Chapter 16
“Harry, wake up.”
Harry jerks awake, the nightmare that had just started turning ugly slips back into the depths of his subconscious. Sirius is watching him try and wake up.
“Morning, sleepy head,” Sirius says. “We're about five minutes out.”
“Thanks, Sir’,” Harry rumbles as he sits up and stretches. He took a nap to regain as much energy as possible so they don't have reason to dawdle in the morning. He's positive that he won't struggle in vaccinating everyone but he's just unsure if anyone has an injury that he can heal.
They eat the emergency rations that were packed into every car and promptly arrive at Shirewilt.
“You coming? Harry asks as he unbuckles himself, Sirius having already left the van.
Zoey shakes her head, “Just go, I’ll be out later.”
Harry just sits on Sirius’ seat and looks out the windows. He’s waiting for Sirius’ signal that things are clear before he gets out. Too much shit happening since they left Sanctuary for Harry to feel comfortable leaving the safety of the van.
Man, how much of himself had Matron stripped away? Where did his bravado go? Where did his courage to vaccinate go? How can he have gotten to this point where he was afraid to leave the van.
On top of all that, he's really worried about Zoey. She's hasn’t spoken much since they left Hilltop and she won’t even look at anyone.
“You okay?” Harry asks, concerned. Zoey looks at him and he says, “You've been really quiet. Wanted to check in.”
“Just… have things on my mind,” Zoey admits, sounding reluctant.
“Mind sharing?” Harry asks hopefully.
Zoey shakes her head, “Not right now. Maybe later, okay?”
Harry backs off, nodding. He's not going to push her if she's not ready. He trusts her to talk to him when she is.
The van door opens, Sirius’ head popping in to say, “Negan's given the go ahead. Let's go.”
Harry leaves Zoey in the van, knowing she's safe in it. George is talking to Negan and their beefed up Savior guard is fanned out, alert and wary. There are a lot more people here than Harry figured would be.
“Harry. How are you doing?” George offers his hand.
Harry takes it, “Swell. You?”
George tilts his head, “It's complicated. Too complicated to talk about over the walkie. Negan filled me in, looks like we're going to be hitting everything hard to get ‘er done. You ready?”
“What's going on?” Harry asks, looking between George and Negan. Why is all of this so complicated? Harry knew not everything would be smooth sailing but it seems like one thing after another when all he wants to do is go back home.
“We got some new arrivals, more than we can support right now,” George answers, motioning to the tight knit group sitting together some ways away. He doesn't see all of them but Harry's heart jolts in his chest when he recognizes two.
Shit.
“Harry, they were claiming the military hit their community,” Negan informs Harry in a quiet tone.
Merlin's balls.
“Did they say where their community was?” Harry asks a little faintly. “And how did they convince you to let them in?”
“They saved my life, actually,” George answers sheepishly. “Everyone else is really looking forward to moving into more secure dwellings. There's been a lot of activity around here recently and we don't like it.”
“I wonder if Hilltop would be partial to taking everyone in,” Sirius ponders curiously. “They wouldn't have to be so reliant on the Saviors and you'd be much closer for us to help.”
“If it's quieter than here, then I'll convince them but only if Jesus and his people are willing to give us space,” George says, clapping his hands together in relief. “No offense but we ain't going to Sanctuary. We'd end up sleeping on the floor.”
“They have the space, there were some recent developments,” Negan retorts, staring George down.
“I-it will have to be explored… later-you've been very helpful, thank you. Excuse me,” Harry distractedly brushes through, bee-lining for the familiar face. That very face that took almost as much delight in Harry's torture as the Matron. She just happens to look up right then to see Harry barrelling towards her.
“Holy shit-!” she yelps, jumping to her feet. She knocks the other familiar woman over in her bid to get away, nearly face planting into the ground. She's quick to get up, turning to face Harry with a terrified expression on her face.
“Don't you dare!” Harry snarls, not even running to catch up. The gate is behind him. She'd have to climb the walls to get out. Let her tire herself out. “Bloody coward! Don't have the Matron to hide behind now, do you?!”
