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

56. New Orleans

Clementine tugged on the hood of her jacket, trying to shield as much of her face as she could from the cold. Even though it had stopped raining yesterday and was sunny today, the temperature had dropped to the point where it truly felt like winter now, even in southern Louisiana. They had crossed the state border the day before yesterday, then spent most of the next day checking the surrounding area, which was even more desolate and empty than most places they checked.

Staring out over this new lake, Clem found it unsettling she couldn't see to the other side of it. According to Sarah's atlas, New Orleans lay just beyond the water stretched out before her. The interstate they had taken to get this far continued over the lake and appeared passable as far as they could see, yet Patty had elected they stay the night on this side of the bridge before proceeding. Now it was morning, and Clem sat on a pier wondering what would come next.

"I just don't think I'm any good at this." Clem looked over at Sarah as she reeled in her fishing line.

"It just takes time," assured Clem. "Anthony told us that."

"He also said catching fish with bait like this would be easy," said Sarah as she examined her lure.

"This is your first time."

"It was your first time and you caught two in like five minutes," said Sarah as she pointed to the dead fish lying on the dock beside Clem.

"It was more than five minutes," said Clem as she opened their tackle box. "And this wasn't my first time."

"It wasn't?" asked Sarah as she held a baby monitor up to her ear. "Did you go fishing before we left Beaver Lake?"

"No," said Clem as she removed a knife from the tackle box. "I went with Omid... once."

"Omid?"

"OJ's dad, the first Omid," said Clem. "He took me fishing once... right before he died."

"I'm sorry Clem," said Sarah as she set the baby monitor down.

"It's weird. We ate fish the whole time we lived in that cabin," mused Clem as she looked down at the fish lying in front of her. "But I never learned anything about fishing then, not until that day at least."

"Why not?" asked Sarah as she cast out her line.

"I just... didn't," shrugged Clem as she sliced open a fish's belly. "Christa and Omid taught me about other things, and so did Lee, but I guess... I just didn't want to learn about stuff like that, not then."

"You were just a little girl then," said Sarah as she slowly reeled in her line. "You still are."

"Yeah... but now I kinda want to learn about stuff like that. Like, actually want to, not just because I have to, at least for some of it," realized Clem as she sliced off the fish's head and tail. "Does that sound weird?"

"Actually, I think I feel the same way," said Sarah. "I used to love reading adventure books and stories when I lived at Shaffer's, but not anymore, at least, not most of the time. I like reading those textbooks I took more now."

"I always thought it was weird adults liked boring things so much," said Clementine as she pulled open the fish's caucus. "But I guess... that stuff isn't boring to them."

"Yeah... but why?" wondered Sarah. "Why do we like it now when we didn't before? What changed?"

Clem thought on Sarah's question as she looked down at the nearly dissected fish before her. "I guess, we had to start doing things on our own," said Clem as she pulled a small bucket over to where she was sitting. "And it feels good when we do things right, so we want to do more of it, and that's better than just playing with a toy or a game, I guess."