Hey guys, so I sat thinking when I had a minute or two, how to fix the bit in the last chapter where I said George was familiar with Muggle technology and decided today on how to do it. So, after I post this, I'm going to go back and reword that bit for a clearer image of what I was wanting understood. I'm sorry it was difficult to understand; and please let me know if ever I write something and you don't understand it. Next Friday's chapter is, Chapter the last chapter of this ff; "Out Of The Past And Into The Future." I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Happy New Year to each of you!

narnia_potter; You're welcome.
Droo; Hey Droo thanks for your time reading and commenting.


Chapter 22

Zombies In North America

“I camped out on the outskirts of the farm I owned which happened to be right up against the foot of the mountain. I had to wait three days until one night during a thunderstorm I sat studying my Potions; I heard a rustling in the trees. I went out into the storm, and found three forms leading a young calf away from the herd with a rope. It appeared awkward for them to move, because they were stiff. I followed them to a very narrow tunnel in the side of the mountain. It was difficult for them to get through and hard for them to get the steer through, but they managed finally.”

“I returned back to my camp and slept the rest of the night. The next morning I gathered herbs and spices then using some supplies I had from the Jungles, I put together a potion I got from a medicine man in Australia. He said it would cure a variety of illnesses including Zombieism. I checked myself thoroughly to make sure all my wounds were completely covered then I packed up camp and went to the tunnel I had seen the Zombies go into. When I came out on the other side I was mortified to see what was before me.

“Three zombies were coming at me with clubs raised. They probably were the same three I had seen stealing the calf. I raised both of my hands to show I wasn’t a threat to them. “I am here to help you. I will not hurt anyone. Please do not come any closer to me until I am set up to help you. They stopped advancing on me, and one of them gestured to me, and muttered, “Who?” I told them my name and that I was new to the area and had heard the rumors of Zombies, that which, the mountain was cursed with.”

“The smell radiating from them was like nothing you’ve ever smelled before. Their skin was unnaturally and heavily pigmented, wrinkled, creased, and hard. It was extremely hard to understand them because their tongues were hard, and thick from swelling. After I was able to convince them I wasn’t going to hurt them, I asked them to tell me how they became this way, and why didn’t anyone help them.”

“It took a while for me to understand them, but I got the hang of their poorly enunciated words, and was able to get the gist of their story.”

“Some giants, wizards and witches riding dragons started terrorizing them. The giants rolled giant boulders off the mountain, and threw great mounds of earth and rocks down all around them. I looked around and saw that in fact they were completely surrounded by what looked like a ring of mountains. They were trapped with only a big lake and some caves. Their food source was from the wild animals trapped with them, and the fish came from the lake, which also was their drinking water. The witches and wizards destroyed their homes so they fled to the caves. Everyone crowded into nineteen vehicles, of which only twelve made it to the caves.”

“Somehow, a lot of the people was able to survive the brutal killings from the giants and dragons, and arrived at the caves on foot. Of all the survivors, they numbered fifty-seven. Twelve of them were pregnant women, of which four lost their babies. They eventually lost all hope of being rescued. Every day they were hassled by the giants and dragons when they ventured out to get food and water. One day the giants and dragons didn’t come, yet the mountain shook and rumbled as if they were there.

It was May 18th, in the year 1980, just two months and days before I was born, the mountain erupted. Lava poured down the sides and because of the ring of mountains around them, the lava flowed around the enclosed valley. Volcanic ash filled the air and made it impossible to wonder outside. Everybody piled into the largest cave and pulled boulders into the opening to keep animals and ash from coming in on them. Still, the air was acrid and hot, and made it very difficult to breath. They went deep into the ground looking for safe air to breath. Finally, they came across a big cavern with a lake. They overcame many obstacles but was able to survive there until the air outside was clear and breathable.”

“Finally they were able to come out of the caves and get emaciated animals that somehow survived, for food. The thing is radiation contaminated the animals, thus contaminating the people. They still had to rely on the underground lake for food and water. They were deprived of any vegetables and milk. Malnutrition was a terrible worry. They found a fissure in the side of the mountain, and began to dig and break through solid rock inches at a time. It was only just within the last months that they reached through the other side of their prison. Years before this came about; the lack of proper nutrition, and sanitary conditions overcame them. They had succumbed to the creatures they turned into, and lived day by day, in the confines of their diseased bodies.”

