"Why do I have to carry both of our canteens and the tin snips?" asked Sarah as she adjusted her backpack's strap.
"Because I'm already carrying the bolt cutter and the bayonet," said Clementine as she walked along the highway with Sarah.
"But why did you pack those?"
"Because I want to be sure we're ready for anything this time."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"This will work."
"It's just, the further we walk, the longer it'll take us to get back to Omid," said Sarah as she adjusted her grip on her rifle. "I really don't like leaving him."
"We moved the RV, fed him, changed him, and put him down for a nap," reminded Clem. "He'll be okay for a little while."
"But, if something goes wrong, he'll—"
"Sarah, we're going to be really careful this time. We're not going to rush, we've both got loaded guns, and if something looks bad we'll go right back to the RV."
"Okay. But this seems like a lot just to get more bullets."
"Not just bullets."
"And your tomahawk."
"Not just that."
"And you want to get a pistol for me and—"
"It's not just what's at this gun store Sarah."
"What then?"
"We're just not finding much food right now," reminded Clem. "We might have to go into other places with lots of walkers to get some."
"So, this is like more practice?"
"Yeah. If this goes okay, then we can try it again with somewhere with lots of food," reasoned Clem. "And then maybe we won't have to move around so much."
"I just wish we could find somewhere like before," said Sarah. "Where there were almost no lurkers and a lot of food people forgot about."
"I do too, but we can't just keep waiting to find another jackpot," said Clem. "For all we know, there isn't anywhere like Spokeston left."
Clementine stopped to buttoned her jacket, then buttoned her raincoat. It was a cold November day, and even with two layers of clothing, she could feel the chill in the air. Looking around, Clementine couldn't help admiring the stunning autumn display bordering the highway; a breathtaking mosaic made from red, orange, yellow and brown leaves of all shades. But her admiration for such natural beauty waned as she realized the foliage was an undeniable sign that winter was fast approaching.
Turning her attention back to the road, Clem grimaced as she looked out at all the remnants of the chaos that had unfolded long before she came here. Decrepit cars, some stalled in the middle of the road, others lying in the ditch, one even upside down, all of which were abandoned long ago. There were empty plastic bottles, half decomposed cardboard boxes, and discarded beer cans littering the edges of the highway. They were likely there before the outbreak, but their various logos and symbols having long ago faded in the sun's light made it clear no one was ever coming to pick them up. The road however was dotted with natural refuse. Leaves, branches, even a couple of pinecones; all signs that no one used this highway anymore, and probably never would again.
Coming up on where the highway intersects with the road into town, Clem found her hand moving to her holster. She also found herself wishing she had her tomahawk as well. Looking at Sarah, she could see the older girl was nervous at well. Reaching the intersection, Clem noticed a sign on the right that read 'Sumac, Georgia: It'll grow on you.' The girl didn't have time to digest the sign's sense of humor as she and Sarah moved deeper into this tiny hamlet, she had to stay vigilant for walkers. Clem didn't see any of the rancid savages in the immediate area, but she knew they were still out there.
Heading into town, just the sounds of their footsteps on the pavement cutting through the silence, Clementine felt a sense of dread growing in the pit of her stomach. She had told herself, and Sarah, that they needed to do this. And they likely did, but the silence forced Clem to keep picturing their previous attempt, to relive that horrible sight of Sarah trapped because of Clem's decision. The image of Omid being abandoned was seared into Clem's mind now and stepping over the long forgotten belongings of the unfortunate souls who tried to flee this nightmare just forced the girl to think her family could still face such a terrible fate.
"We're getting close," whispered Sarah.
Looking ahead, Clementine saw the same drugstore they had passed earlier sitting on the corner. It was a humble little wooden shop with one of those signs where you had to put up the letters one at a time. Moving through an intersection, they passed the bank again, something that offered nothing of use to anyone living in this new world other than kindling and materials to build noise makers. Finally, they crossed in front of the senior center and reached the intersection they turned off of to reach the gun store.
"Clem, look." Looking off to the right where Sarah was pointing, Clem could see a few walkers off in the distance, wandering about aimlessly.
"Okay, this is close enough." Clementine removed her pistol from its holster while Sarah lay down on the ground. The younger girl very carefully studied their surroundings while the older got into position. No immediate signs of walkers and the closest building was the senior center, whose nearest door was a good fifty feet away. There was one car parked on the edge of the intersection, but a quick investigation revealed there was no one inside, dead or otherwise.
"All right, you remember the plan?" asked Clem.
"I'll shoot a few times, that'll get the lurkers in the area moving this way," answered Sarah as she looked through the rifle's scope.
