It was warmer today than it was yesterday, which Clem normally would be grateful for, but good weather couldn't make up for what she was seeing. After an evening of pursuing the boat she had spotted to no success, a restless night wondering if she even wanted to find it, and an entire morning heading south through miles of ghost towns, Clementine was now in view of what was undeniably a sign of living people.
Using the telescope, she could see this rural interstate running alongside the river led right up to a crude barrier constructed out of cars lined up on an intersection. It stretched across both lanes of the highway, past the shoulders, and even to the shore where the land met the river. Focusing on the median, Clem could see beyond the barrier there was a truck that was taller than the others with a chair resting on top of it, and seated in that chair was a person.
She couldn't make out their face at this distance, but their skin wasn't sickly or pale, so they probably weren't dead or a walker. Trying to focus the telescope, Clem watched as the person in the chair turned their head in her direction. Terrified she had been spotted, Clem grabbed the telescope and bolted for the side of the road, hurrying towards where the Brave was tucked aside behind a few trees. She didn't even have to knock on the door, it sprung open as soon as she approached it and the girl darted inside.
"Are you okay?" asked a nervous Sarah as she hastily relocked the door.
"I saw someone," announced a frightened Clem as she set the telescope down.
"Who?"
"I don't know, just someone. They're at that big wall of cars in a chair, like they're guarding it."
"That boat you saw must have gone this way," concluded a trembling Sarah. "There's no way they'd have a wall and someone guarding it unless there's something to guard on the other side."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Also…" Clem bit her lip.
"Also what?"
"I… I think whoever was out there may have seen me."
Sarah's eyes went wide with terror. "Oh God. We… we should just go, right now," she stuttered as she hurried into the driver's seat. "Before they come over here—before they find us."
"Wait," said Clem as she rushed to the Sarah's side. "We came this way because we were hoping to find someone who could help us fix the Brave's tire."
"Someone, not a whole town of people," retorted a shaking Sarah. "They… they have a wall and… and… they're going to be like Shaffer's; they'll put us in a cage and beat us and starve us. And Omid… oh God, what will they do to him?" Sarah let go of the steering wheel and started crying into her hands.
"No one is going to hurt you or Omid," asserted Clem in a confident voice.
"You don't know that," sobbed Sarah.
"Yes I do, because you and him aren't going near this place until I know it's safe for us," said Clem. "I'll go down there alone and—"
"No!" Sarah suddenly threw her arms around Clem and pulled her close. "I don't want anything to happen to you either."
"I… I know you don't," spoke Clem as she returned Sarah's hug. "But you remember what you said? When we met that woman? We need help."
"No—no we don't," denied Sarah as she tightened her grip on Clem. "I was wrong."
"No you weren't. If we can't even change a tire we definitely can't fix the Brave if something worse happens, and we need more food—"
"We'll figure it out on our own, just like you said," cried Sarah as she held onto Clem.
"I wish we could. But Sarah, everything we've been doing… it's just not enough. We still aren't finding much food, and I messed up the Brave trying to get us more. If we don't get some help now, we're just going to need it even more later."
"Then we'll get it later," insisted Sarah as she clung to Clementine.
"I thought you wanted to find someone to help us?"
"I did, but now that we're here…" Sarah started sobbing. "Now that we're here, I can't stop thinking about how awful Shaffer's was, or when those people tried to take our RV, and how whoever's out there might do worse."
"I'm thinking about those things too," admitted Clem.
"Then why do you want to go? You always said you didn't want to find people," reminded Sarah.
"I don't, but I want you and Omid to be safe a lot more," explained Clem. "And thinking about the last couple of days, I can't do that on my own."
"You're not on your own, I'm here too," reminded Sarah. "I'll figure out how to change the tire somehow, and we'll get more food. We'll just go somewhere out of the way and we'll think of something. Okay?"
"Even if we did we'd just get stuck when something worse happens. When something bigger breaks, or if OJ got sick, or all three of us…" Clem found herself tightening her grip on Sarah as she said those words. "We're going to need help someday. The longer we wait, the more likely something really bad will happen, and it'll be too late for anyone to help us."
