There was no music now; Clementine had turned it off, not wanting it to distract her as she watched the road. They had crossed through the same intersection they had seen when they had left the Kennedy Space Center, meaning they were probably within a few miles of the town overflowing with the dead. They were already driving through its outskirts, which showed signs of being looted. The roads were free of stray cars, the doors of nearby houses left open and some of their windows broken. But Clem reasoned it wouldn't be long until they journeyed into uncharted territory.
"I'm still not sure about this," said Sarah. "The last time—"
"I was careless," said Clem with a hint of remorse. "Not this time. Remember, you drop me off before we get anywhere near walkers, and I'll leave the red box near something easy to see, like a stop sign. I'll walk into town, carry things back in my backpack, and keep doing that until the box is full, then you'll pick it up and we'll go back to Valkaria."
"I get all that, but you're going alone. I—"
"You need to stay here with Omid, we can't just leave him again, and we can't drive the Brave too close to where there's a bunch of walkers. You know that."
"Yeah… I do," said Sarah. "But… maybe I could go and you could stay with the Brave? Or we could take turns?"
"I don't want to do that."
"Why not? I'm stronger, so I can carry more, and—"
"I've been here before and I know where to look, so it'll be faster if I go."
"Okay, where are you going?" challenged Sarah.
"I'll stay on this road and go north once we stop." Clem gestured to the highway they were driving on. "It follows the river, so it has to go near the bridge to Cape Canaveral we took the first time we were here."
"You're not actually going back there are you?" asked a shocked Sarah.
"No, I'm just going to follow it until I get closer, then go west a few blocks and go north again. That'll lead me pretty close to that grocery store where I got all that good stuff from before."
"Still, there were a lot of walkers around there too."
"I went there before. As long as I'm careful and quiet, I can fill up my backpack and just walk back," explained Clem. "Next, I'm finally going to check out that gun shop, and if it's not empty, bring back a lot of bullets and a maybe a few guns if I can. After that, I'm going to check a few houses."
"Wouldn't there be more food at the grocery store?" asked Sarah.
"I'm gonna check the houses for medicine. There's usually some of those orange pill bottles in most people's bathrooms."
"How will you know which ones to take?"
"I… won't. But I figure it's better to bring back some instead of none," reasoned Clem. "I might also get some books or jewelry or something."
"Books and jewelry?"
"I want Chilton to know we can get anything," said Clementine. "Food, bullets, medicine, and even stuff that people might not need but want really bad. That way she knows we're a better scavenger than Rhonda, or anyone."
"I just don't think you should risk your life for things people don't need."
"I'm not. I'm only going to get stuff like that if I see it along the way, and if somewhere looks too dangerous, I'm just going to leave it behind."
"I hope so," said Sarah. "I… I just really think I should come with you."
"I'll be okay Sarah," assured Clem. "The raincoats were just freshened up, my knife and tomahawk are sharp, we double checked—"
"I know, I know, it's just, I'll be sitting here, waiting to find out if you're okay for like… hours," lamented Sarah. "I can't even call you because if you're near a lurker it might hear me and then attack you."
Clementine looked at the anxiety in Sarah's eyes and felt a sudden swell of guilt. She hated thinking about when Sarah was in danger, and couldn't imagine waiting for hours just to find out if Sarah was okay or not. Lowering her head, Clem's eyes slipped to Sarah's wrist.
"Sarah, let me borrow your watch."
"Huh? Why?"
"So I'll know when to call you."
"Call me?"
"I'll call you at least every thirty minutes while I'm out there, you can keep track with the Brave's clock." Clem pointed at the digital clock near the CD player. "And if I don't call in thirty minutes, well…"
"Then I'll come to you with the Brave," concluded Sarah.
"No, you—"
"I won't just leave you," spoke Sarah as she looked directly at Clem.
"You need to think about OJ, and—"
"And Omid needs you," insisted the older girl.
"Last time—"
"This time I won't drive through any roadblocks and I'm not going to stop for long anywhere in town," assured Sarah. "But I won't just leave you behind either. There were a bunch of times you could have done that to me, and you never did, so I can't either; I won't."
"Sarah…" Clem tried to think or argument, but only found herself overwhelmed by Sarah's words. "Th… thank you." Clem turned back to the road and noticed there was a couple of cars ahead of them. "Okay, stop." The Brave slowed to a halt before the stalled vehicles parked on the road. "This is where I need to get off."
