The Walking Dead (One Direction)

Chapter 14

Harry's POV:

I hear Julia's breathing hitch and instinctually step in front of her to protectively shield her from the stranger. I don't even pay attention to the way my own heart is racing in my chest as I look into the barrel of a loaded gun.

The only thing running through my mind is to keep Julia safe and out of harm's way.

"Who are you?" the stranger demands in a gruff voice, and even from a distance I can see the way his index finger tenses around the trigger of his weapon. The man appears to be of Indian ancestry and I'm guessing he's in his mid-thirties or early forties. "Are you infected?"

I glance sideways at Mike, wondering how he'll want us to approach the unfortunate situation. We are all pointing our weapons at the outsider in the shadows ahead, and if the bullets start blazing, we're sure to kill him. The only problem is that he might take one of us down before we even get that far. 

And for all we know, he might be the scientist we've been looking for all along. What an irony that would have been; if we had come all this way only to kill our potential savior.

I'm so focused on Mike and his anticipated reply that I jump when it is Dean's voice that rings out. "We're not infected.

"Sorry if I don't believe you," the man spits, pointing his rifle back and forth between us. Beads of sweat forms on his forehead and he obsessively chews on his lower lip.

"You're welcome to check us," Jason states calmly and to my surprise he slowly lowers his gun. Is he fucking crazy? We can't trust this person just yet, and now there are only ten guns against one... "We're not the enemy."

"Then who the hell are you?"

"Just a group of survivors looking for some hope in this desperate world." Mike sounds like a damn poet when he speaks up, but I guess it appeals to the stranger because he slightly lowers his rifle. If he is to fire the weapon now, he'll only take out a kneecap and I suppose that's better than a deadly headshot.

"Who are you?" Louis chimes in.

"Are you a scientist?" Dean ads.

"Lower your guns," the man grumbles, unwilling to answer our questions. I admit that I don't blame him the way we're aiming almost a dozen firearms at him.

"How do we know you won't just shoot us when we do?" Julia bravely speaks up from behind me. I notice that she tries to crane her neck in order to look around me, but I take a small step to the side to block her entirely from sight again.

"Lower your guns," Mike orders and everyone glances dumbfounded at him. I quickly return my gaze to the unknown threat at the end of the corridor. "Now."

I hesitantly and kind of unwillingly lower my firearm until it points to the ground. However I don't remove my index finger off the trigger. It remains tensely curled around the trigger and I'm ready to raise and fire the weapon within a split second if necessary.

"Can we talk like civilized people now?" Jason asks and I notice that his tone is slightly annoyed. He hates it when people succumb to the savage and primitive life just because of The Walking Plague.

The unknown man nods distrustfully and motion for us to come closer. We obediently walk cautiously down the hall and I make sure to keep Julia hidden behind me still. I don't know what it is, but I just don't want the stranger to rest his eyes on her.

"Stop," the man abruptly orders when we're directly underneath the only working fluorescent lamp. Everyone halts at his command; worried he'll raise his rifle and kill one of us if we don't. "Turn around in slow circles."