"Right, someone I used to know would do this using church bells," said Clem. "The gunshots will pull most of the walkers away, then we can just walk up to the gun store and take what we need. And since we've got the raincoats, we don't even have to go to far to avoid them. We can probably just go up to the next intersection and follow that road."
"Wait, wouldn't it be better to backtrack a little?" asked Sarah. "The park this road runs next to also runs by the road before it. It'd be easier to see if anything is coming if we move along it instead of on a road surrounded by trees."
Clem looked over and saw the park Sarah mentioned. It was just an open grassy area with a gazebo, some benches, and a couple of small trees. On the other side of the park was the road Sarah mentioned, running in the same direction as the one they were standing on.
"Well?" asked Sarah.
"Yeah, I think you're right," said Clem. "Okay. So you shoot until I tell you to stop, we both walk back to that other road, and then head to the gun shop, slowly."
"Got it." Sarah moved her glasses up to her forehead, then looked through the scope while Clem surveyed the area one last time.
"Okay Sarah, go." A shot followed Clem's command and a walker in the distance stumbled backwards in an awkward fashion.
"I'm still getting the hang of this," said Sarah as she adjusted the scope.
"It's okay," assured Clementine as she slowly spun in place, looking for incoming walkers. "Just keep—" Clem turned around in time to watch Sarah headshot a walker about a hundred feet away.
"Good one," complimented Clem. "See if you can—" Clem spun around as she heard a commotion in the distance. The girl watched as the double doors of the senior center creaked open and a pack of elderly walkers came stumbling out, one of which who could only crawl along the ground on her hands and knees.
"Uh-oh." The rifle sounded again. "Sarah, that's enough." The older girl immediately jumped to her feet.
"So now we…" Sarah's eyes widened as she set her glasses on her face. The outpouring of so many gray-haired walkers shuffling towards them was frightening, yet seeing their frail and maimed bodies dragging along the pavement even slower than most walkers was a pathetic sight. "Oh God…"
"I know, it's terrible," said Clem, almost mourning for the swarm of what used to be people's grandparents. "Let's just go." Clem tugged on Sarah's arm and the pair moved across the park. As they moved, Clem looked over her shoulder one last time at the pitiful sight, then forced herself to keep walking.
The two crept slowly down the road in the direction of the gun shop. As they moved, they saw more walkers heading down the adjacent road towards where they heard rifle shots. What started as just a few was soon revealed to be at least a couple dozen, a sight that made Clem question her plan again. So did the occasional stray walker moving along the road they were on. Every time one wandered in close, the girls stopped and held their guns out until they were sure they would remain undetected; then they kept moving.
Despite knowing their raincoats do conceal them from walkers as long as they're kept smeared with a thin layer of gore, Clem just couldn't shake that nagging sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. That soulless moaning and distant out of sync shuffling was a constant reminder that a single mistake could lead to a sudden and painful death, which would leave Omid to suffer a quiet and agonizing one. Clem wanted to reach out to Sarah for comfort, but the older girl's hands were wrapped around a rifle, and Clem's around her pistol.
After several minutes of tense walking, the gun store came into view. Clem found herself walking a little faster, as did Sarah as their objective came into view. Reaching the backside of the shop, the girl's carefully circled around to the front, finding a familiar scene of carnage made slightly messier by their last visit. Sarah stopped and gestured to a trio of nearby corpses.
"Aren't those the same ones you killed earlier?" asked Clem.
"I think, but let's be sure. Hold my gun." Clem took the rifle while Sarah drew her machete. She approached the first corpse and slashed downward into to back of its head; no reaction. She repeated the same action on the other two bodies without incident.
"Okay, time to get what we came for," said Clem as she headed towards the entrance. "This time we'll do it right. I'll hold open the door and you use the noise maker to draw out any walkers to kill." Clementine clicked the weapon's safety on and set it on the ground. "If we have to shoot any, because something goes wrong, we leave before they come back. Then once we're far enough away, we use the rifle to draw them somewhere else again."
"I understand." Sarah removed the sports bottle on her belt and pulled the cotton out of it. With the bottle in one hand and her machete in the other, Sarah nodded at Clem. Clementine grabbed hold of the door with both hands and, very slowly and carefully, pulled it open. She heard a familiar rattling sound, followed by an even more familiar shuffling. Clem watched as Sarah backed away from the door, rattling the change in her bottle before tossing it aside.
The door blocked Clem's view of what happened next as Sarah stepped out of sight. The girl listened anxiously as she heard the shuffling move away from the door and her heart skipped a beat as a she heard the familiar groan of a walker pouncing on its prey, then silence. Footsteps followed, then another rattling sound, which caused Clem to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Everything go okay?" whispered Clem as Sarah emerged from behind the door. "I thought I heard the walker attack you."
