Chapter 15
Harry wakes with a small jerk, softly panting and shaking. The dark images fade away into the recesses of his mind, probably to coil up and wait for the next time he falls into a magically exhausted sleep.
Zoey’s back is pressed against Harry’s side as she lays facing the wall, still deeply asleep. Harry isn’t sure when he got here or when Zoey crawled in but he can only assume it’s morning by the dim light peeking through the window on the door.
Harry sits up and nearly startles at seeing Sirius sitting next to the door. His Godfather nodded off at some point, his chin on his chest and arms crossed. Harry winces, knowing the man cannot be comfortable like that and wonders why he didn’t find a bed to lay in at some point. Surely they couldn’t have been that paranoid?
Harry stands and pads over to Sirius’ still sleeping frame. It’s a testament to his Godfather’s exhaustion that he doesn’t react to Harry’s approach.
“Sir’?” Harry whispers as he reaches out to touch Sirius’ shoulder.
Harry breathes in sharply, just barely catching the yelp as a hand instantly grabs his wrist and holds it in a tight grip. Sirius is suddenly awake and glaring at Harry, glazed grey eyes blinking to focus. Then, seeming to gain some mental clarity, Sirius drops Harry’s hand like it burned him. He instead brings both his hands to his face to rub out the sleep, “Sorry, Pup.”
Harry shakes his head, even though Sirius doesn’t see it, “Why didn’t you find a bed?”
“Nodded off,” Sirius replies quietly, looking haggard and wrung out. He looks Harry over with a keener eye, “How’re you feeling?”
Harry glances over his shoulder at Zoey and replies, “I don’t want to wake her up. Is it okay if we head outside?”
Sirius stands, “I’ll check. Wait here.”
Harry waits, checking on Zoey again while Sirius makes sure the coast is clear. When his Godfather peeks back in to nod, Harry joins him out the door. The crisp morning air does wonders to chase away the remnants of his nightmare and Harry takes the moment to just breathe. He doesn’t remember much beyond leaving that terrible room, so he isn’t aware exactly how long he’s been out. He doesn’t think it’s been more than the night but he hadn’t expected to sleep the first few days at Sanctuary, either.
“You doing alright, then?” Sirius asks Harry after giving him a moment.
Harry shrugs and nods a little, “I’m hungry but my magical levels seem to be okay. How long have I...?”
“It’s the next day. There have been a few developments.”
Harry grimaces, reluctant to hear about it but knowing he needs to, “Tell me.”
Sirius looks just as eager as Harry as he starts, “We only knew something was wrong when I heard your shout. I knew something happened but Negan didn’t hear you and it took precious time looking for you to get him on board. How the hell did they sneak up on you?”
“Rory distracted me-” Harry answers but then jerks with realization. “Wait, did Rory-”
Sirius’ solemn negative shakes Harry. He failed. Again.
“Damn it,” Harry swipes a hand through his short hair. Unable to keep the swell of rage at bay, Harry turns away and tries to find something to kick – punch – anything to get this... anger out of the way. Rory was right there. Harry should have pushed harder, he should have done more-
Sirius reaches out and smacks Harry upside the head.
“Ow!” Harry complains, knocked out of his train of thought. He glares petulantly at his Godfather, rubbing the soreness as his magic kicks in to ease it. “What gives?”
“You were blaming yourself,” Sirius shrugs, not seeming to be all that bothered by it.
Harry scoffs, “It is my f-”
“Shhh!” Sirius covers Harry’s mouth and tugs him into a one armed hug. “Shit happens, Pup. You’re not allowed to take this on your shoulders. Nothing that happened yesterday was your fault.”
Harry wrestles his way out of the hold, scowling impressively at Sirius’ unamused face, “It is though! You weren’t there!”
“No, I wasn’t but I know that you aren’t in control of other people’s actions and what happened was out of your control. You have enough to worry about, don’t take this on your plate, too.”
That brings Harry up short, “But...”
Sirius shakes his head again and reaches out, placing his calloused hands on Harry’s thin shoulders, “Harry. What you’ve done is enough. I promise.”
Harry swallows the hard pill and nods, greatly disliking it but accepting it to ease the strain in his Godfather’s brow.
Sirius stays like that for another few moments, studying Harry’s face to make sure.
“Good,” he says, stepping back and diving right back into their discussion. “Anyway. We got into the house through the window. It wasn’t hard for me to find you but Negan insisted on clearing every room anyway. I assumed he opened the front door for his men because we didn’t come in with them.”
“What happened... after?” Harry asks, not willing to dive back into what happened in that room.
Sirius grimaces, “We captured three of the men that took over the mansion. Negan and I questioned them... it wasn’t pretty. They were executed last night.”
“How?”
“You’ll need to ask Negan, I was on guard duty all night,” Sirius shrugs but Harry catches a certain tone to it.
“You do know, you just don’t want to tell me,” Harry accuses.
“I plead the Fifth,” Sirius turns his nose up jokingly but then tilts his head. “I didn’t get to see it but I heard some things. That’s all I’m going to say on the matter.”
