harry pointed out calmly, seeing her view but nonetheless having to destroy it. "What's the first thing most people did when it got really bad?"
"They went home to their families," Amy pointed out.
"Exactly, the chances are that if those in the CDC did, when their work was the most vital, organizations like the police force and even prison workers did exactly the same thing." Harry said, "Those that didn't have anyone and didn't see any hope or way out of it…probably did as Jenner said 'opted out' there have been many people who have regretfully."
"How could they do that? It's just horrible," Amy said, shuddering a little.
"It's easier than you think to give in," Harry replied wryly, "Going out that way is seen as cowardice and it is I suppose, especially if you've not got a reason to go on in a world spiralling out of control…one second then no more pain, no more strife. It's harder to go on living when there isn't much to live for, this might be as good as we get it until we eventually die, but it takes a lot to destroy the human spirit, some people can endure more than others."
Dale listened to Harry, feeling slightly overwhelmed, on the outside Harry appeared as a somewhat cold logical young man, around the age of twenty, inside he had the insight of a war solider someone who had done and seen so much in their lives. His eyes reflected a hard life, and he couldn't help but wonder what his life had been like back in Great Britain. Perhaps that's why he made such a good leader, and he did, Dale was seeing that more and more during the short time they had been split from the rest of the group. All of them were coming together, they worked in sync, had purpose, a journey towards something potentially better.
"Sometimes those hard times change people," Harry added, staring up at Dale, "Make them different from who they used to be, survival becomes all they care about instead of their humanity, some were even like that before the apocalypse and no amount of talk about keeping civilisation will help. The walkers aren't the only danger out there; in fact they're the lesser of two evils. The walkers operate on a primal instinct that drives us all just exponentially more pronounced than our own. People don't have that same excuse, the longer this goes on the less civilised we'll become, or come across people already hit rock bottom…and you'll have to realize its you or them and if you can't decide, you know what will happen." Harry abandoned all pretence of not talking to Dale at the end of his sentence.
"How long do you think people on their own will survive out here?" Sophia asked, remembering her own time on her own.
"That depends on the person, Sophia," Harry was the one that answered yet again. "Everyone is different, it depends on how smart they are, how efficient, how strong and determined they can be. There will be more people out there alone than there is in groups, only because they would have lost people overtime, just like us as they learned and adapted we're all very good at that we've done it in the past. And do not give Anubis any chocolate, its bad for dogs." noticing her breaking a bit off.
"Will they join us?" she then asked innocently eating the bit she'd broken off for Anubis, wiping the chocolate from her mouth.
Harry glanced at the Dixons then Luna, "I…honestly don't know," Harry answered her truthfully as he always would. "Our first priority is to keep us safe right now." it would be something they'd need to discuss as a group, only after he'd gotten Daryl, Merle and Luna's honest opinions. He trusted them above all else, and if they didn't think it was a good idea then he'd not bring it up again. He was no longer the boy who had a saving people thing, alright he did, just not to the extent he had, he'd given it all in the past and sworn never to do it again.
"Best get back to work," Luna said, "We're burning daylight,"
"Do you think we'll get to the prison tonight?" Carol asked as she wandered to a car nearby.
"No, once it's dark we can't approach the prison, we'll probably be spending the night somewhere I reckon," Harry revealed, glancing at the sky. "We won't have enough time to investigate it or access it." Merle and Daryl nodded to themselves, he was right it was too dangerous especially if there were walkers and in enclosed spaces - it was asking for trouble, and they didn't want any of that.
With that everyone got back to the hard work of making a path.
I wanted a particular scene in this chapter too bad it wouldnt work! oh well guess i'll have to weedle it into my next chapter :D and i even have Dale warming up to him :D Of course since its the Walking Dead they can't all survive...its going to be difficult to kill anyone off! dont worry I haven't planned any yet i just know it has to happen :P draw names out of a hat i think! then again it depends on the protections doesnt it? hmm the Gov i think is the next bad guy so does Harry lay siege to woodbury or do they co-exist? I really dont want to make it the same stuff happening over and over again but some things might be :D it is eight months before Rick finds the prison isnt it? I'll definitely need to look on Wiki for it! Oh I also want the group to have individual weapons they like to use! like Daryl and his crossbow and Luna and her sword...so any suggestions (guns are just boring) R&R Please