"Why can't you just use the ones up front?" asked Clementine as she adjusted her grip on Omid.
"Because, those are just display models," explained Sarah as she grabbed a pair of glasses from behind the counter. "I need one that's my prescription, or close to it."
"Prescription?" asked Clem.
"It's what tells the people making the glasses what they need to do," explained Sarah.
"What to do?"
"You know, how to adjust the lenses so they work with that person's eyes." Sarah brought the glasses up to her face.
"You have to adjust the lenses for them to work?"
"Yeah, everybody's eyes are different," explained Sarah as she set one pair of glasses down and grabbed another. "And that means what's wrong with people's eyes can be different too. And what's wrong with one eye can even be different from the other eye."
"Really?"
"Yeah, and what's wrong with your eyes can change over time, and then you need a different prescription."
"I didn't know glasses were so complicated," said Clem. "How do you adjust the lenses so they work?"
"I don't know Clem. I just know my dad would have to give people my prescription and then they did something to make glasses for me." Clem watched as Sarah continued to try one pair of glasses after another, growing more anxious with every one she held in front of her face. "Someone had to have ordered some glasses like mine before the lurkers came."
"What if nobody did?" asked Clem, afraid of what the answer would be.
"I… I guess it means I won't be able to see too well from now on." Clem watched as Sarah grabbed a brochure off the sales counter and held it up to her face while holding up a pair of glasses in her other hand. She squinted as she tried to read the lettering.
"Do they work?" asked Clem.
"It's kind of like my prescription, a little." Sarah sighed as she set the glasses down on the counter. "There's got to be more in the back," reasoned Sarah as she turned towards the door leading further into the store. "Watch Omid for a minute, I'm going to see if I can find more in the backroom." Sarah collected her machete and a lantern from one of the wagons and headed for the door.
"I'll be right back." Sarah opened the door, then banged on the side of it with the machete. Satisfied a walker wasn't going to jump out, Sarah moved out of sight. Clem carried Omid to the front of the store to examine her surroundings. The afternoon light was pouring through the skylights, illuminating the wall of shops surrounding this small store for eyeglasses.
Moving deeper into the mall, the pair had found more evidence of people living here now being long gone. A section near a large fountain had several chairs arranged around a table that was obviously brought there later. There were a few scraps of paper laid out on the table with some scribbled notes, none of which told Clem much about who was here. There also had been long dried bloodstains on the floor in different places, most of which looked as if someone had tried scrubbing them off at some point.
Moving back into the store, Clem noticed Omid was reaching for the rows of glasses sitting on the sales racks. Moving the boy closer, he grabbed hold of a pair of spectacles from the wall, briefly held them up to his face, then tried fitting them into his mouth.
"Don't do that." Clem carefully removed the glasses from Omid's mouth before he chewed too hard on something mostly made out of glass, much to the boy's disappointment.
"Muh-buh-duh," insisted Omid as he reached for the glasses again.
"No OJ, you don't need glasses." Immediately after saying that, Clem couldn't help wondering what they would do if Omid ever did need glasses, or anything else they're not sure if they could get anymore. Looking down at the little boy in his arms, he still looked disappointed as he sucked on his thumb instead.
Clem turned her head as she heard someone approaching. Sarah emerged from the backroom, now wearing a pair of rectangular, purple-rimmed glasses. She immediately rushed over to the counter and grabbed another brochure from the stack.
"Well?" asked an anxious Clem.
"They…" Sarah moved the brochure further away from her face, then closer. "These are my prescription," she realized.
"Really?"
"Yeah, or close enough." Sarah and Clementine both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Again, I'm really sorry," said Clem.
"It's okay. Like I said, I should have taken the old ones off." Sarah placed her machete and lantern back in a wagon. "I think these are more durable, and I'll be more careful from now on. In fact…" Sarah moved over to a display tucked aside in the corner that was stacked full of small colorful cases. Clementine watched as Sarah carefully studied them one at a time, before settling on a small black case with a zipper.
