Hello! This chapter is shorter than the last, it's a bit of a filler to be honest, I needed some discussions out of the way before the next chapter. Enjoy!

The aftermath of the early mornings revelations was horrendous.

Harry and Daryl managed to pull Rick away from the couple casually discussing his murder, and it was only quick thought by Harry to cast a silencing charm, so the murderous duo wasn't made aware of their proximity to their conversation.

Harry quickly took charge.

"Teddy, get the first year books, go through them with Sophia, catch her up, get Carol to help you with the reading if you need it, also because you do need an adult to supervise you, magical or not" Harry said sternly. "Get back to the house quickly, try not to be seen by those two, and for the love of Merlin do not tell anyone in that house about this until we're back"

"Where are you going?" Teddy whisper-shouted at them with Sophia looking nervous at the side of him.

"To calm Rick down before he puts himself in danger" Daryl said correcting guessing Harry's motive and starting to drag Rick towards the forest.

"We'll be safe, and back soon. Now go, please" Harry said quickly running after Daryl.

Rick was still struggling when the trio reached the treeline and Harry quickly turned his eyes into that of his panther animagus so he could scout quickly for a quiet location to take Rick too, he managed to find a clearing pretty quickly and dragged Rick in that direction, once there he swiftly and efficiently set up strong wards that would keep Rick inside them so he wouldn't go off after Lori and Shane, not that Harry would blame him if he did.

Seeing the coast being clear of people and zombies, Harry nodded to Daryl and they both released Rick at the same time Harry cancelled the silencing charm.

"…And now there's an innocent man in prison! A prison that was probably one of the first places to fall or be abandoned! We all know that no one would have cared for anyone in there! No one would let prisoners out, no one would care if they died, if they weren't executed then you can guarantee they're all dead now from dehydration or worse. ARGHHHH" Rick finally let out a wail of pure anguish that had even Harry wincing from the emotions in it.

Slowly Rick's breathing began to even out, his chest stopped heaving, his fists unclenched, and his face lost a lot of the redness that had overtaken it.

"How could they do this?" Rick whispered, his voice hoarse and broken

"People are the worst creatures that exist on this planet" Harry said bluntly, "The amount of people who say that the animals of the world are mindless beasts and need to be under full control of people… well, those are the people who've never seen the worst of humanity like we have"

"He was a cop!" Rick suddenly screamed "He was supposed to be the best of humanity! I remember being beaten you know; I remember bones breaking and just praying I'd make it back to my wife and kid. And now, now I find out it's all a lie, what me and her have had for 12 years? I remember evidence going missing constantly and the amount of times I was nearly suspended, the people who got out of jail free cards, there were people who lost their jobs because of evidence going missing. And it was all them" Rick laughed hollowly "And turns out I was praying to go home to a woman that was the cause of my problems anyway!" Rick sobbed finally fully breaking down.

Harry and Daryl both stayed silent, they knew that neither of them had the words to make any of what Rick was feeling better. Rick began collecting himself quickly, and Harry had to admit he was impressed, he knew he'd dealt with the betrayal of his best friend horrifically, never mind it being his best friend and his wife.

"What do I do?" Rick finally asked

"You collect yourself, you hold your head up, you go back to that house and you look after your kid" Daryl said firmly, "There is nothing you can do about the past, you can only look to the future, you have to focus on that, on your kid, your group and your survival"

"You don't have to do any of it alone" Harry inputted, "Groups work better with multiple leaders, believe me I know, between you and Daryl this group already has a strong foundation, add in Hershel and you'd be completely rounded out" he finished thoughtfully.

"What about you?" Rick asked

Harry looked at the moment surprised they were considering him before humming thoughtfully; "I mean, I'm definitely sticking around for a while, Sophia needs training, and Teddy needs a break, he's in danger every day but he can forget it when he's here and there's more of us, he needs people around him, he's still a kid and I never wanted this life for him, one where he has to grow up too fast like I did, but, and I'm being completely honest here, I have to be cautious of Shane, and I think if he gets any more dangerous than he clearly is at the minute, or he thinks I'm a danger and I'm suddenly making decisions for the group, then he will erupt and I will leave" Harry stated seriously.

"But if Shane was dealt with?" Daryl asked slyly.

