Clementine watched as Omid crawled out of her grasp. The boy climbed off the bed and immediately honed in on a ball resting in the corner.
"I… I'm gonna go check the manual about turning on the pilot lights." Clem looked over at Sarah, who seemed as unnerved about Patty's story as she was, and then nodded at the older girl.
"I'll go check on Patty," volunteered Clem as Sarah left the bedroom. Clem stood up, but paused as she heard Omid laughing. She watched as the boy bent over to pick up his ball and felt a sudden urge to hold him. Clem knelt down, wrapped her arms around the boy and kissed the top of his head.
"I love you," whispered Clem. "Love you."
"Muh-boo," babbled Omid before throwing his ball across the room again. Clem left Omid to play and headed out of the bedroom. She passed Sarah, who was studying the RV's manual intently, then stepped outside. There Clem saw Patty fiddling with the propane tank sitting on the garbage can.
"Did it work?" asked Clem as she approached the woman.
"Yeah, we already got a couple of gallons," said Patty as she twisted the valve on the tank. "I could probably speed things up by holding it upside down until your tank was mostly full." Patty moved away from the tank and approached the RV. "But you said you two never used the propane before, right?"
"Yeah, we've never had propane for as long as we've had the RV," said Clem.
"I was thinking we should test it first." Patty unscrewed the hose attached to the Brave's built-in propane tank. "Make sure we're not doing all this for nothing." Patty screwed the cap back onto the propane tank's valve, then turned a knob. "Ready for warm water and hot food?"
"Definitely!" Clementine enthusiastically bounded back into the RV with Patty trailing right behind her.
"Did it work?" asked Sarah as she looked up from the manual.
"I just opened the gas line," informed Patty as she stepped inside.
"Great. We need to turn on the water pump now." Sarah sprung up from her seat and ran over to a small panel of lights mounted above the oven and pressed one of the three switches running across the bottom. "Clem, go to the bathroom and turn on the hot water in the shower."
"Okay." Clem raced into the bathroom, slid open the shower door, and turned the knob for hot water. Nothing happened at first, but then Clem heard a creaking sound and water started spraying from the shower head, prompting her to jump backwards. Clem rolled up her sleeve and stuck her hand in the running water.
"It's not hot," announced Clem.
"Turn it off," called Sarah from the living room. Clem carefully reached inside and turned the water off, then bolted out of the bathroom.
"Now what?" asked Clem.
"I just press this button, and that should turn on the water heater's pilot light," explained Sarah as she pressed another button. "The manual says if this light goes off after a few seconds, that means the pilot light works." Sarah pointed to a small orange light on the panel. Clem watched it intently, waiting anxiously for it to change, feeling that this tiny orange blip was even mocking her impatience, only for it to disappear in a flash.
"Did it work?" asked Patty.
"I guess—" Clem raced back into the bathroom before Sarah could finish speaking. She turned on the hot water in the shower again and stepped back. Holding out her hand, Clem was disappointed to find the water was still room temperature.
"Did it work?" Clem looked over her shoulder to find Sarah behind her; her disappointed look told the older girl everything she needed to know. "I… I guess the water heater doesn't work."
"Or maybe it takes more than five seconds," said Patty as she approached the girls. "You two know water heaters need time to actually… heat the water, right?"
"Oh…" said Sarah as she processed what Patty said. "That makes sense."
"How long does it take?" asked Clem as she shut off the shower.
"I don't know, but why don't we see if we can get the stove working and check back with the shower after that," suggested Patty as she approached the appliance. "There a switch for it too?"
"Actually, the manual said we had to light the pilot… light," said Sarah. "There's one for the oven and one for the burner on top. We'll need to find some matches and…" Sarah watched as Patty approached the stove and removed a lighter from her pocket.
"Just light it, right?" asked the woman.
"Hang on." Sarah turned a knob on the stove. "Okay, you should be able to light it now."
Clem watched as Patty clicked her a lighter a couple of times before it produced a flame, then carefully guided it toward the burner. As the flame crossed past the edge of the metal ring in the center of the stove top, another flame appeared almost instantly and formed a tiny circle of fire. Patty yanked her hand back as the burner's flames settled in place.
"Are you okay?" asked Clem.
"Just fine," assured Patty as she pocketed the lighter. "And it looks like the stove is too."
Clem watched as Sarah turned a knob and the burner's flames grew taller. "It really works," awed the older girl as Clem moved closer to the stove. Nearing the burner, Clementine was surprised by how much heat such a small flame could produce. "This is so great. Thanks Patty," professed Sarah as she turned around.
"Thank my local Waffle House," smirked the woman. "The crew running it were crazy devoted to keeping the place going and refused to close down just because of martial law. They were still selling stuff even after the power went out and only stopped when the military took whatever food they had left."
