Kenny led Hannah and Clementine over to the gas station. When he got to the grime covered doors, he paused and looked back at Hannah and Clementine.
"Alright, here's the plan," He began. "I'm gonna open this door and whistle to get their attention. I'll let a few out at a time to keep things under control. Got it?" Kenny asked.
"Roger that," Hannah said with a grin. Clementine nodded once in understanding, gripping her knife tightly. Kenny's eyes narrowed as he turned to the door, reaching forward and slowly pulling it open. He whistled quietly, attracting only two of the walker's attention. They turned, groaning. The groans alerted a third one, and slowly, they stumbled out of the building, arms outstretched toward Hannah and Clementine. Kenny closed the door quickly and quietly.
Hannah stepped forward, swinging her crowbar at one of the walker's head hard enough to kill it. Then, she jabbed it into the mouth of the other. Clementine approached the third walker and kicked its knee, plunging the knife into its head once it was down. Hannah pushed the second walker down, impaling its head on her crowbar. Clementine's face scrunched up at the smell of walkers.
Hannah yanked her crowbar out of the walker's head, scowling. She looked up at Kenny and nodded at him.
At this, Kenny opened the door again, and one more walker came stumbling out. Hannah made quick work of the walker, killing it before it could get far.
"I think that's all of them." Kenny said, peering into the store. Clementine walked past Hannah and right into the place, looking around. The air was heavy and musty smelling, evidently not being used for quite a while.
"You think they starved?" Hannah asked, walking up next to Clementine. Clementine shrugged in response.
"It's hard to tell these days." She replied. Hannah hummed in response and turned, going right down the first aisle. The floor was white tile, with sage green walls and a white ceiling. The metal racks were painted tan, with some of the paint chipping away to reveal dark gray steel beneath it. To the left was a small cash register, and there was no refrigerated section in this small store.
"We need something that we can tie to Shade's saddle. The saddle has some hooks on it that were meant to be used to pull things, which is cool, I guess... But the problem is that we need to find something sturdy enough to withstand the stress of of being pulled, y'know? Something that won't break easily."
Clementine took a moment to process and then nodded. "Alright," She said, going onto the third aisle. There was all kinds of supplies on that aisle- duct tape, measuring tape, water hoses, copper wire...
Clementine rose an eyebrow and picked up the measuring tape, pulling it out and letting it go. It slid back into its container with a whirring sound.
Clementine giggled a bit and did it again. Hannah climbed over the metal shelf of the aisle, peering over at Clementine with a raised eyebrow. "You playin' with a measuring tape?" She asked. Clementine bristled and her head whipped around to look at Hannah.
"What- what're you doing?" She asked as Kenny entered the store, going down a random aisle.
Hannah smiled, her eyes locked onto Clementine. "I'm looking at you." She said. Clementine huffed and rolled her eyes.
"Well, I know that... Shouldn't you be looking for rope or something?"
"I should be, but all I found was some spools of plastic." Hannah said. Her eyes scanned over Clementine's aisle and landed on some piles of rope. "Lookie there."
Clementine followed her gaze and hummed. She went over to the rope and picked it up, feeling the weight of the course material in her hands. Hannah strained, climbing on top of the shelf, and then hopped down behind Clementine.
"That should work. 'Ey, Ken, we found some rope!" Hannah called. Kenny's head appeared over the shelf.
"What kinda rope?" He asked. Clementine peered at a black tag tied around it. The underside was white. She lifted the tag up, peering at it.
"Nylon," She replied, frowning a bit.
"Huh. Yeah, that'll do just fine," Kenny said, going up to them and taking the rope. "C'mon, let's go tell the others." He said, leaving the convenience store. Hannah turned and followed him out, Clementine just a few steps behind her.
"How do you know if your horse will pull it?" Clementine asked.
"Hmm? Oh! Shade's very well trained. He's like a big puppy," Hannah said cheerfully. She stopped and looked over at her horse, whistling. "Shade, come!"