"Oh, count me in"

The walk back to the farmhouse was fraught with tension, the three knew they would have to give Hershel the full truth, a half-truth of him being right about Shane wouldn't get them anywhere, even so, the moral compass of the three wouldn't allow them to lie to him, he deserved the truth, that's what he would get.

"He's not going to take this well" Rick sighed

Daryl snorted "Would anyone?"

"I guess not"

As soon as the campsite for Rick and Daryl's group came into view Rick immediately tensed up, searching everywhere for any sign of Shane and Lori, but when he didn't see them, he relaxed.

As they walked up the porch steps Rick hesitated again before steeling himself and saying "Come on let's get this over with" and walking around to the front door where they found Dale sitting guard in one of the big sun chairs, he paled quickly at the serious looks on their faces.

"Is it another herd?" He asked fearfully

"No, no nothing like that" Rick was quick to reassure. "Could you grab everyone from our group though please? We need to have a meeting, bring them back to the house"

Dale looked concerned, "What if I can't find everybody?"

Rick sighed harshly running his hand through his hair. "Just get who you can back to house Dale, quickly"

Stepping passed a bewildered Dale the trio continued on into the house, where they found Hershel alone in the kitchen making a coffee.

"Hello," Hershel greeted "Coffee?"

"No, thank you" they all declined before Rick carried on talking "Hershel, there's something we need to tell you"

"Well, this doesn't sound good" the older man sighed before taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"It's not" Harry agreed "I'm going to ward the room quickly, so no one overhears"

"This really isn't good" Hershel moaned.

"Hershel, there is no easy way to say this so here goes, Shane killed Otis" Rick hurried out.

"WHAT?!" Hershel roared "HE actually did it? We had suspicions but resigned ourselves to never knowing the truth! That bastard! And he dares come back onto my farm and think he can get away with it?"

"Well, we found your proof, we overheard Shane and Lori talking about it, seemed she put him up to it, for Otis' part in 'hurting' Carl" Rick sighed

"Lori?" Hershel whispered disbelievingly "Your wife put your best friend up to killing my brother?"

"Yes" Daryl stated firmly, "That is what we heard"

"Who knows" Hershel again whispered looking distraught

"Other than us? Teddy and Sophia. No one else but I'm going to request your permission to share it with my group, they need to know how dangerous the two of them have become" Rick said. "And find us somewhere new to move too, I don't want anyone near Shane anymore"

Hershel sighed, he knew Patricia would not be any sort of happy about the news he now had to pass on, even finally knowing what happened wouldn't be closure when his killers were still on the property.

"Why would you need to find somewhere else to camp?" Hershel suddenly asked

Rick looked bewildered "Hershel, you're a good man, but even so I do not, I cannot expect you to let us stay here, even you can't be okay with this, with what those two did"

"Exactly!" Hershel protested "what those two did! Rick you are as good a man as you seem to think I am and I will not in good conscience throw out a group who has done nothing wrong, except the gun thing, but we can work on that" He finished laughing

Both Daryl and Harry exchanged an amused glance at the stuttering Rick.

"Thank you" Rick finally said.

Half an hour later, it was done. Everyone knew what Shane and Lori had done, and Rick learned just how right Daryl had been when he said barely anyone in the group had believed Shane's story about Otis.

Hershel had been desperate to find Shane, after telling Patricia what had been overheard, she had broken down in his arms and the pure rage he was hit with had sent him down on his knees, he knew Patricia had been holding out hope that Otis would be back, Hershel reminded her of Harry's promise to go to the school and see what he could find, but god almighty the rage, he wanted to rip Shane's head off. He really had been ready to storm out but luckily Maggie and Beth had managed to plead with him not to go anywhere, lest Shane attack their father too.

The entire group was gathered in the Living Room, well, the entire group that mattered, Glenn, T-dog, Daryl and Dale were stood by the windows and doors keeping watch, for both Walkers and Shane. Maggie, Beth, Jimmy, Patricia and Hershel were dotted around the room on various bits of furniture, Rick and Andrea were stood near the fireplace. Carol was upstairs with all three kids, Teddy and Sophia studying and Carl still sleeping, only waking to drink something and fall asleep again due to still being so weak.

"How's Carl?" Rick asked

"He's doing good actually, still weak which is to be expected, but thanks to Harry the incision is nearly healed, there's no swelling, when he is awake, he's not in pain, all in all a perfect scenario" Hershel replied.

