Nine
DISCLAIMER:
I do not own, and Walking Dead or Harry Potter and I am not making any money off this fiction, it is purely for entertainment purposes only.
WARNING:
Any spelling and grammar mistakes are just that, Mistakes. I'm not good at either and I'm very sure there are many.
NOTES:
Sorry for the wait on an update, after posting the update for In Loving Memory I needed some time away from writing, but I was still working on this a little bit in some of my spare time. it had to be put in timeout as well for a few weeks as Sirius was not cooperating with me.
But I worked hard to get this done before Christmas, as it is tomorrow, (I made excellent timing). So have a merry holiday everyone.
And please enjoy.
Chapter Nine
The days had passed on by as the members of the Grimes group walked on eggshells around the Greens, the groups continued to debate amongst themselves about what to do with the boy named Randall.
The Dixons were all for taking him out into the woods and taking care of it, if necessary, but the group was divided and not able to decide on a plan of action, too many of them kept changing their minds and not sticking with any one option.
Dale was the most outspoken when it came to the young man’s fate, and some of the members of the group didn’t want to be a part of it.
Rick had wanted to drive the young man out and dump him away when he was well enough, he and Shane had started to take the healing young man away from the farm until the ex-sheriff had found out Randell knew Maggie from school, it became a more genuine problem for the group, Rick was torn.
Shane and Lori were pressuring Rick to kill the young man, insisting Randall was a bigger threat than Rick realized, both his wife and best friend were so sure that Rick was not thinking with a clear head when it came to the safety of the group. Lori would try to use the fact she was pregnant to try to sway Ricks's decision her way, however, the trained ex-sheriff could see right through the woman’s tricks.
Rick wasn’t just a cold-hearted killer, he had to think about the security of the farm and what that looked like for the members of the group, but to just outright kill someone, it was just not the right thing to do, he was a man of the law and even if the world had gone to shit, he was not going to become a lawbreaker, he had sworn an oath when he went into the service and despite the apocalypse, he was not going to turn his back on it that easily.
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While the camp was arguing, Carol was getting fed up with them, it was a distraction away from the search for the missing kids and it was making the petite woman agitated.
She just wanted her baby back safe in her arms.
After they were finally safe away from her abusive husband, she thought life would be so much better for the two of them, with no more drunk abusive dictator to rule over her and her baby girl.
It seemed, with her praying for the abusive man to be killed by the dead she had sealed her little girl’s fate, God was punishing her for wishing death on the man she once loved.
It brought her to tears thinking about it, the others gave her looks of pity when they thought she wasn’t looking, Carol was not blind to the fact that only Daryl and Merle seemed to believe the two children were out there still, safe and alive, the others deserved her pity, Carol thought, they lacked hope, something the older woman clung to like a lifeline.
Carol needed to do something to distract herself from the tormenting thoughts spinning in her mind.
On the tenth day of Sophia and Harry being missing, she requested to join in the search once more with Daryl.
Merle had eased up once his brother was healed enough and was allowing him out to search once more, Carol insisted on going out with them this time.
They left just before daybreak to give them a good amount of daylight to work with, heading opposite to the side of the creek they had searched before.
They tracked through the thick woods for hours, killing any walker they came across. The trio moved silently and with determination.
Daryl was leading them along through the heavy foliage, there were no trails to follow or sounds to make out besides the natural wildlife.
They were contemplating heading back at the end of the day or whether to brave a camp in the woods, they had gone a great distance and hadn’t found anything.
“I’ll go hunt us up something, you two get a low fire going” Daryl insisted, with his crossbow loaded he moved silently through the woods searching for any squirrels or rabbits for dinner.
It was only ten minutes or so later that Daryl stopped, something in the distance had caught his eye.
Squinting in the fading daylight he tried to make out what it was.
As good an eye as the marksman had, he was still too far to tell, making his way cautiously, Daryl moved towards the bright thing that caught his attention. It was a bright contrast to the deep greens and browns of the forest, making it easy to approach, it wasn’t an animal or walker, whatever it was Daryl was interested and wanted to find out.
A few feet away he realised it was a piece of fabric tied to a tree branch that was low hanging. It was a bright white, with smears of dirt, but there were no noticeable makings that he could see. Grabbing it off the branch, he examined it for any indication as to why it was there.
