65DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING HARRY POTTER, OR WALKING DEAD. I MAKE NO PROFIT FROM THIS, THIS IS MERELY FOR MY OWN AMUSEMENT AND THE AMUSEMENT OF THE READERS. THANK YOU.
A/N: I've had people messaging me asking what the pairings are going to be and how certain things will pan out. And I have an answer to all your questions….. Read the damn story and find out, you will get no spoilers from me.
Previously
Quickly the group made their way out of the building through the now open window, running back to the cars they had left upon arrival, a few undead were in the grass. Harriet made sure Teddy stayed in front of her as they moved, keeping an eye on his surroundings. The Dixon brothers moved to take up either side of them, the rest of the group coming out of the building one by one. Daryl ran up to the using the ax he was still carrying to hit the undead closest splitting its head it dropped like its strings were cut. A bang sounded as Merle raised his shotgun to hit another in the head clearing the path to the truck they had been using.
Merle raced around climbing into the driver's seat, while Daryl raced ahead opening the front and back doors for them, turning he covered their backs while they climbed inside the truck. Daryl closed the door just as she climbed in before climbing in the truck as well and closing the door they looked back, the rest of the group was scrambling to get into different vehicles themselves. Seeing movement Teddy yelled out pointing back to the building from the back seat, "Look." It was Dale and Andrea just emerging from the building and running across the grass, horns from the vehicles in front of them started honking and yells of 'GET DOWN' were heard, Dale and Andrea had managed to tuck behind a barricade of sandbags just as they all ducked down in the tuck, Harriet shielding Teddy in the back seat. The truck shook as a wave of heat hit it with a deafening BOOM. After several seconds and the shaking shrunk, slowly everyone sat up. The CDC building was gone, in its place was a raging inferno and rubble.
Continuing
After making a camp nearby the group spent the next day scavenging, the plan was to try for Fort Benning next, a trip that could take several days with what complications they may run into on the road. They decided to break down T-Dogs van, and Shane's jeep for gas, the group would split between the RV, the station wagon and the truck, while Merle decided he would ride his motorcycle. She had somehow helped keep the group focused on needing to make a plan for Fort Benning that thankfully no one really talked about what happened at the CDC. It helped that most were still in shock that they survived something as crazy as a building blowing up while also mourning the loss of Jacqui. She knew it was only a matter of time before someone brought it back up, by then she had no idea what she was going to tell the group.
The following morning the group was on the road and heading away from the dead city of Atlanta just as the sun started to rise. Teddy had used his puppy dog eyes to talk Harriet into letting him ride on the back of Merle's motorcycle, something that had most of the group giving her disapproving looks. Apparently some didn't think it was responsible to let a child ride on the back of a motorcycle without a helmet especially if the person driving the motorcycle was Merle Dixon. Not that they knew but she had discreetly covered Teddy in protective charms before he got on the bike, should anything happen the charms would protect him. Harriet found herself riding in the truck with Daryl driving, following behind the station wagon.
They had been on the road for several hours when Daryls' voice broke the silence, "Looks like somethin's up," Harriet turning to look ahead as she felt Daryl pull the truck to a stop, the station wagon and RV had come to a stop as well and she could just make out what looked like smoke coming from the RV. Climbing out of the truck they moved to joining where everyone had gathered at the front of the RV, Harriet moved over to where Merle had pulled his bike to a stop and was standing with Teddy. Daryl after nodding to his brother and giving Teddy a fist bump moved to the vehicle nearest to them and started looking through the open trunk.
"I said it, didn't I say it? A thousand times. Dead in the water!" Dale said angrily as he waved a rag at the smoke coming from the hood of his RV.
"Problem Dale?" Shane asked, coming to the front of the RV with the familiar shot gun in his hands looking for any walkers.
"Oh just the small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no hope of–" Dale had started to say but when he turned around to face Shane he spotted Daryl rummaging through the stuff in trunk of a car with close to fifty or more cars all around them, and realization stuck him. "Okay, that was dumb." Harriet smirked at his comment, almost letting out a chuckle, 'This is perfect, I can easily pull food from my bag and claim to have found it.' she thought to herself.
"Can't find a radiator hose here…" Shane trailed off gesturing to the abandoned vehicles.
"Bunch of stuff we can find," Daryl commented, having already tucked a couple of things under his arm and was rummaging through a backpack.
"I can siphon more fuel from these cars," T-Dog said, moving to a nearby car to check for gas.
"Maybe some water?" Carol hesitantly asked.
"And food!" Glenn spoke up looking around at all the cars as well.
Just as the group looked like they were about to split up tp scavenge, Lori's voice broke their mood, "This is a graveyard." She said, giving Rick a look, "I don't know how I feel about this."
"Are you serious? You didn't complain when supplies were brought back yesterday, where do you think they got those supplies? Where do you think anyone has got supplies in the last month? Get over yourself." She asked and without waiting for a reply she turned, pulling Teddy along with her, "Come on, let's go see what we can find."
After a few seconds she heard Shane speaking up behind her, "Come on, Y'All. Just look around, gather what you can."
When they were out of ear shot she whispered to Teddy, "Let's find some things we can fill with food from our bags, then pretend we just found it." Teddy nodded eagerly, he didn't like having to pretend to not have any food when they literally had a huge supply tucked away in their bottomless bags.
"How long are we going to keep magic a secret?" Teddy asked.