"I can drive around those, it's—"
"It means we'll probably start running into walkers again soon, and I should get out before that happens." Clementine got out of her seat.
"Wait, what if I go west a few blocks? I mean, you don't have to go down this road, do you?"
"I guess not," realized Clem.
"All right." Sarah grabbed the wheel and turned it to the left while Clem headed in the bedroom.
"Hey OJ," said Clem as she knelt down to check the boy as he tugged on the edge of his crib. "You want to get out, don't you?"
"Ah-bah-duh-bree," he mumbled as he pulled on the bars of his crib.
"I'm going out now, but I'm going to be back as soon as I can," assured Clem. "And then, we're going to spend a lot of time together, just like we used to every day when we lived in Spokeston."
Clem grabbed hold of Omid and hoisted him into the air. "I love you OJ." Clem leaned forward and kissed the boy on his cheek. "Can you save love you? Love. You."
"Muh-boo," mumbled Omid.
"I love you too." Clementine set Omid back in his crib and headed back into the living room to double check her equipment one final time. She made sure her gun, bayonet, binoculars, and radio were all snugly attached to her belt. She strapped her respirator around her mouth, adjusted her hat, and placed a compass in her pocket. The girl put her gloves on next and then slipped into her raincoat. Then finally came her backpack and her tomahawk draped over her shoulders.
"Clem, check it out."
Clementine moved to the front, finding the Brave was facing a smaller road bordering a small forest. Looking closely, Clementine could see a path through the trees.
"Train tracks," she said as she looked at the railroad ahead of her.
"They're going north," said Sarah.
"I'll go ahead and make sure there's nothing blocking the way," said Clem. "You find somewhere safe to hide the Brave. If this works out, I can put the box I'll drop things in somewhere near the railroad tracks, and then you can just follow them to pick it up when the time comes."
"Here, don't forget this." Sarah unclasped her watch. "Hold out your hand." Sarah rolled up Clem's sleeve and discovered the bracelet made of colorful plastic beads with a small heart hanging from it.
"You're still wearing this," said Sarah.
"I always wear it when I go out," said Clem.
"Why?"
"Because when I wear it, it feels like you're with me," said Clem. "And then it's not so scary out there."
"I should be out there with you," said Sarah as she examined the bracelet. "But you're right, one of us needs to stay with Omid." Sarah clasped her watch to Clem's other wrist.
"It's probably a long walk to where I need to be, so this is going to take a while since I don't want to get the Brave too close."
"If you ever need me to bring the Brave to you, just tell me."
"I will." Sarah released Clem's wrist and the two just stared into each other's eyes. "I… I love you Sarah," professed Clem.
"I love you too Clem." Clem moved in close, only to remember she was wearing her raincoat.
"We'll hug when you get back," assured Sarah.
"Definitely." Clem smiled at Sarah, then headed out the door. It was still fairly early in the morning, and Clem knew she was in for a long day. She retrieved the red plastic bin from the Brave's storage compartment and started walking along the railroad tracks. Clem heard the Brave's engine in the distance as she moved through the trees, only for it to go silent a few minutes later.
It was eerily quiet now, which made Clem feel unsettled. The tall trees that surrounded the tracks blocked out her view of most of the surrounding area, making the girl feel trapped. There were nothing on the tracks as far as Clem could see, and there was enough space for the Brave to drive by them; but drive to where Clem didn't know.
After several minutes of walking, the trees started to thin slightly and revealed a few houses and a small church in the distance, but nothing particularly telling. Clem couldn't hear anything other than the wind either. She wasn't even sure how far she would have to go to get back into the part of Titusville they were in before, but she kept pushing forward.
Eventually, Clementine heard walkers. Not many, and not consistently, just an occasional shuffling around that was too slow and aimless to be a person or an animal. She couldn't see any through the trees, and the few she did hear didn't sound too close, but she knew they were out there. As the trees surrounding the tracks thinned further, she could see some of the surrounding neighborhoods now. There were more cars parked on the road and the houses appeared undisturbed, but she still couldn't see any walkers.
Clem picked up the pace as she discovered a railroad crossing ahead. The track deposited her onto a four-lane road running east and west, just like the one they had used to move through Titusville on their first trip. But looking around for any familiar landmarks, Clem found none. Setting the box down, the girl reached for her binoculars and looked east, expecting to find the massive hotels full of walkers she had the misfortune of finding the last time she came this way, but they weren't there.