"Why that one?" asked Clem.
"Because." Sarah flipped the case over, revealing a small clip threaded on the back of it, which the older girl used to slide the case onto her belt. "Now I'll always have somewhere to put my glasses if I have to take them off."
"Good idea," said Clem.
"Just make sure to remind me to take them off if I forget."
"I will." Sarah walked over to the counter and picked up the old rounded red-rimmed glasses she had been wearing since before Clem had met her. "What are you going to do with them?" asked Clem.
"I think I'll keep them." Sarah went back to display and collected a case colored a similar shade of red as the glasses.
"Why are you putting them in a case? Aren't they already broken?"
"They're badly cracked, but the lenses didn't come out, so if I have to, I could sorta use them." Sarah slipped her old glasses into the case. "None of the other ones in the back were even close, so if something happens to these new glasses, this would be the closest I've got to a backup pair." Clementine watched as Sarah tucked the case into her pocket, a trace of anxiety hanging on her face as she did so.
"Your… your new glasses look good," complimented Clem.
"Thanks," said Sarah. "It's actually kind of nice having new ones. My old ones still had that crack from where you had stepped on them, so these are actually a little easier to see with."
"I'm just glad you found some new ones." Clementine adjusted her grip on Omid while Sarah grabbed the wagons' by their handles.
"We should probably get back to the Brave," suggested Sarah as she headed for the door.
"Yeah, we've got enough toys to last OJ and us for a while now," said Clem as they headed back out into the dimly lit mall. The younger girl studied their surroundings carefully as they advanced towards the entrance they came in. The entire place was eerily quiet, the girls' soft footsteps and the squeak of the wagons' wheels being the only sounds she could hear until Sarah spoke.
"You know, we should get one more thing before we leave," said Sarah.
"What?"
"A stroller, for Omid, so we don't have to carry him everywhere." Sarah gestured to a storefront in the distance labeled 'Baby Essentials'. "I bet we can get one here. And probably some other things for Omid."
"Well, we're already here. We might as well." Sarah pulled the wagons behind her and Clem followed their lantern as it led the way into the small store. The pair carefully navigated the dark interior, maneuvering past the checkout counter, past knocked over displays and through the aisles as they searched for a stroller.
Sarah stopped briefly to add a couple of packs of cloth diapers to a wagon while Clementine searched for baby formula, only finding price stickers advertising formula that was no longer here. As Clem pondered the possibility of this mall's previous residents being hungry enough to drink baby formula, Sarah maneuvered past a display of pacifiers and towards a set of strollers lined up at the end of the aisle. Clem carried Omid over, admiring the huge variety of baby clothes on display while Sarah wheeled out a black stroller with red trim. Clementine carefully set the boy in the stroller and Sarah helped to strap him in.
"That's relief," said Clem as she rubbed her arms. "He was getting really heavy."
"Next time we take him somewhere, it'll be much easier to move him around." Clem tested Sarah's conclusion by pushing the stroller, and was pleased by how little effort it took to move it.
"You know, we should get him some baby clothes next," said Clem. "Something better than just a diaper and a cut up shirt that's too big for him." Clem wheeled Omid back down the aisle while Sarah reached for a dark-green jumper hanging on the nearest rack.
"Wait," said Clem.
"What?"
"You should get that orange one instead." Clem pointed to the jumper next to the one Sarah just grabbed.
"Why?"
"Because, he's OJ," smirked Clem. "He should wear orange." Sarah grabbed the bright orange jumper instead and Clem helped to remove Omid's old shirt. Holding the boy while Sarah helped dress him, Clem couldn't help thinking how adorable Omid appeared in his tiny garment.
"He looks like a big orange," giggled Clem.
"Or a clementine," smirked Sarah.
