Three Orphan Pilgrimage (The Alternative to TWDG's Final Season) [Walking Dead]

8. The Steadfast Soldier

"I guess I should introduce myself," said the woman. "I'm Corporal Cruz."

"Your name is Corporal?" asked Clementine.

"Corporal is my rank," clarified Cruz.

"Rank?" said Sarah as she adjusted her grip on Omid. "You're in the military?"

"Was. I lost contact with the chain of command same time as everyone else lost touch with the rest of the world. And I'm the only one left in my unit."

"Then why do you still call yourself Corporal?"

Cruz shrugged. "Old habits die hard I guess," she said. "That and I like the alliteration. Corporal Cruz sounds much better than Ms. Cruz."

"So, if you were in the military, does that—"

"I know what you're going to ask me, and the answer is going to be no to everything," assured Cruz. "No I don't know what the hell happened or why the dead started coming back. No I don't know if the government or anyone had some big plan to do anything. And no I don't know anything more about this shit than anyone else. I was just a reservist helicopter pilot.

"The biggest thing I could tell you is that it sounded like the regular military was being deployed around major cities on the coast and the reserves, or at least the ones I was serving with, were supposed to secure a handful of small towns."

"Why?" asked Sarah.

"I don't know, we never got new orders. Some people have been passing around rumors, like the government evacuated a portion of the population to Newfoundland and left the rest us to rot; others say Cuba. But it's all just that, rumors. Not like any of us have been there, unless you two came from Cuba or Newfoundland."

"No, I used to live outside of Atlanta," said Clem.

"Hang on, let me write this down." Cruz retrieved a small notebook from her pocket. "I just realized, I don't even know your names yet."

"I'm Sarah, and she's Clementine. And this is Omid." Sarah held up the small boy, who had stopped crying for the moment.

"Why are you writing that down?" asked Clem.

"Some of the people back home are still holding out hope they'll find lost friends or loved ones, so I take down names wherever I find them," said Cruz. "Do either of you have anyone you're looking for?"

"Most of the people I used to know are dead," spoke a saddened Sarah.

"Or they're people we don't want to find," added Clem. "But, do you know anyone named Molly?"

"No, but I could ask around when I get back," said Cruz. "What's her last name?"

"I... don't know," realized Clem.

"Well, that's not a lot to go off of," said Cruz. "You said your... parents, were out looking for supplies?"

"Um, yeah," said Clem.

"They didn't go north did they?"

"Why?"

"Because there's almost nothing on the north side of town. I just came from there; total dash."

"Dash?" asked Sarah.

"Little code word we use, as in dine and dash," explained Cruz. "It means whoever was here last grabbed everything they could, but in a hurry, so there's little bits they overlooked. That also means nobody is probably living in the area anymore since anytime people set up shop, collecting everything into one stash is usually the first thing they do."