Care for a BIte
The plan to push straight through was a bust due to having to stop and clear cars off the road. They had to stop for the night since Craig noticed that the walking dead were more active when it was dark. Finding a house the two cleared it for the evening. The last thing that they did was ward it for the evening and then settle in to eat and relax as much as possible.
“It may be tomorrow or the next day before we make it to King County,” Craig said looking at the map, “just depends on how many times we have to stop and move cars out of our way.”
“We should scavenge as much as possible to, never know what we will find or what we will need in the future while we ride this, whatever it is out,” Helena added, “would prefer to take it instead of letting it go to waste.”
Craig nods, “We should also leave some behind for other survivors, just in case.”
“Yeah we should.”
“Hey we will find them, okay. Don’t worry about that.”
A sniffle is heard, “It’s just how do I tell them what happened and what I had to do to our parents?”
Craig hugs her to his side, “I do not know, but we will figure it out together,” Heleana cried into his shirt as he soothed her once again, “it’s okay, I’ve got you, you don’t have to be the brave one this time, you don’t have to be the leader again. Just relax and rest, I’m here and I will watch over you.”
She cried herself to sleep against her godfather, the wards on the house keeping them protected for the night. Craig stayed up and kept watch, he knew he didn’t need to but he felt that it should be done. He hoped that once they found the others that she would open up about what she had been through that they were never told about. The night passed by with very little activity in the small neighborhood, most zombies in the cities for the time being. In the morning they grabbed a quick breakfast before making a plan to take supplies from the area they are in. Grabbing a couple bags each that they can use to put what they can find in the two head out of the house. Heading down one side of the street moving how they did in their neighborhood, killing and burning bodies as they went. After the two of them were done, they headed back to the house that they stayed in so they could load back up and head out. It was as they were walking back that a zombie surprised them out of nowhere, it bit down on Heleana’s arm, Craig killed it before it could rip the meat of her arm away, but the damage was done, she had been bitten. She looked at him with wide eyes as what just happened registered, they didn’t know how things would go, no magical person had been bitten and Craig had only been scratched. He gently took her hand and led her back into the house, they closed it up again, and secured it like they did last night.
Craig took her to the kitchen and set her by the sink and began to clean the bite, “We don’t know what will happen, but we will wait it out, and go from there. I will tell you this, my gut tells me everything will be okay, so we will be okay, we’ve got plenty of supplies to see us through.”
She looks at him, “If I…if I turn you have to take care of me, and tell my brother what happened.”
Craig smiles softly, “I will, okay, but you will be seeing your brother again.”
She smiles sadly as he dresses the wound, fixes something to eat for them, and tucked her in where she settled on the couch. He watched as she fell asleep and in the middle of the night she began to burn with fever. Luck was on their side, this house has solar panels that kept the power going, he was able to get some ice to help keep her cool. She did as he did the fever burned for days, he kept the bite clean and dressed, and it healed, her magic pushing blackened puss out of the wound. After three days the fever broke and she rested. Craig relaxed back and sighed with relief as her heart beat strong and steady instead of stopping. He took the opportunity to step into the kitchen where he could keep an eye on her and make a call to his account manager Larlok.
Once the Goblin answers the call he quickly tells his account manager everything that has happened up to the point of her fever breaking right before he called.
Larlok, “I have heard that in France the no-maj were attempting a cure for cancer, they wanted it airborne, but something happened and it turned causing people that died to wake from the dead and attack. The magical government has their healers working on it, and this proves that it only affects those with no magical blood in them.”
Craig, “Our magic could be burning it out of our systems, attacking it like our immune system would, or where it was meant to attack a no–maj disease and we can’t get cancer it just makes us ill.”
Larlok nods, “That is possible, just be careful, and only tell those that you trust what happened.”
Craig nods, “I will, and I will keep in touch updating you on our progress.”
Larlok nods, “Please do so, and be careful out there.”
Craig nods, “We will, may the heads of your foes fall to your sword.”
Larlok, “May the blood of your enemies flow at your feet.”
With that the two disconnect their call and Craig returns to Heleana’s side. For two days she hallucinated about the war and what she didn’t tell them. Craig was heartbroken about hearing all that she went through alone. Many things angered him about what he heard, how dare they try to force her to stay in England. He was very happy that she had been able to return to them where they could keep her safe. He went to change her bandage and noticed that the bite barely left a scar on her arm, you had to look closely to even see it. Six days after she was bitten Heleana woke up in shock, she expected to be dead. Looking around she sees Craig sleeping in a recliner. Reaching her hand out she grabs his pant leg and tugs.
Craig jumps awake and rushes over pulling her into a hug, “See I told you that you would be fine.”
“Water,” a raspy voice asks as the weak body hugs him close.