“Wait! Wait! Wait! Please! Wait!” she pleas, her hands up in surrender as he bears down on her. “How the hell are you even still-!”
“Harry!”
Harry stops short, his head whipping around to look at not only Eugene, Jessie and John but also-
“Sahara,” Harry hisses, bristling from head to toe. What the hell are they doing here? Why are they with John and his sons? What the hell happened at Zenobia?
“D-don't hurt her, okay?” Sahara pleas, her hands making gentle motions as it will calm Harry's ire. “I'm the one at fault here, okay. I admit it. I'm sorry. But man, you don't know what was happening after Dani…” Sahara's voice cracks and she has to take a moment to regain it. “After that Bitch killed Dani. Can we just talk, man?”
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait!” Negan steps in, physically separating each other's view. Harry snarls when Sirius grabs him to pull him away, so wired up in anger and indignation that everything is registering as an enemy. “Someone tell me what the fuck is going on here.”
“Hey, hey! It's just me, calm down,” Sirius whispers, making Harry calm a little. “That's it. I've got you. What the hell was that all about?”
“Harry, it is you!” Jessie's voice wafts over. “Eugene, remember Harry?”
“H-Harry?”
“Let me go,” Harry pulls away from Sirius’ grip, too wired for any comfort. He would try again for Jessica but now Sahara is doing a good job of keeping her out of sight with her own body. He clenches his fists over and over again, trying to push away the intrusive memories of Jessica's cruelty. Not only hers but the thoughtless debasing all the girls inflicted upon his person every time they interacted with him.
The groping. The cruel giggles. Stripping his clothes away. Stripping his dignity away. Calling him derogatory names and enjoying the power they had over him. Harry still remembers Jessica pushing that button, so long ago. How long she held it down because Harry tried to escape. He remembers everything and they won’t be allowed to sweep it away like it didn’t happen.
Sirius blocks Harry's view of the girls, forcing Harry to look at him. Negan takes the situation over with a, but “Hold on, now. You guys just sit your asses down. Yes, right there. You, sugartits, yes, you, explain how you know Harry. Now.”
“Negan, this is unacceptable! They saved my life-” George tries to intervene.
“Sure seems to be easy to do that, George. Maybe they saved your life on purpose, hm? Maybe waited ‘til you were vulnerable and in need of some help. Or maybe they manipulated the situation to seem like that. What is it, George?”
“Talk to me, Harry,” Sirius requests calmly, thwarting every attempt Harry makes to get around him.
Harry shakes his head, unwilling to be even a little vulnerable. Not anymore. This… this is too much. He was trying to put all of this behind him but here it is! Shoving the ugly memories of his imprisonment between white walls and a cruel woman to the forefront of every thought so he has no choice but to recall every instance of all of them treating him worse than an animal. Terrence had been better taken care of than everyonethere.
“Negan, I respect you but this is my community and I'm the one in charge. You will leave my guests alone.”
Harry starts feeling nauseous. This is too much. First it’s Shiva, then it’s drama in Hilltop and now this? Now he has to face down all the women that tortured him and what? Forgive them? Vaccinate them? Harry doesn’t know if he can bring himself to do so and if he says no, what will people say? Harry had been very open about forgiveness and working together but how can he stand behind that with those... those... he doesn’t even know what to call them, he’s so done.Why are they even here?
“If you ain't gonna get out of my way, then I'll be taking Harry and my people back to Sanctuary tonight.”
“Negan, you really going to risk everyone like that? A three hour drive in the dark ass night? Around here? You have no fucking clue what's around here. Don't be stupid.”
“George, we can just go-” Jessica tries to step in, obviously knowing Harry’s reaction to her is the reason for their argument.
“No, Jessica! We'll die if we leave!” Sahara denies.
“We’re going to die if we stay here!” Jessica snaps, turning on Sahara and pointing at Harry. “You think he's going to just let us go? After what we did? You did?!”