Harry accepts it. He can always ask Negan later.
“Anyway, Ol’ Greggie’s dead,” Sirius informs Harry conversationally. “The bugger got stabbed trying to keep control of the monsters he invited into his closet. Whoever disagreed with them ended up the same way. We found their bodies in the basement – I heard it was pretty nasty down there.”
“Merlin,” Harry utters in disgust and anger. How could they do all of that? What drove them to that level of self-destruction? He remembers they stole all the alcohol... surely the drinks weren’t enough for them to let go of their humanity to commit such atrocious acts?
Sirius nods, as if hearing Harry’s thoughts, “I know.”
Harry glances aside, pausing when he spots a woman watching him. A man stands just behind the woman, close enough to give ideas to their relationship but not touching. Both of them look to have been put through a rough wringer and pressed into oblivion. Sirius follows Harry’s gaze and murmurs, “She’s been there for five minutes now. I think she wants to talk to you.”
“Is she-?” Harry doesn’t finish before Sirius is nodding in affirmation. Harry turns fully and approaches them, his Sense flaring to life to take them in. The man’s is pitiful and small, lighting up a bit every time he glances at the woman. She, on the other hand, bears no flame. She stands there like a ghost and with the pale pallor to her skin, she almost looks like one. She holds herself like she’ll fall apart if she doesn’t, yet her head is held high and her jaw is set in stubbornness. She watches Harry get closer with a detached sort of stare and he wonders if this is even a good idea.
Harry comes to a stop a few feet from them. Sirius comes to a stop behind him, having followed silently.
“Hullo,” Harry greets neutrally, glancing between them. “Did you need something?”
The man shifts, glancing at the woman, “W-well, um...”
“How did you know?”
Harry meets the woman’s eyes. He sees nothing in them, not even the curiosity that led to her question. Her Will is still snuffed, not even a spark as she stares at him. Her partner lingers near her but doesn’t touch. It’s more than obvious he wants to but refrains from doing so. Harry focuses and finds the early stages of disease, probably stemming from her assault. He ignores the heavy damage from the assault and also finds pretty severe dehydration and malnourishment on top of internal damage to her chest, abdomen and arms. She has hairline fractures on numerous bones... one bad fall will likely straight up break them. How she’s standing here in front of him, Harry doesn’t know but the sheer stubbornness is strange.
Harry doesn’t even try to pretend she doesn’t know what she’s asking, “I can sense it.”
“How?” She demands, a spark of anger lighting up in her dead eyes.
Harry doesn’t owe her answers but he feels like she need it. He can’t give her the truth but he can give her an answer, “I just can. I can also sense that you’re developing an unfortunate side effect of your stay.”
Her eyes blank out again, the anger gone, “What do you mean? It’s not-it’s too soon to-”
Harry catches on immediately and winces, hands raising to stave off that line of thought, “No, no! Merlin, that’s not what I meant. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been so vague. No, there’s none of that. You’re infected with whatever those trolls were infected with.”
Disgust roils through her, in the form of a literal shiver, “I have some kind of STD?”
Harry shrugs and nods, “It’s too early to say what kind, I just sense something wrong.”
“You can...” the man cuts in, his voice cracking a little. “They said you can heal. We saw it, you can.”
Harry nods, knowing where this is going, “Yes but I’m afraid my abilities are limited.”
“What- what does that even mean?” the man asks, almost shrilly. “You-you-you kept that kid alive for-for a while. How-how the h-h-he-” the man cuts off, red in the face and wheezing. Harry focuses on him and finds that the man has some minor asthma that’s being set off by his stress.
“Please calm down, you’re setting off your asthma,” Harry tells him bluntly. “I know how it sounds but it’s true. My abilities don’t work under specific conditions and she knows exactly what condition that is.”
“How did you know about my asthma?”
“It’s a little obvious right now, man,” Sirius cuts in.
“You knew,” she says quietly, staring at Harry intently. “You knew. How could you know? How could you possibly know? I didn’t say anything. You don’t know me.”
Harry simply nods, “I don’t know you, you’re right. But I do know that you’ve hit a hard limit in your life and I don’t judge you for it. However, until you’ve reached the point where I can help you, there’s nothing I can do for you. Right now, the ball in your court, miss. I can’t serve it for you.”
She stares at Harry, a small spark of something in her eyes. However, despite his words, the Flame of her Will doesn’t reignite. Her partner’s Will flares with hope as he looks at her but with her lack of reaction, it dies down again in to the fluttery thing it had been.
Harry turns to the man instead, “I can clear that asthma for you, it wouldn’t take very long.”
The man balks, utterly taken aback, “You can d-d-do that?”
The woman looks between them, broken hoping piecing together on her face.
Harry nods and offers his hand, magic already pooling into his palm, “I just need to touch your chest. I can also vaccinate you as well, as I’ll be doing the same to the residents.”
“Vaccinate? Paul’s claims were true?” The woman asks, a bare spark of her Will flashing for a moment. “You can really do that?”
