"Keep going." Clementine watched from the bed as Omid slowly walked across the carpet. Every few steps seemed like a challenge for the boy, but one he seemed to enjoy as he marched forward with a big smile on his face. When he got to the wall, he turned in place and looked up at Clementine, which prompted his smile to grow even larger.
"Muh-meh," he said, sounding happy.
"You want to be on the bed?" asked Clem.
"Ah-brah-dee." Clem watched as Omid walked over to the edge of the bed and started grabbing at the covers. The boy wasn't as proficient as climbing as Clem originally suspected. After his first few unassisted steps the day before yesterday, Sarah had discovered he had knocked over his crib trying to climb out of it instead of successfully scaling it. But Clem let him try to climb onto the bed, thinking it would only be a matter of time before he could do that as well.
"Ah-dee. Ah-dee," he repeated as he kept failing to scale the bed, sounding upset.
"It's okay, I'm right here." Clem scooched over to the edge and offered her hand to Omid. "Go head, grab on." Omid curved his arms around Clem's, clinging to it like an animal clutching a tree branch. Clem grimaced as she slowly pulled Omid onto the bed, the weight of lifting him causing her some discomfort. But Clem didn't rush, allowing the boy some time to use his feet to help the ascent. "There you go."
"Muh-meh," said Omid as he tried to stand up on the bed.
"Come here, come to Clementine." Clem held out her hands and Omid carefully navigated the soft surface of the mattress and walked right into her arms. "Good boy," praised Clem as she hugged the toddler tightly in her arms and kissed his cheek, prompting him to giggle.
"Muh-boo," said Omid between giggles.
"I love you too." Clem embraced Omid tightly, enjoying the warmth of feeling him in her arms, and then a gunshot sounded.
"Wuh-muh-da-ba?" mumbled Omid as he stopped giggling.
"It's okay, it's just part of Sarah's and Patty's plan. Whatever that is." A second gunshot sounded, and it was just as distant and faint as the first shot. "I'll go see what they're up to." Clementine carefully placed Omid back on the floor. "Here, play with your elephant," prompted Clem as she removed the worn stuffed pachyderm from the crib. "I'll be right back."
Clementine set the stuffed animal in front of Omid and left the bedroom, making sure to shut the door behind her. Moving towards the front, she stopped to look out one of the windows. Clem could see the park just past the trees, the same one they settled in the first time they arrived in Titusville. She wasn't sure why Sarah had wanted to return her, but she also didn't question the older girl's judgement.
"I think that got them heading northeast," hearing Patty's voice, Clem looked over to the dining room table. There she found Sarah sitting in front of a couple of pieces of paper, holding a radio with stickers on it in her hand.
"How long until you get back?" Sarah had been talking to Patty a lot since the woman crossed paths with the girls the day before yesterday. Ever since that day, Clem had been content to stay in the bedroom and just play with Omid as she healed. She wasn't entirely sure what Sarah was planning, but Clementine reasoned it had to be a better idea than anything she could have suggested.
"Probably in like ten minutes, as long as the invisibility cloak holds up," answered Patty over the radio. "I keep expecting it to wear off any second."
"It won't, as long as you're quiet, and nothing washes off the smell."
"So you keep telling me," said Patty. "Still, this almost seems too easy."
Clem frowned upon hearing Patty's assessment.
"Just be careful. Even with the smell, things can still go wrong," warned Sarah.
"Murphy's law, you don't have to tell me twice." The radio clicked and Sarah set it on the dining table. Looking at the papers, Clem saw what looked like a crudely drawn map and a list of some kind.
"Clem." Clem looked up at Sarah. "Are you okay?"
Clem shrugged. "I guess," said the girl in a quiet voice.
"How's your ankle?" asked Sarah.
"It still hurt this morning, but not as bad as yesterday," said Clem. "And after I took my painkiller, it stopped bothering me."
"Remember, those pills just stop the pain, but you're still hurt, so be careful not to strain yourself or put too much weight on your ankle," said Sarah.
"Okay." Clem's eyes moved to the dining table. "Did you fix my radio?"
"Oh, I checked the battery compartment, and I noticed one of the metal things that hold the batteries was a little out of place," said Sarah as she picked up the radio. "All I did was push it in a little and it started working again."
"It was that easy? I guess I never noticed that when I put batteries in it."
"Yeah, we're lucky it wasn't anything more complicated."
"Lucky…" Clem found something depressing about that word.
"Are… are you hungry?" Clem just shook her head in response to Sarah. "Well… do you mind if I change your bandages before Patty gets back?"
"Do we have to?" asked Clem.
"I… I really want to look at it, to make sure it's healing right," spoke a tepid Sarah. "I know you weren't feeling well yesterday, but we shouldn't wait too long. If there's an infection, or it's still bleeding, we—"
"Okay…" spoke Clem, deferring to Sarah without further argument. She slowly shuffled into the bathroom, trying to avoid putting weight on her bad foot, and sat down on the toilet while Sarah removed some things from the cabinet.
"Okay, take off your shirt." Clem slowly removed her shirt, grimacing as she did. Even with the painkiller, her injuries still bothered her, but only slightly now. "Turn around." Clem pivoted in place on the toilet and braced herself as she felt Sarah peeling the medical tape off her back. The sound alone was irritating, but feeling it pull on her sore back just made the rest of her skin crawl.
"I'm sorry," said Sarah.
"It's okay," spoke a pained Clem as she felt her bandages being pulled off. "Just… try to do it quick."
"I will. I'm on the last one now." Clem breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the bandage removed, and tried to relax as she felt Sarah's fingers probing her back.
"Well?" asked an anxious Clem. "How… how is it?"
"It's…" Sarah trailed off.
"Well?"
"I think it's going to be okay." Sarah sounded pleasantly surprised, which helped Clem to breathe a little easier. "They're not bleeding, and they look a little smaller. As long as you rest, I think they're going to close up."
