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

70. Finality

"Eight, ten, twelve—wait, didn't I already count these two?" Clementine had come to deeply regret not doing inventory before she painstakingly stuffed every compartment, cupboard, and drawer on the Brave full with everything they had taken from the shopping center. Fresh tools, auto supplies, ammo, new clothes, and a massive but nutritionally diverse horde of food were just some of the many goods that had consumed every last speck of free space left in her humble home. Even going to check on their supply of medicines required Clem to maneuver around a stack of encyclopedias sitting in middle of the hall and inch past a large box containing a new crib before she could even open the bathroom door.

"Kem-men!" greeted Omid as he waved from inside the toilet.

"OJ, no!" Clem dropped her pen and notepad and rushed forward. "How did you get out again?" Carrying Omid back to the bedroom required Clem to dance around the boxes full of salt and sugar parked in front of the door while carrying a messy baby. "What were you doing in there?" she asked as she set Omid on the bed.

"Ah-clah-da-geg." Clem cleaned Omid off and changed his clothes, then doubled checked his old crib. He hadn't managed to pry it open, nor tip it over. Setting him inside, Clem briefly watched as Omid pawed at the top of the railing before she realized the boy was taller than from a month ago and he could probably just climb out now. Knowing there wasn't a lot she could do to stop Omid from escaping his crib, Clem set a couple of heavy books on the toilet seat and got back to work.

She tallied the many medicines they had taken from the Sam's Club pharmacy. The previous residents had written simple layman terms like 'ANTIBIOTIC' or 'PAINKILLER - STRONG' across the original labels in big letters, making Clem's work a little easier. She also counted up their other medical supplies like gauze, alcohol, and a bunch of tools taken from the nearby hospital. Opening a small box, Clem cringed when she saw it was full of small, curved needles. She quickly put them away and hastily wrote down 'Box of Scary Needles' on her notepad.

Counting the packages of tampons under the sink, Clem found herself reaching for one facing the wrong way, curious to what was written on the back of it. What was there didn't do much to satisfy Clem's curiosity, in fact it only raised more questions. The picture of something she thought looked like a big plastic pen, some vague instructions about 'insertion', and some claims of offering protection from 'leaks' baffled Clem. She was about to open the box when she heard a loud bang from outside. Hurrying past the clutter as fast as she could, Clem retrieved her gun and burst outside.

"Patty?" Clem saw the woman moving away from the semi-truck parked in front of the Sam's Club.

"Oh sorry, I didn't scare you or anything?" said the woman as she grabbed hold of a cart parked next to the vehicle.

"I heard a bang a second ago."

"That was just me slamming the door," said Patty as she pushed her cart forward. "I was just dropping off some stuff for our big ass food truck here."

"None of those are for the Brave are they?" asked Clem as she eyed the glut of spare parts and containers of various fluids automobiles needed all sitting in Patty's cart. "Because we don't have any room... at all."

"Nah, this is for the semi we're storing our building materials in," said Patty as she pushed the cart. "Was just gonna run it over to the hardware store."

"I could do that," volunteered Clem.

"It's okay, I—"

"Please?" begged Clem.

"You... want to push this heavy stuff across the lot?"

"Not really, but—"

"Kem-men!" Clementine turned to find Omid waddling up to her. "Ah-wah-ah-bree!"