A rusted red car cruised down the road carefully. The sun was currently setting, casting a golden hue over the land. To the left of the road, a dense forest stood tall. To the right, there was a clearing filled with tall, gold-brown and green grass.
"Doin' good," Kenny spoke up from beside her. "Just keep doin' what you're doin'. Easy on the clutch," He added, Clementine smiled over at the man, keeping her eyes on the road. Kenny wearing wearing a thick green jacket with a white shirt on, as well as gray jeans and black shoes. His beard had since thickened, and he'd gotten himself a black eyepatch to wear over his right eye. On his head, he wore an orange and white hat over a gray mullet.
Clementine looked up in the rearview mirror and frowned. AJ sat quietly, fiddling with his foot. He wore gray overalls, with a dark blue shirt and a green long-sleeved shirt beneath it. He also had a dark gray bandana tied around his neck, acting as a scarf.
"Where's your blanket, goofball?" Clementine asked. Kenny perked up, looking over his shoulder, and sighed, turning and standing on his knees in his seat. Clementine felt uneasy with him doing that.
"Kenny, c'mon, sit down." Clementine scolded, giving him a sideways look.
"Oh, yes ma'am," He said with a chuckle, sliding back down in his seat. "I'm sure he'll be fine a few more minutes without his blanket, anyways."
"He'll he fine." Clementine said. She was trying to convince herself more than anything; AJ seemed healthy, and he responded positively to Clementine and Kenny, but...
"Y'know, he won't need that silly little blanket forever anyways. I say we head down to the coast, maybe try and find a boat again, and live off the water. Teach you how to fish, how to sail... You too, buddy!" Kenny said, turning back to AJ with a smile. AJ only frowned and kept playing with his foot.
"I'm worried about AJ." Kenny spoke up, sitting upright and looking out the window. "I mean, I just can't get im' to talk yet. Duck was gabblin' a mile a minute at his age. Wasn't full sentences, but it was somethin'."
"AJ's a survivor. He knows making too much noise will get him in trouble." Clementine said, hoping to reassure Kenny.
"Maybe..." Kenny mumbled. Clementine blinked and began easing her foot off the gas. Kenny looked at her with a frown. "What're you doin'?" He asked. Clementine jerked her head up at the road. Kenny looked up and frowned when he saw a rather large, dead walker in the road.
Clementine carefully steered the car around it, and then eased her foot onto the has again, going the speed they'd been going previously.
"Imagine what would've happened if I wasn't watching the road." Clementine said with a smirk. Kenny scoffed.
"Hey, one eye here, remember?" He shot back playfully. AJ giggled in the backseat, which brought a smile onto Clementine's face.
"'Course, we don't have to head to Florida. There might be more communities along the way that are open," Kenny offered.
"Either works for me." Clementine said with a shrug.
"Alright, then." Kenny said with a nod. "It's decided; if we find a community, we stay. If not, we go down to Florida."
"Empty." Clementine grumbled. Kenny sighed, looking over his shoulder at Clementine.
"Keep lookin'. There has to be somethin..." He mumbled. He stood up and walked into the aisle on the right of Clementine.
On Clementine's back, AJ stirred and whimpered. "I know you're hungry," Clementine cooed softly to him. "We'll find something soon." She murmured, looking back at the box.
She and Kenny had stopped in front of a gas station, hoping to find some food. To their dismay, it appeared that most people had the same thought they did- 'if it's secluded, it's most likely been missed.'
The place had been picked clean, save for a few bottles of water.
Clementine stood up and kicked the box away, turning to look at the metal shelves around her. Like most gas stations, this one was small, with a counter at the front, as well as a cash register. Behind the cash register was a row of metal cabinets with glass doors.
There were a few refrigerated sections along the wall, but it was common sense that anything in there had either expired or wasn't helpful. The walls and floor where a plain white, as well as the ceiling. To the right of the cash register were the restrooms, and to the left was the entrance.
From the next aisle over, Clementine heard Kenny curse under his breath, and she couldn't help but to tense up. When Kenny got frustrated, it wasn't pretty.
The shelves were almost empty, but there were a few boxes of crackers- animal crackers and cheese crackers. Clementine gathered them up in her arms and hastily stuffed them into an almost empty duffle bag.
"Find anything?" Clementine called.
"Just some fuckin' seed packets." Kenny said. Clementine quirked a brow and went around to the same aisle Kenny was on.
"Seeds? In a gas station?" She asked. Kenny stood up straight and held one up for Clementine to see.
"They could come in handy." Clementine said.
"What, you know how to garden?" Kenny challenged.
"Well, no, but i'm sure there are instructions on it." Clementine suggested. Kenny flipped the packet over, peering at it, and hummed, raising his eyebrows.
"Huh. There are."
AJ suddenly let out a cry, causing Clementine to flinch and look over her shoulder at him.
"AJ, what's... Wrong..."
Clementine trailed off, her eyes trailing to the entrance of the store. There was what appeared to be a hispanic man with a green-brown bubble jacket and a brown shirt beneath it, as well as brown jeans. He had dark brown eyes as well as Her eyes went wide and Kenny stepped out, planting himself in front of Clementine and AJ.
"Woah, I didn't mean to scare your kid." The man said, holding his hands up in surrender. "Saw you three pull in, and I couldn't help but notice that you don't seem to have very many supplies."
"What's it to you?" Kenny challenged, his voice slow and clear.
"Wanted to help you." He said. "The name's David. I live in a community a few miles west of here. I could take you there, help you out."
Kenny rose an eyebrow and glanced back at Clementine. Clementine nodded at him, and Kenny turned forward again.
"How do we know if we can trust you?" Kenny asked.
"Please. Just trust me." David said softly, his eyes flickering over Clementine and AJ. "You'll get yourselves killed out here. I can't let that happen to a few kids."
Kenny sighed. "Fine. But if you try anything..." Kenny warned. David rose an eyebrow at him.
"Sure. Follow me."