Craig pulls back, helping her sit up and drink the water. He has her take slow sips while he tells her how long she has been out. Then he mentions his call to the Goblins and what they have found out about the disease so far, as well as keeping what they know to only those that they trust.
“I would say that all those with magical blood are immune to this “cure” they tried to create. Which means we may be able to create a cure with our blood. Good thing we aren’t in England.”
Craig snorts, “That’s definitely true. Okay two options, the first one is that we take and continue to travel with me driving and you recovering, and the second we hunker down a couple more days then set out after you’ve had some recovery.”
“The second option would be the best, if we had a bigger group then I would say that we should push on, but with it being just the two of us I don’t wanna be a liability while not being at full strength.”
“Staying it is then, I will get you some broth to start you out easy. This house has solar panels so that has been a big plus to keeping you cool and making broth.”
She relaxes back and sighs in relief, joy takes over her, she survives to see her brother again. Craig walks in with a cup of broth and hands it to her, letting her take it when he sees that she won’t have any issue holding it. The two sit in silence thinking about what they have learned and what it means for the future. Sitting her cup to the side she pulls her mokeskin pouch into her lap and opens it. She pulls out a mirror and looks at Craig. He looks at her and gives a nod, knowing that who she calls will be someone they can trust.
Taking a deep breath she says one name, “Poppy Pomfrey,” the mirror lights up and she waits.
They wait for five minutes when they hear Poppy’s voice call out, “Heleana, is everything alright?”
Heleana shakes her head no, makes sure that she is alone, and proceeds to tell her what has happened with Craig filling in the holes. Poppy listens intently to them as they both explain their experiences and what they know. Just when she was about to speak Poppy stops and looks to her door, sliding the mirror down a bit but sighs in relief when Severus and Filius enter the room. They quickly close the door and ward it.
Filius looks at her, “My kin in America has contacted me, Helena has been bitten…”
“I know,” Poppy cuts him off as she turns the mirror to the two men so they can see the young lady that they all hold dear to their hearts.
“Hello Filius and Severus I’m completely fine and alive, we were just telling Poppy what Criag and I have went through and what we believe we have discovered.”
Severus looks at them and sits, “And what might your discovery be.”
Criag, “Our magic burns through whatever this is, what we do know is it started in France on the no-maj side when they attempted an airborne cure for cancer.”
Severus looks at Heleana, “How are you feeling?”
Helena, “Exhausted, we are resting for the moment, I don’t wanna take the chance of moving while being weakened from the fever and nightmares, the trip is taking longer than we wanted due to having to hunker down at night and stop to move vehicles out of our way, we only have my parents van to travel with right now and it would be swamped if we startled any of these abominations into waking during the day.”
Filius, “What about one of those muggle RV’s?”
Craig looks thoughtful, “That could be a possibility, but a greyhound would be better built for a longer haul.”
Heleana’s eyes alight with glee, “We could fortify it military style, put a metal plate with spikes on the front to protect it from these walking dead things.”
Severus grins, “Spoken like a true Slytherin.”
Heleana smiles back, “We can remove the seats and model the inside how we want, and add charms to it.”
Craig chuckles, “I’ll leave the planning to you then. We had just contacted Poppy to let her know what happened so someone on your side knows that we are not affected and possibly look into a cure, I’m sure Heleana would do it, but we don't have a potions lab.”
Heleana, “Well at least not yet, but we will soon.”
The elder magical people chuckle at the young ladies scheming for this project. They talk for a few minutes more, with some agreements on the possibility of creating a sanctuary for the people across the world, magical and non magical. Heleana pipes up every once in a while with ideas, one of which is to set up in the south because heat does decompose a body faster. They grin as she pretty much tells them what to do without realizing it. Eventually they end the call with goodbyes all around. Craig makes them some food while Heleana grabs a shower her mind running like crazy.
Walking down the stairs Heleana asks an interesting question, “What do you think would happen if our blood came into contact with a zombie and with someone who has just been bitten? What would happen if we bit someone in self defense?”
Craig, “All good questions my dear, I am not sure, and it may be something we need to find out about. Also you really watch and read too many crazy things.”
Heleana grins, “I have no clue what you are talking about.”
Craig, “Right~, anyway dinner is done so let's eat and then relax some.”
The two sit down and eat and talk about anything and everything that their minds come up with. They hunker down for two more days before moving on to Lexington, Kentucky to get a Greyhound Bus for their modified RV.
Craig, “So you know how to do this?”
Heleana grins, “Yep, I asked how The Knight Bus and other vehicles were charmed to work.”
Craig shakes his head, “You really would have fit in anywhere at Hogwarts.”
Heleana, “True, but I was needed in Slytherin, because they needed hope, and that hope wasn’t being offered by Dumbledork.”