“And what did you do?” Negan asks as Harry tries to shove all of the invading memories away enough to function. His hands pull on the short strands of his hair and he tries to push away the flashes of their hands in the shower, washing him down and their mocking giggles at his debasement.
“Negan, back off,” George warns.
“Gene! What are you doing? Come back!”
“Wait Dad-”
“Nothing! We-it's not my fault!” Jessica cries, tone beginning to shrill in her panic. “She made us! She made us!”
“Jessica!”
“What the fuck is going on?” Zoey's voice pierces the arguing but not enough to stop anything. It does make Harry look, though, to which he freezes when he finds Gene rounding Sirius. Harry's Godfather notices as well and stiffens, not having heard the mousy teen come up.
Gene's eyes are far less blank than the last time Harry saw him. The bullet wound is a simple, small white circle on his forehead that's only noticeable because of his dirty face. His clothes are the same but dirty and ripped and his bag has seen better days. When Sirius goes to intercept Gene, Harry holds his hand out and shakes his head. Sirius reluctantly allows the mousy teen to get close.
Gene stares at Harry for a long moment, eyes narrowed. Then, his eyes widen and he lifts his hand to clutch at his chest where the Matron had shot him. Harry wonders if Gene had forgotten the entire exchange before now. Gene's eyes suddenly widen in absolute terror and he keens, clutching his head tightly.
“Gene!” John pushes his way through everyone, leaving his older son Jessie behind with Sahara and Jessica.
Harry swallows harshly, guilt gnawing at him. The other teen acts nothing like the snapshot of his old self that Harry could remember. Harry steps back, out of John's way as he grabs his son, frantically asking where it hurts. Harry looks at Jessie and finds the other's expression conflicted and pained.
“Gene?” John asks, dirty hand smoothing over Gene's probably dirtier hair. He gently reveals Gene's forehead, the brows, eyes and mouth covered by filthy hands. When Gene fails to answer, John turns to Harry. “He's been like this since you healed him. What's wrong with him? Didn't you do it right?!”
Sirius is quick to step closer to Harry at the rising tone. Harry studies Gene closely but as far as his magic Knows, Gene is malnourished but not injured. He doesn't know what's going on and wouldn't even be able to hazard a guess.
“What the hell happened?” Negan asks. Harry jumps when someone suddenly hugs his arm but calms back down upon seeing Zoey's braided hair. Harry idly notes they aren't the ones he put in before they left Sanctuary. She seems wary of the dirty strangers, as it's obvious they're not from Shirewilt.
“I-... I don't know,” Harry replies hesitantly. “There's… nothing to heal. He's fine.”
“He's not fine!” John snaps angrily, not noticing he made Gene flinch. “He can barely talk! You did this to him! Fix him!”
“Hey, calm the fuck down,” Negan growls.
“Dad, I keep telling you!” Jessie comes in, shoving his Father from Gene enough to extract the pained teen. “There's nothing wrong with him!”
“Jessie, you don't know what you’re talking about!” John tells his son firmly, disappointed scowl in place.
“He looks fine to me,” Zoey says flatly. Harry gives her a look but she rolls her eyes at him.
“No, Dad, you don't know what you're talking about!” Jessie pulls Gene into his arms and tucks his little brother in his arms. The effect is immediate; Gene relaxes and stops the sad keening sounds he had been making. “He's not broken, there's nothing wrong with him! Just lay the fuck off, okay?!”
“Okay, I'm sick of being ignored!” Negan yells, whipping his sledgehammer out and smashing it against the ground. Everyone flinches at the sudden, unexpected violence. Negan stands the hammer on its head and growls out, “George, show Harry where your people are. You, yeah, you, Miss Jiggle, you are going to tell me what the fuck is going on here.”
“My name is Sahara,” she spits in turn, appraising Negan with unimpressed eyes.
“Negan!” George snaps. “What the fuck? You do not get to make demands in my community!”
“George I'm not in the fucking mood right now,” Negan replies angrily. “We've had one fucking shit show after another and Harry is the one paying for it, so instead of protecting these strangers, maybe you should put more effort into getting your people vaccinated, pronto.”