"That's good," said Clem, happy to hear the news.
"Let me just clean it and cover them, and—"
"Wait," said Clem. "I want to see them."
"Why?"
"I… I just do." Clementine stood up and approached the mirror over the sink. She turned around and carefully pivoted in place while looking over her shoulder. Turning in place slightly while she twisted her neck as far as it would go, Clem could finally see the marks left on her back from two days ago.
The first two were simple lines that ran from her shoulder blades down to her waist, appearing to be little more than faded scratches. The third one ran from one side of her back to the other at an angle, appearing as a thin and unsightly bruise. The last two however ran down each side of her spine, and were long inflamed cuts that had begun to scab over.
As sickening as seeing the marks were, Clem couldn't help noticing just how thin and small they were compared to how much pain they caused her. Even the deepest marks paled in comparison to the time a dog had bitten her. Remembering the agony of getting stitches in her arm, Clem found herself grateful she didn't have to do that again, but looking at those puny marks on her back just made her weep.
"Don't cry Clem," said Sarah as she approached the sobbing girl. "You're going to be okay. In about a—"
"I'm so weak," sobbed Clem.
"No. Clem—"
"I am," insisted Clem. "I'm—" Clem suddenly felt Sarah's hands gripping her shoulders. Looking up, Clem saw the concern simmering behind Sarah's eyes while the soft caress of her hands conveyed a tender compassion that warmed the girl's heart.
"Clem. Why did you tell them you stole Rhonda's stuff, even though you didn't?"
"Because I didn't want them to hurt you."
"You weren't scared what would happen to you if you told them that?"
"Of course I was scared, but I couldn't let them hurt you Sarah." Clem's hands moved to Sarah's without her thinking to do so. "You're… you're like the nicest person in the whole world."
"And you're the bravest one I've ever met," professed a tearful Sarah.
"I—"
"You spent all day, risking your life to get things just to win a contest. Then, even though you were hurt, and in trouble, you saved Patty's life. And then, you told Tanner you stole Rhonda's box, just so they wouldn't hurt me. You did all of that, and in one day. Clem… you're amazing."
Clem felt overwhelmed by Sarah's words and felt compelled to hug her. As they embraced, Clem felt Sarah rub the back of her head while her other arm carefully wrapped itself around her shoulders. Even now, Sarah was taking special care to comfort Clem by avoiding upsetting her injuries.
"I love you so much," proclaimed Clem. "I don't know what I would do without you."
"And I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you," professed Sarah. "And I love you too."
Taking a deep breath, Clem felt some of her anxiety melt away, and being coddled in Sarah's strong arms helped to ease her mind. The older girl cleaned Clem's wounds, only using an ointment this time because they had remained covered, then applied fresh bandages. Putting her shirt back on, Clem tensed up as she heard a knocking at the door.
"Patty's back." Clem followed Sarah back to the front and watched from the top of the steps as the older girl opened the door. Clem found herself uncomfortable seeing Patty standing outside wearing Sarah's raincoat, respirator, and machete while holding their rifle.
"Everything go okay?" asked Sarah.
"Yeah, I started just outside of town and picked a spot near the coast, fired off a couple of shots, rinse, repeat." Patty handed the rifle to Sarah, who checked the safety on it.
"The bulk of them have probably moved, but we should pick up our gift baskets soon. In my experience, which usually involved waiting for long periods of times in high places, the creatures tend to start wandering around if they don't hear anything after a while."
"You still got the radio?" Patty held up Sarah's radio.
"And I opened all the empty compartments on the RV."
"Great, climb onto the ladder on the back and we'll get started."
Clem watched as Sarah closed the door and turned around.
"Here, can you put this up?"
"Sure." Clem took the rifle and found a safe place for it in the closet. Returning to the front, Clem noticed Sarah was sitting in the driver's seat.
"I'm ready to rock," called Patty from the radio.
"Okay, hold on tight."
"Wait, we're not going back to Titusville, are we?" asked Clem. "And Patty's riding on the back? Sarah, we tried this before, and it didn't work."
"Patty and I talked about it and I think we figured out how to make it work without it being too dangerous," said Sarah.
"Are you sure?" asked a nervous Clem.
"Pretty sure," said Sarah with no lack of confidence. "I could explain what we're doing different this time and—"
"It's okay. I trust you," assured Clementine. "I guess… I guess I don't have anything to do though."
"Stay with Omid," said Sarah. "Last time we did this he got so scared. It shouldn't be like that this time, but—"
"I'll watch him," said Clem. "I like spending time with OJ." Clem headed for the bedroom as she heard the Brave's engine start. Sliding the door open, Clem didn't see Omid, but she did see the blanket had been partially pulled off the bed, and there was big lump moving under the section of the blanket that covered the floor.
"OJ?" Clem knelt down, noting the lump was moving towards the edge of the covers. "Are you down there?" Clem peeked under the blanket and found a familiar toddler staring her in the face. "I see you." Omid squealed in delight before turning around and crawling back the other way. "Where do you think you're going?"
Clem got down on all fours and crawled under the covers. She could hear Omid giggling not far ahead and snaked her way through the blanket to him. Spotting Omid's foot, Clem stretched out and grabbed it before he could crawl further away.
"I got you!" teased Clem.
"Ahh-bah-muh-da-bah!" babbled Omid as he tried to crawl away.
"Look at these little piggies," said Clem as she closed in on the boy, grabbing hold of his whole leg. "This little piggy went to market." Clem wiggled Omid's big toe, prompting him to giggle loudly. "This little piggy stayed home." Clem wiggled the next toe and Omid laughed. "This little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none, and this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home!"
Omid was laughing hysterically as Clem mercilessly wiggled the tiniest toe on his already teeny foot. Clem crawled forward under the covers and wrapped her arms around the rest of the toddler, feeling him giggling in her grasp.
