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

76. Mobility

Clementine wished she had a better source of light than just her lantern lying on the ground, but did her best to evaluate her choices. The red one-piece swimsuit was stylish enough, but it covered so much Clem was worried she'd barely feel the water while wearing it. The pink two-piece looked better except for the top that appeared ill-fitting on Clem. Holding it up in front of the mirror again, Clem wondered if it was even necessary for her to wear the top part.

"Hey!" Clem nearly jumped out of her skin as she dropped the swimsuits and spun around. She could see someone silhouetted against the store's glass doors and realized it was Anthony. "You still in here?"

"Yeah!" called Clem.

"Me and Devlin are done tying our load to the trailer and want to get out of Tulsa already," said Anthony. "You done clothes shopping or whatever?"

"Yeah, I'll be right out." Clem watched Anthony disappear past the front doors, then turned back to the swimsuits. She took one last look at the two-piece suit, then picked up the one-piece. She stuffed the swimsuit and her lantern into her backpack and hurried outside.

Returning to Tulsa had been a tense trip. Stopping at the Citadel to see if anyone was in the shopping center and then listening to Devlin call the radio over and over again left Clementine fearful of what they would do if anyone ever answered. No one did, nor were there any signs people had visited the shopping center, but listening to her footsteps echo across the asphalt as she headed for the semi-truck, Clem still couldn't shake the feeling of someone being out there, just waiting to find them.

"We finally done?" Clem heard Anthony ask as she approached the semi-truck. She watched as Devlin tugged on one of the straps tying the dozens of barrels to the flatbed trailer, then turned to Anthony, who was looking at a clipboard.

"You tell me," said Devlin.

"Well, we got all the barrels and stuff Sin needed for another rainwater collector, along with fire extinguishers, new grills, more propane, wind chimes, those little key box things for our vehicles..." Anthony trailed off as he looked up from his list. "I think that's everything."

"Clem, you get everything you wanted?" asked Devlin.

"I'd hope so, she had enough time to try on a new wardrobe while we're working."

Clem shot Anthony an annoyed look before turning back to Devlin. "I got everything I wanted."

"Two damn weeks we spent packing, and we still needed to come back here for more stuff," grumbled Anthony as he tossed the clipboard into the truck.

"At least this time we just had to tie stuff to the back of a flatbed and not play Jenga with those damn box trailers," said Devlin as looked over all the goods tied to the flatbed. "It's a shame we didn't find anyone waiting here."

"I hear ya."

Devlin and Clem looked at Anthony. "Really?" asked Devlin in disbelief.

"Yeah really, be nice to have an extra hand to do all this damn farm work," griped Anthony. "I was glad when you said you'd need me in Tulsa today because it gives me a break from working in the dirt this morning."

"Me too," added Clem.

"Speaking of the farm, I think it's time we pick-up our scarecrow." Devlin headed up to the door of the semi-truck. "Clem, you ride with Anthony. The trailer makes the semi pretty unwieldily, so if this goes wrong, you'd have a better chance of getting away in his truck instead of this one."

"But..." Devlin climbed into the semi and closed the door, leaving Clem alone with Anthony.

"Well come on," said Anthony as he headed for his own truck. "Unless you want to stay here, which I thought we all agreed we didn't."