George's teeth grind into each other, “You know what? I can see where this is going. Maybe you should head back right now because I don't want to know what you'll be demanding as payment for this service in the future.”
“George Lenny Whittaker!” A woman calls out, sounding incredibly irate. George pales and freezes at the same time, a panicked expression on his face. “I better not hear you fucking us over because of that temper of yours!”
The woman in question approaches at a quick clip. Even Negan seems wary of her as she comes to a stop in the middle of the entire chaotic scene. She plants her hands on her hips and raises a sarcastic brow.
“I wouldn't do that, Anne,” George tries to deflect but when Anne's arms slowly cross, he decides truth is the better part of valour, “Negan and his cohorts were harassing our new friends. I was merely protecting them!”
Anne looks at Negan, who shrugs and says, “Harry knows ‘em and seems to me like he doesn't care for a couple of them. If George just listened to me, we could have-”
Anne scowls and holds up a hand, “Save it, Negan. I'm not interested in whatever dick measuring contest you two are caught up in. It's almost dark and you guys have been fighting so loudly that Dean and Trip have had to put down several Creeps.”
George and Negan both begin to look sheepish and ashamed at their actions, cowed by a woman smaller than them.
“Harry,” Anne says, catching his attention. “Are you able to vaccinate my people or not?”
George raises a finger and opens his mouth to protest but promptly abandons the idea when Anne sends him a scathing glare. Negan snickers at George's misfortune. Anne turns the glare on him, instead and suddenly, Negan has better things to look at.
“Well?” Anne prompts when both Leaders are cowed back into place.
Harry would rather be anywhere than here. With Sahara, Jessica, John and his boys, this has turned into a veritable rollercoaster of emotional whiplash. Harry needs to get away to get his head back on straight. There's just been too much to deal with the last few days and Harry just hasn't had time to work through it all. He nods quickly, “Let's just get this done.”
Anne gives George and Negan another nasty look, “I don't want to hear another peep outta y’all, hear me?” She then turns on Sirius. “And you, I see you gearing up to follow. Harry'll be fine, you babysit them.”
Sirius stiffens but a subtle nod from Harry has him giving in without much protest. The other two are sufficiently cowed. With a snickering Zoey in tow, Harry follows Anne to the largest house. She's mumbling to herself in exasperation, sounding irate.
“She's scary,” Zoey whispers to herself.
Harry agrees. He'd rather not make her any more angry than she is. She opens the door and leads them inside. The living room and kitchen are sprawled out in one large room, with a hallway and stairwell leading further in. There are more than a dozen people lounging around on the couches, chairs and floor, who all perk up at once.
“After you're done, we'll situate you in one'a the rooms upstairs for the night, alright?” Anne tells them as she ushers them inside and closes the door behind her.
“Hey, that drawing was actually accurate,” a guy jokes from the kitchen, prompting a round of chuckles.
“Hush Zack,” Anne scolds lightheartedly. “This is Harry, as y’already know. He's probably had a long day, so we'll get introductions outta the way tomorrow. Form up everyone, come on. Let's get this over with, if you please.”
Pleasantly surprised, Harry watches as they do as told. They all stand and get in line, some pushing into parts of the middle. It must be a preset line because no one makes a fuss about it. It's funny how the different communities had different ways of deciding immunity order.
“Kendra, you're out of place. Justice is before you,” Anne points at them and then swirls her finger to signal for them to trade places. They do and Harry wonders if they’re going alphabetically. That's certainly one fair way to do it. A real lottery would be pointless for so few people.
Harry looks down at Zoey with a smirk and whispers, “Can I have my arm back?”
As if forgetting she was still holding it, Zoey startles and lets go. She doesn't go anywhere though, taking her job seriously enough to even cross her arms and scowl. Harry tries very hard not to grin at how adorable she's being and focuses on the job at hand.
“You ready, Harry?” Anne inquires.