Harry shares a look with Sirius, “Yes, Paul wasn’t lying. I can vaccinate against the virus, there’s no more turning regardless of death.”
The man stares at Harry’s hand and then looks at his partner, “I-I’ll only d-d-do it if y-you do.”
“Rodney!” she scolds angrily, that spark appearing again. “Don’t you dare-!”
“No, Sid! I’m n-not d-doing this with-without you. You and-and-and me, remember? Us ag-against the world!”
Sid’s stoic facade cracks and her eyes water as she looks down, “I can’t, Rod. I just can’t. You fucking know why I can’t!”
“Then I-I-I won’t ei-ei-either,” Rodney stutters out resolutely as he steps away from Harry. “You g-go, I go. Th-that’s wh-wh-what it is! We p-p-promised!”
“How dare you,” Sid whispers, grief breaking through. She abruptly turns and walks away, leaving Rodney behind without another word.
Harry shifts uncomfortably when the man just puts his face in his hands to weep.
“You still have time to convince her,” Harry eventually says, with lack of anything more helpful to provide. “I’ll need to vaccinate everyone else soon and that’ll take at least an hour.”
Rodney’s spark flares a little. He wipes his face with a wordless nod and heads off after his partner. Harry breathes a sigh of relief, feeling wrung out already. Why did he think this was okay to do?
“Good job, Pup. You handled that very well,” Sirius compliments, a hand landing on Harry’s upper back a few times. Then he wraps that arm over Harry’s shoulders and starts walking.
“Feels like I stepped on all the landmines,” Harry quips humorlessly, allowing Sirius to guide him away. “Or at least watched that poor chap do so.”
Sirius hisses in empathy, “Yeah, they have a lot to work through. That’s for sure. She react at all?”
“I saw some sparks but they didn’t stay. I think there’s a chance she’ll come around but I doubt it’s going to be any time soon. It’s really too bad, she doesn’t deserve to suffer from what those men did to her. She’s still in really bad shape.”Harry can only hope that Rodney is enough to sway the woman back towards life. If not, well... she deserves every bit of control over her own life. It must have really hurt her to have Rodney pull that stunt on her.
“We’ll just take things one step at a time, then. He’s got an hour to do something about it and they can always come to Sanctuary if she changes her mind down the road. Today’s no may be tomorrow’s yes,” Sirius mumbles to Harry comfortingly. The words ease Harry’s discontent with the situation.
Harry pushes into Sirius’ side appreciatively, “Thanks, Sir’.”
Sirius ruffles Harry’s hair, “Don’t even mention it, Pup. Go in and wake her Lordship, she won’t forgive us if we head out without her.”
Harry shakes his head with a grin, unable to refute that claim. Zoey would definitely be irate with them if she woke up alone. Harry heads inside and finds Zoey just sitting up, rubbing her eyes.
“Where did you go?” Zoey asks him crossly, her glare still somewhat glazed over from sleep.
“Sorry, sorry,” Harry replies, approaching the bed and sitting down. “Just needed some fresh air to wake up properly and didn’t want to wake you up. How did you sleep?”
“Fine,” she grumbles as she pulls the blanket away. She doesn’t seem fine, though. She seems distracted and a little too upset about Harry’s absence. “I gotta pee. What time is it?”
“No clue but probably early. Are you okay, Zo?”
“I’m fine, Harry,” Zoey snaps out of nowhere, pushing past him off the bed. “Let’s go. The sooner we get these people vaccinated, the sooner we can leave.”
Harry stares at Zoey’s back and wonders if she’s mad at him or at something else, “I’m so-”
“Don’t!” Zoey whips around and points at him angrily. “Not everything is about you, Harry.”
She leaves the shelter before he can say anything.
Sirius pokes his head in, “Probably best you just let her be for now. Come on out, Negan’s almost here.”
Harry sighs, utterly thrown within half an hour of waking up. What a way to start the day. Now he’s going to feel like he’s walking on eggshells. Instead of dwelling on it, Harry heads back out just in time to see Zoey dodge Negan’s one armed hug.
Ah, so it’s definitely not Harry she’s mad at. Good to know. It’s odd that she’s that pissed with Negan, though. What happened in the last... however long to get this? One glance at Sirius only yields a shrug.
“What’s wrong, Zo?” Negan asks.
Zoey huffs and walks off.
Negan looks at them, utter thrown, “What did I do?”
Sirius answers before Harry can think to, “Don’t worry about that right now. We need to get things going if we want to be in Shirewilt on time.”
Negan hesitates but eventually lets the matter lie, “We’re going to be, regardless. There’s a lot of insistence that Harry attends the Burning today after the vaccinations. I had to talk to Lu this morning and she thinks it’s a good idea. Anton should be here shortly, so we need to get this shindig going.”
Oh no, Harry thinks to himself. Anton’s belief in Harry’s divinity has been growing increasingly annoying. He’s been dodging Anton’s continued attempts to get him to attend mass. The last thing Harry wants is to be likened to any of their religious beliefs in any way. It’s hard not to, since his abilities are so miraculous to people but Harry does what he can to avoid it.