“I was overcome with grief for these people, and told them I would do everything in my power to help them. I put on protective gloves and a respirator mask. I began giving them potions every day. I bought big tents for them to live in temporarily. Each day I left, I had to Scourgify myself to make sure I didn’t contaminate anything. They burnt everything that was burnable, and I told them not to enter the cave anymore. The lake was covered with a sheet of Obsidian. It was spectacular to see. I threw several sticks of dynamite and blew up a section, and without them knowing it, I used magic to make it look like it blew up all the rest of the obsidian covering the lake. Imagine my surprise when I saw life in that lake. I figured they wouldn’t be able to use the lake because of the radiation contamination in the water and water life. But, there swimming in the water was some very confused fish, but otherwise perfectly normal looking. I felt bad for using the dynamite then. It wasn’t much though; it was only subterfuge to cover up my use of magic after all. I walked the perimeter of the lake and was ecstatic to find a runoff from the lake, and on around the front side of the lake I found where an underwater current was running into the lake from the mountain. I examined the fish, and found them to be healthy and contamination free. I was thankful that Poppa was so strict with my Potions classes, and I was able to glean a lot of knowledge from medicine men all around the world. Because of this, I became a very efficient Virologist. The Potions I made for the people was finally starting to work against the Zombie manifestations they had.”

“I decided it was time to go into town and replenish my supplies. I told them that I would be back in a few days. By this time, they were no longer infectious and knew the amount of potion they were to take daily, and could administer it themselves. They had fresh water to drink from the lake, and could eat the water life. I went in town, and purchased the land the community lived on. I got a permit that allowed me to handle and use large amounts of C-4. I had to modify one of the officials mind to let me have that permit because he wanted me to show proof that I was qualified to buy it. I handed him numerous sheets of blank paper and he thought they were all the certificates I needed to get and use it. After I did everything I needed to do, I returned to my bowl in the mountains. The people were able to start moving without all the stiffness they had, and the unnatural skin started peeling off them. I set up a peddle sewing machine and gave the women cloth, and thread, so they could make them some simple clothes.

The men were able to start helping me chop down trees for log cabins. We built cabins eventually for each of the families. I started digging to make a well. I did this by myself, as there wasn’t room in the hole for more than one person. I eventually was deep enough that I rigged a pulley, bucket system, and had a young man pull up dirt I excavated. He would empty the dirt I sent up and then lower into the well rocks to line the sides of the well. In the evenings and early in the mornings I would go to the well by myself and work on it with magic. Eventually the well was completed. I got lucky and happened to hit an artesian well. After the well was finished, I began digging into the path that they had made in the fissure. Again, during the day and early evening, the men helped me. I couldn’t use the C-4 because I didn’t want to bring down the top of the tunnel on us. So, it was with pick and shovel we widened the path into a two-lane roadway. Early in the morning and late at night I worked by myself, only again like the well, I used magic to get me further after the Muggles went home. It was desperately hard and I kept it up until it wasn’t safe to do anymore due to the darkness. I went to my camp, and cleaned up, ate a bit of food and got out my… things I took to remind me of home, and I fell asleep looking at them every night.”

“Finally the road was large enough and the cabins were all done. The coming winter would be much easier on them sense they would have their own cabins. The first winter they all shared a large cabin that we would convert into a recreation hall after all the cabins were built. It looked like everything was going very well, and I’d be able to leave soon. One day I was walking around the lake, and a piece of Obsidian caught my eye. The dynamite explosion had given it an odd shape. It gave me an idea. Filling pockets full of the rock; I went back and made some jewelry. They were just simple pieces. When there was enough to show, I gathered everyone around, and showed them the things I made. My idea was to see if anyone would be interested in making jewelry and sell it. I told them that I could export what they made to any place in the world. It was a big hit right away.”

“One morning after blood was drawn from everyone; I checked it under my microscope and announced that everybody’s blood was back to normal. From my point of view, they didn’t have any more Zombie traces in their blood. I told them that I was going to go back to town, and get the health department to check everyone thoroughly.”