"I don't know Cub," She replied, giving a sigh when Teddy gave her a look, "Teddy, I made a vow as an Auror to uphold the law, and while there might be no Ministry left, or any government left, that doesn't mean we shouldn't still respect the law. Laws like the Statute of Secrecy were made for a reason. We have known these people for less than a week, while I'm sure Merle and Daryl would be accepting of us, I'm not sure everyone else in the group will be." Her mind immediately thinks of Lori, "Let's just see what we find at Fort Benning first, then go from there."
"Yeah, Alright." Teddy agreed.
In the first car they searched Harriet found a pillow in the make-shift bed someone had made out of their back seat, "Here we can use this to put the food into," She said pulling the pillowcase from the pillow, "We'll just put a couple of things per car." Pulling her bottomless bag that was across her back to rest across her chest instead, reaching into it to transfer some food to the pillow case.
"Can you put some bacon in there?" Teddy asked excitedly.
"No, the bacon is in the freezer in the tent Teddy, besides how would we explain having fresh bacon to the group?" She asked.
"But it's bacon!" He whined at her.
"Well as soon as we can get a chance to set up our tent you can have that bacon."
"Or I could call for Kreacher." He pouted.
"Are you- You most certainly will not. Kreacher is 659 years old, the average elf lives to 200, at his age we will not test his capabilities to see if he can still travel across oceans. You can wait for some bloody bacon." She scolded him, with a shake of her head at the lengths he would go for bacon.
"How is Kreacher still alive if they are only supposed to live to 200?"
"You know," Harriet blinked for a stunned moment as she thought about it, "I don't know, I didn't think to ask when he told me his age, huh." She remembered when she had asked the old elf how old he was, she had been shocked but didn't think to ask the old elf how he had lived that long. Hearing a yell she looked back towards the others sharply looking for the danger, only to spot Shane next to what apparently was a water delivery truck, and dumping a jug of water over himself in excitement. Seeing no danger she relaxed, turning back to the task as the two of them moved onto the next vehicle.
Approaching a small white bus that was made for transporting the elderly or disabled she motions for Teddy to wait while she checked for any dead or undead. Just as she was approaching the door she heard a noise behind her, turning back to Teddy she found Merle crouched behind him with one hand motioning for them to get down while his other hand was to his lips telling them to be quiet. Immediately on edge she pulled Teddy to herself as she looked back for the danger, 'Merlin,' Her eyes widening as she spotted a huge crowd of the dead slowly shambling towards them.
"Get under that truck quick, and don't make a sound," Merle told them in a hushed growl as he moved to crawl under the bus.
Pulling Teddy down with her, she quickly crawled under the she reached the middle she turned on her side pulling Teddy to her chest to take up as little space as possible under the truck. "Don't move," Harriet whispered to Teddy before muttering the spell, "Silencio." for good measure.
For a second she heard nothing but her own blood pounding in her ears, but slowly she heard the sound of shuffling feet, and the soft grounds of the undead. Slowly she looked back out from under the truck, and just as she started to see feet moving towards them she smelt them as well. Nose wrinkling in disgust at the smell, she tried to breath as little as possible. One by one the bus was slowly surrounded by the undead as they shuffled by, until all she could hear was the sound of their groans and shuffles.
After several tense minutes the sound of the undead moving by them slowly died off, and after a minute of silence Merle slowly climbed out from under the truck. For a second all she saw was his feet before he called out, "It's clear."
Canceling the spell she let Teddy go and they slowly crawled out from under the truck, looking around as she got to her feet wiping the dirt and gravel off herself she looked around for any signs of danger just to be sure. Looking in the direction that the dead had been heading she watched as the large group moved for a second, 'They're moviing in groups, like a herd of animals or something.' she thought to herself.
A soft cry had the three quickly looking off the side of the road into the trees, looking for the source of the noise. Her eyes, like hunting for the golden snitch, were quick to spot the movement off in trees, "Sophia," She said quietly, her eyes widening in concern when she realised the little girl was running deeper into the forest away as a couple of undead chased after her. Again it was because of her seeker skills that she reached out snatching up Teddy by the back of the shirt just as he tried to run off after Sophia,"Wait," She started to say.
"It's Sophia, she needs help!" Teddy interrupted her, trying to pull away, looking up the worry and panic for his friend etched across his face, not understanding why she wasn't running to save Sohpia.
"I'll get her kid," Merle's voice cut through before either could say another word, he passed her back the pillow case of supplies they had collected and was hopping over the railing and heading off into the woods after Sophia.
"Come on Teddy, Merle will get Sophia, we don't know what happened and the others could need our help," She told Teddy not wanting him to go running off into the woods. Teddy nibbled on his lip worriedly looking off into the woods where he could no longer spot Merle, or Sophia before he nodded, moving to follow her.
The group was easy to spot as most of them were hovering by the side of the road near the RV looking off into the woods. As they approached Teddy ran ahead when he spotted Carl standing next to his mom, "Carl!" He called out relieved to see his other friend was okay. He ran up giving him a hug which was eagerly returned, "What happened? We saw Sophia." His comment caused the group to look at them, Carol turning her panicked eyes to her almost as if asking why her daughter wasn't with her.
