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

46. Neighborhood Watch

"Come on goddammit!" swore Patty as she pulled on the chainsaw's cord.

"I really think it's broken," said Clementine as she watched the woman try in vain to start the tool's motor.

"There's nothing wrong with it," insisted a frustrated Patty. "Everything on it is practically cherry and I just put some gas in it."

"I could just go around." Hearing Sarah's voice, Clem looked over her shoulder and could see the older girl was watching everything through the Brave's windshield. "Or we could just walk, it's not far."

"It doesn't matter how far..." Patty groaned. "Just tell her to give me a minute."

"Patty says give her a minute." Clem clipped the radio back to her belt and sighed. Looking past the frustrated woman fiddling with the chainsaw's various bits, Clem studied the road laid out ahead of them. It was a simple small town street running between houses. Not far ahead was an intersection that led to a fenced-in playground nestled in the very middle of this quaint neighborhood. But between it and the Brave was a trio of knocked over utility poles blocking the road. Clem had used their bolt cutter to remove the wires connecting the poles while Patty had tried to start her chainsaw. Now there were no more wires to cut and the chainsaw still hadn't started.

"Fuck!" shouted Patty as she stumbled backwards.

"Are you okay?" asked Clem as she rushed to the woman's side.

"Yeah, yeah," assured Patty as she regained her balance. "Just getting sick of this damn thing not working."

"We can just walk like Sarah said. We don't have to clear the road."

"And what if something happens?" asked Patty. "If we have to leave in a hurry it'd be better if we only had to cross a playground to do it, and not have to outrun something chasing us for an entire block while we're carrying a scared baby."

"Huh, that's a good point," conceded Clem.

"And it's not like this is the only time we're going to run into this." Patty gestured to the downed utility poles. "There's going to be other messed up roads out there, and I'd rather we get a handle on it now before we have to do it for something really important."

"I guess that makes sense, but the chainsaw doesn't work. Maybe we should try to find one that does?"

"If I can't get this one started then I doubt we're going to find one that does," said Patty as she knelt down to pull the chainsaw's cord again. "I usually managed to fix my dad's chainsaw despite him tearing it up all the time, and this one is in way better condition than my dad's ever was." Patty gave the cord another forceful tug and groaned. "But what's really pissing me off is it doesn't make sense for it not to start. Everything looks good, but it doesn't work. My motorcycle has been doing the same thing lately, just not starting for no damn reason."

"Yeah, I've noticed that," said Clem.

"I swear, I've tried everything," spoke Patty as she fiddled with the chainsaw's choke. "Your RV hasn't been giving you any problems lately?"

"No, not since you and Sarah worked on it."

"God, I just don't get it," said Patty as she bent down to grab the pull cord again. "It's like I'm cursed or something."

Watching Patty trying to start the chainsaw yet again, Clem looked over her shoulder at the Brave and the motorcycle parked on the side of the road next to it. She tried to think of differences between them, then tried to narrow it down to differences that would actually cause one to start and not the other. "Maybe it's the—" A loud sputtering filled the air.