Clementine reluctantly pulled herself free from Sarah, who resisted at first, only to relent and release Clem. "I'll go meet whoever's out there," said Clem with as much conviction as she could muster.
"What… what will you say?" asked Sarah.
"Just… that we need help changing a tire, and that's all we want."
"Maybe… maybe I should go?" suggested a timid Sarah.
"No."
"Why not? I'm older. I should do this, not you."
"You know how to drive the Brave," reminded Clem.
"So do you now."
"But you're better at it, and you're better at taking care of OJ than me," admitted Clem. "If… if I don't come back, then OJ would be better off with you than me."
"That's not true," insisted Sarah.
"And if these people don't care about hurting a ten-year-old… then they probably wouldn't care about hurting a baby either." Clem took a breath and looked at Sarah, unable to ignore the fear and confusion brimming over in her sad wet eyes. "Just because they have a wall doesn't mean they're bad. The people Lee and I stayed with for a long time made a wall around this motel we were living in, and they weren't bad. These might even be good people who will help us, and then you'll be glad we found them."
"I just hope these people aren't like the ones at Shaffer's," said Sarah.
"Yeah, me too." Clem looked at Sarah for a moment, then leaned in and hugged her again. "I love you."
"I love you too," answered Sarah as she cradled Clem in her arms.
"I… I should tell OJ before I leave too," realized Clem.
"I think he's still asleep." Clem let go of Sarah and moved into the bedroom. Like Sarah had said, the boy was still tucked in and sleeping soundly in his crib.
"I love you OJ," whispered Clem as she leaned over his crib. "I love you." Clem gently kissed the back of Omid's head. Looking at the tiny sleeping boy, she wondered if whoever was waiting for her at that barricade shared her concern for a baby's life. Her past experiences told her that was a trait not commonly shared by most people, at least not anymore.
"If you see anything wrong you just call me on the radio," said Sarah. "I'll bring the Brave to you and then we'll get as far away from here as we can."
"Okay." Clem exited the bedroom and headed for the door.
"What about your raincoat?" asked Sarah. "Should I get it for you?"
"There's been no walkers at all in the last few towns we've passed through," reminded Clem. "I don't think it's the dead we have to worry about right now." With those parting words, Clementine unlocked the door and stepped outside.
Returning to the highway, Clementine looked out at the distant roadblock made out of abandoned cars and took a deep breath. Her legs didn't want to move, but she forced them to start walking anyway. Without the telescope, she couldn't see the lookout from before, but she knew they must still be out there, watching the road.
Each step forward was nerve-wracking, and the sound of Clem's footsteps cutting through the eerie silence filled the girl with dread. But it was the waiting that she found the most maddening. They had parked far down the road so as not to reveal the Brave, which meant she had a long walk ahead of her before she'd even be close enough for whoever was down there to see her well.
With every passing second, the barricade grew a little bit closer and Clementine grew a little more anxious. She kept eyeing the occasional gas station or abounded house she walked past, anticipating some kind of attack from them. Even the shadows from the palm trees lining the road were making her nervous, playing tricks with her eyes that made her feel like she was being followed. The girl even stopped long enough to listen for other footsteps, only to start again when she didn't hear any.
What if this was a place like Shaffer's or Crawford; somewhere that didn't care about children at all? What if it was somewhere even worse, filled with people that just killed or used kids like she had heard of? What would she do? What could she do? Would she even be able to warn Sarah in time? Would she even know in time to warn her?
The doubts hanging over Clementine grew heavier as the barricade grew larger in her eyes. The bitter memories of being held prisoner for a week at the hands of people who treated her like slave were flooding into her mind now. Try as she might, she couldn't force them out, and they began to dominate her every thought, whispering doom into Clem's ears.
She had been fortunate to escape such a terrible place once before, but that had been with the help of a lot of other people she didn't have anymore. And the pain of living there had been almost unbearable even after only a few days. Clem couldn't even begin to comprehend how awful it'd be to live like that for a month, or a year, or even an entire lifetime of being held captive.