"The tickle monster's got you!" declared Clem as she started tickling the boy without mercy, causing him to laugh hysterically as he constantly wriggled about in her grip, trying to escape. "You're not getting away, the monster's got you. She—" Omid managed to roll out of Clem's grip and started crawling away with great haste. "Hey, how'd you do that?" Trying to sit up to find Omid, Clem poked her head out from under the covers and saw the crib seated in the corner.
"Oh, that's perfect." Clementine crawled out from under the covers and picked up Omid's crib. She then pulled back the blanket in the corner near the bed, revealing the carpet underneath. Clementine set the crib right next to the bed, then turned it on its side. She then climbed onto the bed to retrieve their pillows.
As Clem was collecting the pillows, she heard the Brave's engine go silent. She had wondered if Sarah and Patty were already finished, and went to the window. Despite the engine not running, the Brave was still moving, coasting along a desolate but familiar looking road.
Clem wondered if something had gone wrong, but then she heard the squeak of the brakes and watched as something moved past the window. Dropping the pillows, Clem inched right up to the glass and peered outside. She could see a couple of walkers in the distance, which worried her, then something moved back in front of the window.
Patty burst in front of Clem, nearly scaring the girl out of her wits. The woman looked through the window at Clem for a moment, then gave her a thumbs up before disappearing from view. Clem listened as she could hear Patty climbing the ladder just beside the window, and then the Brave's motor started running again. Watching the already distant walkers disappear as the RV drove forward, Clementine found her concerns subsiding as she retrieved the pillows she dropped.
She set them by the overturned crib and then, while kneeling on the bed, dragged the covers up and over the crib, turning the blanket into an a primitive tent. Clem crawled down the length of the bed and stepped off near where the blanket started. She found Omid's stuffed elephant lying on the floor and collected it before venturing under the covers.
"OJ?" called Clem as she slid under the blanket. "Where are you?" Clem could hear the boy babbling just a few inches away and found him hiding near the edge of the bed. "Look who's here." Clem held out the stuffed elephant.
"Ohh… el-muh," said Omid before crawling towards Clem.
"Yeah, Elma, come on, she wants to show you something." Clem kept crawling forward while holding out the stuffed elephant. The covers started angling upward, revealing the overturned crib just ahead. Hearing Omid babble right behind her, Clem moved up to the crib and sat down inside it. Her legs had to stick out because there was no room and she had to tilt her head, but she did just barely fit.
"El-muh," repeated Omid as he crawled towards Clem.
"You and Elma just sit right here," said Clem as she set the elephant in the crib. "And I'm going to show you something really cool." Clem waited for Omid to crawl into the crib, and then, while he was busy pawing at Elma, she grabbed the pillows she set out and stacked them near the edge of the crib, creating a fluffy wall that ran over her own legs.
"Da-buh-bah?" asked Omid as he stood up, trying to see over the pillows that now enclosed the crib.
"This is a pillow fort," explained Clem as Omid moved over to the edge of the improv wall. "Me and my babysitter used to make them with couch cushions when I was really little. Those were way bigger, and way better. We used to spend hours in them coloring, and playing with toys, and reading books, or just talking about things. And… it was like the rest of the world couldn't get in."
Clem watched as Omid pushed down one of the pillows she had set up. "I guess you've spent enough of your life in this crib already," realized Clem as Omid crawled out of the fort. "I tried finding us somewhere else to live, somewhere where you wouldn't have to spend all day in the Brave and it would be safe to go outside. But…" Clem watched as Omid crawled under the covers and out of sight. "I guess there is nowhere like that anymore."
"Clem?" Clementine peeled back the blanket covering the crib and stood up, finding Sarah standing at the bedroom door.
"What's wrong?" asked Clem.
"Wrong? Nothing," said Sarah. "I just wanted to tell you we were done."
"Already?" Sarah nodded and looked at the blanket strewn across the floor. "I was showing OJ a pillow fort, but I don't think he liked it."
"I'll help clean up," said Sarah as she went to collect the blanket.
"Just leave it," suggested Clem as she crawled across the bed to reach the door. "He didn't like the fort but he likes it under the blanket."
"All right, well come check out what we got." Sarah had an odd grin as she left the bedroom. Following the older girl, Clem saw they were back in the park they were in before. Stepping outside, she saw Patty opening a compartment and removing a laundry basket from inside. Setting it on the ground, Clementine was shocked to see it was stuffed with food.
Before Clem could even begin to take inventory, Patty removed a second laundry basket while Sarah removed a third one from the Brave, each stuffed full of food. Sarah then set a fourth basket out while Patty headed for the other side of the vehicle.
Pawing through the basket Sarah set out, Clem recognized the labels on some of the cans as the same ones she had seen on the goods she found when she visited a suburb in Titusville. They had missed that bag when they tried to retrieve it with the Brave, and as Clem took a closer look to determine if these were the exact same items, she heard a couple of soft thumps on the grass.
"That should be all of it." Looking up, Clem was surprised to see Patty and Sarah place another couple of laundry baskets on the grass, bringing the total to six, one of which looked filled with bullets and other items. "Help me out of this thing?"
Patty removed the machete from her back and Sarah removed a couple of rubber gloves from her pocket. Sarah aided in removing the raincoat from Patty, and then carried it and the machete back into the Brave. Clem watched as Patty pulled her respirator off and removed a pack of cigarettes from her jacket pocket. She slid one into her mouth and lit it, taking a single drag off it before removing it from her lips.
"Well? Pretty damn good huh?" boasted a cheerful Patty as she gestured to the half-dozen baskets lying around. Clem moved to the only one not stuffed with food and looked inside. There had to be a dozen boxes of bullets inside, along with some other items. "Check these out." Clem watched as Patty removed a pair of skinny black pouches from the basket.
"What is it?"
