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

52. Endangered

Clementine felt her chest tightening as she tried to decide what to do next, knowing full well her next move may be her last. Panic gripped the girl as she stared down the barrel of a revolver being held mere inches from her face. Forcing her eyes upwards to see her attacker, Clem saw a tall and thin young man with messy dark hair and a shabby beard. His eyes appeared bloodshot, yet he looked oddly calm somehow.

"You alone?" he spoke, not sounding particularly concerned. Clem's eyes drifted back towards his gun. It was unnerving how still he was holding it, as if he wasn't the least bit afraid. But staring directly at the revolver, Clem could see the chambers were all empty, except for the one behind the barrel, which she couldn't see.

"Hey, I asked you a question." Clem felt like throwing up as she heard a loud click, made even louder by how close she was to the gun, but she managed to keep her focus despite her panic. The man cocking the revolver moved the chambers, revealing the hidden one was empty too, and even if it wasn't, he just cycled an empty chamber into the barrel. "Now, are you alone?"

"I'm not," Clem finally answered. "I have friends outside, and they have guns."

"What's that noise? They gotta car running out there?" asked the man.

"It's our generator." Clem kept watching the man's face for signs of what he was thinking, but he remained eerily unexpressive.

"What are you using a generator for?"

"To get diesel." Clem noticed the man's eyes moving aside briefly when he heard the word diesel. "We can get some for you too."

"What are you getting diesel for? A truck?" asked the man, ignoring Clem's offer. The girl hesitated to answer, reasoning a working RV would be seen as quite a find for a possible thief. "Hey, I'm talking to you," said the man. "Next time I'm not going to ask you again, I'm just going to shoot you. Now—" The distant hum of the generator went silent, which caused the man to turn his head. His face still appeared calm, but his sudden movement was the first sign of concern Clem had seen from him.

"My friend is going to come in here to find me now," said Clem as the man turned back to her in a hurry. "And she has a shotgun."

"She?" repeated the man. "Who's she? Your sister?"

Clem found it odd he seemed more interested Patty's relation to her than the fact Patty was armed. "She's probably in the store right now, looking for me," said Clem, choosing to ignore his question. "If you just let me go, I won't tell her I saw you. We were going to leave as soon as we got the diesel anyway."

"Stay right there." The man started inching backwards, keeping his gun aimed right at Clem's head with every step. As he moved further away from her, Clem thoughts drifted towards her own gun. Her raincoat had likely concealed it from her attacker's notice, and the further the man moved away the less likely he could try to take it from her, but she didn't know how he would react to seeing a gun. If she drew it she might have to kill this person too depending on what he did.

The man finally backed up enough to be standing by the door. Clem watched anxiously as he turned towards the exit. Carefully, he took one hand off his revolver and quietly cracked the door, and that's when Clem drew her gun. She pulled the pistol from her holster in a flash and clicked off the safety just as the man turned back towards her.

"Hey!" he yelled as he put both hands back on his revolver. "I'll—"

"Your gun isn't loaded," informed Clem as she took aim at the man's chest. "Mine is."

"Says you," retorted the man, still aiming his gun at Clem. "For all I know—"

A deafening bang echoed through the empty store room after Clem pulled the trigger, her warning shot sailing past the man and striking the back wall. Clem hastily aimed at the man again just in time to watch him pull the trigger on his own gun. Clem felt a chill shoot up her spine as she heard a loud click, followed by several more clicks as the man kept pulling the trigger. The gun was empty liked she had noticed, but the man kept pointing it at her long after it refused to fire.