She could see the river and a few loose cars clogging the road, but nothing to suggest she was in the area she had visited before, only a single stray walker in the distance lurching about at an intersection. Examining her surroundings, Clem spotted a few other walkers on the west road, but nowhere near as many as she was expecting to find.
Putting away her binoculars, Clem looked to the bin she set down and realized this was as far as the Brave should probably go. Right beside the train tracks moving across the road were small plastic dividers adhered to the road to mark the space between lanes as off-limits. Clementine placed the red bin amongst the dividers, reasoning it would be easy for Sarah to spot.
"Sarah," called Clem. "Are—"
"Are you okay?" asked a panicked Sarah. "I was just about to come after you."
"Come after me?"
"It's been over thirty minutes."
"Oh, I forgot to check the watch."
"How could you forget?"
"I never wear a watch." Clem stopped to check the watch now and made a note of the time, and to remind herself to check it more frequently. "Sorry, but I'm okay. Is everything okay with you?"
"A couple of walkers came by and started pounding on the Brave," said Sarah. "But I took care of them. I haven't seen any more since then."
"That's good," said Clem, breathing a sigh of relief. "The tracks led to an intersection a little closer to where we were before, and I placed the box near some plastic thingies by the railroad crossing. There's plenty of room for you to turn around here too."
"Maybe I should just come there right now?" suggested Sarah.
"No, I saw a few walkers around here. Not many, but if you bring the Brave now, it might bring out a bunch more I can't see," said Clem. "I'm going to leave the box now and just bring the stuff back here. When it's full, we'll use the Brave to pick it up and leave before many walkers come."
"Okay, good luck," said Sarah. "And don't forget to call."
"I won't… anymore." Clem clipped the radio back to her belt and turned back to the railroad tracks. She took a deep breath, then kept walking north. There were fewer trees surrounding the tracks beyond the intersection, which let Clem see more of the roads and buildings surrounding the area.
After a few minutes of walking she could start seeing walkers somewhat regularly, usually just a lone one loitering about in front of a house, but they were there. After a few more minutes of following the tracks, she was seeing occasional pairs of walkers near some of the surrounding buildings. Not long after that, the noise of distant moans or awkward shuffling became more consistent. Before long, Clementine could hear a nonstop uneven chorus of groaning walkers, and it made her feel sick.
Reaching another intersection, Clementine was almost afraid to look to see where the road emptied out, already spotting walkers with her bare eyes. But another check with the binoculars confirmed this still wasn't the road she needed to find. Clem found herself beginning to doubt her plan, the terror of her last trip to this forsaken place bubbling back to the top of mind.
The cacophony of undead moaning grew lower still with each step, and before long Clem found another intersection the train tracks crossed over. But the girl didn't need her binoculars this time, she could see those three towering hotels in the distance, which meant this was the same road the Brave drove through on their first expedition into this town.
Even if it wasn't, the dozens of walkers milling about in the distance made it clear there hasn't been anyone else here in a long time. Just looking at the blurry haze of those horrible creatures herding around each other filled Clementine with dread, and the girl felt racked with guilt as she recalled she had brought the only people she had in the world right to this wide open death trap. And then, there was a shot.
Clementine hurried out of the road and took cover behind the trees. As she stood there, she heard a second shot, this time more clearly. It sounded like a rifle, and it was very distant. Edging back to the road, Clem looked out with her binoculars. She saw some of the walkers near the hotels were moving east now, towards the shore.
"Sarah," whispered Clem into her radio. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. What about you?"
"I just heard a few gunshots."
"Gunshots? You should come back."
"I think it's okay, they were really far away, and they were in the opposite direction I was going."
"But it could be someone bad out there."
"Maybe, or it's just someone else getting stuff for Chilton," said Clem. "I found the road I was looking for though, the tracks led right to it, so I'm gonna find that store and head back. Okay?"
"If anything happens just call. I can follow the tracks right to you." Clem set the radio down and checked her watch. It was past ten now, and she had a lot of work ahead of her. Moving back east was nerve-wracking, seeing so many walkers, near and far, moving about freely as Clem very slowly marched onward. No matter how many times she did this, it never got any less terrifying. And another pair of gunshots in the distance didn't help ease her mind, even if it did drag a few walkers away from where she was going.