“Yes,” Harry answers succinctly, focusing the vaccination magic down to his hands. His palms tingle warmly and his magic thrums with intent. “Okay, come on. Give me your hand - just like that, thank you - you'll know it works by the tickling sensation.”
The first, a woman, eagerly places her hand in his and even though she was warned, she still jumps at the sensation. She giggles nervously and thanks him quietly, going to the couches to sit down. As Harry vaccinates the next - an older man about George's age - she begins breaking down. Anne immediately goes to her, sitting down and pulling the girl into a firm hug.
Harry spies Zoey watching the private moment blankly, her gaze focused on them but her mind far away. Harry elbows her gently and she shakes herself out of her thoughts. She makes a sound of frustration, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.
Another grateful survivor vaccinated expresses their thanks, another link in the long chain that Harry will use to protect his sister. Is he using them? Short answer is: yes. The slightly longer answer is that he will do what he needs to to make sure she survives.
No matter what it takes.
They don't know the toll this vaccination may bring to themselves in the future. They don't know that he'll ask them to lay down their lives to save his sister, if it comes down to it. Hes already seen how his resolve is impacting the other communities. How can he tell them? Not only will it paint an even bigger target on her by exposing her to the local wild survivors but it will also create a lot of strife between their communities when Harry absolutely needs them to get along.
This trip was meant to foster a closer unity between the communities, so that later down the line, they won't hesitate to work together. First it was Shiva, Ezekiel's troublesome tiger that tried to ambush Harry right in front of her own handler. Harry won't be forgetting how much it terrified Zoey. The next thing to go wrong is Hilltop. From the moment the entered to the moment they left, it was all one long cluster fuck that left the community crippled. And now coming here to find that not only did John, Jessie and Gene survive but so did Sahara and Jessica and a lot of the hateful women that resided there.
It's no question that Harry will be vaccinating the family but he's greatly troubled by doing so for the others. Harry had promised not only himself but Zoey and Michonne that he would vaccinate anyone that wants it. He had forgiven Lori for her fear-based reaction but hers was mild compared to the others. She didn’t actually hurt anyone with her opinion and she eventually saw the good in it. These women... Harry still doesn’t know if he can do it. It’ll be the right thing to do but he’s always, always doing that. He’s always trying to do the right thing but it’s becoming hard for him to keep seeing things that way.
They hurt him and they hurt many others. Why do they deserve the vaccination when they’ve victimized so many?
Near the beginning of his… stay, Harry had witnessed and heard a few instances where it was plain as day that the girls genuinely feared what men can do to them, if given a single chance. In the way the Matron sorted the captured men was purely based on what they would be most useful for, so the ones that had been too small and considered unsightly were disposed of. Did she brainwash those girls into thinking that if they didn't control the men, the men would control them? Did she paint horrific images in their heads to control them?
Was Jessica's utter fear genuine enough to pull the truth out of her like that?
She made us!
Or was it just plain terror at what the Matron would do to them?
So lost in his thoughts, Harry didn't realize he had just vaccinated the second last - Trip, who had come in behind two other people that had probably been on watch with him. The familiar man Harry had spied earlier smirks as he stops forward, “So we meet again.”
Harry nods, gaining Zoey’s reluctant interest, “So we do. I’m glad to see you guys managed just fine after I left you.”
“Well, I did,” Dean shrugs. “The other two fucked off once the sun came up. I know you probably don’t want to hear it but you seriously saved my life and I’m not one to forget that kind of debt.”
“You’re right, I don’t,” Harry agrees with some humour. “But consider it even for just abandoning you out there. Let me just vaccinate you and go our own ways, yes?”
Dean doesn’t look very happy with that but nods anyway, “I guess, if you’re sure. Doesn’t feel that even to me.”
Harry takes Dean’s hand, allowing his vaccination magic to flow and notes the lack of jump with some interest, “I am sure. Looks like you’re good to go.”
“That’s it?” Dean asks, staring at his hand with confusion. “I didn’t even feel anything.”
