Walking Dead Wizard

Chapter 20

"Need a hand?" Harry asked Hershel as he walked towards him, standing at the other side of the fence he was currently trying to strengthen. Harry honestly didn't see the point, if a horde of walkers came by the fence wouldn't stand a chance. The animals on the property were enticing enough for the walkers without adding a dozen or so people into the mix. His eyes zooming around the area, noticing that Shane and Rick were talking over by the barn, Dale was on duty sitting on top of the RV and everyone else was scattered into the wind doing their chores, he could see Sophia and Carl as always next to Carol who was on clothes duty right now.

"I'm perfectly capable of doing this myself," Hershel said his tone filled with passive aggression.

"Been getting annoyed again?" Harry stated staring down at the veterinarian.

Unsurprisingly Hershel didn't reply, at least not right away, he continued his work, but Harry could see he was feeling slightly sheepish. "You aren't over here to try and convince me to let everyone stay too?" he asked after hammering a nail into the wood. He took a rest, staring up at Harry, he knew he shouldn't be taking it out on the young man but he was at his wits end, especially with the others knowing about the barn and Rick's inability to control his own people.

"No," Harry answered immediately to the surprise of Hershel by the widening of his eyes. "You have an absolutely gorgeous home; it's something I think I would have liked if the world hadn't ended. Unfortunately it has, and wishes do no good here, you survive or you die that's the way the world works, it has always been that way I guess, but now it's on a larger scale. As secure as you're trying to make this place, even with these, you do understand it won't last don't you? The people in the barn it's different, they're restrained in a way, but what these people have become they usually move in packs, in hordes and they're dangerous that way." using the term 'people' to get Hershel to open up a little.

"You think of them as people?" Hershel commented surprised, his blue eyes hiding none of his feelings.

Harry stared at him intently for a few moments, picking his choice of words wisely, "My best friend, Ron, was one of the first few people bitten, he was a police officer, junior mind, but he was called out and bitten. I had no idea at the time, his family simply bandaged the wound and let him sleep, his mum keeping an eye on him from time to time. That's when they noticed the fever, they did everything they could to bring it down, but in the end it wasn't enough, he died, came back and disappeared." Harry revealed he had no doubt that's exactly what happened, he had gotten to Hogwarts though but he had no idea how. "I was the one to find him, it was during the early days but we knew not to let them touch us, I panicked, hit him in the chest, but he kept coming, I had no idea how he was still coming, but we tussled...and well I hit his head, and he dropped to the ground gone for good this time. I had to do the same to another friend of mine."

"How could you do it?" Hershel asked aghast.

"It wasn't easy," Harry said softly, it could never be easy to kill a friend whether they were dead or not. Although the next words through his mouth were complete lies and Harry hated himself for it. He rarely lied but he couldn't explain to Hershel that he knew his friend wasn't his friend anymore. "But after what happened in the CDC I let go of some of the guilt that had been eating away at me. They had experimented on someone who had been bitten, they die, and then the brain stem allows reanimation. So you see, even if I hadn't done what I did, my best friend would never come back, even if there was a cure..."

"I don't believe that," Hershel told him firmly.

"I know," Harry replied, pity and understanding mingling, "It's never easy to accept the death of a loved one, especially if they are in essence still around." with that he wandered away from Hershel, he had done what he could, it was now up to the old man to come to terms - if he could. Hershel was much like Dale, both had ideas on how the world worked, but had no real understanding on how bad the world and the humans could be. He didn't know whether he admired them hanging on to their ideals or be frustrated with it. Admittedly Dale's eyes had been opened up to Shane's dubious nature, but he felt everyone on whole was kind and good. He had nobody but himself to blame for reading their thoughts, but he had to - had to know if they were a threat or not.