"Has Lori been in today?"

"No" Patricia sighed, "No one has seen her since Maggie and Glenn got back"

"She won't be coming in this house again" Hershel snarled.

"We'll keep her out, it's not safe to have her around any one of us, we definitely need to keep Maggie and Glenn safe just in case she talks Shane into dealing with them, or indeed with any of us if she doesn't like how we're acting" Harry said seriously. "You lot have to stay safe, and stay in the house, I'm going to the school to see what I can find, if he's alive, he's coming back with me, if he's not, then I'm sorry to you all but I will bring back what I can for a burial" Harry said looking the Greene's in the eyes.

"Beth, Jimmy, tell Harry what he can expect, Shane said the medical truck was by the sports hall which is on the east side of the school. Which means the main gates are about 500 metres away" Patricia said seriously.

Another ten minutes passed before Harry felt confident enough in the layout of the school that he was getting ready to go, he grabbed the backpack that he had filled with muggle friendly potions and some food before turning to the group.

"I'm off, I'll be as quick as I can, but it still might be a while, I'm going to look for supplies when I'm there as well, if the school fell as quick as you all think then it might still be a goldmine" Harry said.

"Are you seriously going alone?" T-Dog objected

"Yes" Harry replied calmly, "It'll be quicker"

"Jesus Harry, take someone!" Hershel protested

"Honestly! I will be fine, having someone else there will make me more worried about safety, especially Otis' if he is alive"

"What about Teddy?" Rick asked

"He knows what I'm doing, he's fine, I trust you to keep him safe"

Walking through the woods Harry was severely starting to underestimate just how many of the Walkers there would be at the school. Beth estimated an average of three hundred students due to theirs being a small high school, plus family would take it to around the seven to eight hundred mark, then whoever was trying to pass through looking for shelter to wait out the pandemic. So, there could be up to one thousand people there was the final estimate, however, it appeared to be grossly wrong. Harry was in the woods near the school, his map had led him to the correct position for access to the medical truck which he was going to ransack whilst he was here, it would never be a bad thing to have so much medicine. However, Harry had never been more thankful for the barrage of spells Hermione had managed to convey before communication was shut off, the scent blocking spells were a godsend and he'd never been more thankful for the map he now had up in front of him, there were a hell of a lot more than one thousand Walkers here, and for the first time Harry doubted whether he would actually find Otis. With the school coming into view Harry steeled his resolve and continued on towards the sports hall. A Walker bumped into him but thankfully didn't react to his presence other than the small groan that they all let out when they bumped into things. The noise was getting deafening and Harry half wished his animagus wasn't a Panther so he wouldn't be so sensitive to noise, but he knew that he would be nowhere without it now.

'That must be why there's more than we thought!' Harry slapped his forehead after having a lightbulb moment. 'The noise is drawing more in'

Five minutes later, Harry was standing in front of the main gates, just beyond he could see the medical truck, poking above the Walkers heads, looking at how close the gates where to the medical truck it made sense that Shane and Otis would have kept their truck near these gates for a fairly quick getaway.

'There!' Harry exclaimed in his head as he spotted deep tyre tracks and a few Walker bodies surrounding the area. 'So, they definitely came through these gates' Harry thought.

Making his way forward Harry was amazed that the gates weren't open from the sheer amount of Walker bodies being pushed and pulled about around them, but the sturdy gates and chain had remained intact and closed, so he quickly vaulted over the top before making his way towards another fenced off area alongside the back of the sports hall, he was suspiciously looking at the amount of dead walkers but as far as he could see, no recently deceased human. He supposed though, still cautiously making his way forward, that enough Walkers could make quick work of a whole man easily without leaving a trace, he was still confused at the number of Walkers pressing on the other end of the alley where the gate was barely hanging onto its fixings. Harry recognised the behaviour, they could smell fresh blood, and they wanted it. It wasn't Harry they could smell, which means someone near was bleeding and they were getting impatient, snarling horribly at being denied their prize.

And then his hearing picked up the wheezing.

Next one up soon, this I honestly promise, next week, I'm excited for it I've been working really hard to make it good!

Also, can I just say a quick shout out to EVERYONE who has read, reviewed and followed this story, it's more than I could have dreamed off, I love writing but I was convinced I was never very good at it, you guys keep me believing.

Crossfire.