"Really?" asked Sarah.
"Yeah, they were still making me pay for omelets a week into this insanity," said Patty. "I helped their chef get propane after the military shut down the restaurant because I loved his cooking."
"We should cook something," realized Clem.
"Like what?" asked Sarah.
Clem thought to herself for a moment. "Get our pot out of the cupboard." Clem headed into the closet and searched the shelves. She dug through the goods stored in the back for a few seconds, then grabbed a bag and returned to the kitchen as Sarah placed an iron pot on the counter.
"Macaroni?" asked Sarah.
"The bag says it's penne, I think that's closer to spaghetti," said Clem as she set the pot in the sink. "Whatever it is, it should be easy to make, and good." Clem filled the pot with water and placed it on the burner.
"I can't remember the last time I had spaghetti," commented Patty as she watched Clem use her teeth to make a tear in the bag of pasta.
"I think I do," said Sarah. "It was back when we lived in Spokeston, sometime in late June I think."
"We were down to our last couple of packs of spaghetti, and I wanted to try and make spaghetti sauce with stuff from our garden," said Clem as she retrieved a salt shaker from the counter.
"I remember that. You were reading that cookbook and it had a recipe for tomato sauce. You put so much water into it that it was more like a stew."
"The book said you don't want the tomatoes to dry out and I wasn't sure if that was happening or not," said Clem as she sprinkled salt into the pot.
"I think it had more onions than tomatoes in it," teased Sarah.
"We didn't have any garlic so I used twice as much onion as the recipe said." Clem grabbed a big spoon. "I did my best."
"I know you did. That's why it tasted so good."
Clem looked over at the older girl and saw the warm smile on her face, which made Clem smile herself. "Too bad OJ didn't like it," said Clem as she stirred the pot.
"He liked it," said Sarah.
"He made a huge mess," reminded Clem.
"Yeah, but he liked making a mess with it," quipped Sarah.
"I wish he liked eating it instead," chuckled Clem as she grabbed the package of pasta.
"Maybe he will this time," said Sarah. "I'll go get him, he should see you're making everyone lunch."
"Okay, but I'm not making a sauce until I know OJ will actually eat it," said Clem as she poured the dried pasta into the pot. "And until I know these noodles don't taste bad because they're so far past their expiration date." Clem sighed as she looked at the noodles, then turned away from the stove, spotting Patty eyeing the travel chessboard set on the small dining table. "You said you don't play chess?"
"Never learned how," said Patty as she carefully moved the chessboard aside and sat down in front of the table.
"I could teach you," suggested Clem. "It's fun once you know how."
"You know how to play poker?" asked Patty.
"Um… not really," said Clem.
"You let me teach you and Sarah how to play poker and I'll let you teach me to play chess sometime," offered Patty.
"Why me and Sarah?" asked Clem.
"Poker's more fun with more than two people."
Sarah emerged from the bedroom, Omid cradled in her arms. "You're getting so big," said the older girl as she toted the boy into the living area. "You're gonna be too big to carry before long," reasoned Sarah as she sat down.
"Maybe he can carry us instead," suggested Clem as she sat down next to Sarah. "Would you do that for us OJ?" teased Clem as she moved in close to Omid. "Would you carry me and Sarah when you get bigger?"
"Ah-bah-bree," said Omid while not particularly paying attention.
"You know, we should check to see how much he's grown," realized Sarah. "We haven't checked since we left home."
"You're right." Clem hopped off the couch while Sarah carried Omid towards the door. "Patty, can you keep watch outside for a second?"
"Sure," said the woman as she stood up. "But what are we doing?"
"Checking to see how much OJ has grown," explained Clem as she collected a baggie full of markers from a drawer. "Come on." Clem opened the door and ushered for Patty to step out with her. Leaving the RV, the pair turned and watched as Sarah helped Omid stand on the bottom step. Clem removed a black marker from her bag and handed it to Sarah.
"Hold him still for a second," instructed Sarah as she took the cap off the marker.
"Be good OJ," said Clem in a sweet voice as she gently grasped the boy's shoulders. "It'll just be a second."
"Dah-fah-buh?" asked Omid as Sarah carefully marked the door just above his head.
"That's right, you're a big boy now." Clem picked up Omid and took a step back from the door. Clem watched as Sarah wrote the date above the black line she had drawn, then eyed the faded mark a couple of inches below it. "Wow, look at how much bigger you got," said Clem as she pointed to the marks.
"I think he grew a little less than that," said Sarah as she examined Omid. "His hair is getting so… um, tall. Maybe we should give him a haircut?"
"No way, he's so fluffy," insisted Clem as she ran her fingers through Omid's curly black hair, causing him to giggle. "Just because we have to cut our hair short doesn't mean he has to. It's not like he goes out to where it's dangerous."