After several tense minutes of walking, Clem spotted the grocery store she had previously visited. Before it was a mess of mangled corpses strewn across the entire street in front of the building, almost like someone had used the road as a canvas in an ill-advised attempt to create a grotesque piece of abstract art. And lying amongst those broken limbs and battered rotten bodies, some of which were still moving, was a loose collection of abandoned groceries.
Looking up, Clementine forced herself to concentrate on the store instead. She took great care to avoid the pile of crippled walkers and approached the building with caution. Grabbing the handles of the front door, Clem cracked it first, paranoid it might beep again despite her removing the battery for the chime, then pulled it open and used a doorstop to keep her escape route open.
The store appeared undisturbed from Clementine's last visit, and she worked quickly but quietly to stuff her backpack. She made sure to grab no more than one item of anything, thinking a wide variety was paramount to impressing Chilton. After packing a large selection of different foods, Clem also stopped to collect some batteries, a couple of lighters, some toothpaste, and a few other small things to boost the diversity of her salvage.
After giving Sarah a brief courtesy call, and quickly eating a little jerky to keep her strength up, Clem slung the now hefty backpack over her shoulders and headed for the door. The girl paused to retrieve her doorstop and then started walking again, well aware that if the walkers were alerted to her presence, she probably wouldn't be able to run fast enough to get away with how much she was carrying.
The walk back to the railroad tracks was even more stomach churning than the trip over, and the added burden of having to haul so much on her back didn't help. Reaching the tracks, Clem breathed a small sigh of relief as she moved further away from the walkers, only to breathe heavier as she carried an entire bag of supplies for nearly a mile, the morning sun bearing down on her every step of the way. There was also another pair of gunshots, but were so distant now Clem could barely hear them.
Reaching the railroad crossing where she had left the bin, Clem was happy to get off her feet for a few minutes, and took her time as she carefully arranged her bounty into the small red plastic box. After unpacking her loot, Clem removed a canteen she had packed earlier and the open jerky she had taken from the store, eager for a break.
"Sarah?" called Clem before drinking some water.
"Yeah?"
"I made it back from the store, and I got a lot food," said Clem as she chewed on a piece of jerky.
"That's great," said Sarah in relief. "Maybe that's enough for today? Why don't you come back and we can take the food back to Valkaria?"
"No," said Clem. "Rhonda has tons of food, but she doesn't have any bullets but the ones we gave her. If we really want to prove we're better at getting things than her, I need to get something from that gun shop next."
"Well, if that's what you want."
Clem looked in the nearly half full plastic bin. "It's what we need to do." Clementine reluctantly picked herself up, pulled her respirator over her mouth, and put her backpack on. "I'll call you again soon." Clementine started marching again. This time, she stopped at the intersection before reaching the main road, then headed west, thinking she could avoid most of the walkers and then head north. There were still walkers on this street too, but they were spread out further, which let Clem set a faster pace.
Returning to the main road, Clem was relieved to be moving further away from the biggest concentration of walkers, even if the ones limping around near the edges of the road still made her nervous. The gun store came into view before long and Clementine began her approach. It was small shop sandwiched between several others as part of a pitiful looking strip mall and was marked with a sign that read '24/7 Guns & Ammo'.
Approaching the gun store, Clem was disgusted by the mass of corpses laying across the strip mall's entire parking lot. They completely canvassed the area in front of the gun shop, forming a putrid black mound of misshapen flesh in front of the windows. Moving closer, Clem could see scraps of clothing and bones protruding from the caked chunks of what she could only assume used to be bodies. The walkers' corpses had been so eroded by the elements that they were little more than shriveled husks of toxic meat that had oozed together over time.
Remembering what Leonard said about bacteria, Clem wondered if walkers never decomposed entirely. It would explain why they stop rotting at some point, and everywhere she went, she found their bodies, even in places that were abandoned long ago. Like the bits of litter she would see on the roads, it dawned on Clem that no one was ever coming to clear out these bodies; they might as well be a permanent fixture of this place now.
Approaching the windows, Clementine removed her tomahawk from her shoulder and swung it into the nearest corpse's head, wanting to be sure none of these walkers were still, for lack of a better word, alive. The axe cleaved clean through the skull and cut into the body underneath it. Pulling her tomahawk free spilled chunks of the withered remains across the ground like pieces of blackened gravel. Rapping the tomahawk against the burglar bars a few times produced no response either, nor did Clem hear any other wayward walkers approaching.