While Sarah finished buttoning Omid's new jumper, Clementine located a pair of simple white shoes and socks that looked like the right size for their baby. Carefully putting them on Omid's tiny feet, Clem found they were a perfect fit for the boy. While tying the laces on Omid's new shoes, Clem couldn't help smiling at the sight of their child being fully dressed now.
"He's so cute," awed Clem.
"It'll keep him warm too," added Sarah. "Which is good, since it'll be winter soon."
"Uh-bub-duh," mumbled Omid as he started fussing with his new clothes, fiddling with the buttons and tugging on one of his shoe's laces. Seeing he appeared restless, Clem walked over to Omid and helped him out of the stroller.
"Come on OJ, you can walk, just try it." Clementine held Omid by his armpits as he slowly and clumsily took a few steps forwards before falling gently on his bottom.
"I think we'll just stick to the stroller now." Sarah helped Omid back into the stroller and strapped him in place while Clementine grabbed a couple of simple onesies for Omid to wear when he was indoors. She packed them into a pouch on the stroller while Sarah eyed the pacifiers.
"Grab one of those too," said Clem.
"I will, I just want to make sure it's an orthodontic pacifier," said Sarah as she read the packaging. "The book I read said if you give them the wrong kind, it can mess up their teeth."
"Mess up how?" asked Clem.
"Like give them an overbite. The same thing can happen if he sucks his thumb too much," explained Sarah as she removed a pacifier from its packaging.
"Oh, but he's so cute when he sucks his thumb," said Clem as she looked at Omid, was currently was both sucking his thumb and being very cute.
"I was going to say something about it, but we've been so busy lately," said Sarah as she knelt down in front of Omid, pacifier in hand.
"He only started doing it like a week ago," said Clem. "Can't you just let him keep doing it?"
"It could cause problems for him, problems we might not be able to fix." Sarah tried offering the pacifier to Omid. "The book said not to let babies suck on even pacifiers after they're a year old, because that can also mess up their teeth at that point."
"So he can only have the pacifier for, what, a little over four months?" asked Clem.
"Basically." Sarah carefully pulled Omid's thumb away from his face, which instantly upset the boy.
"Muh-dub-bub!" he squealed as Sarah moved the pacifier in close as she held his hand. She tried to get Omid to take the pacifier, but he simply stuck his other thumb in his mouth.
"Clem, could you hold his other hand?"
Clem reluctantly grasped Omid's hand and pulled it away from his mouth, which prompted the infant to start crying.
"Come on, come on," assured Sarah in a calming voice as she offered the squealing baby the pacifier. "Just try it, you'll like it."
Clem hated hearing Omid cry, and felt slightly sick as she held his hand in place while he tried to pull it back to his mouth. Sarah lightly touching the pacifier to Omid's lips seemed to temporarily stop him from crying, and moving it even closer, the boy accepted it into his mouth. Clem released Omid's hand as she saw him sucking on his pacifier, which true to its name, did seem to pacify him.
"There we go." Sarah stood up and returned to the shelf. "I'll get a spare and some teething rings, for when he starts chewing on stuff."
"If he can't have it for more than a few months, what's the point?" asked Clem. "Why not just let him suck on his thumb and just get him to stop doing that when he turns one?"
"Because, the book said it's easier to get a baby to stop using a pacifier than it is to get them to stop sucking their thumb," explained Sarah as she packed a few items into the stroller's pouch.
"So, we're just giving him a pacifier because it's easier to take away later?" asked Clem. "That's… mean."
"I'm just doing what the book said," insisted Sarah.
"Well, maybe the book is wrong," suggested Clem. "I mean, we don't have to do what a book says. And that book also said all babies are different, so maybe it'd be okay if we let him suck his thumb."
"Why do you want him to suck his thumb so bad?" asked Sarah.
"Because he likes it. Why take it away from him?"
"I just told you why."
"So what if he has an overbite?"
"It's not just overbites. If your teeth get messed up, it can make it harder to chew or even speak."