"We saw Sophia heading away from the road into the woods with a couple of the dead chasing her, Merle," She said looking at Daryl for a second before looking back at Carol, "Ran to go get her. He'll keep her safe." Harriet told Carol with finality, she had been surprised Merle had run off to go save the girl in the first place but Harriet didn't doubt for a second that Merle would let the girl get eaten. He'd keep her alive long enough to bring her back to Carol. She could see most of the group was in a combination of both shocked and unbelieving that Merle would want help or even be able to help Sophia, only Daryl seemed to believe her words. Although Carol did look slightly less worried to Harriet, in her opinion at least.
"A couple of walkers were laggin' behind the rest, they saw Sophia and chased her into the woods," Daryl answered from beside her, after he had moved to come stand near her when she had told them where Merle went.
"Where is Rick and T-Dog?" She said after looking around and seeing they were also missing from the group.
"Rick went after Sophia. T-Dog is in the RV, cut his arm real bad hidin' from the walkers." He answered her again.
Suddenly, Carol let out a sob that bordered on a wail when Rick came running out from the trees with blood splattered on his clothes, "It's from the walkers!" He exclaimed quickly when he realized how he looked. "It's from the walkers that were chasing Sophia, not Sophia, they didn't get her."
"Then where's Sophia?!" Carol cried out looking around for her daughter, "Where's my baby?"
"She's not back yet?" Rick looked like someone had punched him in the gut, as he looked around to the rest of them as if just realizing the little girl wasn't there, "I told her how to get back here, she should have been back here by now."
"You abandoned my baby?!" Carol wailed out horrified.
"No, no, I had to lure the walkers away, they were gaining on us, it was the only way I could take care of them without worrying about her, she's probably still hiding right where I left her scared. That's all, Shane, Daryl, Glenn come with me we'll go get her, the rest of you wait here just in case," He said, turning to head back into the woods to where he last saw Sophia, the three men mentioned racing after Rick.
Lori held Carol trying to reassure the woman as she practically broke down in sobs again, meanwhile Harriet had to grab both Teddy and Carl to stop them from following after the others. "We wanna help look for Sophia too." They cried at her, but she just shook her head.
"The others are already on it, they will bring her back, we don't need the two of you getting lost in the woods as well," She told them firmly, knowing that they were just worried about their friend and wanted to feel useful. "Besides Merle still hasn't come back yet either, I'm sure he has Sophia and is keeping her safe."
Fifteen minutes later as the group quietly waited for the others to return, Shane and Glenn slowly walked out from the woods and up the hill to the road, "Where's Sohpia? What's happened? Why are you back? Where's Rick and Daryl? Do they have Sophia? Has something happened to Sophia?" Carol asked the questions so fast that neither had time to reply to her until she had run out of questions.
"Everythings okay," Shane told Carool reassuringly, "Rick and Daryl are hot on her trail, and as soon as they find her they will head back. In the meantime Rick wanted Glenn to keep helping Dale fix the RV so we can get out of here as soon as they get back. Who knows when or if another group of walkers comes through again, we can't be stuck here." Shane explained as he started to give out chores for the group, "Andrea if you wanna help me move these cars out of the way so we can drive outta here? Harriet, Lori, you guys keep gathering supplies with Carl and Teddy, I'm sure we can still find plenty of food and water."
Harriet nodded, turning to Teddy and Carl, "Come on boys, how about we make a little bet; whoever can find a first aid kit first gets this chocolate bar." Harriet said, pulling a bar of chocolate from the box she had put into the pillowcase earlier. Thankfully her plan to distract the kids worked when she saw their eyes widen at the sight of the candy bar, the two exchanged looks before racing to the car nearest to them that was filled to the brim with things. "Don't just look for a first aid kit either, I'll throw in another chocolate bar to whoever finds the most stuff!" She called after them watching the boys yell at each other that they were going to win. "And remember to stay in eyesight and earshot at all times!"
Turning to Lori she looked over at Carol who had gone back to hovering by the railing looking for her littler girl, "If you want to stay here, keep her company, I'll watch the boys." Harriet suggested.
Lori nodded, whispering to her, "I'll try to keep her from getting hysterical."
"I'll make sure they stick to the cars around here, try and keep them within a hundred feet or so." She told the other mother who nodded in appreciation.
Several hours later the other had yet to return, Carol was no longer crying instead she stood at the side of the highway looking into the forest for her daughter while glaring at the rest of them. She didn't understand why they were still waiting for the others to return, why they weren't all in the forest looking for her daughter. Lori stood near the women pretending to search through the car next to Carol to keep an eye on the now angry mother. Teddy and Carl were still working, each working to build the bigger pile of supplies, if Harriet was to decide she would have to say Carl was winning at the moment, the little kid was fast.
Shane and Andrea meanwhile had cleared enough of the highway for the RV to turn around, hopefully by the time the others get back with Sophia the RV will have been fixed and they can be back on the road before the sun goes down. Dale and Glenn unfortunately had not been able to get the RV fixed yet and were still working on that. T-Dog, still in pain and weak from blood loss was sitting in the shade of the RV trying to keep cool, Andrea after finishing moving the cars had joined the injured man and would glare at Dale whenever he looked towards the blonde woman.
Harriet herself was sorting all the supplies that were being collected, putting most of it into the bed of the truck, with Merle's bike out from the bed they had the extra space for supplies. Shane was now working on getting another car going, stating that with the amount of gas they siphoned from the other vehicle. Harriet ignored the suggestive wink he sent her when he mentioned the bonus of having the privacy of his own car to sleep in. 'I should have never let him kiss me.' Every chance he got she caught him shooting her leering looks, 'He needs to stop, it's starting to creep me out.' The fact that the car Shane was working was right next to where the truck was parked meant they were in eyesight of each other.