"December fifth," read Patty as she studied the mark Sarah made. "Christmas is coming up."
"Oh yeah, we'll have to do something for Omid when that happens," said Sarah.
"August thirtieth," Patty read off the older mark. "Is that when you two got this RV?"
"That was the day we left our first home, over three months ago…"
"It feels like so much longer than that," said Sarah.
"I know…" Clem found her mind drifting as she tried to grasp just how far they had traveled.
"You know, I should check to see if you've grown too," said Sarah.
"Um, yeah," said Clem as she snapped back to her senses. "Patty, could you hold OJ for a second?"
"Sure, I don't have any earrings on left for him to grab." Patty carefully took hold of Omid under his armpits while Clem climbed onto the step and backed up against the wall. Sarah collected the bag of markers and used a red one to mark Clem's height. The young girl turned around, excited to see how much she had grown.
"Where… where is it?" asked Clem as she found only one red mark on the door.
"I drew it right there," said Sarah as she looked at the height chart. "Maybe…"
"I haven't grown at all," realized Clem as she noticed the mark was thicker and darker than the date Sarah had written back in Spokeston. "The new mark just went right over the old one."
"Maybe you weren't standing up straight, or—"
"Just give me the marker." Sarah handed Clem the red marker and the young girl wrote a new date right next to the old one, then signed. "Let me do one for you." Clem dropped the red marker into the bag and removed a blue one as Sarah took her position by the door frame. Clem moved up to the next step so she could reach over Sarah's head, then carefully drew a straight line. As Sarah moved away from the door, Clem found herself growing more disappointed.
"You got taller," realized Clem as she studied the blue marks.
"Well… just barely," said Sarah.
"It's a lot more than me," sighed Clem as she wrote the date above the mark she made.
"Patty, we should do one for you too," suggested Sarah.
"I'm pretty sure I'm not getting any taller," said Patty as she adjusted her grip on Omid.
"But it'll give us another mark, which will make the chart more fun," said Sarah. "Please?"
"If you insist," shrugged Patty as she took her place on the bottom step.
"What color do you want?" asked Sarah as she fumbled with the bag of markers.
"Why don't we let the little man pick?" Patty held Omid out as Sarah opened the bag of markers. The boy seemed confused at first, turning his head to look at Patty. "Pick me a good one." Sarah gently shook the plastic bag, causing the markers to clack against each other. Following the noise, Omid became more interested in the bag and started clumsily pawing at its contents.
"Mah-bah-dah-bree," he happily babbled as he pulled a pink marker from the bag.
"Great," said Sarah as she set the bag aside. "Now I'll just—"
"Mah-bah! Mah-bah!" chanted Omid as Sarah tried taking the marker from him.
"I guess that one is his now," said Patty. "Why don't you just give me green?" Clem watched as Sarah pulled a green marker from the bag and made a mark just above the woman's wild red hair as Omid greedily clutched a pink marker to his chest.
"Sarah's probably going to be taller than you," realized Clem as she saw Patty's mark was only a few inches higher than Sarah's latest one.
"Unless that was her last growth spurt," said Patty as she handed Omid to Sarah, who was swinging his marker through the air with one hand.
"I'm only fourteen," said Sarah as she grasped a giggling Omid.
"I'm just as tall now as I was when I was twelve," said Patty as she examined her mark.
"Really?" asked Clem.
"Yeah, I shot up a lot over the summer when I was twelve, came back as one of the biggest kids in school. Then comes next year and almost everyone else has gotten taller except me, then the same thing happens next year, and the next year, and I kept thinking I was due for another growth spurt."
"But it never happened?"
Patty shook her head. "By my senior year, I was one of the shortest kids in my class," said Patty as she moved back into the RV. "Probably poetic justice for picking on the smaller kids when I was twelve."
Sarah set Omid by the couch while Clementine locked the door. Moving towards the stove, Clem noticed the noodles sitting at the bottom of the pot. She grabbed a spoon and gently stirred the pasta to prevent it from sticking to the cookware.
"How's it coming?" asked Patty as she sat down on the couch.
"Okay," said Clem. "There's really nothing to do but stir it every now and then and wait for the water to boil."
"Guess we have some time to kill then," said Patty. "I've got a deck of—"
"Oh, you should look at our photo album," suggested Sarah.
"Photo album?" said Patty.
"We've never showed it to anyone before," realized an excited Sarah. "You'd love it." Before anyone could say another word, Sarah rushed into the bedroom.
"If these are our snapshots from Disney world, I've already seen them," called Patty.
"No, it's more than that," yelled Sarah from the bedroom.
"It's mostly drawings," informed Clem. "We didn't have a camera most of the time."
"Drawings of what?"