Harry and Zoey exchange significant glances. Looks like Zoey isn’t the only one with natural immunity. Interesting. Harry wonders if he should mention it but... he already ‘vaccinated’ the man, no need to make things complicated. What the man doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
“Sometimes that happens. You’re now protected from turning, even from a bite,” Harry says instead. “It was nice to see you again under better circumstances. Take care of yourself, yeah?”
Dean nods, tucking his hands into his pockets, “Yeah, man. You too.” He leaves them there, the final vaccination of George’s original community members. Now all that remains is the ones outside that Harry doesn’t want to deal with.
Zoey looks miserable, her eyes on the family as they sit close to each other. At least half of them are gone, to where Harry couldn't even hazard a guess. Dark has fully settled in, reminding Harry what Lucille asked for.
“Okay, just me and those people outside are left. Are you okay to continue or do you want to rest?” Anne asks firmly, her tone lacking any coddling. It was refreshing to hear.
“Just you for now,” Harry allows, still utterly conflicted on whether or not he should vaccinate them.
Anne frowns but concedes anyway, probably coming to the conclusion that he's running out of juice. Far from it but Harry lets her think what she wants to. Harry takes her hand, allowing the magic to flow into her skin and ignores her jump.
“No! GENE!”
A gunshot pierces the window, shattering the outside glass and blowing a hole through the reinforcement wood inside. Harry ducks instinctively, senses going wild trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. He hears Jessie wailing hysterically and John's grief and knows something just went terribly wrong.
“What the hell happened?” Zoey demands, her voice nearly drowned out by the Shirewilt residents recovering. Harry doesn't answer her, just wordlessly grabs her arm and pulls her to the door urgently. He needs to get out there!
“Why is he so loud?!”
“Someone quiet him down!”
“What happened?”
“GENE!”
“Is anyone hurt?”
“Hey! What if we're under… attack…” Zoey trails off, getting left behind when she realizes it's not what she thinks it is.
Harry pauses for a brief moment, Knowing that Gene is no longer here. Death has already come and gone, the beautiful, stormy orb that usually emerges long liberated from the mortal vessel. As Harry gets closer, John tries to pull Jessie away from Gene's body but gets repeatedly rebuffed. Jessica and Sahara are crying as well, showing genuine grief for the youngest of their group. The sight strikes Harry a little dumb.
“What the fuck is going on-ah, shit.” Negan stops short, the Saviors following him stopping as well. Their entrance draws John's attention, where his grief fevered eyes lock onto Harry. Negan sighs harshly, snapping an order to the Savior next to him and taking off with a walkie in hand.
“Harry!” John pleads in a shaking sob. “Harry, please! Please save him! Please!”
Harry sees the wound, now that he's close enough. A part of Gene's temple is gone, blown away by his own hand. The gun is still laying on the ground, forgotten in the misery that followed the explosion of violence. Even if Harry could, the soul has already crossed over. There will be no bringing him back this time.
John's desperate hope turns to cold, bitter realization when Harry says, “I'm sorry.”
Still, the man doesn't want to accept it, “Y-... you've done it before…!”
Harry purses his lips and shakes his head, “Even if I had been here on time… since he did this to himself, I wouldn't have been able to help him anyway. He didn't want to be saved.”
John's bitterness turns ugly, “Are you telling me that since my-my-my boy, my son k-ki-did this to-to-ti himself, he isn't worthy of being saved?!”
Jessie unexpectedly comes to Harry's defence. He rises from Gene's body with a snarl, whipping around to violently shove John away, “You don't know shit, so shut the fuck up!”
John stares at his son with wide, shocked eyes. He lifts a hand and mutters in a daze, “J-Jess…”
Jessie slaps the hand down aggressively, “This is your fault! Gene k-killed himself to get away from you!”
Harry winced, wishing he could escape back to the house. He doesn't need to be here for this. It's just… heartbreaking.
John opens his mouth but Jessie plows on, “You made him feel like shit. All the time! He was fine! He was starting to remember stuff but you kept calling him broken and kept wanting to fix him and that's exactly what he did!”
John utters a wheezing sound, his red eyes shutting in complete grief yet shaking his head in denial.
