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

11. The Daily Grind

Clementine scoured the area for anything worth taking. They had been checking everywhere on this part of the highway all morning, only to find nothing to eat. This small Greek restaurant seemed to be no exception. There were no telltale signs of walkers, such as dried blood to be seen. In fact, the area looked fairly tidy, as if people had been here before, but the thin layer of dust on all the tables suggested they abandoned it long ago.

With those factors to consider, Clementine took off her backpack and set it on the nearest table, reasoning she might as well save herself the strain of toting it around while she investigates another dead end. She checked behind the counter, in the kitchen, around the back. Nothing edible, or at least nothing she'd be willing to test was edible or not. But she did find something promising in the form of a walk-in freezer that was still padlocked.

Excited at the prospect of her expedition finally bearing some fruit, possibly literally, Clem rushed back to retrieve the bolt cutters stored in her bag and hauled the heavy tool back to the fridge. She reached out, moving the cutters towards the lock, but found she was just ever slightly too short to make contact. After letting out an annoyed groan, Clem grabbed a chair from the diner section and dragged it into the back. Now able to reach, Clem positioned the bolt cutters carefully and let them neatly cut the lock.

Clementine removed the busted lock, hopped back to the ground, hastily moved the chair out of the way and pulled the freezer open. A pair of cockroaches came skittering out before the door was even half way open, not a good sign. Stepping inside, Clementine found stacks of boxes stained with leaks from things that probably spoiled months, if not a year ago. Insects skittered about the shelves as she walked further into the freezer. The rows of rotted goods made Clem afraid to even remove her respirator. Just looking at the stacks of cardboard boxes marinated in the juices of whatever went bad inside them and the stacks of now rotten meats was nearly enough to make her gag.

The girl was ready to leave, but then she spotted some sacks stacked up in the corner that appeared undisturbed compared to rest of the stained and rotted goods. Taking a closer look, Clem saw could see rice through the clear plastic the bags were made out of. There were eight of them, four brown rice and four white rice, just waiting for her. Tugging on the nearest one, Clem was surprised by how much it weighed. Thinking it was a lot to haul back, Clem reached for the radio.

"Sarah?" said Clem. "Can you talk?"

"Yeah," answered Sarah. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Rice is supposed to stay good for a long time, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because I just found a lot of rice in this restaurant. Too much for me to carry in one trip."

"You did? That's great," spoke an excited Sarah. "I'll park the Brave right outside and come help you out."

Clementine started hauling the bags out one at a time while she waited for Sarah. She also double-checked the freezer for anything else she could take, but all she found made her glad she couldn't smell anything through the respirator. As she pulled the eighth and final bag out of the freezer and into the restaurant where she had left her backpack, she heard the familiar hum of a diesel engine approaching.

Looking up, she spotted someone approaching through the glass door. Her hand instinctively went right to the gun resting in the holster on her hip, even though she still hadn't found any more bullets for it. Watching the figure grow closer, Clem saw it was Sarah, who pushed the door open and stepped inside. Looking at her, Clem noticed something was missing.