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

17. Priorities

Clementine watched the streets carefully through the Brave's windshield as they cruised slowly through yet another small town off the beaten path. Most of the houses they passed appeared relatively undisturbed except for the walkers straggling about in front of some of them, as if they simply lived there now.

The roads however told a different story, being littered with boxes and suitcases broken open to reveal now abandoned clothes or long forgotten personal effects. Also sitting in the road were stalled cars angled awkwardly towards the side, as if they tried to swerve out of the road suddenly only to encounter something else that stopped them.

As Sarah slowly maneuvered the Brave towards the shoulder to slip past the now frozen gridlock, Clem twisted her tomahawk in her hands as she scoured the area for any signs of what they were looking for. This place was just the most recent of many ruined little towns they had investigated, but she felt the presence of walkers here bolded well for them.

"Maybe we should stop for a while," suggested Sarah from the driver's seat. "Omid—"

"We just put Omid down for a nap," reminded Clem as she kept her eyes glued to the windshield. "We've barely started."

Trees surrounding the narrow and cracked roads made it difficult to see much of the immediate area, with only occasional bursts of buildings breaking up the scenery. Cruising past an intersection, Clem quickly scanned the signs out front. A drugstore, a bank, a senior center, and more walkers wandering around outside; nothing she wanted.

"Take a right here," suggested Clementine as they reached another intersection. "It looks like just houses on the left."

"Okay," said Sarah as she twisted the steering wheel. "I don't think we're going to find one here. Maybe if we tried some bigger towns, closer to the interstate—"

"We're not going near the interstate again," dictated Clem. "Not until we're ready." Clem noted the apprehension on Sarah's face but chose to ignore it. Looking ahead, Clem could see they were passing a narrow park between roads on the right and a church on the left, both of which seemed plentiful with walkers.

"I... I really don't like this," stuttered Sarah. "There's more lurkers here than in the last few towns we checked. A lot more."

"That means less people have come through here," asserted Clem as she focused on a walker clumsily chasing after the Brave as it drove by.

"I know, but—"

"They're just walkers," said Clem as she kept her eyes on the horizon for any signs of more stores ahead. "We've both got our raincoats on and we know what to do."

"But there's so—"

"Look!" Clem pointed to a small store at the end of the road with a sign that read 'Thompson's Arms & Accessories'. "Arms, that means it's a gun shop, right?"

"I don't know, maybe?"

"It's gotta be." Clem pulled her respirator over her mouth and nose and turned to Sarah. "You remember what to do?"

"I remember."

"We get in, and we get out." Clem pulled her raincoat's hood over her hat. "As fast as we can."

Sarah pressed down on the gas pedal and brought the Brave in closer to the store. After speeding into its tiny parking lot, the RV skidded to a sudden stop. Clem hurried to the door as Sarah hastily shut off the engine and removed the keys. Clem unlocked the door and looked outside. She could see a few walkers off in the distance on the road, but nothing in the immediate area.

"Let's go!" Clem leapt out and took a few steps away from the Brave to get a better look at her surroundings. She could see a few more walkers wandering in from the brush past the edge of the parking lot, but Clem reasoned they would be long finished before the corpses could clear the distance.