“Does he have to be here?” Harry complains without meaning to.
Negan sighs, “These people need peace, Harry. Make do for now, he won’t be following us to Shirewilt.”
Harry feels shame, having forgotten about that. Zoey’s earlier claim presses on him and he swallows down his dislike, “Right, sorry.”
Negan just nods, “Come on. Not everyone slept last night, so almost everything is prepared for the day. We’ll be getting the vaccinations out of the way, then we’ll be heading out to where they’ll be Burning their dead. Have you eaten yet?”
“I haven’t even gone to the loo,” Harry answers, shaking his head.
Negan gestures with his head as he turns away, “Get your shit figured and find me near the gate. I’ll get everyone together.” He’s charging away without giving Harry the chance to respond.
Harry looks at Sirius, “Are you going to call me out, too?”
“I could but at this point, it’s just sad,” Sirius smirks. “Like kicking a puppy.”
Harry rolls his eyes, “Alright, alright. I get it. I’ll be right back.”
---
The spot they chose for the Burning was half an hour away by car.
The ones working on the pyre are discussing what to do and where to place the wood. They are all subdued, there is no laughter, no smiles. Everyone works together to give the dead a proper sendoff. Even Felicity and Sam help out, quiet in their assistance. Beatrice and Theresa direct the process, trying to get the pyre built correctly so the bodies will burn properly. Paul stayed behind with Negan and a few others, intent on keeping Hilltop secure until everyone gets back.
A loud clatter draws Harry out of his thoughts. The pyre looks done and they start laying the bodies out. Anton reads from his worn Bible and blesses the dead with holy water. Body after body is placed and blessed until the truck bed sits stained but empty.
The Hilltop residents respectfully gather around the large pyre. Some openly weep, others stare dead eyed. The atmosphere is thick with grief and guilt.
Anton takes a lingering look around, meeting the eyes of every survivor that stare back. Then, he places his hand over the open Bible in his other hand and recites aloud, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Anton’s voice rolls over the sudden chain of bitter weepers. “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Amen.”
“Amen,” many murmur, including Zoey. Harry glances down at her. She's holding the necklace he had taken from Abuela. He’s glad she’s drawing comfort from it, as that’s what he’d intended for it from the beginning.
Anton continues with another prayer, asking safe passage for their souls to find their way. Once another Amen is said, Anton closes his Bible and places it against his chest. The two bearing torches light the pyre and it doesn't take long for the dry wood to light up.
“If anyone has anything to share, memories or anecdotes of those who passed on, I encourage you to do so,” Anton looks around and then deliberately stares at Harry. He shifts uncomfortably, feeling very relieved when someone does.
“-so nice. He always wanted to help out, no matter what it was. He was the first to volunteer for a run, even though he hates going outside-”
Anton's belief in Harry's divinity is becoming problematic. Before they left, Harry had been dodging the codgy old man several times a day. He doesn't want anyone worshipping him, thanks!
As if inspired, someone else shares their experience, “-she was strict but, like, not in a bad way, you know? She knew what she wanted and she did it, you know?-”
Harry doesn't even know why he's here. He stares at the slowly burning clothed wrapped bodies and wonders which one is Rory. He doesn't deserve to be here, sharing in their grief and camaraderie.
Rory shouldn't be one of the bodies on that pyre.
“-he was such an early bird, right? Always up at the crack ass of dawn practically chirping-”
Negan and Lucille insisted that he come here and do this. Sure, Harry saved some of them but what happened here was almost directly caused by what Harry set in motion to protect Zoey. Sure, they can’t control how people react but he could bet if Lucille hadn’t pressed the issue on Gregory’s absence, this wouldn’t have spiralled so hard out of control. There’s no way for them to know this would happen, of course, and there’s no telling if it could have been avoided even if they didn’t press it. Harry certainly doesn’t blame Lucille for it but it’s never been more obvious than now that this mission of his can and will be to the detriment to the people around him.
Harry tries to resolve that to himself.
It might take a while.
“-he wasn't very nice most of the time but I knew deep down that he did care. He just didn't know how to show it-”
If Harry and Zoey hadn't gone over… what would have happened? Would the men inside have just continued their planning, none the wiser to the secret door to the basement? What would they do once they found the bodies? Would they freak out, draw attention to themselves? Would they act like mature adults by staying quiet and retreating? Would they even tell anyone about the secret door?
“-remember that time he tried to help Larry in the kitchen? Oh, man, I never seen Larry chase someone out with a fucking ladle-”
Laughter. Even quiet and subdued, there is joy to be found in letting go. Eventually the stories taper off and everyone devolves into groups. Some openly mourn, their tears exhausted but unable to stop trying. Others envelope each other in holds and hugs to keep each other together. There are the few that stare vacantly into the fire and say nothing at all and some who chat amicably.
Fe and Sam stand together, hugging each other. Harry figures Zoey would rather be with her friends right now than babysitting her brother. Harry leans over and whispers, “Go.”