Peering through the window, Clem saw no walkers or even bodies inside. She tried the door, but it was locked. Taking a step back, she could see someone had smashed the glass on the windows, but the burglar bars remaining prevented any kind of entry. Clem moved into a narrow alley between the gun store and the next building and checked the back, but only found another locked door.
Returning to the front, Clem pondered how she could get inside. If she had the bolt cutter it might be able to cut the bars, but it was a long way back to the Brave, and the bars looked thicker than the locks she normally cut with that tool. Her next thought was maybe she could just slip between the bars. Removing her backpack, Clem tried to wedge between them, but her head was too big.
Next Clem tried ducking under the bars, noticing there was a wide gap created by how far the bars stuck out from the wall they were bolted to, but the bars at the bottom were curved inward to prevent access. Looking closely, Clem saw these bars weren't attached to the building, so she grabbed hold of one and pulled, thinking if she could just bend it out a little, she could make enough room for her to slip in between the bars and the wall, but it wouldn't budge.
"Dammit…" Clem mumbled to herself before wiping her brow. She looked around to make sure there weren't any walkers nearby, then turned back to the window. Looking inside, Clem could practically envision the stacks of ammo waiting inside for her, but she couldn't reach them, and she couldn't bend the bars. Clem thought if only the Brave was here, they could probably chain it to the bars and rip them out of the wall, but it wasn't here, and Clem dare not bring it back to this place.
Clementine looked up at the other stores' signs, hoping one was a hardware store with something she could use; car designs, home medical equipment, a tanning salon, plumbing supplies, but sadly, no hardware store. Looking at her watch, Clem realized it had been almost half an hour and reached for her radio.
"Sarah?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm at the gun store, but I can't get in," said Clem as she slid down the building until she was sitting on the ground. "It's locked, and the windows have bars on them."
"I'm sorry," said Sarah. "What do you want to do? Maybe you could get more food instead, make it up that way?"
"Yeah, I guess I can do that," sighed Clem. "I just think the bullets really would have helped, but I just don't know how to get to them."
"I guess this is why Deacon had to write down how many bullets we had," said Sarah. "Otherwise we could just put our own in there."
"Chilton's smart. Rhonda probably could have given her a bunch of her own stuff and win if she didn't think of that rule." Clem sighed. "Hopefully she won't find any bullets either."
"She probably won't," said Sarah. "You said she didn't have any until you gave her some, remember?"
"Yeah, I just wish I could get in there. I'm so close, but I can't get to them. It's kind of like when we tried to change that tire, and we could do everything but get the stupid lug nuts off."
"It's too bad we don't have someone else to help us," said Sarah. "Like Patty helped us with the tire."
"More like ripped us off," grumbled Clem. "And all she did was use a big pipe to…" Clem turned and looked at the burglar bars.
"To what?" asked Sarah.
"I'll call you back later." Clem put the radio away and jumped back to her feet. Her eyes immediately went to the sign advertising plumbing supplies. Quickly but carefully, the girl entered the plumbing store and navigated her way to the back. There she found several neatly organized shelves lined with varying lengths and types of piping. Clem studied her options, then settled on the longest and sturdiest looking piece of pipe she could find.
Heading back outside, Clem threaded one end of the pipe in-between a couple of the burglar bars on the bottom of the window while holding the other end. The length of the pipe allowed Clem to reach the bars while standing in the alley. Aligning the center of her lever with the corner of the building, Clementine pushed on one end of the pipe which caused the other end to push against the bottom of the burglar bar.
The small girl gritted her teeth and bared down with all her weight as she tried to bend the bar. Her arms were shaking and her legs throbbing as she thought she felt the pipe moving ever so slightly forward, but the girl forced herself to push even harder, bringing her body to its limits before she suddenly fell onto the ground.
Clem hastily stood up and hurried back to the front of the store. The bottom bar closest to the edge of the building was now bent outward slightly, leaving a small gap between the wall and where the bars were. Clem quickly set the pipe on the next bar and forced herself to endure just long enough to bend it too.
With two bottom bars bent, the short gap at the bottom was about as wide as Clem's slim shoulders. It wasn't much, but the girl had hoped it would be enough. She tried pressing herself flat up against the wall, but the filters on the respirator stuck out past the side of her face. Pulling the respirator off to reduce the size of her head, Clem nearly gagged on the rancid stench of the corpse pile. She hastily covered her nose and slipped her arm under the burglar bars, placing her respirator on the windowsill.