Then Clem's thoughts turned back to Sarah and Omid. She had told herself she was finding people for their sakes, feeling she alone couldn't take care of them. But with these horrid possibilities looming over her as she stepped closer to an uncertain future, the idea of Sarah alone having to provide for Omid while fending off the terrors of this world with no one else to help or care for her filled Clem with panic.
Her heart was beating against the side of her chest now; her hands trembling and her legs wobbling. The barricade was only a couple of blocks away now and she'd probably close the gap in just a few minutes. Looking out at it, the crude fence made from mangled automobiles struck terror into Clem and suddenly her legs wouldn't obey her anymore. She simply stood there, paralyzed until the notion of fleeing back to Brave slipped into her mind.
"That's far enough." Clem became stiff as a board as she heard a gruff voice distorted by a megaphone call out to her. "On your left, there's a red car parked on the side of the road." Clementine just barely managed to summon the nerve to tilt her head and spotted a red compact. "I want you to go to the backseat and take what you find on the floor."
Clem's body seemed to move on its own, practically compelled to obey the mystery voice out of fear of what would happen if she defied it. Pulling open one of the back doors, she spotted a megaphone lying on the floor and assumed it was what she was supposed to take. "Pick up the bullhorn and move back to the center of the road, slowly."
Again, Clem found herself acting automatically as she grabbed the device and marched back to the center of the highway. "Now, I want you to start by telling us who you are." Clementine raised the megaphone in front of her face, held the button on the handle and started talking, but no words came out of the device. "You need to turn it on first."
Clementine looked at the back of the device and located a button labeled 'power'. She pressed the button and a red light came on. Holding the megaphone up, she heard a slight static crackle when she pressed the button this time. "I… I'm…" Clem struggled to speak as her mouth suddenly felt parched and the megaphone trembled in her hands. "I'm Clementine…" she blurted out.
"What are you doing here Clementine?" asked the voice.
"I… we're… we need help changing a tire on our RV," blurted out Clem.
"Who's we?"
"Me and my best friend," answered Clem.
"Is there anyone else we need to know about?"
"Why do you want to know?" asked a concerned Clem.
"I want to know because I want to know. And if you're going to be coming around here copping an attitude maybe you don't need to be coming around here at all," the voice shot back, making no attempt to mask his contempt for Clem questioning his question.
"Me and my friend are taking care of a baby," answered a frightened Clem. "All we want is some help changing a tire, that's it. We won't cause any trouble."
"I'll be the judge of that," dictated the voice. "How did you find this place?"
"We saw a boat on the river yesterday afternoon that was heading this way, so we followed it," explained Clem. "I don't even know what this place is." Clem awaited a response, and was surprised when she didn't get one right away this time.
Lowering the megaphone so she could see the barricade more easily. Clem thought she saw two people now, lined up between a couple of the cars near the center. But she couldn't be certain at this distance, so she reached for her binoculars with her other hand.
"You stop what you're doing right now!" commanded the person at the barricade.
"I was just getting my binoculars," explained Clem as she raised the megaphone with her other hand.
"You'll do no such thing—in fact, I want to see both hands wrapped around that bullhorn right now." Again, Clem felt herself acting without thinking, her hand just deciding on its own to forget the binoculars and grab the megaphone instead. "Now listen carefully. I'm gonna send someone over there. Now, if you want to come in here, you're gonna take him to this RV you mentioned so he can make sure everything you've told me just now is the truth. Do you understand?"
"Yes," answered Clem.
"Yes what?" retorted the voice.
"Um… yes sir?"
"That's right, yes sir," spoke the voice. "You best be watching your attitude as well if you plan on being around here."
"Okay… I will, sir," said Clem, doing her best to mask her annoyance at this man's condescending tone.
"Now if my man finds that any, I mean any little thing you just told me isn't true, then you're going back the way you came and that's the end of this. You understand me?"
"Yes sir," answered Clem.
"You haven't been lying to me have you?" asked the man. "Because my man here will find out real soon if you have, so it'd be better for you to tell me now than him to tell me a few minutes from now."