Zoey whips her face up, confused, “What?”
Harry motions to the girls with his chin. Zoey follows it and lights up a little when she realizes what he's saying, “What about-”
“I'll deal with him. Go,” Harry prompts again, this time nudging her.
Zoey doesn't waste time. She stands and power walks to her friends, who light up a little at her approach. Harry smiles a little when he sees them fold into each other. It's good to see her open up like that to other people. He’s glad they didn’t hold his failure over Zoey’s head. She deserves to have friends like that.
Harry tries to de-tangle himself from his previous lines of thought. He shouldn’t be brooding here. This isn't about him – like he’s been reminded several times. It's about them and their grief. Rory deserves better than that.
“Harry,” the use of his name draws his attention. Anton stands there, bible clutched to his chest like he's hugging a baby.
Inwardly groaning, Harry nonetheless nods in acknowledgement, “Pastor Anton. Your Sermons were comforting and well spoken.”
“Thank you, Harry,” Pastor Anton looks a bit surprised. Harry guesses he hasn’t been the most welcome to Anton’s presence and probably caught the older man off guard. Anton regains himself quickly. “I was wondering if there was anything you would like to say,” Anton asks, motioning to the pyre. The few closest to them are watching hopefully. “I'm sure everyone would appreciate your input.”
Why? As Harry looks to the others, the notion spreads from person to person, many nods along.
“Everyone else got a chance to share,” someone says.
“I don't-” Harry tries.
“Yeah,” Beatrice speaks up from her place next to Theresa. Everyone looks at her. She continues, “Harry, you saved a lot of lives yesterday, even inadvertently. Please, I'm sure everyone here would like to hear from you.”
Harry looks at Felicity and Sam. They are both just looking at him, expressions blank and eyes shuttered. It's Zoey's little nod that gets him to accept the new, strange request.
“Alright,” Harry stands from the tree stump he claimed to stay out of the way. He hears Sirius shift behind him, ever vigilant so Harry doesn't have to be. His eyes fall to the fire, where the flames dance over blackened flesh. The smell of burning flesh is never pleasant but every single person remains unbothered. Gruesome is the realization that they are all too used to the smell.
Harry thinks about what he wants to say. He wants something simple but meaningful. Staring into the fire, it comes to him, “A great man once said, ‘To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.’ So I say to you and those that have yet to move on,” Harry looks around for a moment, noticing he has every set of eyes on him. “Remain not but look forward. We shall meet again, someday.”
As if his magic had infused his very words, the pyre flares up for several long moments. Everyone gasps at the odd display, murmuring to each other. Anton prays under his breath, his wonder filled eyes shifting from the erratic behaviour of the fire to Harry. He can barely keep from rolling his eyes. Great, now he has to deal with this.
Why did the fire do that? He's no expert on fire but he's pretty sure it doesn't randomly grow several feet from nothing. From the reactions of everyone else, it was also an abnormal event for them too. He did not use his magic, even subconsciously, because he would have felt the drain.
The ambience thereafter is strangely… light. Harry sits back down, content to be ignored after all that. He looks at Zoey, who gives him a thumbs up. Harry smiles, nodding with his own thumbs up. Tears dry, people hug and speak quiet words of comfort to each other. Their shoulders are loose instead of tight, their smiles easier and their eyes less troubled.
Well, whatever it was, if it results in this, Harry doesn't know if it can be a bad thing. Maybe Death wanted to be dramatic. Harry didn't see it but that doesn't mean it wasn't around. There was this aura of… peace to everyone now. Harry doesn't remember any funeral that felt like this one.
It's not saying much, considering he doesn't remember a lot. Maybe he's just reading too much into it.
—
A few people stay behind when it comes time to head back. Harry was very eager to part ways with Anton, who had left shortly before them to return to Sanctuary.
By some stroke of luck, they had not been interrupted by either Biters or other survivors. Leaving a car behind for those remaining, everyone else heads back to Hilltop. Harry, Zoey, Sirius and Henry scarf down the last of Harry’s snacks in the privacy of the Savior van. He hopes Shirewilt isn't in as dire straits as Hilltop so he can stock up. His magic gobbles the excess sugar and converts it directly into more energy, soothing the fatigue he's been feeling since this morning's vaccination. It's certainly not healthy to eat so much candy and crisps but with Hilltop's current crises, fresh food is in short supply.
“Did you do something?” Zoey asks after food and water are consumed. Harry looks at her and she clarifies, “The fire.”
Harry shakes his head, “No, I didn't do anything. I don't know what that was either.”
“It was strange, wasn't it?” Sirius says in a curious tone. “It was as if-... no, couldn't be.”
Harry's lips twitch when Zoey demands, “What? What do you think it was?”
Hook…
Sirius shakes his head, looking very concerned and unwilling to share, “No, no. Forget I said anything.”
“Sirius!” Zoey scowls. “Come on! Tell me!”
Sirius thinks about it.
Line…
“Come on! I can handle it! I'm not a kid!” Zoey insists, sounding exactly like one. Harry tries not to smile.