“Well, good job, Dad!” Jessie states sardonically, his voice breaking as he looks down at his deceased brother. He cries some more and utters, voice thick, “You got what you wanted. He fixed himself.” Jessie collapses back down next to Gene, sobbing anew.
“I never-” John denies, his voice cracking and pitching high from the intensity of his emotions. “-never wanted this…”
“That's terrible,” Zoey murmurs to herself emphatically, sounding incredibly bothered. She whispers up to him, “Why would he do that, Harry?”
Harry answers truthfully, “I don't know.” He wonders if she's asking in relation to the yet unspoken death of her own biological Mother.
“Is it always going to be like this from now on?” Zoey asks, sounding much too old.
“I hope not,” Harry replies genuinely.
During their introspection, Anne comes out of the house. George is trying to herd John away, Dean helping the process along. He takes John from George and hauls him into the house George points at. Anne follows after a quick kiss to her husband's cheek. Jessica successfully pulls Jessie away from Gene's body, only to wrap her arms around him when he turns into her instead.
“Just terrible,” Sirius says in a low tone, appearing at Harry's right. It startles the teen quite badly, as he hadn't seen Sirius when they came out. “Poor kid.”
Harry grimaces, silently agreeing. As horrible as it sounds, Harry regrets forcing Death to stop reaping Gene's soul. It didn't even end up saving him in the end; Harry damned the poor kid to a half life of utter misery to save his own ego. He couldn't bear the thought of failing to save Gene when he was right there. Harry thought he knew better but he didn't.
He still doesn't and staring at the new hole in Gene's head, Harry knows he never will. He won't interfere with Death again, not if it has a chance of leading to this.
So senseless…
Harry drags his eyes away from Gene to Jessie, who is being comforted by Jessica while Sahara rubs his back. Just from that, Harry knows that denying them the vaccine would not be okay. He may hate them but Jessie doesn't. It's quite clear that Jessie relies on them more than his own Father, as evident by their spat.
Well, Jessie's snap and John's reality check.
Sighing, Harry approaches. Zoey doesn't follow, clearly reluctant to get closer to Gene's body. It takes seconds for Sahara to spot them and she stiffens, her face blanking out. Harry stares back placidly, coming to a stop just out of Jessie's reach.
Jessica's eyes widen to saucers when she finally looks up. She stiffens so much that it breaks Jessie out of his mourning.
“Huh? Harry?” Jessie croaks in confusion.
“Hey, mate,” Harry says kindly. “I know… this isn't the best time for this, considering… but I'm offering you a vaccination.”
Jessie frowns in confusion but Sahara's eyes round out in realization. Then, they blank out and drop to the ground, her shoulders slumping. Jessica has her hands on Jessie's arm and back, her comforting motions stilted in the moment but she also seems to come to the same conclusion.
“Vax-what now?” Jessie asks, his voice rough and thick with tears.
Harry shows his hands, even though they can't see the magic he's gathering in them, “I can make you immune to the infection.”
It takes a few bewildered blinks for Jessie to understand what Harry is offering, “You mean… I'll never turn? Even if I'm bit?”
“Especially if you are bit,” Harry emphasizes, ignoring the way Sahara and Jessica wilt with the assumption that they won't be receiving it. Harry lets them think that. It will be a far better teacher for how one should treat others than if Harry had gotten his hands on Jessica.
“Why didn't you…” Jessie trails off, fresh tears spilling as he stares at his little brother. He sniffs but it does nothing with how stuffed his nose has become.
Harry has a feeling he knows what Jessie is trying to ask but before he can try to answer, Jessica says, “Just get it, okay?”
Jessie looks at both Sahara and Jessica, then frowns and asks, “Them, too?” Harry grimaces unintentionally; he wanted them to stew a little longer. Jessie shakes his head at Harry's reaction and retreats back into the girls’ space, “I don't want it.”
Sahara shoves Jessie back towards Harry, “Stop being stupid. Get the damn vaccine! Don't worry about us.”
Jessica tries her best not to show her dismay at not getting vaccinated.