“When I went in town, I arranged a meeting with the state, city, and county officials. Of course, the city officials knew me, and taken aback at everything I told them. Naturally, I didn’t say what caused the people to be trapped where they were, but made an appointment for different agencies to go out and inspect the place and the people. When I said they still need loads of help with food, clothing, jobs, etc. they said they would go before the town and make a plea to the people for them. The state said they could help more, if the community was incorporated. So, I made all the proper arrangements to do that, and named the place, “Xanadu”. I went to all the appliance stores and arranged for the stores to deliver all the comforts of home to the cabins. I paid for half, the government paid for a quarter, and the stores donated the other quarter. I made the same arrangements with furniture stores. Arrangements were made to get utilities out to them, so that each cabin had running water, indoor plumbing, telephone service, and even cable T.V. The local University donated classes for workshops to train them in modern technology to help them get jobs. After everything that needed done was finished, I went to the Ministry of Magic, and told them of the people of Xanadu, that they would need their memories modified right away, so they don’t tell authorities that dragons, giants, and witches was the cause of their grief all these years. All they needed was that bit of their memory modified. So, the officials said they would send the appropriate division of the Ministry out and cause them to think that mud slides, and earthquakes occurred, causing them to be sealed into the area. They also said because it was magic that caused these people to suffer so long, they would make sure the people were watched over from then on.”

“Then, I went to various places and set up negotiations for the jewelry to be sold. It was close to two months, before I was able to go back to Xanadu. What a difference in the community! It looked like a normal village. The nearby town I had been working with through all this even started building a school, and church. I was overwhelmed with happiness for them, and myself, because I thought for sure my wand would point me home that night before I went to bed. I was heartbroken that it didn’t. We was talking after I was able to talk, and Professor Dumbledore suggested that maybe I should call a community meeting and appoint a village council to run the place when I leave. That made sense, so the next morning, I called everyone together, and told them that I would be leaving and they needed to have people to take charge of things like a proper village, sense they were incorporated. I stayed with them for two more months while the people took to their new responsibilities. One evening as I was walking out to my campsite, I was deep in thought about getting home, when I was attacked and bitten by loads of snakes. After they bit me, they all blew up, and disintegrated. I had too much poison in my system to walk the four miles back to my camp, and I didn’t dare try to Apparate or even use my broom to get back to camp. I could feel the poison going through all my body. It was at that moment I decided to make sure, if I lived that I would always carry my pouch tied to my waist for the rest of my life. Fawkes could’ve healed me in a matter of moments. Then Mr. & Mrs. McKinnon ran to me. They said they saw what happened and they could help me.”

“I didn’t know how they were going to get me to my camp in time
for me to get Fawkes and was about to decline their help when I was being sucked through time and space. I hate that feeling when you Apparate. Anyway, I was in their cabin, and they started siphoning the poison from me. They said by all accounts I should be dead. I cannot begin to tell you how bad the pain was, but at least I wasn’t dead.”

“Nobody should be able to get bit by fifty poisonous snakes and not die.” Kr. McKinnon said.

“They understood though when I told them that I had built up immunity to most snakes when I was in Australia. The Aborigines helped me with it. I asked how they knew how many snakes there were, and how was it that I lived among a witch and wizard for a year and a half, and didn’t know it.”

“First thing first; let’s just get you fully recovered before we get into that. Look at the snakes and tell me which ones you aren’t immune to yet.” They did the Priori Incantatum and showed me the image of me walking into the tunnel and all at once, these snakes appeared and bit me at the same time. They froze the image and said that was how they were able to count how many snakes there were. I looked carefully, which was hard because by this time I was succumbing to the poison. I knew I would be dead in a few minutes if I didn’t hurry. Then I found it. It was the Australian Brown Snake. For some reason, my body couldn’t build a complete tolerance to the venom from that one. And, there were six of them there biting me. No wonder it started working so fast. I looked at my leg where they bit me and could see the skin starting to rot. The McKinnon’s worked furious and quickly concocted the potion I needed. They were able to stop the poison from killing me, and said my leg would heal with time.

“Just put this on it twice daily, and rewrap it until the skin looks normal, and it doesn’t hurt anymore. Keep the dead skin cleaned off good and new skin will replace it.” they said, and gave me the stuff they used on me. That was the last night we were there. I put it on yesterday morning, before we left, and I seen this morning when I redressed it that someone did it for me last night. I apologize to whoever did it for me, but thank you so much,” he concluded in a soft far away voice.

Harry had recounted the story with his eyes closed to help him rest as much as he could, but opened them to look at everyone. “Well,” he said, “It must not have been that boring for you, because I see none of you have fallen asleep.”