"Just people we miss, like Omid's parents." Clem looked around. "OJ?"
"Pah-bah."
Clem spun around to see Omid standing in front of the stove, stretching out the marker in his hands towards the pot's handle. "Omid no!" Clem raced over to the boy and plucked him off the ground.
"Mah-pah-bah," complained Omid as he kept trying to reach for the pot as Clem pulled him away.
"What's wrong?" asked Sarah as she rushed back into the living room.
"Omid was trying to reach the pot," said Clem as she took the marker away from the boy.
"Mah-bah!" cried Omid.
"You weren't watching him?" asked Sarah.
"For maybe a second," said Clem as Omid kept fidgeting in her grasp.
"He could have burned himself," scolded Sarah.
"I know, that's why I grabbed him," retorted Clem.
"You gotta be more careful," scolded Sarah.
"You were the one who ran out of the room before I could even check on him," retorted Clem.
"Clem, he—"
"Whoa, hey, chill out," interjected Patty. "The kid's okay. Let's not fight about it."
"He could have been hurt," said Sarah.
"He wasn't, and I'm willing to bet this is the first time either of you has had to worry about stove safety in a long time. Speaking of which…" Patty carefully gripped the pot and pivoted it until the handle was no longer facing out past the edge of the stove. "Little safety tip I remember from home ec. Now come on, don't spoil the mood, you wanted to show me some album."
Clem and Sarah looked at either, silently reaching an understanding just by exchanging glances before sitting down on the sofa. Clem sat Omid in her lap, Sarah lay the photo album on hers, and Patty sat on the end of the couch.
"So, whatta we got here?"
"Here, I'll start with our actual photos, then work our way back to our drawings." Sarah cracked the album open and flipped through the blank pages before stopping on a spread of instant photographs. "Oh, you've seen these before."
"Actually, I don't think I ever really got a good look at how they turned out," said Patty as she studied the photos of the girls and Omid posing in front of various sights at a now abandoned Disney World.
"Thanks again for doing that," said Clem as she admired a photo of herself, Sarah and Omid standing on a wrecked Main Street. "And thanks for helping us make sure it was safe to bring OJ inside."
"No problem, I always wanted to see where Disney princesses went to smoke," said Patty.
"Really?" asked Sarah.
"Ever since a friend told me about the park's hidden tunnels the people in costumes used to get around unseen," said Patty. "I'm kinda surprised we didn't find anyone living there; it may be the magic kingdom above ground, but the underground is like a bomb shelter."
"They probably ran out of food," said Clementine. "All the restaurants were picked clean."
"It's too bad," said Sarah. "It would have been cool to stay there, at least for a little while."
"Well, Disney World is pretty high profile," said Patty. "I doubt we were going to find much there a year later."
"I don't know, we found all that freeze-dried ice cream at the Kennedy Space Center," said Clem. "That was just a few weeks ago."
"You two went to the Kennedy Space Center?" asked Patty.
"Yeah, we got pictures of that too." Sarah turned the page, revealing a spread of photos from their stop at the space center on one side, and a single picture of a young man with mismatched eyes holding a giggling Omid on the other side. Clem quickly peeled back the plastic covering the page and grabbed the photo.
"Clem, don't—"
"You know what he did to me!" said Clem as she struggled in vain to tear the photo in half. "I don't want to ever see him again."
"That's also a picture of Omid," said Sarah as she placed her hands over Clem's. "Please don't wreck it."
"We've got other pictures of OJ," reasoned Clem.
"Not with him laughing." Before Clem could respond to Sarah, she found Omid tugging at the picture in her hand, curious to what she was holding. "Just… just turn it around, so you don't have to look at it."
Clem sighed, then flipped the photo over and placed it back in the album as just a black square.
"So, you two took the little man to see the space center?" said Patty, eager to change the subject. "How'd he like it there?"
"He really loved the rockets," said Sarah.
"He even touched one of them," added Clem.
"And we found our camera there," said Sarah. "Everything else after this page is just drawings we made of people we used to know." Sarah turned the page to reveal a pair of illustrations; one in marker, the other in pencil.
"So who are all these people?" asked Patty as she studied the drawings.
"It's just two people, me and Clem both made our own picture of them," explained Sarah. "She likes to use markers and I like to use pencils."
"Oh yeah, they kinda look like the same people," said Patty as she examined the crude renderings of a bald man and someone thin wearing a black hoodie. "So who were they?"
"Walter and Matthew," said Sarah.
"They were these really nice men who let us stay at their home and gave us food," explained Clem.
"Walter was really smart," said Sarah. "He was always explaining why we should be good to each other, and standing up for people who needed help."
"And Matthew was cool," said Clem. "He could use a bow and arrow, and was funny too."