Shade, who was laying down, whinnied in response, but made no move to get up. Hanah stared at him blankly, blinking once. Clementine scoffed, and looked at Shade, whistling. "Shade, come," She tried.
Shade stood up and trotted over to Clementine, nuzzling her gently. Clementine smiled and laughed a bit in response. Hannah huffed and crossed her arms.
"Wow, i'm feeling loved today," Hannah grumbled, reaching over and scratching Shade's ears. "Shade, follow," She commanded. She turned, leading Shade over to the rusted cars. This time the stallion obeyed her, following without whining. Kenny was looping the rope around the bumper of the car.
"He's ready when you are," Hannah said, a gentle hand on Shade's shoulder. Kenny nodded and stood up, bringing the rope over to Shade. "Tie the rope here... Here... and here."
Kenny obeyed, tying the rope to three hooks located at the front of the saddle.
"Shade, pull," Hannah commanded. Shade lurched forward, his hooves digging into the ground. At the same time, the rusted car creaked and groaned loudly. The car began to roll forward, making it easier for Shade to pull. Shade began to pick up momentum, pulling the car along easily. With the rusted car out of the way, there was now enough space for both cars to drive through safely.
"Shade, stop," Hannah said. The horse obeyed, panting a bit. Hannah quickly untied the rope from Shade, petting his head. "Good boy," She whispered, praising her horse. Shade nuzzled Hannah in response.
"Alright, let's get goin'," Tripp said. Hannah looked over at them, and then back at Shade, her back towards everyone. Clementine looked back at her, and frowned. She stole a quick glance at the adults, and then walked over to her.
"Hey, are you okay?" Clementine asked. Hannah turned to look at Clementine.
"I'm fine," She said. "You guys should probably get going, since Kate needs help and all."
Clementine frowned at that. "You're not coming?"
"Shade needs time to rest," Hannah said. "I'll catch up to y'all again, I promise." Hannah said, smiling reassuringly at Clementine.
"Won't you be lonely?" Clementine asked. Hannah raised an eyebrow, and then smirked.
"Aww, you're worried about me being lonely. Cute." She said, crossing her arms. Clementine rolled her eyes and turned away.
"Hold on," She said. Clementine ran over to the car and knocked on the window where Kenny was sitting. The window rolled down, and a few words were exchanged between them. A few moments later, the window rolled back up, and the cars started rolling forward, carefully maneuvering between the other rusted cars on the road. Clementine backed away and turned, going back over to Hannah. By now, Shade was laying on the ground, drifting off to sleep while Hannah scratched his head gently. She looked up at Clementine as she approached.
"So you're staying?" She asked, a hint of hopefulness in her voice.
"Well, i'm not the one who got shot," Clementine replied flatly, sitting across from Hannah. Hannah scoffed and looked down at Shade.
"Besides, since you caught up last time, Kenny trusts that we'll catch up to them again." Clementine added with a shrug. Hannah hummed in response, a content look on her features.
"Well, Clem, thanks for keeping me company." Hannah said with a sincere smile. Clementine's heart fluttered at that. Hannah looked down. "Do you remember when I told you that I was alone for the first few months of this?"
Clementine perked up and nodded. "Yeah."
"Well, I apologize, but that's not the entire truth... I was with two teenagers when this started."
Clementine rose an eyebrow and tilted her head. "Why are you bringing this up now?" She asked. Her curiosity had been spiked at this point.
"I had a dream about them last night, that's why," Hannah said softly. "I just... I'm sorry, it's stupid. I miss them. A lot. I mean, there's a good chance that they're alive, but even then, I'll probably never see them again." She added with a shrug. Clementine gave Hannah an empathetic look.
"I'm... Sorry to hear that. In the beginning, this man found me and took care of me. He... Didn't last." Clementine said, looking away. Hannah tilted her head at Clementine.
"I'm sorry." Hannah said. "But hey," She began. Clementine looked up at her. "There's a reason that these things happen, y'know? Every single thing that's happened so far has led up to this moment."
Clementine couldn't help but to smile. "Yeah... It has."