“Oh, all right. Fine. But you can't tell Negan I told you this, okay?” Sirius points at her menacingly.
Zoey nods rapidly, expectation lining her face.
Sinker!
Poor Zoey. Now that she's more comfortable around him, Sirius is going to be pranking the hell out of her.
“I'm holding you to it! Okay. Okay, okay, now, hear me out. What I think happened… oh, no, I don't think I can say it. Don't make me say it.”
“Sirius!” Zoey reaches out, trying to smack Sirius’ leg. He evades every attempt with an aggravating brow wriggle.
“Okay! Okay!” Sirius says, holding his hands up. “I'll tell you.”
Zoey stops, her arm still raised threateningly. Harry manages to raise a hand to hide his grin.
Sirius peeks to make sure she actually stopped and relaxes, “Whew. Okay. Where was I?”
“You were gonna tell me about the fire!” Zoey reminds him impatiently.
Sirius squints at her, “Surely you already knew it was to burn the bodies?”
“What?” Zoey asks, perplexed. Harry manages to keep down a snicker but isn't able to keep the small grin off his face. He didn't get a good enough poker face from the poker nights he was able to attend. If she looks at him, she might catch on, so he has to stay very quiet and unobtrusive.
“You don't know what a pyre is for?” Sirius asks in obviously fake concern. “Dear Lord.”
“Of course I-that wasn't what I-you-” Zoey scrambles to figure out where the hell the conversation went wrong and Harry is trying so very hard not to laugh. Zoey recovers and says firmly, “You were going to tell me what you thought about the fire acting like that!”
“Oh!” Sirius makes a sound of understanding. “Right! Acting like what?”
Zoey's sputtering is making his sides shake with repressed giggles. Harry can see the curve of Henry's grin from his profile.
“Oh, that,” Sirius nods sagely, adopting a thinking pose. Then, after a long, long minute of Zoey getting progressively more impatient and Harry busting stitches trying to keep his humour to himself, Sirius shrugs, “I have no idea!”
“What?!” Zoey asks a little shrilly. “You were just gonna tell me before you chickened out!”
“I did no such thing,” Sirius denies with a sniff, making Zoey scoff indignantly.
Harry can't hold it. He burst out into tear inducing laughter. Henry does too after Zoey looks at Harry with a betrayed gasp.
“You're so mean!” Zoey snaps, the sound of Sirius’ brief pain making it known that she smacked him somewhere. “Jerk! I was being serious!”
“But you can't be! I'm Sirius!”
“Your jokes suck, too!” Zoey sticks her tongue out. Harry laughs some more at Sirius’ dramatic gasp.
“We're approaching Hilltop,” Henry states, making everyone plunge into sobriety. Zoey sulks in her seat at being played like that. Harry knows she'll get over it.
The gates open as they approach. After Henry parked the van, Sirius gets out, leaving his side open for Harry to crawl out. Zoey, still sulking, gets out on her side and slams the door shut.
“Hello everyone!” Paul calls out, catching the attention of every survivor. Negan is standing next to him. Harry wonders what's going on. “Can I have a moment of your time please!”
Though some are clearly reluctant, all wander towards Paul.
“I want to… uh,” Paul's smile is self deprecating. “I told you all of what happened at the Summit, just as I had with Gregory. There was one thing I told Gregory that I didn't tell you; Negan and Lucille took offence to Gregory's refusal to attend the Summit, as our contract states he must if need arises.”
“Yeah, we didn't like it at all,” Negan shakes his head.
“So,” Paul takes back the conversation. “Negan and Lucille basically asked me if I was willing to lead Hilltop from now on. I felt like I didn't have a choice because I needed to see if what they said in the letter about vaccinations against the virus were true.”
There are some murmurs. The people are conflicted with themselves and each other on how to feel about it all. Where is Paul heading with all this?
“When I came back here, I was so inspired by their plans and kindness in offering us free vaccinations that I made the mistake of telling Gregory about them offering me leadership of Hilltop. I let my ego take over. All of this could have been avoided had I kept my ego in check and lied to Gregory. He wouldn't have felt so threatened to take action and no one would have suffered so.” He opens his arms and says, “I won't ever be able to make up for this and words don't mean much but I am very sorry for the tragedy I brought to Hilltop.”
There is utter silence for a minute. Then, Beatrice steps between Felicity and Sam to say, “Stop the pity party, Jesus. You were always our leader so buck up! We have work to do.”
Harry smiles.
Paul blinks in surprise, “What?”
“What, you thought we actually took Greggie seriously?” Harlan draws impatiently. “It's the mark of a good man that doesn't seek the power of leadership but has instead earned it.”
There are nods all around. Harry can see the surprised pleasure on Negan's face. He must have figured everyone would try to lynch Paul.
The man in question is genuinely confused, “Why?”
“Do we have to spell out everything?” Theresa asks in exasperation. “You've done ten times more for everyone here than Ol’ Greggie would ever manage to achieve in his dreams. Why you kept going to Greg for everything, no one could figure out but you kept his stupidity in check well enough, so no one was too bothered by it.”