"How would you know?"
Sarah scowled. "I had an open bite when I was six years old, and kids in the first grade liked to make fun of me because of the way I talked." Clem watched as Sarah's scowl turned into a saddened frown. "Then I got braces, and they started making fun of me for those instead."
"Oh, I'm… I'm sorry," said Clem, feeling foolish for what she had just said to Sarah. "But still, there's no kids to make fun of OJ, so—"
"Clem, can we just talk about this later? We've literally got months to make up our mind," said Sarah. "We haven't even weaned him yet. Oh, that reminds me." Sarah returned to the shelf.
"Now what?" asked Clem as she approached the older girl.
"He could use a sippy cup. Now that he's eating other things, we should get him used to drinking things other than formula, and that will help." Sarah grabbed an oddly shaped pink cup topped with a green lid that had a flat spout where someone could drink from.
"Wait, you're not going to give him that one are you?" asked Clem.
"What's wrong with it?" asked Sarah.
"It's pink."
"So?"
"So, he's a boy. You shouldn't give him pink."
"The first thing he ever wore was pink, and he kept wearing it until he outgrew it," reminded Sarah.
"Yeah, because we didn't have a choice then." Clem grabbed an orange sippy cup instead.
"Not everything we give him has to be orange," said Sarah.
"Why not? He liked that orange ball we found in the toy store."
"He liked all the balls."
"Why don't we just let him decide?" suggested Clem as she approached the stroller. "Hey OJ, you like your new cup, right?" asked Clementine as she held out the orange sippy cup in arm's reach for the boy.
"Come on Omid, don't you want something different?" said Sarah as she offered him the pink cup. The infant seemed confused by these bright plastic objects. He looked at Clem's cup, then Sarah's, then Clem's again, then Sarah's again, then turned back to Clem's cup and casually collected it into his tiny hands.
"See, I told you—" Omid tossed the cup out of the stroller, then reached out to collect Sarah's cup. Looking at Sarah, Clem couldn't help noticing the older girl has a smug smile on her face.
"He's just going to throw that one away too." Clem turned back to Omid, expecting him to already be in the process of hurling the object through the air. Instead, he was intently interested in the pink plastic cup, turning it over to examine it better. Looking at Sarah again, she seemed to look even smugger than before.
"Fine, you're right, like you always are about OJ." Clem crossed her arms while Sarah moved back to display full of teething products. "Now what?"
"He could use a bib too." Sarah returned to the stroller carrying a small baby bib in hand. As she tucked it into the stroller's pouch, Clem couldn't help noticing the color.
"Orange?" asked Clem. "I thought you didn't want to give him any more orange stuff?"
"Yeah, but you do." Sarah smiled at Clem, which made Clem smile back.
Clem pushed Omid's stroller along while Sarah pulled their wagons by the handles. Clem followed the older girl's lead as the lantern light led them through the store and back out into the mall.
"I guess it's a good thing we stopped here," said Sarah as they moved along. "This stuff is important for babies. We probably should have gotten it sooner… a lot sooner; probably right after Omid's first tooth started coming in."
"Like you said, we've been busy," reminded Clem. "Searching whole towns for food takes up a lot of time, and even more when we finally find some."
"Yeah, and I guess we'll go right back to doing that tomorrow," sighed Sarah. "Can you think of anything else we might need, you know, before we do that?"
"Well…" Clementine stopped and looked out at her options. There was some kind of store for electronic gadgets, a place for building your own teddy bear, a jeweler; all fairly lukewarm possibilities for the young girl. She was about to suggest they keep moving, but then she spotted it. "Sarah, I know where we need to go next."
"Where?" Clem took a few steps forward and pointed to a store with some elaborate dresses in the display. "Why there?"
"Because, I want new clothes."
"Well, we could really use some stuff for winter," realized Sarah.
"Not just that," said Clem. "I want clothes that look really good too."