A Shred of Hope (The Walking Dead) (The Final Season Retelling)

2. On the Road: Part II

The store looked just as dilapidated as every building on the street. It had a parking for a dozen cars in the front. The door was a metal frame with glass embedded in between. It used to be transparent but years of neglect had made it nearly impossible to see through. The glass fronts on either side of the door had been covered from the inside.

"Can you see anything?" Clementine asked AJ, as they both tried to look through the glass.

"No." He narrowed his eyes to see if that would help. "I can make out the shelves but it's too dark in there."

"It is. Let's see if we can get in." She set down the can and pushed the door, but it refused to move. She pressed her shoulder against it and gave it a harder push. The door moved slightly but got caught again.

"There's something blocking the door from the inside," Clementine said. "Here, help me push this."

They both pressed their shoulders against the door and pushed hard. When it seemed like it was futile, the door suddenly opened halfway, with a thud on the other side.

"Finally," she said.

AJ moved forward to enter the store but was immediately stopped by Clementine.

"What did we talk about, AJ?" she asked.

He sighed. "You go first and I follow you."

"And?"

"No wandering by myself."

"Good. Stay behind me, now."

Clementine unsheathed her knife and peeked in through the opening. It was still pretty dark but the open door provided some more sunlight. She could make out a couple of aisles and the cashier's desk to the right. Faded blood decorated the floor.

"AJ, pull out the flashlight from my bag and hold this," she instructed, handing him the can.

He opened the bag and handed her the flashlight. Shining it inside, looking for walkers, she saw a few food cans lying on the floor and a few still on the shelves. Most of it seemed empty. She slowly stepped inside. There was a shelf lying on the floor, still blocking the door from opening further.

"That's what was blocking the door," she told AJ as he entered. They made their way to the cashier's desk and examined it. It had a few chewing gum packets lying across the counter.

"What's that?" he asked, looking at them.

"That's chewing gum. You're supposed to chew it and then spit it out when the flavour is gone. I haven't seen these in forever."

"Can I try it?"

Clementine picked one up, reading its cover. "I think so. This one's strawberry. Here," she said, handing him one and bagging the rest. She bent over the counter and checked for drawers. She found one and opened it, revealing a few crumpled currency notes. She picked it, looking at it.

"Let's check the aisles," Clementine said, putting the money into her pocket. "Stay close."

He didn't respond, busy chewing the gum. "This tastes good," he told her.

"It does, doesn't it? I had a lot of these when I was a kid."

"Lucky," he said.

Clementine chuckled. "Wish I'd had more hot chocolate when I had the chance," she lamented, walking over to the aisles, AJ following her. The floor was littered with empty food cans. AJ kicked one and it made a sound as it flew through the aisle and hit the opposite wall.

"Don't do that. Stay as quiet as you can." She could make out a door along the wall, making a mental note to check it after going through all the aisles.