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

69. Spoils

"You ready for this partner?" asked Patty.

"I... I think so," said Clementine as she tightened her grip.

"All right then, here we go." Clem felt her stomach drop as she was pushed forward, the bike picking up speed beneath her.

"Okay, don't let go until—"

"I already did!" Briefly glancing over her shoulder, Clem saw she was swiftly pulling away from a now distant Patty. "Pedal!"

The bike wobbled as Clem looked ahead and she was afraid it was going to fall over any second, but she managed to steady herself long enough to start pedaling, and then it happened.

"I'm... I'm actually doing it," realized Clem as the cold wind blew past her face. "I'm riding a bike!" She pedaled harder and the bike moved faster with her. Seeing the cracked asphalt rushing by beneath her tires, Clem suddenly felt like she was flying, and she wanted to fly faster. She pedaled as hard as she could and everything began to disappear into a blur as she tore across the parking lot. In no time, the many shops and superstores that made up the shopping center were gone and Clem was zooming past a broken chain-link gate and onto the road.

She veered left suddenly, feeling the weight of the turn as she weaved her bike around the stacks of bodies lying in the road, then quickly turned back to the center of the street. Clem smiled as she raced down the open road, moving faster than she had ever moved before on her own power. The bike felt like it was an extension of herself, and with a quick twist of her wrists she took off down a smaller road bordering the main road.

After blowing past a gas station, Clem stopped pedaling for a moment and examined her surroundings. A pond flew past her on the left while a dead forest to her right almost seemed to follow her as she coasted by on momentum. Looking ahead, Clem saw the hospital quickly coming up to meet her. At least Devlin told her it was a hospital, even though it didn't really look like one. It was a large one-story building whose walls snaked out at odd angles; it reminded her more of a school.

Putting her feet down and skidding to a sudden stop, Clem took a moment to catch her breath. She had been here about two weeks ago when the group had cleared out the surrounding areas of walkers. Clem remembered the trip to the hospital had taken several minutes of walking, whereas the bike had brought her in a fraction of the time and effort. She briefly looked downward to admire her shiny new red mount, then took off racing back towards the shopping center. It wasn't long before she was rolling up to the curb bordering the Sam's Club, where Patty was still waiting.

"I was starting to think I wasn't going to see you again," said the woman with a grin as she stood up.

"I was having too much fun," said Clem as she slowed to a stop. "I didn't want to stop."

"I know the feeling. First time I rode a bike I just took off down the road, nearly got myself killed when I rode through an intersection."

"I just didn't want to stop," admitted Clem as she stepped off the seat. "Thanks so much for teaching me how to ride it."

"It was no problem, you're a fast learner. Took me like a month to get up the nerve to ditch the training wheels; you did it in just a few days."

"Do you want to ride together?" asked Clem. "There were more bikes left at the Target. We could get you one."

"Maybe another time. I was gonna see if I could finish up with the Brave's tune-up before lunch."

"How is it?" asked a concerned Clem as she looked over at the weathered RV parked next to the curb. "Did you ever find out what's wrong with it?"