"What? No, it tried to attack the noise maker I threw." Sarah clipped the sports bottle back to her belt. "No more lurkers came out when I used it this time. But it's still kind of dark."
"I wish this door would stay open," griped Clem.
"Maybe we can prop it open?"
"With what? I don't want to stick something important in it I don't want to lose." Sarah thought to herself for a moment, then sat down on the ground. "What are you doing?"
"I know what we can use." Sarah untied her shoe and slipped it off. Clem watched as the older girl wedged it under the door. "Okay, let go." Clem released the door; it moved slightly, only for the shoe to stop it. "Let's get the other one too." Clem nodded in agreement and headed over to the other door. She held it open and Sarah sacrificed her other shoe to stop it from closing.
"Okay." Clem retrieved the rifle, Sarah readied her machete. "Nice and slow."
"Got it." They pair crept inside, Sarah stopping to stab every downed walker in the head as they did. The propped open doors let in plenty of light, and after setting the lantern on the counter the pair could see more easily. After a check of the back rooms, the girls checked behind the counter. Clementine grimaced as she noticed the heavy walker that had trapped Sarah earlier, then looked at the boxes of bullets spread out in front of them.
"Okay, get as many boxes of rifle bullets as you can carry," said Clem as she removed her backpack. "You remember what kind, right?"
"Yeah," said Sarah as she removed her backpack. "Three-zero-eight."
"I'm going to look around for other stuff we need." Clem collected her backpack and started searching the shop. The first thing she picked up was a Glock that looked similar to her own and a holster for Sarah. One rack had some portable binoculars on it, which Clem took two of. Next a cleaning kit, some solvent, and lubricant for maintaining guns. Then she grabbed a shoulder strap made for rifles.
Moving away from guns, Clem spotted a corner devoted to knives. She eyed some sharpening stones on a shelf and packed a handful of them into her bag. Next, Clem removed her bayonet from her backpack. It was too big for her old knife's sheath but would likely fit in one of the many leather ones laid out in front of her. After holding the bayonet up to measure the holders, Clem slipped the long blade into one of the bigger sheaths. Clem found it was a close fit and took the leather case along with her bayonet.
"I've got ten boxes of rifle bullets," said Sarah. "Do you think that's enough?"
"How full is your bag?" asked Clem as she set the shoulder strap she took next to Sarah's rifle.
"Um, like less than half full," estimated Sarah. "They're pretty heavy though."
"Get a few more and that should be enough." Clementine found the loops to connect the strap to the rifle. Attaching it, Clem tested the strap, finding it awkward to carry the rifle on her back due to the size but reasoned would probably be less of a problem for Sarah because she was taller.
"All right, I think we got enough bullets for now," said Sarah.
"Hang on." Clementine removed the rifle's magazine. "We can carry a few more if we load the guns before we go." Clem handed the magazine to Sarah, then removed the second pistol's magazine. They loaded the guns and Clem slipped the extra Glock into its holster.
"Here, put this on your belt." Clem offered the gun to Sarah.
"You really think I need a pistol too?"
"Yeah, I do. The rifle's too big to carry everywhere you go, this you can always have on you." Sarah hesitated, but then took the gun. "Hopefully… hopefully you won't ever have to use it."
"Hopefully." Clem swallowed hard when she heard Sarah repeat that word. Looking around at the stacks of bullets, displays full of guns, and mess of bodies strewn about the floor, Clem felt a sudden desire to leave, but something was compelling her to stay. Searching the floor, Clem spotted what was keeping her there; it was a familiar purple handle sticking out from under a fallen walker.
Approaching it, she could see the back of the walker's head had been destroyed by a gunshot, likely Clem's own from earlier. The sight of a gaping hole in a human head with blood pouring onto the floor made Clem all the more eager to leave. She grabbed hold of the handle and tried pulling it, but it wouldn't budge. Clem pushed on the walker and managed to roll it onto its back. Looking up, she briefly noticed the small entrance wound just above the eye, then turned away. Clem retrieved her tomahawk and hurried back to the counter.
"And I thought it was heavy before," complained Sarah as she put her backpack on. "I wish we could just park the Brave outside, but it makes too much noise."
"Maybe if we had a shopping cart or something," said Clem as she put her own backpack on. "Of course, that'd probably make a lot of make noise too."
"Let's just get back to the Brave," insisted Sarah as she collected the rifle. "It's not like we'll need bullets every day."
"Yeah, that should be everything we need from here," said Clem as she threw her tomahawk over her shoulder.