Nothing was obvious about the white fabric, it was only plain, and there was no reason Daryl could think of for it to be there.
Confused Daryl decided to move on, he hadn’t come across any animals yet, he had to keep on hunting if he wanted to make sure he had food for the three of them.
He had only walked a few meters ahead when he found another white strip of fabric tied to a tree. This one was lower to the ground but still at a height that was easily spotted amongst the branched of the tree.
Daryl stopped, he was starting to think it was a trail somewhere, he had a moment of thought about going to get his brother and Carol to see what they made of it.
It was strange, someone had to have left it there for some reason, maybe to find their way through the thick foliage, helping them find their way out, maybe he was close to a back road, and someone didn’t want to get lost wandering through.
He couldn’t remember one from the map the Greens had, this was an area full of privately owned land, few roads were showing on the satellite map the farmer had.
Deciding to keep going on himself for now, he kept walking, finding more white fabric tied to trees as he went.
The more he found the more it definitely looked like a trail.
Daryl decided to find out where it ended.
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Sirius had begun to get restless cooped up in the farmhouse for the two weeks he had been there, he was finally feeling up to making the long debilitating journey to London.
His recovery from his time in prison was slow and harsh, and Sirius was able to recognize that it was far from over, he had a long way to go before he was back to his old self, if it was ever possible to get back to the person he once was.
It was taking a great toll on the Animagus to get through every day, a constant existential crisis leaving him with a lack of appetite, he couldn’t let himself be consumed by the depression and let it win, he fought through the crippling fatigue and listless, making sure he ate enough to get him through the days while still rationing to make it last.
The time spent alone in the quiet countryside had a somewhat good impact on his health, the fresh air was less icy then he had grown accustomed to, the smell of crisp summer grass in the early morning covered in dew, was a startling contrast to the horrid putrid smell of the prison or the town he had passed before that was overrun by the dead.
He had begun to get restless the longer he was stuck in one place, it felt too much like being locked up. While he was staying at the farmhouse he had gone around and explored it, looking in every nook and cranny to find anything he deemed of use.
He had found some old newspapers in an office, giving more details of the virus from its early days.
It looks like it had spread worldwide and was quickly wiping out everyone, with no discrimination.
Sirius had been thrown into a panic attack at the new knowledge that humanity was ending at the hands of the infection.
He wanted to refuse the thought that everything he had ever known and loved in life might now be gone.
It was time for Sirius to head off, he was long overdue to be reunited with his pup so he could keep the promise he made when agreeing to be his godfather, he needed to find his pup and keep him safe.
He had packed what was left of any supplies he could find, cans of food and changes of cloths, he also made sure to fill up bottles of water from the well.
He couldn’t wait till he had a wand again, the pack he obtained during his search was heavy, weighed down by the cans and water he had packed in tightly.
Sirius gave thought to how best to get a wand, he realized he was going to have to stop by his childhood home along the way, he could find lots of useful things there as long as his mother hadn’t vanished it all.
The Black family didn’t tend to get rid of anything over the years, (until his mother came along) and was a gold mine for all sorts of magical artifices and tools, mostly dark and cursed but Sirius was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he could find a wand amongst the collection of his ancestors wands.
As he made his journey on four paws, he was struck by the sheer bright contrast the world was to his dingy cell, the vast majority of the time he was still in a daze, not really believing he had made it out of the hell hole.
Time moves so differently in the real world then in Azkaban, he was so lost in thought when back in his cell that hours went by, now he could physically see the passing of time as the days were so bright, instead of the gloom that had always surrounded the prison.
He was happy to be hitting the road, and if by some miracle Moony had survived as well, he was hopeful for a reunion with his old best friend, they could be a real pack again, Moony, Harry and him, all they needed was each other.
Sirius was not yet up to trying to Apparate the distance, it would be a long trek for him on foot.
From what he could tell by the signs in the town he had passed through he was far north of Edinburgh, he was closer to Hogwarts than to London.
The dog Animagus thought it wise to avoid the more populated magical areas for now. He had no idea if they had survived the illness or if they too had perished.
The fear in the guards at Azkaban made it seem like the virus was not missing the magical communities. Heading to Hogsmeade was out until he had more information to go off, so he headed south to Edinburg instead.