“I don't want to! Not without you guys! I can't-” Jessie's voice cracks. “I can't lose you guys, too. Please, Harry. Please, why can't they get it, too?”
“Does he know?” Harry asks Sahara bluntly.
Sahara stiffens, mortified. She's speechless, her mouth opening a little as her eyes slide to Jessie.
Jessica hugs herself in horrified shock. Her eyes keep flicking between Jessie and Sahara like she's expecting one of them to suddenly turn into a Biter. Jessie just looks confused, turning to look at Sahara with a, “Know what?”
Sahara suddenly turns furious eyes on Harry, “I don't want your damn vaccination, so just drop it.”
That reaction speaks volumes to Harry. She never told any of them and Jessica kept her secret.
Jessie's confusion suddenly clears up with, “Oh, you mean that they were part of Zenobia? Dad already knew, he saw them around occasionally. It's fine, they already said sorry.”
Harry turns judgmental eyes on the girls. It barely takes seconds for Jessica to fold under his glare. Sahara just crosses her arms and flatly stares back.
“Alright! Pack the fuck up, we need to be gone yesterday, let's go!” Negan's voice rises just enough to be heard but nowhere near loud enough to attract negative attention. “Harry! Zo! Skedaddle, chop chop, vamenos!”
Something is wrong. That nauseous feeling from earlier rears its ugly head and now that Harry isn't distracted by everything else, he realizes it isn't nausea.
“What's wrong?”
It's dread.
“Let's go,” Negan growls impatiently.
Harry swears and says, “I don't have time. If you guys stay here, follow George if he decides to move to Hilltop. I'll find you there later.” He looks at Sahara and with absolutely no remorse, blurts out, “Sahara is the one that took-”
Sahara panics and jumps forward to stop him with a, “No! Stop!”
Harry flinches. Sirius appears out of nowhere. He deflects her outstretched arm with laughable ease. One hand snaps forward, grasping Sahara around the throat. She chokes as he raises her with one arm and slams her onto the ground. Jessica squeals from the scare, flinching away from Sirius’ menacing form as he stands and towers over Sahara menacingly, “Don’t fucking touch my Godson.”
Harry recovers quickly and continues, “She took Gene and gave him to her leader as a present.”
Jessie goes stock still. Sirius backs away from Sahara when Negan starts the truck and takes off. Sahara is breathing hard but she tries to salvage the situation, “It's n-not like that, okay? I was-I was just following orders-!”
Sirius pulls Harry away from the situation forcefully, “We need to go. Now. No more time for drama but I like your flair.”
Harry hates to leave Jessie to their lies and pleas but then spies Anne stepping out of the house to approach them. Before he can decide either way, Harry is being firmly pushed into the van, where Henry takes off the moment Sirius gets in. Sirius stumbles a bit in closing the door but settles on the other seat neatly.
“What's going on?” Harry asks and then realizes Zoey isn't in the vehicle. “Where's Zoey?”
“Negan put her in the car. He wanted to leave and didn't want to have to worry about her being accidentally left behind,” Henry answers. “We'll catch up eventually.”
Unhappy but unable to do anything about it, Harry looks at Sirius. His Godfather grimaces, “Negan tried to raise Sanctuary on the walkie. When that didn't work, he got George to let him use their radio.”
Harry frowns, the dread forming a tight knot, “No answer, I'm guessing.”
Sirius nods, “Bingo. He's worried, so we're heading back on a four hour drive in the dark on the night of the new moon.”
The windows are all pitch except the front, where only the dims are lit to keep the car from being seen so easily. They are going so fast that the few dead Henry is narrowly avoiding due to instinctive reflexes flash by like colourless blobs.
“I need to concentrate, so take a nap or something. Just don't talk,” Henry tells them and lapses into focused silence.
Harry clenches his fists but it does nothing to stem the rising concern and fear he feels for Lucille. It's a long, long four hour drive back in the dark with only Harry's thoughts for company because he knows he won't be getting a wink of sleep.
Please be okay.