"Thing to hold extra clips for your gun." Patty opened the pouches, revealing a magazine tucked in each of them. "Between what Sarah told me about you running out of bullets and me dropping mine like an idiot, I figured we could use something like this."
"Are you sure these are the right kind?" asked Clem as she removed one of the magazines and examined it.
"Yeah, Sarah lent me the one from your gun so I could match it up at the gun store you broke into," said Patty.
"It's probably too heavy to use all the time," said Sarah as she stepped outside and approached Clem. "But I thought it would be useful when we're going somewhere dangerous where you know you might need extra bullets."
"I know I'm gonna keep mine on anytime I go out there," said Patty as she retrieved a pouch for herself. "I just wish I could have found something like that for shotgun shells."
Clem watched as Patty retrieved a red box from the basket and moved over to her motorcycle, which was parked under a nearby tree. The woman retrieved a long, black shotgun strapped to the vehicle and proceeded to load it. Turning back to Sarah, she saw the older girl fishing some jerky out of the basket.
"How… how did you get all this?" asked a bewildered Clem.
"I told Patty about when you and I tried to do this like a week ago, and after talking about it for a while, we figured out how to make it work," explained Sarah.
"Not that it was hard, you two seemed like you had pretty much worked out most of this stuff already," said Patty as she moved back towards Clem. "Sarah already told me how you didn't want to use bags again, so I spent some time digging up some laundry baskets yesterday when I was down there."
"And once she finished putting food in them, she carried them away from the areas full of walkers to somewhere a little safer and left them by something easy for me to see while driving the Brave," continued Sarah. "Like you did before."
"I wrote down all the drop spots as I left them, and then checked some of the other roads and wrote down what they were like, in case something happened and Sarah had to make a detour," said Patty.
"But what about the walkers?" asked Clem. "You didn't have any problems with them?"
"I went out this morning with Sarah's rifle and fired off some shots a few times to get them moving away from where we were going," explained Patty. "It doesn't get them all, but it does cut the risk by a lot."
"And Patty showed me if I put the Brave in neutral and shut off the engine, it can just roll for a little while without making any noise," said Sarah. "So when it finally stops, the walkers won't know where it is."
"That's really smart," complimented Clem.
"I wish I could take credit for it, but it was actually that cunt Rhonda's idea." Clem scowled upon hearing that name. "She and Howard would shoot from their boat to get the creatures moving around while someone else did the looting. And when they docked anywhere they would cut the engine and drift the rest of the way so those creatures wouldn't be waiting for them at wherever they were stopping."
"I guess she was telling the truth about that," spoke a bitter Clem. "And just lied about everything else."
"The bitch does nothing but lie," added Patty. "Not long after I got to Valkaria, she said if I helped her with her scavenging, she'd split what they got with me. I spent a whole day risking my ass running around filling up those damn boxes while they scooped them up on their precious boat, and at the end of the day, they just ditched me."
"She just left you?" asked Sarah.
"Yep. They never even picked up their last box, or me," recalled Patty. "Since I rode to North Beach on their boat, that meant I spent the whole next day walking back to Valkaria, praying I didn't run into more of those damn creatures than I could handle. The bitch and her spineless husband looked like they had seen a ghost when I marched through their gate."
"What did you do to them?" asked Clem, eager for details.
"They locked themselves in their house, where I couldn't get to them. So, I told Tanner about it, and he said I had to tell Chilton. And she said since there wasn't a blue coat around when I made the deal, I couldn't prove anything, saying it wasn't 'fair' to declare Rhonda and Howard guilty without any evidence."
"Fair?" repeated Clem through clenched teeth. "Like any of them know anything about being fair!"
"One of the blue coats I talked to said this wasn't the first time Rhonda and Howard had been accused of leaving one of their hired 'helpers' to die."
"Then why does Chilton keep believing Rhonda?" asked Sarah. "Isn't it obvious she's lying?"
"Same blue coat also told me Chilton probably doesn't do anything about Rhonda and Howard because them ditching people was helping to keep Valkaria's population down."
"What?" asked a horrified Sarah. "She was letting them kill people?"
"Letting them 'allegedly' ditch people she had no interest in, at which point they die or they get pissed and leave Valkaria when Chilton doesn't do shit about Rhonda," spoke a bitter Patty.
"What about the people who did have a blue coat around when they made a deal with Rhonda?" asked Clem. "Did Chilton not care about them?"
"I doubt Rhonda would be dumb enough to offer one of her one-way boat rides to someone if they knew to have witnesses around," scoffed Patty. "And since one mechanic was enough for Chilton's paradise, she didn't do shit for me either, probably hoping I'd just leave Valkaria, so I stuck around to spite the bitch."
"But why does Chilton want people to leave?" asked Sarah.
"I guess because less people means less problems; that's less food you need, less people who could get sick and need help, less chance someone will start some trouble," reasoned Patty.
"I bet that's why she did the scavenger hunt," realized Clem. "Because more people probably would die trying to get things for her, and then that's even less people."
"Probably, I knew I thought that when I got her letter," said Patty.
"But you went out to get stuff anyway?" asked Sarah. "Why?"
Patty shrugged. "There isn't shit around here for miles except Valkaria, and I'd have to deal with those creatures to get what I needed if I left, so I was screwed either way." Patty tossed her cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. "I figured I might get lucky if I turned in what I found that day, but I guess that was just a pipe dream."
"She picked Rhonda and Howard," informed a bitter Clem. "They get to live in Paradise because they lied about us, and Chilton was too dumb to know it."
"She probably knew they were liars and picked them anyway," suggested Patty. "Someone told me Chilton and Rhonda have a lot of bad blood between them from when Chilton's people first came to Valkaria, and that Chilton was enjoying watching Rhonda struggle as she ran out of places to loot and 'helpers' to work for her. If she and Howard are Valkaria's scavengers now, Chilton is probably going to work them to death, literally," said Patty with a chuckle.