"Shane!" The sound of Carl suddenly yelling out had Harriet immediately seeking out the two boys, spotting both boys running up to Shane, seeing nothing chasing them and both boys wearing excited expressions on their faces Harriet sighed and went back to sorting the supplies.
"Carl, what happened?" Lori said having run over when she heard her son yell thinking he was in danger.
"Mom, me and Teddy found something cool!" Carl told his mom, missing how she let out an exasperated sigh when she realized he was fine and she had no reason to be panicking. "Shane, check it out!" Carl said excitedly, dropping the bundle in his arms on the ground next to Shane. Unrolling the bundle revealed an assortment of bladed weapons. "It's a whole arsenal."
"That's cool, Bud. You guys should go give 'em to Dale." Shane told the boys distractedly as he focused on the engine he was working on.
"Check this one out," Carl said, pulling one out to show Shane, and Teddy.
"Whoa it's a hatchet," Teddy exclaimed with a matching grin to match his friend.
"Be careful," Lori casually scolded moving forward, "Don't play with those."
"They're really sharp," Carl said, showing Teddy and giving a mock swing.
"What did I just say?" Lori scolded louder.
Carl, not noticing he was walking on thin ice, turned to his mom to ask, "Can I keep one?" as if he was asking to have a toy not keep a lethal weapon meant to maim and kill.
"Are you crazy?" Lori asked, snatching the hatchet from Carl, kneeling to put it back in its holder.
"No way, Shane," Carl said, rolling his eyes at his mom while turning to Shane, "Shane, tell her to let me keep one."
'Oop… bad choice kid, that was disrespectful,' Harriet thought to herself, and it seemed Shane was thinking the same thing as Shane had finally looked up from the engine he was working on to look at Carl.
"Hey, Man, go give them all to Dale now." Shane scolded, Carl gave him a look not believing that Shane seemed to be taking his mom's side and not his. When Shane realized Carl didn't quite believe him yet he yelled at him, "GO."
Carl's face went red, Harriet could tell he was a bit angry and embarrassed that he didn't get his way and was scolded in front of his new friend. With a scowl Carl rolled up the leather case holding all the blades, "Come on." He said to Teddy and the two boys quickly moved away..
Shane sighed going back to working on the engine not realizing a tense silence that was building as Lori slowly turned glare at Shane, "What was that?" She asked Shane casually after a minute or so of glaring in silence.
"What was what?" He replied, still not noticing the glare being sent his way.
"The way you blew him off just now," Lori snapped, "You crushed him."
Shane, having finished fixing the engine of the car, closed the hood, while turning to look at Lori in confusion. To be honest Harriet felt a little confused as well, she wasn't sure how Shane could have crushed Carl. If anything she felt Shane had responded to Carl's disrespectful attitude responsibly, and was just honoring Lori's wish for Carl not to mess with the bladed weapons. Shane blinked at Lori for a second before turning with a shake of his head to move to open the driver side door of the car.
"I don't believe you," Lori scoffed when she realized Shane was apparently set on ignoring her, "You're giving me the cold shoulder?"
Shane looked at Lori over the top of the car giving her a gesture as if asking Lori 'What do you want from me?' With a huff he asked, "Isn't that what you wanted? Aren't you the one who said 'stay the hell away' from him and you?"
"Did you forget what happened?" Lori spat back defensively, "How you lied about my husband? How you tricked me-"
"How I tricked you into what?" Shane asked, looking at Lori anger slowly crossing his face, "What do you think that was?"
Lori glared at Shane, "I think it was pretty plan what that was."
"A mistake," Shane answered, looking off to the side and Harriet felt for the man that clearly had his heart broken, "One that I admit too, I have a few mistakes under my belt, Lori." He admitted before glaring at Lori, "But so do you." Shane turned trying to end the conversion, but Lori followed.
"No debate there," Lori admitted the tone of her voice changed and she was talking to Shane in a pleading voice as if she was begging him and he was the one doing a bad thing, "But Shane, we need to stop this."
"Stop what Lori?" Shane bit out giving Lori a cold look, "As far as I'm concerned, nothing ever happened and you are just the wife of my best friend and partner." Harriet grinned, cheering Shane on in her head, she was glad he was standing up for himself and not listening to Lori. She was clearly trying to make it out like Shane was the main factor in what had happened when they both held equal responsibility in their actions.
"What?" Lori asked stunned.
"You heard me, we got nothing to talk about." Shane looked away from Lori's stunned expression to sit in the driver's seat of the car, attempting to turn on the car. It stuttered for a moment before roaring to life and with it the radio came to life as well, blaring through the speakers at full volume.
"The Emergency Alert System had been activated."
The first noise on a radio anyone had heard in months had most of the group quickly moving to gather around the car from wherever they had been so they could hear what was being said.
"The Office of Civil Defense has issued the following message: Normal broadcasting will cease immediately. This is a civil emergency. "
"Is that a local signal?" Glenn asked as he came around to join everyone else in listening to the broadcast.
Dale nodded from where he was standing next to Glenn, "It's got to be within fifty miles of here."