Clem ducked down under the bars, turned her head to the side, and pressed herself as flat against the building as she could. She carefully inched upward until she felt herself bump up against the bar. The air around the gun store had a thick rancid taste, forcing Clementine to hold her breath. The edge of the bar was just barely pressing against the side of the girl's head, so she forced herself to move upwards, feeling the concrete wall scraping against her cheek as she did so.
Clem's head popped past the bar and she grabbed her respirator, hastily slipping it back on. Clem breathed out, actually glad to taste the hot dry air inside her mask. She moved her arms towards the broken window, gripping a shard of glass still in the pane that was sticking up. Clementine took great care in moving the shard, worried it was sharp enough to cut through her gloves if she wasn't cautious. After moving the glass aside, Clem slowly squeezed the rest of her body past the bar and climbed over the windowsill.
Jumping onto the ground, Clem surveyed the shop. It appeared a great deal less stocked than the one she had checked in Sumac, with only a few sparsely stocked shelves pushed up against the wall and some display racks in the center of the store that had what looked like handbags hanging from them. Clem briefly wondered if she was in the right building; the rifle mounted high up on the back wall suggested it may be a gun store, but it being painted pink just confused her.
Approaching one of the display cases at the end of the store, Clem saw plenty of handguns on display, but no bullets. Moving around behind the counter, her feet knocked up against something. Looking down she saw shell casings, and lots of them. Following the trail of empty casings, Clem was shocked to see the floor was almost completely covered by spent bullets and tucked away in the corner was a skeleton bundled in black robes.
Looking closer, Clementine saw a white collar around the neck, and the skull had a hole on each side of it. Beside it on the floor was a handgun lying beside a pile of scattered small bones that probably used to be this person's hand, confirming what Clementine suspected. Judging from their remains, Clem reasoned at least this person was successful in avoiding coming back as a walker after they died.
Moving back to the front, Clem suddenly noticed the dozens if not hundreds of bullet holes in the wall surrounding the windows. Whoever this person was, they didn't appear to be a good shot, perhaps some poor soul who had trapped themselves in here. Clem went to the door and unlocked it, but had trouble pushing it open. It took a couple of good hard slams to crack the door open enough to slip out because more walker remains were piled up against it.
Retrieving her backpack, Clementine went inside and started collecting boxes of ammo. This store seemed to only have a few scant boxes of each type tucked away behind the counter, but that seemed like it would be enough for Clem. After packing away eight different boxes of bullets, Clem eyed the many handguns on display and grabbed a pair of small pistols with pink trim, thinking they'd make an amusing gift to Chilton. She chose not to load them though, thinking it was safer not to.
There was more room in her backpack, but Clem didn't relish the idea hauling a bag overstuffed with bullets a mile back to her drop box, so she headed for the door. Approaching the exit, Clem stopped to look at the rack with all the handbags. Peering inside one, she noticed a holster attached to bag's lining. Removing one of the pink pistols from her backpack, Clem discovered it was a good fit. Clem then tossed the handbag and pistol holstered inside into her own bag, thinking it'd make an even nicer gift for Chilton.
Studying the sales rack closely, she also noticed some smaller holsters with short straps attached to them; the tag read 'ankle holster'. Curious, Clem sat down and pulled up her pant leg. After tightening the strap around her calf, Clem grabbed the second pink pistol and slipped it into the holster. It too fit snugly, and pulling her pant leg down, Clem was surprised to see it fit over the gun. There was a noticeable bulge, but she found herself amused by the novelty of having a gun on her leg.
Standing up, Clem found the weight of the pistol wasn't an issue and just walked out of the store. The trip back was less stressful this time, carrying a lighter load and taking the alternate route away from the main road meant there were relatively few walkers, and they were spread out far enough where Clem didn't have to risk moving close to them. She was also given a respite from the harsh midday sun as a cloud blew in front of it, turning the unrelenting heat into a relaxing shade.
Working her way back to the railroad tracks, Clementine noticed a house on a hill that looked bigger than the rest and was surrounded by now overgrown hedges. She was tempted to explore it, but the distant sound of another couple of rifle shots caused her to reconsider. A brisk walk back on the tracks returned Clem back to the intersection and she carefully arranged the bullets and the handbag inside the box.
"Sarah," called Clem. "I made it back with the bullets."
"Bullets?" asked Sarah. "I thought you couldn't get to them?"
"I used some leverage," boasted Clem.
"Huh?"
"I'll tell you about it when I get back."
"Does that mean you're ready for me to pick you up now?"