"Maybe, but that doesn't make me feel much better," said Clem. "If Rhonda does know about the smell, she can probably keep getting things, and nothing bad is going to happen to Chilton or Tanner. They did all these terrible things and they're just going to get away with it."
Clementine looked down at her feet, feeling disgusted with the thought of such rotten people thriving after making her suffer for no good reason.
"I could go back there." Clem looked up at Patty, who had a determined look twinkling in her eyes. "Tanner banned you two from Valkaria, but not me. They don't even know I ran into you two yet. I could go back there."
"And do what?" asked Clem.
"I could tell people what happened, tell them the smell works, prove Rhonda was lying."
"I already told Chilton about the smell," said Clem. "She said I probably used it to steal from Rhonda instead of getting my own stuff."
"I could tell everyone about how they fucking whipped an innocent ten-year-old girl. I'm sure not everyone on that damn island knows about that."
"All of Tanner's people already know, and they liked it," recalled an angry Clem. "And even if the good people knew, they probably wouldn't do anything because they need Chilton and Tanner too much."
"I used to live somewhere before where there were good people, and they usually just didn't think about the bad things the people who running the place were doing," added Sarah. "I didn't even know about them for a long time."
Clem looked back down at her feet, disappointed by the realization no justice would likely be rendered onto to those who had wronged her.
"I could kill Rhonda." Clem looked up and saw the deathly intent in Patty's eyes.
"Patty, don't do that," pleaded Sarah.
"Why not? She deserves it," shrugged Patty. "I already had my own score to settle with her anyway. Now that I've got bullets again, it wouldn't be too hard to just go over to her place one day and shoot her in the back when she wasn't looking."
"Then Tanner will kill you," reminded Sarah.
"I'll be long gone before he gets a chance," reasoned Patty.
"They had the roads blocked," said Sarah.
"I'll get out on foot then."
"What if you don't?" asked Clem in a cold voice. "Then you'll be dead. And even if Rhonda is dead, Tanner and Chilton will still be alive."
Patty sighed. "I don't think there's much I could do about them. I'm pretty sure everyone on that island keeps guns in their houses, just in case someone tries to sneak in and try something, and Tanner always has a gun."
"Even if you killed all three of them, it's not like we'd get to stay there afterwards," said Clem. "So it's not worth it, even if they do deserve to die. They might even come and blow us up if you tried it."
"Blow you up?" asked Patty.
"I think Rhonda tried to kill me while I was out scavenging last time I was here," said Clem. "I was just in this house, and suddenly it blew it up, and when I woke up, the whole place was on fire."
"Oh shit… you were in there when that happened?"
Clem turned to Patty in surprise. "How do you know about that?"
"Um… well… I was kinda the one who torched that house."
"What? You tried to kill to me!" accused Clem.
"No, I swear, I thought it was empty—it was empty when I cleaned out the kitchen earlier that day," insisted a nervous Patty.
"I almost died! Like a dozen times! Because of you!" yelled Clem as she pointed at a guilt-stricken Patty.
"Clem, calm down," said Sarah.
"Why'd you do that!"
"It's how I deal with those things," explained Patty. "I pick a big house and use a grenade to set off a propane tank or a gas line."
"A grenade?" asked Sarah. "Where did you get that?"
"I lifted a few off this truck back in Miami, I only use them for when I'm clearing out a big area because I don't have many left," explained Patty. "The noise from them brings those creatures to the house and the fire burns them to death, like a giant bug zapper, except with a lot of fire."
"You expect me to believe that? That I just happened to be in the house you blew up when I was right next to where it blew up?"
"I picked that place because it was big with an overgrown yard and a fat propane tank on the grill in the back. I figured it'd burn longer and kill more of those creatures," insisted Patty. "I thought I was just torching an old house. I had no idea anyone was in there, you gotta believe me."
"I don't have to do anything. I… I should have let you die!"
"Clem!"
Patty looked devastated by Clem's words, but the girl didn't care how Patty felt right now and marched back into the RV.
"Clem," called Sarah as she chased after the younger girl. "Clem, wait up." Sarah ran into the RV where Clem immediately slammed and locked the door.
"Let's go," insisted Clem.
"Go where?" asked Sarah.
"Anywhere, just so long as it's away from her," demanded Clem. "But let's go."
"Clem—"
"I'm not staying with her!"
"She wouldn't stay with us in the RV," insisted Sarah. "We'd just work together to get food, but we'd stay in here and she'd rest indoors wherever she could. She'd never even come in here."
"I don't care! And don't tell me I should give her another chance, or you believe her, or I should calm down, okay? I'm sick of people tricking me, and hurting me, and lying to me!"
"It sounded like an accident," argued Sarah.
"That what she says," retorted Clem. "She's lying."
"Why would she bring it up if she was lying to us?" asked Sarah. "She could have said nothing when you mentioned what happened."
"Well… she… she could have thought she was killing someone else," reasoned Clem. "Yeah, she could have just seen someone with a raincoat go into that house and thought it was a good way to get rid of someone."
"Why? Why would she just kill someone for no reason?"
"Maybe so there's less people to win the contest? She said she'd kill Rhonda just because she wants to. She probably would kill other people too. We don't want to be with her."
"She just helped us today, and I don't think she would hurt us," said Sarah. "You said good people care about kids, and she acted more worried than anyone when she met us."
"Yeah, acted, she could be pretending. She didn't care much about me when she met me," said Clem. "And caring about kids doesn't make you a good person if you do bad things to other people too. Patty could be like the man who kidnapped me, like she only wants us around for crazy reasons and she doesn't care if she hurts anyone."
"Clem, I don't think she's like that."
"You don't know. You don't know her."
"Neither do you," retorted Sarah. "She could be like Christa; someone who is strong and takes care of kids."