Craig shakes his head, “Now that was a power hungry man.”
Heleana, “You don’t know the half of it.”
Craig, “Whenever you're ready to talk about it I’m here.”
Heleana, “I know, but I would rather do it when we’ve met up with the others.”
Craig nods, “Okay kiddo. You know you should probably let Sirius and Remy know that you made it back to the states okay, I know they are in the home you have here.”
Facepalming she gets her mirror out and calls out, “Sirius Black.”
After waiting for a few minutes the face of her other godfather appears, “Pup! Are you home yet? Are you safe?”
Smiling at him she says, “Yes I am somewhat home, we are heading to find Rick and the rest of them, it is taking a while. I am safe, Craig is with me.”
Remy’s face appears beside her husbands, “Cub what is wrong?”
A sniffle is heard and then another, “I had to kill them, my parents and Shane’s parents, they were Zombies.”
Remy cooes, “Oh cub that wasn’t them okay, what made them who they are died, you didn’t really kill them.”
Heleana sniffs, “Craig was scratched by papa, but he didn’t turn, he became ill though. I was bitten,”holds up her arm to show the spot, “I got sick, it was horrible, but I didn’t turn.”
Sirius, “Okay start from the beginning pup.”
Helena and Craig fill them in on everything they know and learned since she returned home to the states. Siri and Remy give them their full attention during the whole story.
Remy, “It is possible, after the last full moon some of the wolves were mentioning how some of them killed some and never turned, they did feel awful for a week longer after the full moon, it could be that magical creatures and people have a natural immunity to this man made outbreak.”
Sirius sighs, “Potter luck running true in you kiddo.”
Helena grins, “Yep and we’re on our way to Lexington to find a bus to create an RV of our own, it’s gonna be great!”, she tells them letting them know all the modifications she has planned for when she gets one.
They grin at the delight that takes over her face and voice since moving on from the topic of her parents and their friends. They talk for another 30 minutes before they have to disconnect the mirrors so she can focus on the travels, she tells them that she will see them as soon as she can. She looks up from putting the mirror safely away and sees that they are heading into Lexington and taking the road towards the bus station. They pull up to a building and get out of the van, Craig shrinks it and puts it in his pocket, the next thing they do is climb to the roof of the building to get a good look at the layout of the area.
Craig shakes his head, “Not going to be as easy as the hospital back home.”
Heleana tilts her head, “Why not?”
Craig, “We don’t have a concrete barrier for one and it’s too exposed for another.”
Helena grins cheekily, “I may have brought the barrier with me.”
He gives her an astonished look, “With you?”
Heleana smiles, “Never know when we will need it, but I want to test something out.”
Craig pinches the bridge of his nose, “I won’t like it will I?”
Heleana grins even more, “Okay so we know they won’t eat anything that has zombie blood on it or where another zombie has bitten at right?”
Craig watches her warily, “Yes, that is correct.”
She starts to bounce a little, “I wonder if they would come after me since I have been bitten.”
Craig’s eyes widened, “You will not test that theory with such a large group, young lady!”
She rolls her eyes, “Of course not silly, but we are on top of an apartment building and I bet that somewhere in here there is at least one zombie.”
He gives her an exasperated look, “You are scary ya know that?”
She giggles and makes her way to the door that will let them in. Opening it a zombie stumbles out, she closes the door quickly, and stands whirling around to the door. She bangs on the door to get its attention, the zombie stumbles her away, and then stops sniffing at the air coming from her direction. It turns from her and towards Craig, they watch to see what it does, because he wasn’t bitten like she was. It seemed like forever when he walks on by Craig and nothing happens, they both let out a breath before taking care of the zombie and burning the remains.
Criag, “It ignored us both.”
She nods, “We just might have a cure then, or a possible cure. All of its senses were working, even sight, we look maybe like newish zombies, we don’t sound like them, but that wouldn't matter since they make noise, they have to be finding us by scent, before we smelt alive to them. Since the illness that we experienced though we now smell dead, so they can smell where the virus was in us.” Tapping her lip with her fingers she looks at Craig, “Let’s see what would happens if our blood got in one of them.”
He looks at her and chuckles, “Are you seriously wanting to experiment right now?”
She grins, “Of course I am, it’s safer that way, one at a time and we can see what happens. I’m not suggesting that we let it bite us, just tie it down and make a cut, or better yet, we get some of our blood collected in a vial and pour it in the zombies’ mouth and see what happens. I suggested doing it this way so that way we know, and we don’t know how a crowd of those things will react to us just outright attacking one.”
He chuckles, “Ok, ok you win. Why do you have to be so logical about this?”
Smiling bigger she says, “It’s my inner Ravenclaw.”
Shaking his head he says, “Okay let’s get this show on the road, get a vial, we will use my blood, and no arguments about it, got me.”