Clem looked into the plastic bin. It was nearly full now, but there was still a bit of room on the end, a little space between the top of the container and everything Clem had packed so far. Looking at her watch, Clem saw it was just past noon.
"I'm going to make one last stop."
"Clem…"
"I still want to get some medicine, and I know just where I want to go," said Clem. "Don't worry, it's not as far as the gun shop or the grocery store, and it's a lot less dangerous."
"Okay, just be careful."
"Relax. Once I finish this last trip, we'll be ready to go home; to our new home." Clementine clipped her radio back to her belt and started moving north on the railroad tracks again, and with the cloud cover giving Clem plenty of shade, it was easy to keep a good pace. Another pair of gunshots did nothing to slow the girl down either, sounding more distant than ever. Leaving the tracks behind, Clem didn't have much trouble backtracking to the house she spotted before.
It was an elegant house with a big front yard but it wasn't quite a manor or a mansion. Moving past the gate nestled in the hedges, which was unlocked, Clementine invited herself in. A small winding stone path cut through the yard now thick with weeds and tall grass, delivering Clem right to the front door. Stepping inside, Clem found the foyer was a mess, but no worse than most derelict homes she had checked, and there were no signs of walkers, recent or otherwise.
The kitchen was spacious but mostly empty of anything still edible. All the cupboards had been pulled open, suggesting someone may have looted this place, but finding a few stray cans of unclaimed food suggested they weren't thorough, or that they just weren't hungry enough to take whatever canned 'huitlacoche' was. Clem reasoned none of the leftovers in the pantry would impress Chilton, but the fridge still contained a half-full bottle of wine. Clem didn't know if it was white wine, thinking the bottle looked more yellow, but figured it was close enough.
Moving into the bathroom, Clem discovered the medicine cabinet had been pulled open and many of the items knocked over. Examining the pill bottles, Clem saw they had long and complicated names she couldn't pronounce. But since they were small and didn't weigh much, Clem piled them into her bag, reasoning that at least one of them was probably useful.
Moving into what appeared to be a study, Clem again saw most of the drawers and cabinets had been pulled open, more evidence someone had been through here before. She didn't see anything of interest in any of them, but sitting on a small table in the back was a very fine pen. It had an obsidian finish with gold trim and looked very expensive. Removing the pen cap, Clem saw the tip looked sharp and dangerous, like it was more of a weapon than a writing utensil. Thinking it would look good on Chilton's desk, Clem pocketed the pen.
Checking the other rooms, Clem was disappointed nothing else really seemed to jump out at her. A lot of clothes were missing from the drawers and more cabinets and drawers had been pulled open by the last scavenger who may have visited here, but there was little for the girl to discover. She settled on grabbing a fancy looking book, a CD player with headphones, and the CD with the most interesting album art, thinking they would help boost the variety of her salvage gift basket for Chilton.
Heading back downstairs, Clem figured it was time to leave, but as she passed through the living room she spotted something she missed before. Pushed against a back wall across the couch was a big glass display case. Approaching it, Clem saw it was full of rings, footballs, cards, tickets, and bobblehead figures. Mounted on the wall above the case was aqua-green jerseys with orange trim and white numbers.
Looking into the case, Clem could find the image of a dolphin stamped on most of the items. Remembering what Ted said, she thought he might like one of the things in this case, but she wasn't sure what to pick. Looking at how the items were arranged, a single football seemed most prominent, being dead center on the highest shelf. Opening the case and removing the football, Clem could see a signature on it.
"Larry… Conka?" Clem wasn't sure if she was reading the name right, and she had no idea who Larry Conka was, but she figured there was probably something special about this football for it to be on display, so she stuffed it into her backpack. With her bag mostly filled, Clem moved into the dining room, thinking she could briefly check it before heading back. Looking through the window, she could see a patio with a big propane grill. Oddly, the grill seemed pushed up against the window, hindering her view. Checking her watch, Clem realized it had been nearly thirty minutes.
"Sarah?" said Clem as she picked up the radio.
"Clem? Are you okay?" asked a nervous Sarah. "I was starting to worry."
"I'm fine Sarah. I was just—" Something banged against the backdoor.
"Just what?" asked Sarah.
"Hang on a second," said Clem as she approached the door. "I—"
Glass shattered and a deafening boom shook the ground as the backdoor burst off of its hinges and slammed right into the small girl, for whom the world immediately faded into darkness.