"I wish they were still here," said Sarah. "Along with everyone else we drew pictures of."
"What happened to them?" asked Patty.
"Bad people attacked their home," said Clem. "Matthew got away, but we never found out what happened to him after that."
"And those same people said they let Walter go," said Sarah. "But they probably didn't."
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Patty as Sarah turned the page. "What about these? These look like pictures of different people."
"I did this one." Clem pointed to the crayon drawing of a heavy man with a big smile. "His name was Cookie. I didn't know him very long, but he helped me once when I was feeling really bad, and he taught me a lot about cooking."
"And this is Byron," said Sarah as she pointed to a pencil drawing of a thin young man with a vest. "He taught me how to use a gun, and he tried to help us escape this awful place we were trapped at."
"Did he?" asked Clem. "I know he gave you my gun, but he never told you what for."
"Why else would he have given me that?" asked Sarah.
"If he wanted to escape, then why'd he try to stop us?" asked Clem.
"He didn't know about the escape plan, or that you could go past lurkers by smelling like them," argued Sarah. "He said he wanted to be a decent person again."
"He also said he did what he had to," reminded Clem in a somber voice. "He might have killed Walter because he had to, like when he shot Pete."
"Who's Pete?"
Sarah turned the page, revealing a pair of drawings, each of a short older man and a tall younger man.
"Pete was this really cool old guy who knew all this stuff about fishing and living outside," said Clem.
"I wish I had got to spend time with him when we all lived at Shaffer's," said Sarah. "Knowing how to fish would be really helpful now."
"Who's the other guy?" asked Patty.
"That's Nick," said Clem. "He was Pete's nephew. He saved my life and helped us a bunch of times."
"I never met any of these next people," said Sarah as she turned the page. "They were all people Clem knew from before we met."
"This is Mark, and this is Carley," said Clem as she pointed to a couple of figures drawn in marker. "They were good people who helped me and the others I was staying with. And this is Ben." Clem pointed to a tall figure wearing blue. "He was this nice older boy who was staying with us. He gave me the stickers for my radio. Next to him is Chuck; he saved my life too. And this is Molly." Clem pointed to a shorter figure in orange. "I met her in Savannah. She was really, really cool. I keep hoping I'll find her again someday. You've never met anyone named Molly, did you?"
"I knew a couple back in grade school; haven't known any recently though," said Patty. "Who're these other three people? And how come you did them in crayon?"
"I made that one a really long time ago," said Clem. "It was a family I used to know. This is Kenny, this is Katjaa, and this was their son, Duck."
"Duck?" said Patty.
"That's what they called him. He was just a little older than me."
"You hoping to see him again someday too?" Clem didn't immediately answer Patty, only softly shaking her head a few seconds later. "I'm sorry. I guess—"
"He's dead," shrugged Clem. "Almost all of these people are."
Sarah turned the page to reveal another pair of illustrations; one in crayon and one in pencil again.
"These are OJ's parents; Omid." Clem pointed to the crayon drawing of a short man with a big smile, then moved her finger to the taller woman in purple standing next to him. "And this is Christa. They took care of me for a really long time, and now we're taking care of their son."
"You wanna say hi to your mom and dad?" urged Sarah as she moved the album closer towards Omid, who was still sitting in Clem's lap.
"Say hi OJ, say hi to mom and dad." Omid briefly looked down at the drawings, then turned away, more interested in his surroundings. "I should have taken a picture of them," lamented Clem. "Now he's never going to know what they looked like."
"You'll tell him when he gets older," assured Sarah as she placed a hand on Clementine's shoulder. "He'll know."
"It'd be easier if we had a picture though," said Clem.
"We made these drawings, and we remember what Christa looks like," assured Sarah. "It'll be enough so that he knows what she looks like."
"I wish you had met Omid," said Clem as she looked at the pencil drawing of just Christa. "You're a lot better at drawing faces than me."
"How come Sarah never met his dad?" asked Patty.
"Nick shot him before Sarah could meet him," reported a saddened Clem.
"Huh? The guy's nephew from a few pages back?" asked Patty. "I thought you said he helped you two?"
"He did, but he also shot Omid, but it was kind of an accident," explained Clem, finding herself unsettled as she recalled that day.
"How do you shoot someone by accident?" asked Patty. "Was he cleaning a gun and it went off?"
"No, he shot him on purpose," spoke an uneasy Clem as she found herself instinctively gripping Sarah's hand for comfort. "But he didn't know he didn't have to shoot him."
"He didn't know if he had to shoot the kid's dad but he did it anyway?" repeated a skeptical Patty. "You sure this guy was on your side?"
"He thought they were going to shoot so he shot first, he didn't know he didn't have to do it, okay?" insisted an increasingly nervous Clementine. "He felt really horrible about it, and he wished he could take it back, and he did everything he could to make things better but—"
"Ow!" Clem felt Sarah pulling her hand away. "Clem, you're squeezing way too hard."