She salutes him, “Sir yes sir.”
“Cheeky brat,” he smiles at her and gets a vial cutting his arm and collecting the blood from it, he heals the wound and nods to her, both of them have wands ready, “okay open the door up and let's do this, we let one out and a body bind should work.”
She nods and opens the door, the noise drew a zombie to them, closing the door quickly the both threw a body bind at it. The living dead creature fell to the ground snarling and snapping. The two magicals walk over to the moving corpse and Craig dumps the vial into its mouth. They wait and watch, it takes a couple of minutes, but soon they see the body start to slow, smoke pours from its mouth, and then the body catches fire. Their eyes widen at the sight and realize that they have stumbled on something big.
“What in the h….”
Craig cuts her off, “Language Lady Potter.”
Helena looks at him, “This is big, huge, we need a team on this, and some place to work,” starts to pace, “some place like the CDC, if it’s still standing that is.”
Craig stops her, “One thing at a time, fix up a mobile home first, then your family, next the CDC, okay?”
She takes a deep breath and nods, “Yeah, yeah, focus one task at a time.”
Craig nods, “Good, now let's get to work on creating a home for the time being.”
The two get off the roof and make their way to the bus station. They walk straight through the hoard lingering in the city and right into the building as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. They clear the building and lock all the doors and any entrances they find.
Helena plops down in an office chair and shivers, “That just felt so, so wrong.”
Craig nods and sits as well, “I know, you okay?”
Heleana shakes her head, “No, all those people, the kids.”
Craig hugs her, “We will do everything we can to stop this, I promise we will take back our world.”
Heleana leans against him and nods. The two sit like that for a bit just grounding themselves. After a while they get up and find the break room fixing themselves something to eat and talking over their plans on how they will set up a bus for their needs.
Craig, “It would be ideal if we could find a double decker, have an upstairs and downstairs. It would fit much of what we want to do with it.”
Heleana nods, “Yeah we could do the bedrooms upstairs, “ tilts her head, “the knight bus is three floors, could we accommodate that.”
Craig, “We have plenty of buses to experiment on, we can pick one that we would want to be the final product and leave it until last.”
She smiles, “Sounds like a good idea.”
Craig smiles back and the two continue to eat and relax. Once done they stand up and head to where the buses are to start looking around. They pick the newest bus available and leave it, experimenting with the others. It takes about four days before they get the spells and enchantments right and then on the fifth day they work on the one they set aside getting it ready and set up to leave. They took another two days to collect more supplies and knowing that the zombies don’t pay attention to them they split up.
Heleana is looking around an empty apartment complex when she comes across two girls locked in a cage. She walks over to it to set them free when a man grabs her from behind.
“Well lookie here, a new pet for me.”
“I’m no one's pet,” with that she bites down on his arm and he yells letting her go.
She takes a defensive stance in front of the cage and watches her enemy. He seethes and stares her down, the look in his eyes promising retribution and pain. She grins and looks at him with eyes that are filled with loathing. He lunges at her, but never makes it, he drops to the floor when he is hit with a dart. Heleana looks up and sighs in relief, Craig is standing there with a dart gun. He smiles and walks over to her and checks her over.
“I was close by and I heard the yelp and came in.”
She smiles, “Thanks, now help me get these girls out,” she turns to them and smiles softly, “It’s okay sweethearts, we won’t hurt you, do you know where the key is?”
The older of the two looks at a shelf, “Under the statue of the turkey.”
Craig nods and gets it.
Heleana smiles, “Now can you tell me your names and ages.”
The eldest looks at her, “I’m Elodie Hawthorne and I’m 10 years old. This is my little sister Colette. She's 6, we were visiting with our dad when everything started. We were trying to get to Georgia where our mom lives with her fiance, when that man killed our dad and took us.”
Craig gets the cage unlocked and steps back letting the two girls step out, “Well you young ladies are in luck, my goddaughter and I are heading that way.”
Nodding she chimes in, “My brother and his family lives there, would you two like to come with us.”
Elodie nods, “Yes ma’am please!”
Heleana smiles, “Do you have anything here or anything you need to pick up?”
Elodie, “Yes two doors down was where he found us, our stuff is still in there.”
Craig smiles, “Lead the way ladies and we will get it on our way out.”
The four moved out of the apartment and down the hall collecting the girl’s bags and heading out of the building. It’s still early and the zombies are down at the moment, but they still need to proceed with caution, because some of them aren’t resting, merely buying their time until the next meal comes along. They still make good time back to the station and load up to leave. The girls stare in awe at how big it is. Craig drives while Heleana gives them both a check up and fixes them a hearty meal. With two new members in their small group they once again head to Georgia, leaving Kentucky behind them.