"Or she could be someone who takes care of the kids she likes and doesn't care about who she hurts, like you dad." Sarah went wide-eyed with surprise upon hearing that and Clem immediately regretted saying it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that… I…"
Sarah reached out and took hold of Clementine's left arm. Clem felt the older girl's fingers tracing the scar that ran down her forearm. "I… I still can't believe he just left you out in that shed."
"He wasn't a bad man Sarah, he really wasn't," insisted Clem. "He… he just—"
"He just did bad things sometimes," finished Sarah as she looked at the scar. "But I think he would have done good again if he had lived longer. Sometimes…"
"What?"
"Sometimes… I wonder if I never told on him, if he'd still be alive."
"Sarah, what happened to your dad wasn't your fault, at all. You—"
"I made a mistake," finished Sarah. "And he forgave me because he knew I didn't mean to do bad. And… I would have forgiven him, because I think he would have done good too.
"I think that's how you know if someone is a good person, if they feel bad after they do something wrong, and they want to make it better. And I think Patty looked like she felt really bad when she found out she almost killed you. I think we should give her a chance."
Clem crossed her arms, mulling over Sarah's words. "What if I had died?"
"Huh?"
"What if Patty blowing up that house had killed me, like it almost did, and then you found out; would you still want to give her a chance?"
Sarah was clearly disturbed by that suggestion, looking away from Clem as she thought about the question. "I…" Sarah bit her lip. "I don't think I could forgive her if she killed you."
"You see why I don't want her to stay?" asked Clem. "And we don't even know if it really was an accident."
"It sounded like it was," said Sarah. "But killing someone by accident is still really bad." Clem suddenly felt her chest tighten as those words echoed in her mind. "I mean, Patty wouldn't have to be a bad person, but I don't think I could be around someone who killed somebody I cared about, even if it was an accident." Clem suddenly saw that dead woman's one-eyed stare in her mind, clear as the day Clem had shot her. "I guess we'll tell her we shouldn't stay together."
"Wait…" Clem grabbed Sarah's arm as she moved to the door. "Maybe we should give her another chance after all."
"Really?" asked Sarah. "But I thought—"
"We should be careful around her. But if it really was an accident, and she's not a bad person, then she'd feel really terrible about what she did," said Clem, feeling guilt-stricken herself as she spoke. "And, if she is a good person, she'd want to do a lot of good to make up for it."
Clem moved to the door and unlocked it, heading outside to find Patty sitting on her bike, a big frown hanging on her face.
"Oh hey…" spoke Patty in a quiet voice. "I guess it doesn't mean much now to tell you I'm sorry."
Clem crossed her arms and considered her words carefully. "What do you want?"
"What do you mean?" asked Patty.
"Why do you want to help us? What are you getting out of it?"
"Well, you already told me about this smell thing," said Patty. "It's like playing a game on easy now. So there's that."
"Yeah, and you got that now, so why bother staying with us anymore?" asked Clem. "Why do you want to help us?"
"I guess you wouldn't believe me if I said I just wanted to?" asked Patty.
"Not really," admitted Clem. "You didn't want to help us when we needed our tire changed."
"That was different."
"How so?"
"Well, I thought I was dealing with an RV full of assholes who were like Tanner."
"Like Tanner?" asked Sarah.
"You know, people who teach kids to be 'tough' and expect them to be obedient little psychos," scoffed Patty. "When I was in Miami, the soldiers who ran the place started recruiting the local kids as 'deputies' when they started running low on people."
"Miami?" asked Clem.
"It was under martial law for about a year, before it finally fell apart," explained Patty. "In that time, they taught those kids to be vicious bastards they could throw out to die if they didn't feel like doing something. When I left that place, I figured at least I'd never have to see that again. Then I met Tanner and his blue coats, and it was the same damn thing."
"We knew someone else who wanted to use kids to do dangerous stuff for him," added Sarah.
"Jesus, it's like a fucking trend," grumbled Patty. "Then I met you." Patty looked at Clem. "And you were acting so tough, and telling me your people used you to meet with others, and I just thought 'Great, another pack of assholes using kids to do their dirty work." Patty looked away, guilt hanging off her face.
"Then I saw why you didn't want me to see inside your RV, and I couldn't believe it; two girls and a baby, all by themselves." Clem saw Patty become anxious as she recalled that evening.
"We should have just told you," realized Clem.
"I get why you didn't though," said Patty. "I did the same thing in Miami; telling those gangs of kids who'd give me a hard time that I lived with a dozen other people who didn't exist so they'd hopefully think twice about breaking into my house at night when I was alone. I was terrified to be just a woman living alone, but two girls your age with a baby?" Patty looked over at the pair, frightened for both of them. "I can't even imagine how scary that must be."
"It's… it's really scary," admitted Clem as she moved closer to Sarah for comfort, each clasping the other's hand as if it was instinct.
"And then I find out you saved me," said Patty as she looked at Clem. "And no one's ever done anything like that for me before."
"Save your life?" asked Clem.
"I mean anything. Almost everyone I ever knew screwed me over in the end, but this girl I didn't even know, who I was an asshole to, saved my life anyway. And then Sarah tells me, you nearly died saving me because you were limping away in the rain. And just now I find out it was my fault you were even in bad shape to begin with and…" Patty trailed off, looking like she was ready to start crying.
"I really want to help, and if you don't want me to then I'll just leave. But you asked me what I was get out of helping you and… I think it'd just make me feel better if I was with you two. With all the fucking pricks and lunatics out there, it's nice to meet people who are… good, again."
Clem was stunned by the sincerity in Patty's words, the woman looking at the pair with a resigned but desperate look on her face as she awaited her judgement. She practically seemed to be begging, and despite a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, Clem stepped forward.
"If you want, we can stay together for now," offered Clem.
A warm smile crept across Patty's face. "I promise, I'm gonna make it up to you for saving my life."