"Please do not venture outside of your designated place of residence. Avoid anyone infected at all costs. Remain calm. Help is on the way. The Emergency Alert System has been activ-"
Shane reached back into the car turning off the radio when he realized it was playing the same looped crap that had been over the radio they had been hearing for weeks, "Asshole." He muttered, looking up to everyone still gathered around the car he tapped the hood, "Alright everyone let's get back to work."
~~HPWD~~
The sun had been setting by the time Rick and Daryl had returned without Sophia, the little girl's trail had gone cold and with it getting dark they had decided to come back, and the whole group would look for Sophia first thing in the morning. Carol unfortunately broke down in a new wave of hysterics and sobs upon realizing her daughter was going to have to spend the night in the forest alone.
Harriet had tried to mention that Merle had not returned yet either, and it was likely that Merle had Sophia and there was nothing to worry about but most practically scoffed at her for mentioning Merle and her words had little effect in reassuring Carol. However Teddy believed her, especially when Daryl agreed with her stating that only Merle could kill Merle and so until Merle came back there was no need to worry.
Early the next morning just after the sun rose the group gathered around the hood of a car next to the RV where Rick laid out the collection of bladed weapons Carl had found, "Everybody takes a weapon." He said, as all the adults who didn't already have a weapon came forward to grab a blade. Carl tried to grab a small knife as well when Lori was picking up a machete only to have his hand slapped away by said mother.
"These aren't the kind of weapons we need," Andrea sneered, "What about the guns?"
"We've been over that," Shane told her his tone suggesting he has had this argument a few times with the blond woman already."Daryl, Rick and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."
"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea snapped back. Harriet found that understood the logic that they had in taking the guns away from untrained hands, she also thought they still had no right to take Andreas or anyone else's gun away, if they group got separated then only they would have the guns, everyone else would be out of luck.
"Say somebody fired at the wrong moment, and a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us." Shane paused like he was talking to a child, "So you need to get over it."
For an uncomfortable moment no one said anything as they watched the glaring match happening between Shane and Andrea, before Daryl coughed, drawing everyone's attention to him as he pointed to the map on the hood of the car. "The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek, it's her only landmark." He explained quickly before walking over to stand with her and Teddy by the side of the road, she could tell he didn't like having being the center of attention.
Rick looked around at everyone, "Stay quiet, and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other." He said stepping back, while Shane stepped forward.
"Everyone make sure you have a pack with you," He said, holding up his own backpack as an example, stuffing a bottle of water into it for them to see.
Rick turning to Dale said, "Dale, you and T-dog keep on those repairs. We've got to get this RV ready to move." He nodded to T-Dog who was leaning against the RV nursing his injured arm, and looking like he was in a great deal of pain.
Dale standing from his sitting position in the RV door nodded to Rick, "We won't stay here a minute longer than we have to." Harriets eyebrow twitched, 'Now, why would you say it like that?' She thought to herself, eyeing the old man and wondering if perhaps the RV was already fixed and he was pretending it was still broken, and if so why. "Good luck out there, bring Sophia back." He said, nodding at Rick.
"Keep an eye on Carl while we're gone." Rick said, turning to pull Carl towards Dale. Harriets eyebrow did arch there, 'We are literally looking for a missing child and you want to leave you child alone? Nope. Teddy is staying within eyesight of me.' She thought about actually putting a hand on Teddys shoulder to reassure herself.
"I'm going with you." Carl said, shaking his head and stepping back to look at both his parents as he started to argue his point, "You need people, right? To cover as much ground as possible. Teddy gets to help, I want to help look for Sohpia too, she's my friend too."
Rick groans as Carl tossed most of his own words back at him, looking to Lori he hoped she would back him up only for her to shake her head, "You're call. I can't alway be the bad guy."
Rick sighed looking at the ground before looking to Dale for back up, only for Dale to say, "Well, he has all of you to look after him. I'd say he is in good hands." He told him with a shrug.
Rick fiddled with his sheriff's hat, before looking at Carl who looked at his dad pleadingly. "Okay. Okay." He finally relented, stepping forward to grab Carl by the shoulder to look him in the eyes to convey how serious his next words were, "But always within our sight. No Exceptions." Carl nodded trying to fight the grin from crossing his face, he wanted his dad to take him seriously but he was happy he could come along and help find his friend.
When Rick, Lori, and Carl moved off Andrea stormed up to Dale glaring at the man, Dale just held up his hands, "Andrea, I'm begging you. Don't put me in this position."
"I'm not going out there without my gun," Andrea stated calmly but firmly, "I'll even say please."
The group slowly shuffled about getting their packs ready, pretending not to listen in but Harriet could see them all peaking to look at Dale and Andrea and the tension building between them, and not the good kind of tension either. "I'm doing this for you." Dale said, shaking his head negatively at her.
"No, Dale," She argued, Harriet could see why she was a lawyer, even though Harriet could see the anger Andrea held for Dale at the moment she was holding herself together quite well, "You're doing it for you. You need to stop, what do you think's gonna happen? I'm gonna stick it in my mouth and pull the trigger the moment you hand it to me?"
"I know you're angry at me," Dale said in a quieter tone realizing that the whole group could hear them, "That much is clear. But if I hadn't done what I did, you'd be dead now."
"Jenner gave us an option, I chose to stay." Andrea told him firmly.
"You chose suicide." Dale argued.
"So what's that to you? You barely know me." Andrea spat back.
"I know Amy's death devastated you." Dale said about to say more when Andrea snapped at him.