"I haven't lied," said Clem.
"And if, for any reason, my man doesn't come back after meeting with you, then I'm gonna tell everyone to keep a look out for a trouble-making girl in a purple and white baseball hat who has a gun on her hip and is named Clementine. You hear me?"
"I… I hear you, sir," answered a frightened Clem.
"All right then. Now you stay put while my man comes out to meet you," ordered the voice. "And I expect you to treat him with every bit the same respect as you should be treating me. And if you don't, he'll let me know. You understand?"
"Yes sir," answered Clem.
"All right then. You just stay right where you are."
Clementine watched anxiously as one of the distant figures started moving towards her. Anticipating their arrival, Clementine felt her legs shaking and her chest tighten. She could barely breathe as they loomed closer, but as they came into focus, Clem found herself surprised by what she saw.
The 'man' sent to meet her appeared to be a young man not that much taller than she was. He had short and messy brown hair, was fairly skinny, and wearing a dark blue jacket that appeared too big for him. Inching closer, Clem was surprised to see he didn't appear to have a gun, not in hand or in a holster. As the young man grew closer, Clem noticed the name 'Tanner' stitched onto his jacket.
"Hi, I'm… I'm Deacon," he introduced, sounding nervous as he did so.
"Deacon?" said Clem. "Why does your jacket say Tanner then?"
"Tanner's the name of the guy you heard over the megaphone just now," said Deacon. "Here, I'll just put that back." The young man gestured to the megaphone in Clem's hands. The girl handed it over to Deacon, who switched it off and returned it to the car Clem had taken it from. "Okay, so you said you had an RV right?"
"Yes sir," answered Clem.
"You don't have to call me sir, that's more Tanner's thing than me," said Deacon with a nervous laugh. "It just makes me feel old to hear that, and not in a good way."
Clementine forced herself to not smirk upon hearing that comment. She also compelled herself not to drop her guard in front of this new person, but she couldn't deny his demeanor and tone were helping her feel less nervous. Looking into Deacon's eyes, Clem noticed they were actually different colors. His right one was brown and the left one was blue.
"So, where's this RV?" asked Deacon.
"It's down the road a little bit," said Clem. "I didn't want to get it too close in case… in case someone wanted to take it."
"Well, I wouldn't worry about that. We've got so many cars we use them for fencing material," joked Deacon as he gestured to the barricade. "So, lead the way."
Clem turned and started walking, and she could hear Deacon following beside her. The pair moved down the road without a word between them. Even if this Deacon person wasn't as intimidating as she was expecting, she still didn't feel comfortable around him and made sure to keep a safe distance as they walked down the road. Occasionally glancing at the young man, Deacon himself didn't seem to have much interest in Clem beyond following her, but Clem kept her hand near her gun, just in case. After a tense but uneventful walk, Clementine led Deacon to the side of the road and towards the Brave.
"Clem?" called Sarah from the radio. "Is that you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Sarah," assured Clem as she grabbed her radio. "Everything is okay."
"Who's that with you?" asked Sarah.
"His name is Deacon, and the people at that wall sent him to make sure I was telling the truth."
"About what?"
"About us needing help with a tire, and it just being you and me taking care of OJ."
Clem turned to speak to Deacon, but the young man was already examining the Brave, looking disturbed as he studied the dried gore staining the sides of the vehicle. He took a special interest in the flat tire for a moment before moving to the door.
"See, I wasn't lying," said Clem as Deacon eyed the door.
"I still need to see the inside."
Clem scowled in response to that request. "Why?" she challenged.
"I gotta make sure you were telling the truth about just being with a friend and that there's not a bunch of people in there waiting to attack us, like a Trojan horse or something." Clem just kept staring at Deacon in response. "Look, Tanner is going to ask me what I saw inside and if I say you wouldn't even let me in he's probably not going to let you into town."
Deacon's answer sounded like a simple fact and not any kind of threat to Clem, so she reached for her radio. "You better not hurt Sarah or OJ, okay?" dictated Clem.