“Give yourself a break, Jesus,” Harlan says genuinely. “You can't control how other people will react. You were very obviously trying to tell Greg about it but he refused to listen and took drastic action to keep you from screwing him over. Everything that's happened this last week isn't your fault, no matter what Natalia or anyone says.”
Almost everyone is nodding in agreement. Some tears slip down Paul's cheeks openly, he does nothing to hide the joy he feels at their support and forgiveness. He just nods humbly, “Thank you, everyone.”
“That doesn't mean we aren't mad at you,” Beatrice warns. “You did fuck up. People did die. You ain't allowed to back out and disappear. You gotta stay the fuck here and make it up to us and those who died. Hear?”
Paul can only nod, straightening his shoulders and back.
“Well then!” Negan cuts in, scratching the back of his head. “That makes this next part a bit awkward. You see, he was so certain that you guys would want nothing to do with him that we had a little chat. You guys have a choice to make right now.”
Everyone shifts uncomfortably.
Paul speaks up, “We don't have enough people for a place this big. If we are being watched by aggressive survivors looking for an opportunity, they finally have it. Not only that but the daily workload we are used to will easily be doubled.”
“What are you saying?” Theresa asks.
“I'll be frank with you all,” Negan says, instantly commanding all of the attention. “Sanctuary is looking for space to expand. New survivors are found by the month and our numbers are higher than comfortable. Our first choice will be difficult to attain but if you guys can't protect Hilltop on your own, we may as well turn it into a farm and move our overflow into it.”
“Wait, you want to take Hilltop from us?”
“No way. Hilltop is our home.”
“I'll defend this place to my dying breath if it means we get to stay here.”
What is Negan doing? This wasn't in the plans and even if they had somehow predicted this outcome, isn't it cold to make plans to use the space now that it can't be defended?
Paul raises his hands, “Or!” Everyone quiets down. “Or!” Paul says again, making sure he had their attention. “He lends us a squadron of his Saviors and supplies we need to help us get back on our feet and a few weeks from now, we help Sanctuary clear their intended place.”
“And what place is that?”
“You think we're stupid enough to agree without knowing where ya'll wanna move to?”
“Honestly, it's better than joining Sanctuary.”
So that's what Negan is aiming for. They could certainly use extra hands, as most of the Workers of Sanctuary dislike dealing with the Biters in any way. If they were forced to take up arms to help clear the base, they'd most likely die and they wouldn't fare any better defending Sanctuary from threats in the Saviors’ absence. Three quarters of the Saviors alone won't be able to help because they still need to patrol the roads and maintain the Hoard Network.
It's unfortunate that Ezekiel and his people ended up not wanting anything to do with helping Sanctuary take the base. They could certainly use the boost in numbers. From what Sirius was able to see, there are too many just outside for a frontal assault of just thirty or so Saviors. However, even with Hilltop's help, their depleted numbers are hardly going to make a difference. At this rate, they may have to just go with Harry's idea; taking two people into the base to clear it out. Once it's clear, Negan can bring people over to set the place up after Sirius and Harry draw the ones outside away.
It's a good plan. Lucille just really won't like it. Neither will Zoey. As capable as she's become, there is no way in hell Zoey will be allowed to go with. It's going to be a headache dealing with her.
“We're going to take an army base next to the Potomac River,” Negan says confidently, as if they weren't currently lacking manpower.
The effect of the endeavour ripples across everyone. The murmuring starts up, discussions on the authenticity of Negan's claim abundant.
“If we can do it, I wouldn't mind living in an army base!”
“That's impossible. I saw an army base before I came here. There were thousands of Walkers in them!”
“That's really tempting. I wonder if we actually agree to help, if we'll be allowed to live there too.”
“Of course!” Negan states, pointing and taking her aback. “If we do take the base, there will be plenty of room for everyone!”
“What would happen to Hilltop, then?” Beatrice asks. “Can't argue that an army base would be way safer to live in.”
Negan shrugs, “We'd have more than enough room for farming. Maybe a staging area for hopeful survivors? See if they can be trusted to live in the base with everyone el-why are we even discussing this? Are you guys in or what? We have places to be.”
“What do you say, Jesus?” Theresa asks, looking at him. Everyone does, even those who are unhappy with him.
Looking confused on why they still choose to follow him, Paul replies with, “I think that if we want the future where we live safely and happily, it has to be together. We all need to work together to build that future.”
“So…” Beatrice says in a teasing tone. “That's a yes?”
Paul smiles, “Yes. We should agree.”
A beat of silence. Then, Harlan says, “Good. Can we all go now?”
A round of chuckles erupt as Negan and Paul wave them away. Everyone disperses.
“Thanks for everything, Negan,” Paul shakes Negan's hand. Harry stays back to avoid the gratitude for his part. He doesn't want to be thanked for failing to save Rory. Instead, he backs away and sneaks back to the van.
“Where do you think you're going?”