"KEEP her out of this." She glared at Dale, "This is not about Amy. This is about us, and if I decided that I had nothing left to live for, who the hell are you to tell me otherwise?" Andrea said, her voice starting to shake, "To force my hand like that?"
Dale looked and Andrea lost for words and said with a shrug, "I saved your life."
"No, Dale," She snarled, "You forced that on me. I didn't want your blood on my hands and that is the only reason I left that building." Dale looked as if Andrea had slapped him, "What did you expect? What, I'd have some kind of epiphany? Some life-affirming catharsis?"
Dale, still looking lost for words, shrugged, "Maybe a little gratitude."
"Gratitude?" Andrea asked him in disbelief, "I wanted to die my way, not torn apart by drooling freaks."
Harriet flinched at the word not noticing Daryl's eyes shifting to her when she did, she was too busy pretending not to listen to the two argue like everyone else.
"That was my choice," Andrea said, her voice becoming sad as she looked mornfully at Dale, "You took that away from me, Dale."
"But-"
"But you know better." Andrea finished his sentence for him before adding, "All I wanted after my sister died was to get out of this endless horrific nightmare we live every day. I wasn't hurting anyone else. You took my choice away Dale, and you expect gratitude?"
Dale looked sadly at her, "I don't know what to say."
"I'm not your little girl. I'm not your wife, and I am sure as hell not your problem." She told him coldly, "That's all there is to say." Shouldering past him Andrea stalked off without getting her gun and started towards the side of the highway where Sophia had disappeared from. The rest of the group, realizing they had no reason to keep standing around, quickly finished making their individual bags and moved to join Andrea. Heading away from the road the group slowly formed a line, Daryl and Rick leading, then Andrea, Carol, Glenn, Lori, Teddy and Carl, and at the end Hariet and Shane.
They had been walking for a while when Carl pulled out a folding blade, showing it off to Teddy, it was no more than three inches long. "Look what my dad said I could carry, and Mom said I could keep it as long as I don't play with it."
Teddy grinned, "That's so cool, I want a knife like that, right now I just have this," He said pulling his potions knife from the small sheath that he had attached to his belt. He really only used it for collecting potions ingredients but Harriet had taught him that if he lost his wand, a blade was still a weapon even if it wasn't meant to be used as one. "My mum can teach you how to keep it clean and how to sharpen it, she knows all about that kinda stuff." Teddy offered.
Carl apparently thought Teddy was bragging because he suddenly said, "Well Shane knows all about that kinda stuff too, he can teach me, watch." He said, turning to look back at Shane, "Shane, can you-" he called back only for Shane to say back in a hush.
"Keep your voices down, we're looking for Sophia," Shane told them, turning to look behind them for a moment as an example, "Gotta focus on the task at hand."
The two quickly turned back around, each putting away their knives, with Carl giving Teddy a hurt look and whispered, "I think he might be mad at me,"
Teddy shook his head softly whispering back, "Nah, think he's just worried about Sophia is all."
Carl asked quietly, "You think so?"
"Yeah, mum gets like that sometimes when she's working on a case with kids. I bet as soon as we find Sophia he'll be fine, and we can ask him then." He tried to reassure his friend.
Meanwhile both Harriet and Shane who could hear everything the kids said exchanged looks and similar winces at the kids words. The two slowed just a little, putting just a little space between the group, Harriet whispered, "I try not to take work home with me but when it involves kids…" She trailed off, Shane nodding beside her. Cases involving children were hard on everyone, and usually left a mark on the ones working the case, the things people could do to each other still shocked Harriet at times.
"Yeah," Shane agreed, the two falling into silence as they followed after the group.
Moving around a group of trees Daryl suddenly kneeled holding his hand up for the group to stop as he spotted something up ahead, Daryl then pointed ahead and just through some trees they could see where a tent was pitched. Shane moved to the front coming to stand behind Rick, and Daryl to get a better look at the tent, "She could be in there." He said quietly.
"Could be a whole bunch of things in there," Daryl replied, shouldering his crossbow just in case as he started to move forward. Rick nodded his head towards Shane, after motioning for the group to wait, the two men slowly moved forward with Daryl to check out the tent.
After a few moments Rick called back for Carol, the worried mother hurried forward, the rest of the group slowly approaching as well. Rick whispered to Carol, "Call out softly. If she's in there, yous is the first voice she should hear." Daryl meanwhile stood just outside the tent with a knife just in case he heard the wrong kind of noise come from inside the tent.
Carol called out softly, "Sophia, sweetie, are you in there?" After a second of silence she called out again, "Sohpia, it's mommy, We're all here baby, it's mommy." After a few seconds more of silence Rick motioned for everyone to wait again while Rick and Shane moved to join Daryl at the front of tent weapons ready just in case. Rick nodded to Daryl, who slowly opened the tent flap, coughing when a bad smell must have hit him. The smell must have been pretty pungent as Rick and Shane both started to cough and make faces from the smell as well while Daryl after a moment to catch his breath entered the tent.
The group waited with baited breath, listening for noise good or bad coming from the tent. After a few tense seconds of only hearing Rick and Shane cough and gagging Carol called out worriedly, " Daryl?" When he didn't immediately answer she called out again, "Daryl?"
Just then Daryl came back out of the tent taking a deep breath of the fresh air before saying, "It ain't her." Carol sagging in relief having thought the worst for a second when he hadn't answered her right away.
"What's in there?" Andrea called out, stepping forward curiously.
