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

28. Routine Maintenance

Crossing the bridge dragged on for far longer than Clementine remembered it taking when they came to this island. The girl wasn't sure if this part of the river was simply bigger or it was just her impatience, but they couldn't reach the mainland soon enough. Several minutes of driving brought the pair to a drawbridge. On one lane the bridge was stuck open, on the other it was closed.

Clem was grateful they were on the side with the closed drawbridge, but as they slowly drove across, she couldn't help wondering what they would have done if they had picked the wrong road. The two lanes had become two narrow bridges at this point, and there wasn't enough room to turn around. Would they have had to back-up the entire way? And what if both drawbridges had been open, then what would they have done?

Thankfully, the rest of the crossing went smoothly and the Brave emerged back on the mainland. The bridges exited out into a rural area surrounded by trees that led right back to the interstate. Clem elected to let Sarah drive now as sitting on a book just to see over the dashboard had become very uncomfortable for the young girl.

While traveling south on the interstate, Clementine returned to the bedroom to check on Omid. Changing him was easy enough, but feeding him proved more difficult. She tried to convince Omid to drink a little water from his sippy cup but no matter how much she prodded he wouldn't. Eventually, Clem relented and just made him a bottle, wincing at the fact they only had a few containers of formula left for a baby who still wasn't weaned. But then she thought even if he was weaned they'd have little to feed him with.

After making sure he finished his bottle, Clementine headed back to the front. Looking around, she couldn't help noticing that any derelict cars they passed had been moved to the side of the road. As they approached a suburban neighborhood, Clem saw even more cars pulled aside, many of which had open doors and trunks, and the houses she examined had open doors too.

"People have been through here," announced an anxious Clem.

"Yeah, it looks like it," said Sarah.

"Then why are we still on this road?" asked Clem. "We need to get off it, right now!"

"What, why?"

"Because there could still be people around here!"

"Clem, calm down," urged Sarah. "It doesn't look like there's been anyone here recently."

"How can you tell?"

"Well... umm..."

"You can't," concluded Clem. "Get off this road."

"Clem..."

"Did you forget what the last two people we ran into near the interstate almost did to us?"

"Of course not," retorted Sarah. "But—"

"Or what Shaffer's did?"

"I was living there. How could—"

"We need to get off this road before anyone sees us, right now."

Sarah groaned and brought the Brave to a stop at an intersection. "Okay Clem," said Sarah as she applied the parking brake. "Where do we go?"

"Just get off this road."

"And go where?" repeated Sarah.

"I don't know." Clem looked out the window. "Maybe just turn here?"

"Why? The cars on that road are pulled off to the side," said Sarah. "People have probably been that way too."

"Well... maybe that'll take us further away from whoever was here."