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

47. Coming to Town

"Clementine? Ya there?"

Clementine skidded to a sudden stop and hastily surveyed the road for danger. Seeing nothing, she carefully set the sack she was carrying on the asphalt and grabbed her radio. "Yeah... I'm here."

"Are... are you okay?" asked Patty. "You sound outta breath." Clementine pulled her respirator down and took in a couple of breaths of cold air. "Are you in trouble? I can be there in just a—"

"I'm fine," insisted Clem in as calm a voice as she could manage. "I was just..." Clem bit her lip as she racked her mind for an excuse. "I was just... going to the bathroom."

"Oh... oh shit—I mean... my bad," said Patty.

"It's fine," assured Clem as she opened her sack to examine its contents.

"I was just calling to let you know Sarah said she's going to wrap up her time with Omid soon if you wanted to start heading back."

"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Do you need a hand toting the telescope back?" asked Patty. "I know it's a pain lugging that thing back and forth from the overpass."

"I can handle it. In fact..." Clem sighed as she realized she would need more time. "I'm gonna stay out a little longer, just to be extra sure nothing's coming this morning."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll call you if anything happens." Clem clipped her radio back to her belt, hefted the sack over her shoulder, and started running as quickly as she could. The bag wasn't heavy but it was fairly big for someone Clem's size, which made it awkward to carry. And with at least a half-mile left to walk, the girl started to wonder if this had even been a good idea.

Clem kept a vigilant eye open as she moved further down the highway, even though she wasn't expecting anything. The roads were mostly clear say for the occasional stray car, and the group's initial investigation had revealed most of the buildings in the surrounding area had been picked clean of food.

With no recent signs of living people and there being nothing anyone would want here, Clem felt that they had chosen a reasonably safe place to rest for a week. But safety was a relative thing nowadays and could change at anytime, so the trio had been taking turns watching for trouble from an overpass so the other two could spend a morning outside with Omid.

Adjusting her grip on the sack, Clem felt her eyes drifting towards the sides of the road. Even though they were still in Florida, it didn't really feel like it anymore. The palm trees had disappeared and had been replaced with elms and pines. And although she still felt it was warm for December, it was notably cooler now than when they were near Orlando. Just ahead was the only thing that Clem found vaguely reminiscent of Florida; a single palm plant so short it looked more like a bush than a tree.

Just past the plant was a sign that Clem found herself pondering every time she laid eyes on it. 'Welcome to Historic DeFuniak Springs: Home of the Historic Chautauqua.' She figured Defuniak Springs was probably the name of the town they were in, but what made it or whatever Chautauqua historic she had no idea, and she probably never would as they only stopped here to break from their usual scavenging routines for at least a few days.

Looking ahead, Clem could see the overpass on the horizon now, which was just a small highway running over a different small highway going the other way. Right after starting her watch this morning, she had quickly scanned the four roads with the telescope before hurrying north. Clem felt bad about leaving her post like she had, but she had deemed it a necessary risk to get the bounty she was now carrying.

After a lot more walking, Clem scaled the shallow grassy hill that led to the top of the overpass and hopped over the safety rail. Sitting in the middle of the road, glinting in the morning sun, was a familiar red telescope waiting for its owner. Clem used it to check all four directions the highways spread out in and found nothing but wide open interstates everywhere she looked. Satisfied there was nothing terrible on the horizon, at least right now, Clem folded up the telescope's legs.