Harry freezes with his hand on the handle. Felicity and Sam are there, staring at him accusingly. Crap.
Harry faces them grimly, ready for whatever they may have to say. He should have figured they would want to say their piece.
Felicity crosses her arms, “Why couldn't you save him?”
Struck hard, Harry forces himself to answer truthfully, “I… wasn't able to get to him in time and I only had so much energy to heal after the others. If I healed the wound, he wouldn't have had enough blood for his heart to keep pumping, so I had to concentrate on making enough blood to keep him alive. It… it wasn't enough. I'm sorry.”
Felicity gives no quarter, her face and countenance cold as she asks, “Why was he shot?”
Harry sighs, scratching the back of his neck forlornly. He doubts she's going to like the answer at all, “Because of me. Their leader wanted me to heal the poor woman they were torturing so they can start anew but… my abilities…”
“Zoey told us how they work,” Sam interrupts, shocking him. What the hell? “Go on.”
Still taken off guard at the level of trust Zoey has placed in these girls, Harry continues, “She wanted to die because she knew what was in store for her the moment he made the demand. I tried to explain but he didn't believe me and s-shot Rory to force me into it. I literally couldn't do anything. I tried to get to him but-”
“Stop,” Felicity snaps. Harry does, shocked more than obedient. “Why the hell are you apologizing?”
Harry has no idea what the hell she's talking about.
“I thought you said or did something stupid that got him killed but here it's just a power tripping prick. No one knew what happened but you, so I wanted to make sure Zoey was right to defend you.”
Much like Paul probably felt, Harry feels utterly off balance. How can she say that when he failed?
“Stop blaming yourself, the world doesn't revolve around you, you know,” Felicity states coldly.
“Self pity is a real turn off,” Sam comments, looking him up and down disdainfully.
“What?” Harry blurts out, utterly lost. What in the bloody hell? Why does he keep getting told that?
Felicity rolls her eyes, “You heard me. I know you have to go soon, so we're just gonna say this once.”
“Only once!” Sam sticks out her hand with her pointer finger up.
“Don't be a stranger,” Felicity says, uncrossing her arms. “And get over yourself!”
Flicking their hair over their shoulders, they both walk away, knowing they have the last word. Harry is too flummoxed about what just happened to make heads or tails of it. Is it even worth asking why Americans are so bloody confusing anymore?
Not only that but... they don’t even blame him. Probably because of Zoey telling them about Harry’s abilities and limits. Did they get into a fight about him? Harry hopes not but it’s very likely.
“Okay!” Negan bursts into view, heading for his truck. “Another load of Saviors will be coming along shortly. We'd better head out if we want to make it to Shirewilt by sunset. Let's vamoose people!”
Sirius chuckles, having heard every word. Harry turns to him with a pleading expression but Sirius just shakes his head, “I told you, it’s just sad at this point. Has it gotten through your thick head yet?”
Harry just nods, sighing. He allows his guilt over Rory fall away somewhat. It’ll take a while to let it go entirely but he’s not going to continue to blame himself. This whole thing has been one giant shite show and now he's more than eager to leave it behind. Hopefully, with lack of communication from Shirewilt, their visit will go much more smoothly.
“Wait,” Harry says. “Can I make a call on the walkie real quick?”
Sirius shrugs and leans into the van to grab it, “Checking in?”
“I'm worried,” Harry murmurs, seeing Henry approaching. Sirius nods, handing the walkie over. Harry sets the frequency to the right channel and says, “Sanctuary, this is Harry. Can I speak to Lucille?”
Sanctuary here, I just saw her. Standby.
Harry waits patiently as Henry gives him a weird look but gets into the driver's seat.
Harry, this is Lucille. Come in.
Relieved and noting she doesn't sound stressed, Harry replies, “Hey, Lu. Just checking in. How's everything?”
She must have sensed his apprehension or something because she immediately chirps in reply, Oh, all clear skies here. Miss you guys so bad.
It’s hard to determine how much she knows from her tone. Harry doesn’t want to break the fragile bubble. “I'll let Zo know. Thanks. We're heading to our last destination right away.”
Not gonna let Negan know? Shame on you. Lucille teases. But alright. Safe travels. Tell that husband of mine to call me tonight on the walkie or else.
Harry grimaces, glad he doesn’t have to have that conversation. “I’m sure he’d be more than happy to share. Harry out.”
Harry gives the walkie back to Henry as he crawls back into the van. Zoey appears at her door, finally joining them. Must have been saying goodbye to her very confusing friends.
When Sirius gets in and looks at him, Harry nods. Everything seems to be going well back home. Harry just hopes it stays that way. Sirius seems satisfied by whatever he gleans from Harry's gesture. He closes the van door.
It's barely seconds later that they begin their trip to Shirewilt.
They will be heading back first thing in the morning. With everything that happened in Hilltop, they're behind on schedule and will need to leave bright and early. They’re going to be very far away from anything that may happen in Sanctuary. Too far to help in time.
Harry can only hope nothing comes of their paranoia.