"You're the one with a gun," noted Deacon. "I'm hoping you don't hurt me."
Clem wasn't entirely satisfied with that answer but pressed the talk button on her radio. "Sarah, the person I'm with wants to come inside for a second."
"Why?" she asked.
"He just wants to look around. And then he'll leave."
"Um… okay."
Clem clipped her radio back to her belt and waited patiently. A familiar click sounded and Clem looked at Deacon. "Go 'head," said Clem, thinking it'd be better if Deacon went ahead of her so she could watch him.
Deacon slowly opened the door and walked up the steps. Clem followed after him, taking a moment to lock the door behind them as she came in. Deacon looked at Sarah, who was nervously gripping a rifle in her hands.
"I'm Deacon," he introduced.
Sarah looked at Clem for a moment, then turned back to Deacon. "I'm Sarah," she said in a quiet voice.
"I'm guessing you're the friend she mentioned," said Deacon. "I… I thought you'd be older."
"I'm fourteen," said Sarah. "Clem's ten."
"And you two are on your own?" asked Deacon in disbelief.
"Yes. And we like it that way," insisted Clem.
"Okay, I'm not judging. I'll… I'll be quick," said Deacon as he moved away from the front of the RV. Clem watched closely as Deacon briefly checked the closets and the bathroom. As he headed into the bedroom, Clem found her hand moving towards her gun without even thinking about it.
"Oh wow," said Deacon. "You… you really are taking care of a baby."
"Just like I said," reminded an annoyed Clem.
"Where did he come from?" asked Deacon.
"His parents used to take care of me, then they died," recalled a saddened Clem.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Deacon carefully closed the bedroom door, then moved back towards the front.
"So does that mean you'll help us?" asked Clem. "All we want is to change a tire. We already have the tire and tools, we just need help getting the stupid nuts off."
"I don't know anything about cars, but there's a couple of people in town that do," said Deacon.
"You know a mechanic?" asked Sarah. "Because there are some other things we could use some help with."
"Well it's up to Tanner if you can come in or not," said Deacon.
"Who's Tanner?" asked Sarah.
"Is he the one in charge?" asked Clem.
"Well, he sort of keeps the peace, so you could say he's in charge of letting people in," explained Deacon.
"Well, is he going to let us in?" asked Clem. "I told him the truth about everything."
"It's his decision. But if you drive me back to the roadblock, I'll talk to him about it."
Sarah looked at Clem, who looked at Deacon. "What happens if Tanner doesn't let us in town?"
"Then I guess you'll have to go," shrugged Deacon.
"He's not going to hurt us is he?" asked Sarah.
"Or kill us?" asked Clem.
"What! No, why would you think that?" Deacon's question was answered only with concerned looks from both girls. "Look, I don't know where you two have been in the past, but as long as you don't bother anyone or do anything wrong you'll be fine," assured Deacon.
"Well, if he does let us in, will someone help us with our tire?" asked Clem.
"Like I said, I know someone in town who could probably fix it."
Clem turned to Sarah. "Do you think we should go?" she asked the older girl.
"Well, if we can get our tire fixed, it'd probably be worth it," said Sarah.
"Okay, let's go." Sarah set her rifle aside and sat down in the driver's seat.
"Um, does she know how to drive?" asked Deacon as he sat down on the couch.
"Yeah, she just taught me how to drive yesterday," said Clem.
"You know how to drive this thing?"
"Mostly," said Clem as Sarah started the engine.
"How old did you say you two were? Fourteen and ten?" Clem nodded at Deacon. "Damn, I'm fifteen and I don't know how to drive yet."
Sarah drove the Brave down the road and stopped it about thirty feet short of the roadblock. Looking through the windshield, Clementine could see a middle-aged man approaching the Brave. He had a short beard, thinning hair, a thick pair of mirror sunglasses, and dark blue jacket that looked just like Deacon's, except it fit better.
This man was also holding a long black shotgun. Clem could only assume that this was Tanner, and Deacon leaving the RV shortly after it stopped to confer with this person seemed to confirm it. The young man guided the older one around the RV, presumably showing him the flat tire before leading him back to the front door.