"I'm… I'm sorry," said Clem. "I didn't mean to."
"Look, why don't we drop what happened to the kid's father?" suggested Patty. "You were there and I wasn't, so you don't have to justify anything to me. You said Nick was a good guy and I believe you."
"Right, sure…" Clem watched as Sarah turned the page again, revealing a pencil drawing of a person on the right side, and a marker one of two people on the left side. The sketch on the left also had a photo set between the two marker figures.
"These were our parents," recalled a nostalgic Sarah as he laid her fingers over the pencil sketch of a man with thick dark hair, a short beard and a mustache. "This was my dad. We had to leave home when things changed because it wasn't safe, and he found this place that was kinda safe that let us stay because he was a doctor, and we lived there for almost a year together."
Sarah looked away from the drawing. "But a bad man was in charge of where we stayed, so we had to leave one day, and that just made the bad man do worse things, and eventually…" Clem put her arm around Sarah as she held back her tears. "He died… just as we were about to get away for good."
"I'm so sorry," spoke an empathetic Patty. "Should I even ask what happened to your mother?"
"She died a long time ago, when I was just a baby," answered Sarah.
"That must have been hard for you, not having a mom," said Patty. "Mine ran out on me and my dad when I was ten."
"She did?" asked Clem.
"Why?" asked Sarah.
"Because my father was an asshole," recalled a bitter Patty. "Still, it can't be nearly as bad as what you two have been through." Patty looked at Clem. "I'm guessing it's not a happy story about what happened to your parents."
"They went on vacation right before the walkers came," said Clem in a sad voice. "I only saw them once a few months later, and they were walkers, just standing in the street."
"Jesus…" said Patty.
"For the longest time I just wanted to see them again, but not like that," said Clem as she looked down at the marker drawings of her mom and dad. Her gaze drifted to what was placed between her parents' images; a severely worn picture of Clementine sitting on a bed, laughing.
"Did your parents take that?" asked Patty.
"Sarah did, a few days after we met," informed Clem as she looked at her friend. "You barely knew me and you were already worrying about me."
"You just looked so sad," recalled Sarah. "If I had any idea why, I never would have bothered you that day."
"I'm glad you did, or I wouldn't have this," said Clem as she looked at the photo. "I wish I had kept the one I had taken of you. Or thought to take any of the pictures of my parents before I left my house. Or used that old camera I had to take a picture of Omid and Christa." Clem sighed. "There were whole months where there was nothing to do, and I never took a single picture of them."
"I wouldn't beat yourself up over it," said Patty. "You two have managed to raise a baby on your own in a world that's gone to shit. I don't think the little man is going to hold grudges because you didn't take more snapshots."
"It's not that. I just wish I had more to remember them by." Clem took off her hat and looked at it. It was the same old worn purple and white baseball cap she always wore, its familiar stains faded by time and the sun. "My dad gave me this hat before he left for Savannah with my mom."
"My dad gave me this jacket last Christmas," said Sarah as she tugged at her coat.
"My radio was something my mom gave me a long time ago. Christa gave me this right before she died," said Clem as she pulled a brown elastic tie out of her hair. "I've got all these things to remember them by but… I still want to seem them again, even if it was just a picture." Omid tugged at the colorful plastic beads wrapped around Clementine's wrist.
"That a gift from someone too?" asked Patty as she eyed Clem's bracelet.
"Sarah made that for me, for my last birthday," said Clem.
"I'm surprised you're still wearing it," admitted Sarah.
"Of course I'm wearing it, you made it for me," said Clem. "It makes me feel like you're close to me, even when you're not."
Clementine eyed the album and realized there was only one page left to the front cover. She reached over and turned it, revealing a single crayon drawing of a man in blue holding a shovel.
"Who's that?" asked Patty.
"Lee," said Clem in a quiet voice as she eyed the drawing.
"Who was he?"
"Someone who took care of me when my parents couldn't be there."
"And what do you have to remember him by?"
"My life." Clem closed the photo album and pushed it back towards Sarah. "I should probably check on the spaghetti. Can you watch OJ?"
"Sure." Sarah set the album aside and collected the boy in her arms while Clem moved to the stove.
"So… how's it coming?" asked Patty.
"Okay, I think," said Clem as she stirred the pot. "The water should start boiling soon, and then we just have to wait for a while."
"If that water is hot, then maybe the water heater is ready now," suggested Patty. "You should give it another try."
"Okay." Clem headed into the bathroom and turned the knob for hot water, then placed her hand in the shower.
"Well?" asked an eager Sarah as she looked over Clem's shoulder.
Clem took a breath. "It's… it's warm," she said in disbelief.