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Over several days Sirius travelled as far south each day as he could, he was exhausted by the end of the second day, still not recovered fully, but he was done with sitting around, he was determined to make it to his childhood home. He was cautious along the way making his travel time slow, there was a lot of the infected to avoid, many people who had succumbed to the illness and perished, it was morbid and not something Sirius wanted to think about.
He had followed the coast as best he could till, he had hit Aberdeen, the city was overrun with the dead more than any other place he had seen yet, Sirius had far too many close calls while he was trying to skirt the city.
While finding supplies where he could he had come across groups of people who were just trying to survive the chaos of life, he tried to avoid them as much as possible, not wanting to be hunted as Padfoot for possible food or attacked for what little he had in his bag.
Sirius had reached the outskirts of Dundee after walking for another two and a half days, he had followed the long highway along A90 that was scattered with abandoned cars and bodies. While he walked along, he had scavenged what he could afford to carry, camping gear and survival gear that he recognized and vaguely knew how to use, the many abandoned cars made it so Sirius could always find some food to eat and a bit of shelter.
The roads were running closer to the coast, and he was coming across rivers with narrow bridges, they were packed with the wondering dead, and it made it hard for the Animagus to cross.
Sirius had to start heading inland, the populated areas he had come across were bathed in blood and the stench of death, Sirius knew it would be too dangerous to go through any of the cities or towns so tried to avoid them as much as possible.
Following the River of Tay, led Sirius to close to the country towns, he was trying to avoid, without the energy for apparition he was finding it difficult to locate a good place to cross the wide-open river safely.
It was after walking for many days that he reached a crossing that wasn’t in the middle of a town or city.
The bridge was long and scattered with cars, some crashed into each other, and one was even flipped upside down.
The street signs indicated there were roads here that would lead him straight to Edinburgh, so it was the best option he had for continuing forward.
Sirius made his way across the bridge with caution, cars were blocking some of the way, but Sirius easily navigated the treacherous path on four paws.
Once across the ragged man stopped for a break so he could get his bearings.
He was getting closer to the capital now, as exhausted as he was, he refused to stop for long, he was just over a day away.
The road was long and littered with many victims of the virus this side of the river. Becoming curious, Sirius had stopped at one dead man to inspect him.
Someone had bashed the man’s skull in, on his travel he had seen many of the dead wondering around with metal rods sticking out of their chests and one with a full axe stuck in one’s shoulder blade, yet the dead kept walking.
This man who looked just like all the other walking corpses had been stopped.
It seemed the trick was to kill the animated creature by attacking the head.
Sirius didn’t want to have to get close to them, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he will have to defend himself. He had done very well in avoiding the things, only having a few close calls along the way that he managed to run from.
He knew it would be a challenge to take one down in his condition, he just had to remain vigilant and hope he never had to face off with them.
As he was passing some of the towns on the outskirts of Edinburg, the dog Animagus had pondered whether it would be wise to search for a wizarding home to make use of the Floo network.
He was unsure if it was even worth the time to search, as his efforts could leave him in a more dangerous situation, but the shortening of his journey was just to appealing an opportunity to let pass.
If he managed to locate such a place it would cut his travel time drastically.
Sirius knew the likelihood of finding the home of a magical resident and getting passed any security wards without a wand was probably impossible, but he was on the brink of exhaustion and anything he could do to help make his trip home easier, he was willing to try.
Another few miles and Sirius saw some signs for Barnbougle Castle, he had heard the name before but the memory was fuzzy, deciding to check it out as most of the castles in Europe belonged to magical folk, Sirius followed the roads, hopping the place was what he hoped, he praying to any deity that might still be listening that the place wasn’t crawling with the dead.
He stayed low to the ground on his approach to the tall imposing tower house, the air was fresh and brackish, a nice cool breeze coming from the shore of the river. It seemed like Sirius was in luck to find a fortress free of the dead.
Sirius used all of his senses to check for danger, the ragged man couldn’t afford the luxury of letting his guard down, he had made it this far in his ill condition and he wasn’t about to slip up or slack off, to do so could lead to his death.
The thought of his pup out there, possibly alone and without the dog Animagus there to protect him was enough to leave the older man with crippling panic, he couldn’t allow anything to happen to himself, his pup needed him just as desperately as he needed his pup.
Sirius had to remind himself constantly, he was not in a position to succumb to the anxiety and fear, his only priority was to get to his godson, to get to Harry.