"Some guy," Daryl replied with a shrug, "Did like Jenner said, Opted-Out, ain't that what he called it?"
Suddenly the sound of church bells started to ring through the trees, the group all looking in the direction of the noise then back around wide eyed at each other before they all took off running towards the sound of the bells. After a while when the sound of the bells came closer it became harder to tell which direction the sound of the bells was coming from, "Which direction?" Shane asked, looking around for any danger, as the group came to a stop, everyone looking around.
Harriet, who still kept up the rear making sure Teddy and Carl stayed in front of her at all times, looked around trying to pinpoint the direction the noise was coming from as well. It reminded her almost of the forbidden forest how the sounds would bounce off all the trees confusing any would be traveler. "I think that way," Rick said pointing off to where the sound seemed to be loudest, "I'm pretty sure."
Shane shook his head unsure, "Damn, it's hard to tell out here."
"If we hear them, maybe Sophia did too." Carol said in a hopeful tone of voice.
"Somebody's ringing those bells, maybe call others." Glenn commented following after Carol.
"Or signaling that they found her." Andrea suggested to the worried mother.
"Or she could be ringing them herself," Rick said, starting to take off in a light jog, "Come on." He urged everyone else. After a few minutes of jogging the group broke the tree line into an open area, Harriet paused as her eyes took in the massive graveyard surrounding a small white church on the far side of the graveyard.
"That can't be it." Shane said, pulling her out of her daze, "Got no steeple, no bells." He said with a shake of his head looking just as confused as Rick. Rick however shook his head and took off again in a light job across the graveyard towards the church, "Rick." Shane called out before following after him, the group all following. Harriet closed her eyes for a moment before taking off after everyone else, taking the time to try to avoid stepping on any grave.
Running around to the front of the church the group slowed as Rick, Daryl, and Shane ran up the steps to the chapel. Harriet grabbed Teddy, and Carl kept them out in the yard with her, "Let them clear the place first, there could be some walkers inside." Harriet told them using the term that the rest of the group has taken to when referring to the walking undead.
Watching Rick slowly grab one handle of the double doors, Daryl grabbing the other, the three exchanged glances before Rick nodded and they pushed the doors of the chapel open. Slowly the rest of the group walked up the steps, from where Harriet stood with the two boys she could hear them dealing with several walkers inside. After a few seconds the noise inside quietened, and then she heard Rick yell out, "SOPHIA" By his tone she assumed he hadn't found her inside and he was hoping she was hiding somewhere else on the property.
Most of the group were either inside or standing in the doorway of the church, when church bells loudly rang out, jumping at the sudden noise, she watched the group scramble back out of the building and to the the side where the ringing was coming from. Harriet and the boys moved to join everyone on the side of the building just in time to see Glenn rip something from an electrical box mounted to the outside wall, the sound of the ringing bells immediately stopping.
"A timer," Daryl said pointing to the microphone that the electrical box was connected too near the roof of the church, "It's on a timer."
The group stood around for a moment in silence when Carol turned saying, "I'm gonna go back in for a bit." and headed back into the chapel of the church, most of the group heading back inside or over to explore the other building of the church. Thanks to her loving relatives Harriet never felt comfortable entering any kind of muggle church and decided to stay outside in the shade of a tree, Teddy with permission from her had followed Carl into the chapel.
Just as she sat on the ground leaning against the tree she spotted Lori approaching Shane who had remained just outside the chapel acting as watch for the group. Lori looked around quickly before turning to Shane and asking in a tone that sounded more suggestive than questioning, "You thinking of leaving?"
'Of course, if he leaves then you are free to paint him as the bad guy, and ignore your problems,' Harriet thought to herself when she realized Lori was picking a fight with Shane right in front of the chapel where said husband and son were currently inside of. 'Does she just not care who hears the two of them as long as it's not her husband or son? Or did she not see me sitting here?'
She watched Shane turn to stare at Lori for a second before looking away as he asked, "You think that's best for all of us?"
"I think it is," Lori said, "Don't you?"
Shane shook his head at her, "Gotta back away. I'm trying to be the good guy here Lori," He turned to look at Lori as Harriet could see the heartbreak on his face, "Even if you don't see it, none of this was intended. I hope you'll realize that."
"So what? You just gonna disappear? You're not even gonna tell Rick something?"
Harriet frowned thinking to herself, 'He never said he wasn't going to tell Rick, Merlin, he never said he was leaving, you suggested it.'
Shane must have had the same thoughts judging by the look on his face when he turned to look at Lori, with a shake of his head saying, "No, that's on you. If you want me to leave I'd have to slip away, he'd try and stop me otherwise. You can tell him what you want or tell him nothing at all. You're his wife."
"And Carl? We dragged him into this." Lori snapped at Shane.
"I Love Carl." Shane snapped back.
"He thinks you hate him," She said accusingly.
"I'm trying to put some distance between us like you wanted, I'm trying to be the good guy here," He said defensively, "This ain't exactly easy on any of us, least of all me. I'm the one that loses you." His voice broke almost at the end and Harriet felt her dislike for Lori skyrocket. The two stared at each other for a moment before Lori turned her back on Shane heading into the chapel.