"Really?" Sarah gripped Omid in one arm and placed her other hand in the shower. "We… we got hot water," realized the older girl.
"And a stove now," added an enthusiastic Clem.
"Didn't I tell ya to trust me?" boasted Patty as she approached the pair.
"How can we ever repay you?" asked Sarah.
"Letting me use your shower would be great," suggested Patty. "Can't remember the last time I had a hot shower, unless you count sponging yourself off in a tub while it's nearly a hundred degrees out as a hot shower."
"Um… I wouldn't," said Sarah as she backed out of the bathroom.
"Yeah, me neither," said Patty as she removed her leather jacket. "You mind hanging onto this for me? I don't want my smokes getting wet."
"Sure," said Clem as she took the jacket from the woman and placed it on the couch.
"I really appreciate this," said Patty as she headed into the bathroom.
"And we'll have some warm spaghetti for you when you get out," said Clem with a smile.
"Sounds good," said Patty as she closed the door. "Oh wait." Patty slid the door back open and placed her right foot on the sink. "I probably shouldn't get this wet either." Clem watched as Patty rolled up her pant leg, revealing a snub nose revolver tucked into her sock.
"I thought you said you left your guns on your bike?" asked Clem.
"Oh… yeah," said Patty in surprise as she examined the pistol in her hand. "Sorry, I forgot I had this one on me." Patty took a step forward and offered the weapon to Clementine. "Here, just hang onto it for me until after lunch." Clem studied the pistol for a moment, then took it from the woman's hand. "Thanks." Patty headed into the bathroom and closed the door. The girls stood there in silence for a moment, then they heard the familiar sound of the shower running.
"Is it—"
"Loaded," finished Clem after popping out the pistol's chambers. Turning her head, Clem saw Omid in Sarah's arms, stretching out his hands towards the gun. Clem quickly removed the bullets and then slapped the chambers back into the pistol. The girl moved a stool in front of the cupboards and set the gun and bullets inside along with both girls' own weapons. As Clem climbed off the stool, she noticed Patty's jacket still lying on the couch. The girl thought to herself for a moment, then plunged her hands into one of the pockets.
"Clem, what are you doing," asked Sarah as she approached her friend.
"Making sure she didn't forget anything else." Clem removed a lighter from the jacket, then put it back.
"You shouldn't go through her stuff like that," said Sarah.
"She shouldn't have brought a gun in here when we told her not to." Clem found a pack of cigarettes in the other pocket, which she quickly replaced.
"Clem stop it," insisted Sarah as Clem checked one of the inside pockets.
"Why?" Clem pulled out a pair of keys, then stuffed them back into the coat.
"It's not right," insisted Sarah. "And besides, what are expecting to find?"
"I don't know, that's why I'm looking." Clem pulled out a long thin metal object. It appeared to be just a black handle, but to what Clem wasn't sure.
"What's that?" asked Sarah.
"I don't know," said Clem as she examined the handle. "But there's a button here, so maybe—" A long blade swung out of the handle, turning it into a complete knife. "I guess she forgot this too," concluded Clem as she folded the blade back into the handle.
"It's just a knife," argued Sarah. "We use them too."
"We don't bring them with us when someone tells us not to," argued Clem as she carefully stuck the switchblade back in Patty's jacket. "I wonder what else she's not telling us about."
Clem moved towards the window. Parked across from the Brave was Patty's motorcycle, it's fine black sheen glimmering in the noon sun, as was the small covered trailer hitched behind it. As Clem was studying the vehicle, she could hear the water in the bathroom running. "I'll check out her trailer while she's in the shower." Clem moved back to the couch and reached for Patty's jacket, but Sarah pulled it away.
"Sarah, give me her jacket," demanded Clem. "One of those keys—"
"No Clem," insisted Sarah in a stern voice. "It's bad enough you went through her jacket, you're not going through her motorcycle too."
"I just want to make sure she's not hiding anything," argued Clem. "That's all."
"No," repeated Sarah.
"Why not?"
"It's not right."
"It's not right she brought a gun and a knife in here when we told her to leave that stuff on her motorcycle," argued Clem.
"That doesn't give you the right to do something bad too," argued Sarah. "Especially when she probably brought these in by accident."
"What about the other times she's been in the RV? She didn't tell us about them then either," retorted Clementine. "Was that an accident?"
"Well… she told us about them this time," reasoned Sarah.
"She told us about the gun; not the knife."
"She's also been finding food for us, and been helping us out in a lot of other ways, like getting us propane just now."
"So she could use our shower," said Clem.
"I don't think she spent a whole day helping me tune up the Brave's engine just so she could use our shower a few days later."
"Maybe she was fixing it up because she wants to take it," realized Clem.
