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

33. Orange County

Clementine watched the old two-story grocery store closest to the roadblock from the safety of the Brave's passenger seat. It was a humble building with a couple of brick columns holding up the end of the top floor that hung over the front door like an awning, complete with a sign that read 'Grant Grocery' nailed between two windows.

Clothes hanging from a laundry line planted in the side yard indicated people were living here, and the presence of blue coats drying in the sun suggested there was a good possibility Deacon was amongst the people staying here. However, Clem had elected to wait and watch for signs of activity, fearing another encounter with Tanner if she approached the store.

"Anything?" mumbled Sarah, who was resting on the couch.

"Not since those last few guys walked out." Clem felt bad waking Sarah so early, but she reasoned they needed to find where Deacon was staying before dawn if they wanted any chance of running into him today. "Wait, I think I see him." Clem's words seemed to stir a sleepy Sarah, who moved towards the front of the RV. Emerging from the building was a man and a shorter, younger man. "That's... not him."

Sarah moved back to the couch as Clem studied the pair of people in blue coats. The younger man appeared too tall to be Deacon and the older one too old to be Tanner. The older one held a rifle while the younger one seemed to have a rope coiled up in his hands. They conversed briefly before moving behind the building.

"I just realized something," said Clem.

"What?" mumbled Sarah as she lay down.

"I don't think anyone here knows that walkers don't attack you if you smell like they do."

"What makes you think that?" asked Sarah in a quiet voice.

"None of the coats Tanner's people wear look all that dirty, so I don't think they've ever done it. Rhonda said they had to lure walkers into the water, and Patty talked about how she was left to die once by Rhonda," recalled Clem. "I don't think anyone here has ever figured it out."

Sarah sat up. "We should tell them then," spoke the older girl.

"Maybe," said Clem as she watched the store.

"What do you mean maybe?" asked Sarah as she moved to the driver's seat.

"I mean maybe," shrugged Clem. "We don't know if these are good people yet. If they're all like Patty, Rhonda, and Tanner, we wouldn't want them knowing something important like that. It would just make it easier for them to take things they'd never share with other people."

"But they can't all be like that," said Sarah. "Deacon lives here and he's good. Besides, I don't want anyone here to die because a lurker eats them, even if a lot of them are mean."

"Really? You don't even want Tanner to die?" asked Clem in surprise.

Sarah pondered Clem's question. "Well, I don't want him to die because of us. If something else killed him, I don't think it'd bother me that much, but it seems wrong not to tell people there's a way to get past lurkers."

"I don't know. If he wasn't such an asshole, we wouldn't mind telling him," argued Clem. "Why does he deserve to know something that might save his life when he doesn't care about ours or even a little baby's?"

"I didn't say he did, but Deacon deserves to know."

"Well, we can tell just him," shrugged Clem.

"You don't think he'd tell Tanner? I mean, that's basically his job."

"Well, maybe if I ask him not to tell then—"

"Then you're asking him to do the same thing I don't think is right," said Sarah. "The lurkers have killed enough people; we should tell the people here about the smell before anyone else gets eaten."