Shane turned only to freeze, looking over Harriet spotted Andrea who was peeking out from the side of the building, 'Did Lori really not look around at all before talking to Shane? I mean the doors of the chapel are open, I'm surprised Rick didn't hear the two.' She thought to herself realizing she wasn't the only one to witness the two arguing. After a second Shane still stalked off around the church, and after a second she watched Andrea chase after Shane. Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye she spotted Daryl silently moving to join her in the shade of the tree watching Andrea chase after Shane, 'And now that three people who witnessed the augment over your affair Lori. I'm finding it very hard not to keep judging, but so far I think you're a cunt.'
Nodding to Daryl when he came to a stop in the shade near her, she looked back to the entrance of the chapel waiting for Teddy to come back out with Carl. About a minute had passed when Daryl's voice rolled over her, "Got nothing you wanna pray about?"
Looking up at him again for a second, before looking back at the chapel she said softly, "I try to avoid having to speak with him if I can." She could feel Daryl giving her a look at the odd comment but didn't say anything else as the rest of the group slowly started to join the two under the shade of the tree ready to move on, standing back up to give Teddy a hug when he came back out of the chapel with Carl.
Finally everyone was ready to move on waiting on Rick and Shane who were talking quietly to each other off to the side. After a moment Shane clapped Rick on the shoulder before turning and heading over to them giving a cough to get everyone's attention, "Y'All gonna follow the creek bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge." He said, relaying the plan that he and Rick had decided on apparently. "Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough."
"You're splitting us up. You sure?" Daryl asked from beside her, giving the two a look.
"Yeah, we'll catch up to you." Shane said, nodding his head at all of them.
"I wanna stay too," Carl spoke up, moving to give his dad and Shane, "I'm her friend." He said putting on a brave face.
Rick and Shane exchanged looks, before Lori suddenly looked at Carl saying, "Just be careful, okay?" Giving her permission for her son to follow his father and Shane.
"I will." Carl promised quickly, giving his mom a hug.
"When did you start growing up?" Lori asked, giving her son a hug.
Rick moved over, giving Lori a kiss and a hug of his own, Harriet watched Andrea shoot Shane a look over Lori's shoulder and Shane turned away, making it obvious he wasn't comfortable watching Rick and Lori being affectionate. "Here, take this." Rick said to Lori, holding out his colt for her, "Remember how to use it?"
Lori shook her head not reaching for the big pistol, "I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed."
"Here, got a spare. Take it." Daryl said, pulling a gun he had tucked in the back of his pants and offering it to Lori, earning a nod of appreciation from Rick.
Just as the group started to split up Teddy grabbed her arm, "Wait mum, I want to go with Carl and keep looking for Sophia too. She's my friend too." He pleaded with her giving her his best puppy dog eyes.
With a sigh she looked over at Rick and Shane and said, "Teddy and I would like to join you and keep looking for Sophia." When the nodded Teddy gave a soft whoop and moved to join Carl, the other boy giving him a matching grin.
Harriet gave a nod to Daryl as he moved past her with the rest of the group as they headed off back to the highway. Turning back to the four she heard Rick say, "Give me a minute." to Shane and Carl before heading back into the chapel. Shane sat on the steps of the chapel, Carl joined him with Teddy following after his friend. Harriet smiled softly watching Teddy want to copy his friend, as she leaned back against the tree she had been sitting under previously enjoying the shade for just a little while longer. 'I wonder if I could get away with some cooling charms…. No, they would wonder why I was no longer sweating profusely. Plus it wouldn't be fair to them or Teddy.' She thought to herself as a gust of wind blew the hot humid Georgia air at her.
After about five minutes Rick emerged from the chapel, "Get what you needed?" Shane asked as he, Carl and Teddy moved to stand.
"Guess I'll find out." He said walking off in the opposite direction the rest of the group had left in.
"Well alright then." Harriet said sarcastically, getting a grin from the three as they moved to follow after Rick. Not even a minute later they broke the treeline and were back in the woods, losing sight of the church quickly in the thick woods.
They had only been walking for roughly thirty minutes, Rick leading, Carl and Teddy following behind with her and Shane bringing up the rear. The sound of sticks cracking ahead caused the five to pause, Rick holding up his hand motioning for them to be quiet and duck down some. Slowly he pointed to something up ahead. Slowly the five moved forward, freezing again when out from the trees ahead of them emerged a deer. Harriet smiled softly when she spotted the stag grazing, she always held a soft spot for stags.
Shane slowly went to move forward raising his shotgun, but stopped when Rick caught his attention, motioning to Carl and Teddy as the two boys were slowly creeping forward towards the stag innocent smiles on their faces. Harriet following behind the two moved off to the side to get a better look at Teddy and Carls faces hoping to have this be a good memory she could share with his grandmother Andromeda if she ever got them home.
The stag looked young and it apparently had never seen a human before as when it saw Carl and Teddy it merely lifted its head but made no move to run away, encouraging the two boys to step closer. Looking over she exchanged smiles with Rick and Shane as they watched the innocent moment happen for the two kids. Looking back at Teddy then over to the stag she smiled watching as it turned its head towards them.
She barely registered watching the stag's ears shift back towards something and just past the deer off in the trees she saw movement before instinct had her reacting.
"PROTEGO!"
A solid blue shield of light flashed into existence in between Carl, Teddy and the deer as the sound of a gunshot rang out.
She watched as if everything was in slow motion as the stag dropped dead, Teddy turning to her with wide frightened eyes as she suddenly felt a sharp burning pain and the next thing she knew darkness had claimed her.
* TO BE CONTINUED*