"That's crazy," retorted Sarah.
"Why? You heard her talk about how amazing she thinks the Brave is, and she just made it better today. She wouldn't even be the first person to try and take it."
"She's been helping us for a couple of weeks now. She's not just going to take the Brave all of a sudden."
"I knew someone who stayed with me and Lee for months, and she just took the RV we had then and left us all behind," said Clem. "If something really bad happens, Patty might do that too."
"Well, something bad hasn't happened."
"Not yet."
Sarah grimaced at Clementine. "Why are you being like this?"
"Because we still don't know that much about her," warned Clementine.
"And if you look at her trailer, you'll suddenly know everything about her?" asked a skeptical Sarah.
"I'll know more about her than I know now."
"Like what? What could she possibly have in there?"
"People keep secrets…" Clementine became quiet for a moment. "You remember what I told you about the Saint Johns?"
"I really don't think Patty is eating people," retorted an unamused Sarah.
"I'm just saying, we don't know why she's helping us. She might only be helping us because it helps her too."
"So… that doesn't mean she'll hurt us."
"But it does mean if we aren't useful, she might leave us."
"I don't think Patty would do that."
"She told us about how she wanted that girl and her baby to leave."
Sarah glowered at Clem, which frightened the younger girl. "She was nearly crying when she told us that."
"Well… yeah, but—"
"And she didn't have to tell us that all," continued Sarah, sounding angry. "You don't have to trust Patty, but don't treat her like she's a bad person. Things have been a lot better since she started helping us, you said so yourself just earlier."
"I know that, it's…"
"It's what Clem?" asked an impatient Sarah.
"I'm just worried I'll trust her, and… she'll hurt me, like that man on the radio did."
The frustration on Sarah's face suddenly morphed into a look of concern. "I don't think she's going to do that to us," said Sarah as she approached Clem. "But even if you don't trust her, that doesn't mean you can go through her stuff."
"You… you're right…" conceded Clem as she looked down at her feet. "I'm… I'm sorry."
"It's okay," assured Sarah.
"No it's not… I…"
"Muh-meh?" Clem looked up to see Omid was staring at her, his big brown eyes overflowing with concern.
"I think he wants you to take him." Sarah carefully handed Omid to Clem.
"Hey OJ," said Clem as she carefully took hold of him. "You okay? Are you hungry? Do you need a diaper change?"
"Muh-boo," said Omid in a sad voice.
"I… I love you too." Clem clutched Omid tightly, and her heart skipped a beat as she felt his short arms reach around her shoulders in an attempt to hug her.
"I know you're just trying to keep us safe," said Sarah. "But it's not good to worry all the time."
"I don't know, there's a lot of bad things to worry about," mused Clem. "I always think if I stop worrying, that's when one of them will happen."
"Come on, you can't think that something bad is going to happen right now," urged Sarah. "We just got warm water and a stove; we're going to have spaghetti for lunch. It's okay to be happy right now."
Urged on by Sarah's encouraging words, and feeling beckoned to by the pot full of pasta, Clem handed Omid to Sarah, then approached the stove.
"What are you doing?" asked Sarah.
"Mah-pah-bah," said Omid as Clem moved to the pot.
"I'm going to have some spaghetti right now," said Clem with a smile as she grabbed a spoon.
"I thought it was going to take awhile to cook?" asked Sarah.
"Yeah, but you can eat it before that, it's just… chewier." Clem fished out a couple of loose noodles. They appeared firm but not hard, and Clem blew on the spoon before popping the morsels into her mouth.
"How is it?"
The noodles were very warm but not burning hot, simmering slightly in Clem's mouth before she started chewing. The pasta was a bit tougher than Clem had hoped, and the taste was somewhat lacking, but the heat gave the noodles a certain savory quality that Clem rarely found in her food anymore.
"They need to soak a little longer," said Clem. "But, they're not bad."
"If only we had some spaghetti sauce," said Sarah. "But I don't think it stays good as long as spaghetti."
"Maybe I could make some?" proposed Clem. "We've got tomato soup, and tons of spices. Maybe if I mix them up, we can use that as a sauce?"
"That might work," said Sarah.
"And we can heat up all those other soups we got," realized Clem as she stirred the pasta. "And if we find some more cocoa packets, we could even have hot chocolate again too."
"Aren't you glad Patty showed us how to get propane?" teased Sarah.
"Yeah, I…" Clem trailed off as she heard the shower go silent.
"Clem?"
"Huh?"
"You're not still worried about Patty anymore, right?"
"No, I'm not." Clem turned back to the stove. Looking down at the boiling pasta, she found her mind being invaded with possibilities on how to prepare future meals. But listening to the click of the bathroom door as it was unlocked, Clem couldn't stop thinking about Patty, and what a future with her would entail.