He had circled the tower house twice before he deemed the place safe to enter, he couldn’t hear any noises coming from inside with Padfoot’s superior hearing.
Changing to two feet, the older wizards pushed the heavy oak door inwards.
The front foyer was vast with a tall ceiling that was decorated with a magnificent glass chandelier glistening in the sunlight.
In the middle of the room housed a round table covered in dead flowers that had withered away over time.
Large frames of portraits hung on the walls, some of the people and others of landscape that looked like the castle itself, all were normal paintings, so far, the place looked quite muggle.
Sirius moved on further into the room, he could feel the magic in the air surrounding a door on his right, he could tell it was under a notice-me-not and Muggle-repellent ward.
He smiled to himself, he was quite sure he would find what he was looking for past the dark wooden door.
The ward didn’t affect him as he pushed his way into the dark space beyond.
The door led him to a long corridor, old sixteenth-century stone lined each side lit by a magic ball of light, created by a rune, guiding his way as he walked along with caution, feeling for any other magic that he could recognize.
The passage was cold and smelled musty like it hadn’t been used in an extraordinarily long time. Giving the older wizard hope that he wouldn’t come across any living or dead residents.
At the end he came through an arched door, he could feel the tingle of magic as it washed over him, reaching out to sense his intention. Sirius thought hard about wanting sanctuary and the use of the Floo, the ward read his desire and let him pass without issue.
The camber that Sirius came upon, was set up as a small library, shelves lined three walls of old warn books, titles that Sirius recognized from the Hogwarts library, common wizarding household books of all sorts of genres.
Against one wall was a large stone fireplace, tall enough for a grown man to stand in comfortably.
Atop the mantle were old jars and potion vials, Sirius took his time inspecting them one by one, searching for anything that might be of use. It seemed like they had been abandoned long ago, the potions were no good and the ingredients in the jars had spoiled, with a weary sign Sirius moved on to the reason he was there.
One of the jars had just enough Floo powder for one trip, Sirius prayed once more that luck was on his side, he entered the fireplace and threw down the powder, shouting out his destination, completely unaware of what awaited him on the other side.
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At the end of the fabric trail Daryl came to an open field in the middle of the woods, a single-story wooden cabin sat in the center, surrounded by overgrown grass and weeds.
The hunter froze and watched from the tree line, the chimney had soft smoke drifting out the top, indicating the presence of someone though Daryl couldn’t hear anything coming from the structure, the only sound on the wind was the birds chirping and the buzzing of the bugs in the surrounding area.
Cautiously, Daryl made his way toward the cabin, crouching down low to the ground, never making a sound as he approached.
His crossbow was loaded and ready for any trouble that might arise, he was steady in his approach, confident he could take on any threat.
Once at the back of the cabin, he peered through the slightly dusty window, trying to see if anyone was inside.
He could make out a bedroom through the dirty glass that was free of any occupants, slowly he made his way around the building peering in windows as he went.
Daryl couldn’t see anyone through the windows on his walk around the side of the cabin, so he decided to head for the door. He was just coming round the building's corner giving one last look behind him to make sure nothing was sneaking up on him, when suddenly he collided with a sturdy figure.
The hunter was surprised by the sudden appearance of a walker, that he almost lost grip on his weapon.
The dead man was silent right up until it saw him, the being began to snarl and hiss as it stretched out its long limbs to grab a hold of the surprised hunter.
Quickly Daryl aimed his bow and shot the walker in the head, the infected man dropped to the ground with a dull thud.
“What was that?” A voice said in a hushed whisper from behind the cabin door, Daryl only just made out the words over the sound of his racing heart, he couldn’t believe how careless he just was.
Suddenly he realized he knew that voice.
“Sophia?” He called loudly, the door rattled before it was pulled open quickly.
Sophia stood in the doorway a shotgun held in her hands. Daryl just stood there staring at the pre-teen, he almost couldn’t believe he had found her after ten days of searching.
“Mr Dixon! You found us” the young girl said in excitement, dashing forward to wrap the older man in a hug.
She was smiling wide and despite the dirty appearance she looked unharmed.
Gently Daryl pulled the girl off him, he was uncomfortable with the contact but understood it was something people did when reunited.
“What are you doing that gun? You even know how to use it?” Daryl asked gruffly, taking the shotgun from the girl.