"We definitely could use the help," admitted Clem. "Seeing as I'm not very good at anything."
"Not very…" Patty turned to Sarah. "It she always this down on herself?"
"Sometimes." Clem looked at Sarah, surprised to hear her say that. "She's been a lot worse since… you know."
"Kid, look at what we got here." Patty gestured to the laundry baskets stuffed with food and ammo lying on the grass. "Even split between the three of us—I mean four of us, that's at least two weeks of food, probably more, all from a couple of days of work."
"Because of you and Sarah," said Clem. "I—"
"It was all your ideas," said Patty. "Using the smell to scout ahead first, creating stashes to pick up later with the RV, setting them by something easy to see; Sarah told me you thought all that up on your own. All we did was just fine tune it a little and steal Rhonda's only good idea and look, we're eating like queens for the next couple of weeks."
"Well, yeah, but we'll have to do it again and—"
"And we're just gonna get better at," said Patty. "This was my first try at this, and like what, you girls' third? Next time I bet we could get a month's supply in one go."
"I guess so," said Clem. "Still, I was really hoping we could stay in Paradise."
"Paradise was just a shitty island Chilton named paradise so people would want to live there," reasoned Patty. "Now that I know you can just walk past those creatures with the right smell, I wouldn't stay there if Chilton asked me to."
"You're just saying that," accused Clem.
"No, I'm not, the last place I want to be next hurricane season is on a little island right next to the coast," said Patty.
"Hurricane season?" asked Sarah.
"The time of the year we get the most hurricanes," said Patty. "Miami got lucky its first year, and we didn't get hit by anything too bad. But just a few months ago a big one made landfall near us, tore what was left of the city apart, and what was left of the military ditched us right after that."
"Was that when you came to Valkaria?" asked Sarah.
"After spending a lot of time wandering from place to place hoping not to get eaten, yeah. I asked around Valkaria, and they said they hadn't gotten hit by any hurricanes. But when I asked what they were planning to do when one came, they never had an answer. And in all of her planning, I never once heard Chilton mention getting ready for hurricane season."
"She said they were going to make a windmill," said Clem.
"A windmill? That'll get torn the fuck up the first time a big storm hits close to their precious paradise, along with everything they have."
"Not the orange trees," noted Clem. "They'd probably be okay."
"Big deal, you think that was the only fruit orchard left in the world?"
"Um… I guess not."
"We'll find our own paradise, and one that's not in fucking Florida."
"What's wrong with Florida?" asked Sarah.
"Everything. Snakes, hurricanes, Floridians."
"The weather is nice," said Clem.
"Now, because we're in the winter. Wait until the summer rolls around and you start dying in the hundred degree heat waves. Seriously, some older people died of heatstroke in Miami during our first summer. Florida isn't much of a vacation hotspot without air conditioning to cool it off. Trust me, I've lived here my whole life and I've just wanted to leave since shortly after I was born, and even more so after those creatures showed up. You'd be crazy to stay here."
"But… where do we go?" asked Clem.
"Anywhere, everywhere," said Patty with a smile. "I was thinking New Orleans myself."
"Why there?" asked Sarah.
"I knew a couple of the soldiers in Miami, and I overheard them talking about New Orleans sometimes, like the military was there too. Miami sucked, but maybe they've got this shit under control there. Plus, I've always wanted to go to New Orleans."
"That's really far," said Clem. "What if the Brave breaks down?"
"Then I'll fix it," assured Patty. "I can do a lot more than tires. And riding this thing today, it sounded pretty sturdy."
"Actually, there was a few mornings where it took a while for it to start," informed Sarah.
"Were they those freaky cold mornings earlier this week?"
"Um… yeah, how did you know?"
"Diesel engines have trouble turning over when it's cold out," said Patty.
"It never did that when we were in Georgia, and it was colder there," noted Clem.
"Could be the batteries or something gumming up the fuel line, making it harder than normal to start in the cold," suggested Patty. "First halfway decent autoshop we find, I'll give your RV a full tuneup, and then we'll see if things are okay in New Orleans."
"What if they aren't?" asked Clem.
"Then we go somewhere else, until we find somewhere that is okay. You two have known about this smell stuff that lets you get around but you never wanted to go anywhere fun before?"
"We never have time," said Clem. "We always have to find food, and diesel, and take care of Omid, and then it starts all over."
"Well… you're gonna have time now." Looking at the laundry baskets overflowing with unopened food, more than she had seen in her possession in a very long time, Clem realized what Patty was saying was true. "Where do you want to go?"
"I… I don't know," said Clem. "Somewhere safe I guess."
"Besides that, where do you want to go for fun?"
"Um…" Clementine thought about Patty's question. She had enjoyed visiting the space center, but it had never been what she had thought of when she thought of Florida. "Where's Disney World?"
"It's in Orlando, which I think is only like fifty miles from here," said Patty. "I also had someone tell me the whole city was a bloodbath."
"Oh… so I guess we can't go there," realized Clem.
"Sure we can. With the smell thing, we can at least check it out. The rides won't work but it'd still be cool to see, and we'll probably find some more food along the way," said Patty. "We got the freedom to go anywhere kid, let's use it!"
Clem found Patty's enthusiasm infectious, but there was one thing that was still bothering her. "Don't call me kid."
"Huh?"
"My name is—"
"Clementine," finished Patty. "I… I should have known better, I hated it when people called me kid back in Miami."
"People called you kid?"
"The soldiers, all the time, when they weren't calling me something worse or creepy," recalled Patty in a bitter tone.
"How old are you?" asked Clem.
"Twenty-one," answered Patty.
"So you were twenty when this started?" asked Clem.
"I was nineteen actually, turned twenty a couple of months later. But most of the soldiers there weren't any older. One of them was even younger than me and he still called me kid, all because I'm short. It pissed me off."