"Open up," ordered a gruff voice. Clem moved down to the door and unlocked it, which immediately swung open. Getting her first close look at Tanner, Clem didn't care for what she saw. The man seemed to have a permanent grimace chiseled on his leathery face and the way he kept that shotgun clutched in his hands didn't ease Clem's mind. "You—both of you, sit on the couch. Deacon, keep an eye on them."
Clem obeyed Tanner's order, taking her seat next to a nervous Sarah, but she wasn't happy about it. Unlike Deacon, Tanner pulled open drawers and cupboards, occasionally pawing through their contents before just leaving them open and moving onto something else to investigate. Despite how invasive Tanner was, he also managed to be incredibly sloppy. Only halfheartedly shuffling about the contents of some drawers and not even bothering to check the fridge.
"You got an awful lot of ammunition stockpiled here, especially for just a couple of kids," noted Tanner as he eyed the cupboard where the girls stored their bullets. "You mind explaining that?"
"Explaining what?" Tanner spun around and marched right up to Sarah.
"You giving me attitude too?" growled an irritable Tanner.
"What? No," spoke a confused Sarah.
"Christ, didn't your parents teach either of you some damn manners?" groused Tanner. "No what?"
"Um… no sir?" stuttered a frightened Sarah.
"Do you think this is a joke?" asked Tanner.
"No sir," answered a timid Sarah.
"Then why is it when I ask a simple question, you can't give me a simple answer?" snapped Tanner. "Explain why you have so much ammo here."
"Well, it's for our guns, sir," explained Sarah.
"And what are a couple of kids your age doing with guns even?"
"For walkers," answered Clem, finding Tanner's questioning bizarre.
"Was I talking to you?" barked Tanner.
"Uh, no sir," said Clem, frightened by Tanner raising his voice.
"That's right, I was asking her." Tanner gestured to Sarah as Omid started crying in the distance.
"Omid." Sarah tried to stand up but Tanner's massive paw found itself on Sarah's shoulder, forcing the girl back into her seat. "Please, he's crying. I—"
"You can deal with your baby when I'm done asking you questions." Clementine felt her blood boiling, wanting nothing more than to be rid of this ignorant and callous man. "What are the guns for?"
"For lurkers, sir," answered Sarah as quickly as she could.
"You need that many bullets just for dead?" quizzed Tanner.
"We wanted to make sure we had enough for a long time, sir."
"And where did you get them?"
"A gun shop sir."
"A gun shop where exactly?"
"Um, in Sumac, Georgia, sir," recalled Sarah.
"Sumac? Where the hell is that?" scoffed Tanner.
"It's about half a day away from the Georgia-Florida border, sir."
"I never heard of no Sumac, Georgia."
"It was a really small town, sir."
"Sure it is," Tanner mumbled to himself. Clem turned her head to the bedroom, finding it unbearable to listen to Omid cry. Looking up at Tanner, Clem saw he was looking at the bedroom too, but he only appeared irritated by the sound of Omid's cries.
"Tanner, sir, I really think they just want to get their RV fixed, that's all," spoke Deacon, doing a poor job hiding how nervous he felt. "I—"
"Deacon, stay out of this." Tanner looked right at the girls. "When you two go into town, you're gonna obey our rules, you understand?"
"Yes sir," Clem and Sarah said together.
"Oh you do—you understand the rules without me telling you them first?" Clementine held her tongue, resisting the temptation to retort to Tanner's needless posturing. "You don't bother anyone in town. Someone comes to me and says a couple of girls are bothering him and next thing that happens is you're leaving town. You understand?"
"Yes sir," said the girls, Clem just barely containing her contempt for this person while she listened to Omid cry for help.
"You sure as hell don't steal anything. You steal anything and you're gonna be in a world of pain and then you're leaving town. Understand?"
"Yes sir."
"And if you use one of those guns to kill someone from my town, then you won't be leaving town, because I'll kill you myself." Clementine felt sick upon hearing that and was suddenly terrified her life was in danger. "You understand?"