Sophia didn’t respond, she was looking down at the dead walker at Daryl’s feet.
“You got him then? He had been here for days” the thin girl stated.
“Where’s Harry?” Daryl inquired after he had checked if the gun was loaded. It wasn’t and he guessed having it just made the kid feel safer.
“He’s having a nap, he was up last night on watch and all day today, he was pretty tired, is my momma safe?”
Sophia was looking at Daryl with hope clear across the young pre-teen face.
“Yeah, we were out looking for you two when I went to hunt something to eat, she’s with Merle,” Daryl explained as he walked into the cabin shutting the door behind him.
“Have you been here the whole time?” Daryl asked while he took a look around the cozy-looking cabin.
“Most, we spent some days out there going from place to place trying to get back” The pre-teen had taken a seat on one of the recliners as she explained, “This cabin is well stocked so we stayed, the basement has loads of food in it,” Sophia said pointing to a door across the room.
Daryl took a good look around, the place was pretty clean on the inside but there was still duct layering on some of the surfaces, like the kids had wiped most of the place down with a cloth, the kitchen was well used, the fire in the oven was nearly out, the counter had a box of cans and some bottles of water.
“It’s getting pretty dark, Merle and ya momma will be wondering where I’m at, pack up what you can carry for now, it’s going be hard to follow my tacks back in the dark” Daryl spoke as he headed to the door Sophia had pointed out as the basement.
The kids had found a gold mine it seemed, the basement was indeed well stocked.
Boxes of food that could see them well fed for most of the incoming winter, if rationed right. If he could find the cabin on a map, they could come back with his truck and clear it out.
For now, he was only taking what he thought would be good for a quick dinner, it was too dark to hunt, and he was going to have to use all his concentration on finding his way back in the dark and watching out for walkers.
When he returned to the kitchen, he was met with Sophia and a clearly sleepy Harry.
“See Harry, I told you he was here,” the older girl said motioning to Daryl.
Harry was very clearly not yet fully awake, he really must have been up all night on guard if he was so tired, with a walker banging at their door it was a smart idea to take shifts.
“Come here,” Daryl said as he bent down to Harry’s height.
The child immediately wrapped his arms around the hunter and buried his face in the man’s neck.
Daryl wrapped the child in his arms rubbing his back in comfort as Harry clung to him like a lifeline.
“Y’all good, lil bit” Daryl murmured.
Sophia stood close by watching with a look Daryl would call envy, he reached over and brought the thin girl into join the hug, bringing the smile back to her face, Daryl dismissed his issues with touch, the kids needed the comfort more.
He was so thankful they were safe.
He had never really doubted it but there were times when they came across a walker in the woods that he wondered if they would find the remains of the kids inside the putrid corpse's stomach.
“We should get going, it’s dark already and we got to get back to Merle and Carol,” the hunter said pulling back from the two kids to collect what he was taking.
Sophia grabbed a throw blanket from the recliner and informed Daryl it was all she wanted to take.
Harry didn’t want to leave the hunter's side, so he stuck close to the man as he made his way to the cabin's exit.
He made sure to open the door with caution, not wanting to be surprised by another walker.
“Is it far to go Daryl?” Harry asked in a small quiet voice.
“Bit, but it will be kind of slow going in the dark.”
“Why can’t we stay here one more night and go tomorrow?” Harry asked the hunter peering up at the man, he was clearly still tired, he was swaying on his feet and Daryl was sure he would fall over into a dead sleep any second.
“Carol and Merle are waiting for me back in the woods, they won’t know I’m here and might worry something bad happened” Daryl explained to the child.
It took Harry a second to understand with his sleep-clouded mind.
Daryl knew he wasn’t getting far with the condition Harry was in.
He dropped his bag and crossbow to the grassy ground and took the throw blanket from Sophia, he began to wrap the fabric around his body.
“Are you making baby sling?” Sophia asked.
“Harry’s dead on his feet, he won’t last long walking out here” the hunter replied.
He picked the slight boy up and sat him in the sling across his chest, this was the only time he would be thankful the child was so small for his age and could fit comfortably. The carrier left his hands free to still hold his crossbow and bag.
With Harry comfortably secured, having fallen right back to sleep, they started the track through the dark woods, following the white fabric trail in the direction Daryl had come from.