"Hang on, we should take this too," said Sarah.
"What?" Clem turned around to see the older girl holding what looked like a big bright yellow pair of earmuffs. Closer examination revealed they were made of a hard plastic and the part that touches the ears were a black foam material. "What's that for?"
"It protects your ears from loud noises," said Sarah.
"What do we need them for?"
"We don't, but it'd be good for Omid if we have to practice shooting again," explained Sarah.
"Oh, okay." Clem turned around. "Just put them in my backpack." Sarah stuffed the protective ear wear into Clem's bag. Returning to the front, the pair didn't see any walkers in the immediate area, so Sarah retrieved her shoes and they began moving back the way they came.
The pair moved slowly, not out of precaution but necessity. Their bags were already heavy from the numerous tools they had packed before leaving, and were much heavier now, making a quick pace difficult. Adjusting her backpack's strap, Clem found herself wishing she hadn't of packed the bolt cutter, especially since they didn't need it on this trip after all. The gun, radio, and noise maker all clipped to her belt just added to the weight, as did her recently recovered tomahawk.
Between the strain of everything she was carrying and the stuffiness of the respirator covering her face, Clementine felt herself sweating as she tried to maintain a modest pace, despite the cold air nipping at the uncovered parts of her face. Before long the girl's feet started to hurt from having to haul so much on foot in this manner and her lungs ached for a break.
"Wait." Sarah held out her hand to halt Clementine.
"What is it?"
"There's something moving up ahead," said Sarah as she removed her rifle. "Probably lurkers." Sarah looked through the scope while Clementine stared off at the intersections in the distance. She could see figures moving about at the crossroads they had been shooting from earlier; no surprise as that was the plan. But the intersection just ahead of them, the one the road they were on leads to, appeared occupied too. "There's… there's a bunch of them."
"How many is a bunch?" whispered Clem.
"At least a dozen, probably two dozen," said Sarah. "And that's just the ones I can see. I guess after they didn't find anything they just started wandering off."
"Yeah. Still, we got the raincoats," reasoned Clem. "We just have to be extra careful not to make any noise."
"If we did though, it'd be bad," said Sarah. "They're pretty close together and we wouldn't be able to run that fast with all this stuff we're carrying."
"Well, maybe we could take a different way back," reasoned Clem as she surveyed their surroundings. Looking past the buildings on her left, Clem noticed a narrow path leading behind them. "Maybe this way." Clem took a step forward to examine the alternate route. It was just a short gravel path through an open grassy area that connected to another road.
"We'll just skip this intersection by going this way, then walk back to the road that leads us to the highway," explained Clem.
"We don't know what's down there though," said Sarah.
"But we do know there's a bunch of walkers back the way we came," said Clem. "This way may be dangerous, but the other way definitely is."
"That's true," conceded Sarah. "All right, well this isn't far from the main road, so if we're careful, we should be okay." Clementine nodded and then pulled her gun as a precaution. The two moved down the gravel path slowly, afraid more danger awaited them ahead.
Looking up at the sky, it was clearly sometime past noon at this point, and Clementine found her stomach was starting to growl. She hadn't eaten since breakfast, and the extra work from having to carry so much back was becoming extremely tiring. Reaching the end of the path and emerging on the road, the girls could see there were no walkers ahead in either direction. But despite the lucky break, Clem's aching feet seemed to get worse just by looking at the open road.
"It looks safe," said Sarah as she lowered the rifle. "I mean, as safe as things could be. We should—"
"Sarah," spoke Clem between breaths. "Do you think we can rest for a minute?"
"Rest?"
"I'm… I'm really tired, and hungry," confessed Clem.
"Yeah, me too," admitted Sarah. "Do you just want to sit down for a minute?"
"Not out in the open," said Clem. "We should find somewhere indoors."
"Like where?"
Clementine slowly spun around, then stopped when she found herself facing the other end of the road. "There." Clem pointed to a long blue building with a black roof. "That's a pretty big gas station, which means it probably sold groceries too. Maybe there's still some left."
Sarah looked through the rifle scope. "There's some bodies lying around the gas pumps. I don't see much else."
"Let's check it out," suggested Clem.
"Do we really have time for that?" asked Sarah.
"We're already out here, and it's still a long walk back," reminded Clem. "If we're going to take a break, we might as well check out somewhere that might have food too. If people left the bullets behind, they probably left food too."
"That would be really nice, since most of the places we checked lately didn't have much left," said Sarah. "All right, let's just be quick. I don't want to leave Omid alone for any longer than necessary."
"And I don't want to stay out here any longer than necessary."