"Yes sir," spoke Clem in a mere whisper.
"We practice a zero-tolerance policy around town and that means we don't do second chances. You break any of the rules, especially that last one, and that's it. You understand?"
"Yes sir," repeated the girls in a quiet voice while Tanner seemed to eye them both from behind his mirror sunglasses.
"All right then." Tanner turned to Deacon. "Ride with them into town, see to it that they understand everything, then check if that mouthy grease monkey wants to bother with their car troubles. And keep a close eye on them every step of the way."
"Yes sir," spoke Deacon in a quiet voice.
"All right, I'll go open the gate." Clem watched as Tanner took one last look around, then headed out of the RV. Clem and Sarah remained on the couch until they could see Tanner moving back towards the barricade, then sprung off the sofa in opposite directions. Clementine immediately rushed to the door and locked it while Sarah hurried into the bedroom to comfort Omid.
"What… what kind of place is this?" barked Clem as she marched up towards an uneasy Deacon.
"Tanner's kind of… harsh, but—"
"Our baby was crying and he wouldn't even let us help him!" yelled Clem as Sarah carried a sobbing Omid into the room.
"I'm sorry!" blurted out a nervous Deacon. "Tanner can be an asshole, but he's letting you in now, so the worst part is over."
Clem turned away from Deacon and looked at Omid. "It's okay OJ, that bad man is gone now." Clementine carefully collected Omid in her arms and started gently rocking him. "It's okay, it's okay. Everything's okay." As Omid began to settle, Clem noticed Deacon was looking at her.
"How… how long have you've been taking care of him?" asked a sheepish Deacon.
"Since he was born." Clem moved towards the front as Sarah sat down in the driver's seat. They watched as a semi-truck was driven forward, revealing an opening in the wall of cars.
"So, do I just drive in?" asked Sarah.
"Hang on, let Tanner move the spikes first," instructed Deacon.
"Spikes?"
"Deployable police spikes, for popping people's tires." Deacon pointed to a row of small metal spikes lying on the pavement. "You said you had a flat tire, you don't need any more." Clementine watched as Tanner stepped out of the truck that had just moved and headed for the spikes. He pushed on the edge of the strip of spikes and they started to contract, folding up like an accordion. Shoving the folded spikes aside, Tanner motioned towards the RV.
"All right, go on in." Clem turned away from Deacon and looked at an apprehensive Sarah. The pair exchanged concerned glances, and then Clem looked down at Omid. He had stopped crying and was breathing softly in Clem's arms now.
"We can just get our tire fixed and leave, right?" Clem asked Deacon.
"If that's what you want, sure."
Clem turned back to Sarah. "Let's get this over with." Sarah nodded at Clem and turned the key. "I'll go put him back in his crib." Clem returned to the bedroom and set Omid down as gently as she could. "We won't be here long," whispered Clem as she tucked Omid in. "Just be brave for a little while and we'll get out of here." Clem carefully placed a pillow under Omid's head and looked at the sleeping infant with great concern. "I love you."
Clem left Omid to rest and returned to the front, finding Deacon hovering over Sarah while giving her directions. "Just stay straight and keep it slow for now." After the roadblock and Tanner's dramatic demands, Clem was surprised things looked exactly the same inside the barricade as they did outside; another rural stretch of the interstate occasionally broken up by long stretches of abandoned buildings.
"Where are we going?" asked Clem.
"There'll be an auto shop on your right," said Deacon. "Just keep an eye out for it." Looking through the windshield, Clem saw huge grassy fields to the right of the road. They were so overgrown that the weeds were probably taller than her. On her left were dozens of palm trees obscuring her view of the river just beyond the road. It almost felt like they were moving further away from civilization. Looking ahead, Clem saw another roadblock made out of cars in the distance, completely covering the length of the road and well beyond that.
"All right, here it is. Take a right here." The Brave turned and Clem found herself looking at a small white building obscured by trees and surrounded by a chainlink fence. Deacon directed Sarah to its driveway and Clem found herself searching for any sign that this place was going to help her.
