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

10. What We Leave Behind

The pump worked quickly, which was good because the generator spooked Omid. Clementine and Sarah took turns filling the gas cans while the other looked after the frightened baby boy. The small bit of gas Clem salvaged ran the generator long enough to fill nearly five cans worth of gasoline. Breaking to shake the gas out of the hoses and feed Omid, the girls gassed up the generator again and started harvesting the much-needed diesel they had so badly wanted.

It went so well that after managing to get Omid down for a nap while the generator was running, Sarah returned to the auto shop to retrieve even more yellow diesel cans once they filled the six they originally took. She left again right after bringing more back, much to Clem's surprise. The diesel kept flowing as the sun started to set. It felt satisfying to watch those cans fill up, but after a while, Clem started to wonder about Sarah. They were up to twenty filled cans before Clem finally spotted the older girl approaching.

"What is all that?" asked Clem as Sarah pulled a rope that somehow dragged a bounty of goods up to the younger girl.

"Things we'll need, here." Sarah handed Clem a black plastic cube with a cord attached to it. "Go plug that in."

"What's it for?" asked Clem as she examined the object, noting there were no switches or compartments, just a cord that could be unplugged from the box.

"I'll show you in a minute, just go plug it in." Clem shrugged and hurried inside. She located the nearest outlet and plugged in the device. A small red light came on, but nothing else happened. Walking back outside, Clem found Sarah dragging the things she collected towards the back of the Brave. They weren't sitting on a cart, but some flat device that rolled along the ground. Seeing another can was almost full, Clem quickly swapped the hose into an empty one, then darted around the Brave after Sarah.

"What is all this stuff?" asked Clem as she approached Sarah.

"Stuff we can use." Sarah held up a pair of respirators, much like the one Cruz had been wearing. "I found these in the back."

"Cool," said Clem as she admired their new equipment. "Now we don't have to wear those itchy ski masks anymore."

"I also got a lot of things the Brave and the generator need," explained Sarah as she started stowing things into one of the storage compartments. "Motor oil, fuel filters, spark plugs for the generator. Just everything I remembered needing from reading the manuals," explained Sarah as she stuffed a tool into the Brave.

"Taking care of a car is almost as hard as taking care of a baby," mused Clem. "I'm sure glad you're here. You seem to be better at both of them than me."

"I couldn't do it without you," assured Sarah with a smile. "Speaking of which, did you put stabilizer into all the fuel cans?"

"Yeah."

"And you made sure to use the gas stabilizer for the gas cans and the diesel one for the diesel ones?"

"Yeah, just like you told me."

"Good, use this and bring them over." Sarah removed the last few items and Clem saw they had been sitting on a plastic board with wheels attached to it and a rope tied around a handle on one end of it. It looked a little like a skateboard, but fatter and with six wheels instead of four.

"What is that?"

"I found it in the garage. I think mechanics use it to get under cars easier. I figured we can use it to move things easier." Clem took the sliding board by the rope and returned to the pump. After filling its final can, she shut the pump down and started stacking fuel cans on the wheel board. Even with it, she couldn't transport more than a few cans of fuel at a time, necessitating multiple trips.