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

98. Sunset

Clementine hacked and wheezed for air, trying to breathe through her plugged up nose and congested lungs. She stumbled away from the sink and over to the toilet where she pulled her mask down and took a deep breath. She grabbed some toilet paper and immediately blew her nose, then blew it again. It seemed like no matter how many times she blew her nose or hacked up some phlegm there was almost plenty more to replace it. At times she even wondered how it's possible she had so much mucus inside of her.

Drinking some water to slightly ease the pain in her throat, Clem cursed her luck. Searching as much of town as she could yesterday, she had found batteries, clean clothes, fresh diapers, and even more food. But the drugstore she checked last night had been picked clean with not even so much a pack of chapstick to be found on the shelves. It was the kind of thing that made Clem question the priorities of the people who lived here before, but mostly it just filled her with hopelessness.

This morning she was checking some of the houses she passed on the way into town. Occasionally she found pill bottles with names printed on the labels she didn't recognize, most of which were empty, but no cold medicine. Thinking back, Clem remembered it was spring break when the walkers first came, meaning probably most people didn't have colds at the time, and therefore wouldn't have left cold medicine in their homes. Her head getting heavier with every passing second, Clem stumbled back downstairs and onto her bike that was parked outside.

The only thing she had found was a nearly empty bottle of aspirin. She took out a couple of tablets and swallowed them, then blew her nose so hard it hurt her head. Before she could put her gas mask back on she felt a sneeze coming. She waited for it, that annoying tickle in her nose that always seemed to linger for several seconds just to irritate her. She sneezed, which also caused her head to hurt; everything hurt.

Her backpack was heavy with all but the one thing she wanted most right now. Pedaling back and shuddering as that familiar sting of the cold air returned, Clem kept turning her eyes turning skyward. A thick cover of gray clouds blanketed the entire sky, blotting out the sun and threatening to block off the roads with snow again should they feel so inclined. Clem didn't know how to bike through snow, and walking through it was horrible.

Seeing the Brickhouse come into view, Clem forced herself to pedal a little faster. It wasn't much of a new home but it had a fire, Sarah, and Omid, which was as much as Clem could hope for these days. She burst in, hastily tossed off her mask, coat and backpack, then walked up to the fireplace. Sarah was sitting there next to the mattress Clem had dragged back the other evening. Lying on the bed was Omid, curled up tightly in his blankets.

"Hey," said Clem, trying not to sound too tired. "I managed to find some chicken soup and crackers that hadn't been opened," explained Clem as she unpacked her bag. "The soup will probably taste like crap and the crackers are gonna be stale but... it's something." Clem reached for their pot when she realized Sarah hadn't said anything. Looking at her face, it was entirely fixated on Omid, which in-turn caused Clem to fixate on him. He was just lying there under the covers, breathing rapidly but shallowly.

"What's wrong with him?" Sarah didn't respond, she just started weeping gently. "Sarah!"

"I think he has pneumonia..."

"What?" The news hit Clem like a kick to the stomach. "That's... that's really bad isn't it?"

"Yeah..." confirmed Sarah with a whimper.

"Well, what do we do?"

"Clem..."

"Just tell me—"

"There's nothing we can do!" Her face was a contorted mess of pain, anger and sadness, and the way her eyes bulged out as she stared at Clem just made her feel sick. She didn't someone could feel so much pain, pain that Clem was feeling now as it crawled up her back and burrowed under her skin, causing her to tremble in fright.