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

36. Scavenger Hunt

There was no music now; Clementine had turned it off, not wanting it to distract her as she watched the road. They had crossed through the same intersection they had seen when they had left the Kennedy Space Center, meaning they were probably within a few miles of the town overflowing with the dead. They were already driving through its outskirts, which showed signs of being looted. The roads were free of stray cars, the doors of nearby houses left open and some of their windows broken. But Clem reasoned it wouldn't be long until they journeyed into uncharted territory.

"I'm still not sure about this," said Sarah. "The last time—"

"I was careless," said Clem with a hint of remorse. "Not this time. Remember, you drop me off before we get anywhere near walkers, and I'll leave the red box near something easy to see, like a stop sign. I'll walk into town, carry things back in my backpack, and keep doing that until the box is full, then you'll pick it up and we'll go back to Valkaria."

"I get all that, but you're going alone. I—"

"You need to stay here with Omid, we can't just leave him again, and we can't drive the Brave too close to where there's a bunch of walkers. You know that."

"Yeah... I do," said Sarah. "But... maybe I could go and you could stay with the Brave? Or we could take turns?"

"I don't want to do that."

"Why not? I'm stronger, so I can carry more, and—"

"I've been here before and I know where to look, so it'll be faster if I go."

"Okay, where are you going?" challenged Sarah.

"I'll stay on this road and go north once we stop." Clem gestured to the highway they were driving on. "It follows the river, so it has to go near the bridge to Cape Canaveral we took the first time we were here."

"You're not actually going back there are you?" asked a shocked Sarah.

"No, I'm just going to follow it until I get closer, then go west a few blocks and go north again. That'll lead me pretty close to that grocery store where I got all that good stuff from before."

"Still, there were a lot of walkers around there too."

"I went there before. As long as I'm careful and quiet, I can fill up my backpack and just walk back," explained Clem. "Next, I'm finally going to check out that gun shop, and if it's not empty, bring back a lot of bullets and a maybe a few guns if I can. After that, I'm going to check a few houses."

"Wouldn't there be more food at the grocery store?" asked Sarah.

"I'm gonna check the houses for medicine. There's usually some of those orange pill bottles in most people's bathrooms."

"How will you know which ones to take?"

"I... won't. But I figure it's better to bring back some instead of none," reasoned Clem. "I might also get some books or jewelry or something."

"Books and jewelry?"

"I want Chilton to know we can get anything," said Clementine. "Food, bullets, medicine, and even stuff that people might not need but want really bad. That way she knows we're a better scavenger than Rhonda, or anyone."

"I just don't think you should risk your life for things people don't need."

"I'm not. I'm only going to get stuff like that if I see it along the way, and if somewhere looks too dangerous, I'm just going to leave it behind."

"I hope so," said Sarah. "I... I just really think I should come with you."

"I'll be okay Sarah," assured Clem. "The raincoats were just freshened up, my knife and tomahawk are sharp, we double checked—"