Clem smirked upon hearing that, finding it easy to relate to Patty's plight. "I'm ten," said Clem. "And Sarah's fourteen."
"And Omid is nine months old," added Sarah.
"It's gonna be weird for me to be the oldest for once," admitted Patty.
"Well, you can make it less weird by not treating us like kids," suggested Clem in a smug voice as she crossed her arms.
"I think I can manage that. Although, I might have to make an exception for Omid," said Patty with a smirk.
"I think that'll be okay," said Clem with a smile.
"Oh, you know what, I got this just for him." Patty leapt up from the motorcycle and went to one of the laundry baskets. "Sarah mentioned he liked orange juice, so I when I saw this in someone's kitchen, I figured I'd grab it." Patty placed something in Clem's hands. Looking at it, Clem could see it was a simple plastic juicer with a jar attached to the bottom of it.
"You got this for us?" asked Clem.
"I figured it'd help make it easier to squeeze your remaining oranges for whatever they're worth, no pun intended." Clem watched as Patty placed a laundry basket back in the Brave.
"What are you doing?" asked Sarah.
"Packing up," said Patty as she shut the compartment.
"Don't you want to take your food?" asked Sarah. "I figured since there's three of us and a baby, we—"
"We can split it up later," assured Patty as she grabbed another laundry basket. "I want to get back on the road."
"Now?" asked Sarah.
"Hell yeah, didn't you hear me?" asked Patty as she stuffed another basket into the Brave. "We can go anywhere now, so let's go already."
Clem felt a smile moving across her face, then headed for the nearest laundry basket. "Come on Sarah." The pair worked with Patty and quickly stowed all their loot.
"So I figure we head north for a little while, get away from Titusville, then head west towards Orlando, and Disney World." said Patty as she mounted her motorcycle. "Sound good?"
"As long as we get away from Valkaria, I think I'll be good." Clem saw Patty's enthusiasm fade slightly upon hearing that, but then she nodded at the girl and put her helmet on. Sarah and Clem returned to the Brave, and Clem put up their new juicer and collected Omid from the bedroom.
"You want to watch the outside OJ?" asked Clem as she sat down in the passenger's seat.
"Na-buh-muh-duh," said Omid as he watched the world move from the safety of Clem's lap. "Pah-pah! Pah-pah!" he exclaimed as he tried to touch Patty's motorcycle through the glass as it sped off down the road in front of the RV.
"So, how do you feel?" asked Sarah as they left the park behind and moved down a small road towards the highway.
"Okay, I guess," said Clem. "Patty's kind of cool, but I'm still not sure we can trust her."
"Well, we haven't known her that long," conceded Sarah. "But I think she means it when she says she wants to help us."
"I do too," said Clem. "But like I said, she might not be that way with everyone, so we should be careful. I mean, she blows up houses just to get rid of walkers."
"She said she thought it was empty. I don't think she would do anything too—" Sarah slammed on the brakes as she noticed Patty had stopped her motorcycle in the middle of the highway. There were no walkers or obstacles in eyesight, perplexing the girls. The woman took of her helmet and started looking up at something.
"What's she doing?" asked Sarah.
"I'll go find out." Clem handed Omid to Sarah and headed outside. Following Patty's eyes, she could see she was looking up at a billboard. It was blank, whatever message on it long faded by time and the sun.
"Patty, what are—"
"This is Interstate One, the one that goes right to Valkaria," mused Patty as she stared up at the billboard.
"Um, I guess, so what?"
Patty went to her motorcycle's trailer and removed a tall can from it. "I'll be right back. If anything happens, buzz me on the radio."
"Wait, Patty…" Patty headed for the big metal post holding the billboard and located some rungs sticking out of it. "Where are you going?"
"Just a little art project," assured Patty as she started climbing. "Won't take more than a couple of minutes." Clem watched as Patty moved upwards to the sign, prompting Clem to run back into the RV.
"What's she doing?" asked Sarah.
"I don't know," said Clem as she grabbed the radio. "Something about an art project." Clem burst back outside just in time to see Patty emerge in front of the blank billboard.
"Patty," called Clem over the radio. "Get down here."
"Why?" answered Patty. "I don't see any of those creatures from up here."
"We don't have time for this," insisted Clem.
"I kept telling you kid—sorry—Clementine, you got all the time you want right now," said Patty. "And this is definitely worth it."
"What?"
"Watch." Clem took a few steps back and watched as Patty held up the can she took. She moved her arm and a big red 'V' was painted on the billboard. Watching Patty closely, it was clear what she was spelling.
"You're making a sign to Valkaria?" asked an annoyed Clem. "Why—"
"Don't criticize a work in progress." Clem kept watching as Patty wrote another word next to the first one, then started writing under those words. Clem had trouble reading what she wrote from this angle, so she ran up the road a few feet. After she had checked to make sure nothing was coming, she looked at the billboard and saw Patty's message:
'VALKARIA TORTURES INNOCENT CHILDREN!'
Watching the woman climb back down the ladder, Clem ran over to her. "I know it's not much considering what they did to you," confessed Patty in a sympathetic voice as she stepped off the ladder. "But at least this way, maybe whoever ends up there next will have some idea what to expect." Patty stored the can of spray paint in her bike's trailer. "And who knows, maybe they'll blab to the right person in Valkaria about how they read a billboard saying they tortured innocent kids, and something will happen."
"I kind of doubt it," admitted Clem.
Patty sighed as she climbed on her motorcycle. "Yeah, me too. But I felt like venting a little." Patty put her helmet on. "I guess can we can get going again, sorry to hold things up."
Clem moved back towards the RV, but stopped halfway and looked back at the woman sitting on her bike. "Patty?"
"Yeah Clementine?"
"Thanks."
Clem smiled at the woman, and she smiled back at the girl. Clementine returned to the Brave and it started off down the highway, venturing into parts unknown.