"How can we can know whoever this is won't hurt us?" asked Clem.
"It'd be dumb of them to try it when I'm around," said Deacon.
"You're going to protect us?" asked a skeptical Clem.
"Well, if anyone bothers you, I'd tell Tanner, and he'd take care of them. And everyone around here knows someone wearing one of these jackets will do the same." Deacon tugged on the blue coat he was wearing. "I know Tanner's scary, but he's just trying to make sure we don't have bad people coming in here making any trouble."
"Tanner thought we were bad people?" asked Clem as she gestured to Sarah and herself.
"I'm sure he thought he didn't know what kind of people you were," said Deacon. "I mean, a ten-year-old and her friend who both are wearing guns and have tons of bullets?"
"It's so we can protect ourselves," retorted Clem.
"Well we didn't know that. There're all kinds of messed up people out there and Tanner says you can never be sure what they look like," reasoned Deacon. "But you don't hurt anyone, you don't steal anything, and you don't bother anyone, and you'll be fine. Trust me, I've lived here for a long time now, and Tanner is just trying to keep things civil."
Clem crossed her arms. "Like when he would't let us take care of Omid when he started crying?"
An awkward silence followed that question and seemed to hang in the air for a while before Deacon finally answered Clem. "Like I said, he's an asshole," said the young man. "But him being an asshole means the person who lives here isn't going to mess with you any more than you'd try to mess with them. Nobody wants Tanner hassling them."
"Okay, I guess," said Clem, not entirely convinced that she shouldn't be worried about this place. "So, is this person going to help us fix our tire?"
"That's what we're going to find out," said Deacon. "Oh, but before you go outside, you'll need to leave your gun and knife in here."
"What? Why?" asked Clem.
"It's another rule. No one is supposed to have weapons on them while they're inside the walls; you need to leave them at home or in your car. If me or someone else sees you with one out in the open, Tanner will make you leave."
"What if I run into a walker?" asked Clem.
"Walker? Is that what you call those things that eat people?" Clem nodded. "There's none of those here."
"None?" asked a dubious Clem.
"Not recently," answered Deacon. "It's just farmland to the west, the Indian River is on the east, and people have pretty much killed all the things in all the nearest towns north and south of here."
"How?" asked Clem.
"Whatta you mean how? People shoot them, or hit them," shrugged Deacon. "Not that I would know."
"It's just, everywhere we've been, it seems like walkers are still around."
"Well I haven't been anywhere but here since things changed, but Tanner and some of his friends were always quick to stop those things. I guess most people weren't ready for it, to see someone they know turn into… whatever they are, and then try to kill you. You see someone you really care about moving towards you, and even if they don't look right anymore, your first instinct isn't to just shoot them, it's to help them, and then…"
Clem noticed Deacon appeared hurt now and realized he was probably speaking from experience, and likely a painful one. "But yeah, the last time I saw one of those things was over a month ago, and it was floating down the river. Maybe it's because we're in the middle of nowhere, maybe it's because we got lucky, but Valkaria doesn't have any of those horrible things here anymore."
"Valkaria? Is that what this place is called?"
"Yeah. Someone told me this town was Grant-Valkaria before those things showed up. I guess the people living here thought calling it just Valkaria sounded cooler or something," said Deacon. "But people in Valkaria don't want anyone they don't know walking around with guns or knives. You can keep them, just leave them in here when you go out."
Clem looked over at Sarah, who clearly shared Clem's concern. But gazing out at the auto shop, glinting in the noon sun, Clem removed her pistol from its holster and her bayonet from its sheath, then set them on the kitchen counter. "I'll try to be quick," Clem told Sarah.
"If anything goes wrong, hurry back," said Sarah.
"I will." Clem turned to Deacon. "Come on, let's get this over with."
Deacon turned to the door, but hesitated to unlock it. "Um, could you two do me a big favor?" asked the young man.
"What?" asked Clem.
"Please don't tell anyone I called Tanner an asshole a minute ago," pleaded Deacon. "He'd be really mad at me if he knew I said that."