Clementine watched carefully through the Brave's windshield as Patty spoke with Anthony. After getting his diesel, Anthony had led the trio to the small stream he had been fishing out of, but didn't manage to catch any fish before sundown. Yesterday, he had insisted they find a better place to fish, and they spent a long time driving until settling on a high school football field near a small stream. Clem had spent the rest of the day with Patty making sure there wasn't anyone or anything waiting in the nearby homes. They didn't find anything, which was good, but neither did Anthony while fishing, which wasn't good.

This morning, Patty went out to talk with Anthony as soon as they noticed he was awake, and she had a lot to say to him. Clem was tempted to step outside in hopes of hearing their conversation, but even watching from a distance, she could tell Patty wasn't happy. The woman wasn't yelling, at least not yet, but her sudden and swift hand gestures clearly showed she had lost patience with the young man. This didn't appear mutual as, even from a distance, Anthony appeared calm while Patty was arguing with him.

"She's still out there." Clem turned her head to find Sarah standing right beside her, also gazing out the window.

"Yeah," said Clem. "It feels like she's been out there forever."

"It's only been ten minutes," said Sarah as she checked her watch. "But still, what could they be talking about for so long?"

"They went behind his trailer for a little while, but they've been right there most of the time," said Clem.

"Kem-men?" Clementine turned around to find Omid standing behind her.

"I think he wants to look too." Sarah picked up the boy. "Come on Omid, we'll—"

"Sarah, don't," ordered Clem.

"I'm just going to let him look out the window."

"Dah-bruh-da," said Omid as he looked up at the glass.

"Anthony might see him."

The look on Sarah's face made it clear she hadn't thought of that. She gazed down at Omid, then sat down in the passenger seat and let the boy settle in her lap, where he'd be out of sight.

"Pah-dah?" asked Omid.

"Maybe you can go out later," Sarah told him in a less than thrilled voice.

Turning back to the window herself, Clem watched the pair continue to discuss something she couldn't hear. As they talked, Clem found herself instinctively scanning the area for possible threats. There wasn't much to see, just a small pair of empty bleachers on each side of an unkempt field whose original purpose would be forgotten if not for the goal posts marking each end of it. Everything they had found yesterday suggested people abandoned this place a long time ago, but looking out at Patty standing alone with Anthony, Clem couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that something else was out there.

"I'm going outside." Clem grabbed the stool and placed it in front of cupboards running along the ceiling.

"You're getting your gun?" asked Sarah.

"I'm not going outside without it," said Clem as she retrieved her pistol and its magazine.

"Well… maybe you should get mine too." Clem was surprised to hear Sarah say that. Looking down at her, Clem could see the older girl was as worried as she was, clutching Omid carefully with a fearful look on her face.

"Okay," said Clem as she loaded her gun. "Put OJ in his crib, and then we'll—" A couple of knocks cut Clem off. The girl found herself nearly falling off the stool as she instinctively aimed at the door upon hearing another knock.

"Clem? Sarah?" called Patty. "You two all right?" Clem breathed a sigh of relief as Sarah quickly set Omid down and moved to unlock the door. "I was starting to think you guys had forgotten about…" Patty noticed Clem standing on a stool with her gun in hand. "Silly me."

"We were just about to come out there," admitted a sheepish Clem as she unloaded her gun.

"You had been out there for so long," added Sarah.

"Yeah, Anthony noticed you two were watching us," said Patty as she locked the door behind her.

"He did?" Clem found herself glad she had told Sarah not to bring Omid up to the window. "He's not mad at us or anything, is he?"

"He didn't seem to care, but I think it's sweet you two were worried about me." An odd smile formed on Patty's face. "I'll have to treat you to a meal." Patty removed something bundled in paper from her jacket and set it on the counter.

"Is that—"

"Yep," said Patty as she unwrapped the paper. "The alleged fisherman is now a confirmed fisherman." Clem looked at the pale strips of flesh sitting before her and felt like Patty had just opened a treasure chest. "And I watched him gut it and everything, to make sure he didn't put anything in it. It's one-hundred percent fresh trout."

"Fresh fish," said Sarah as she stared at the meat with hungry eyes. "Clem, can you cook it?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can," said Clem as she grabbed a pan. "Cookie said as long as you have a good pan, olive oil, and heat, you can cook almost anything."

"Sounds good," said Patty as she sat down at the dining table.

"Did he only have one fish?" asked Sarah as she studied the meat.

"Wah-fee," repeated Omid.

"Only one he'd give me."

"He said he didn't catch any fish yesterday, or the day before," reminded Sarah. "Did he get some this morning?"

"No, these were from yesterday."

Clem looked over at Patty suddenly. "He lied," said the girl through clenched teeth. "He lied to us."

"Yeah, he did. He was even lying to me up until a few minutes ago. That's when I finally told him if he didn't cough up a fish soon he's back on his own," said Patty. "He finally fessed up to having eaten the fish he had caught over the last couple of days. He was actually planning on eating this one for breakfast."

"We can't trust him," concluded Clem as she turned on the stove.

"Hold on," said Sarah. "Why did he lie about this?"

"He said he was hungry, and I don't doubt that," said Patty. "He's already eaten those green beans we've given back to him, and he still looks terrible. He said he was going to start giving us fish as soon as he felt better."

"He should have told us though," insisted Clem as she poured some olive oil into her pan. "Just told us he was hungry and he needed the fish, not say he didn't catch any."

"He said he was afraid we'd just take the fish anyway," said Patty. "And I guess I sorta did today, but only because he's been holding out on us." Clem looked down at the fish meat for a moment, then tossed the strips into the pan. "He also claims he only caught one right after we got his diesel, and three yesterday. Says his rod and tools are in crappy shape, which they are, and he doesn't have much to use for bait other than chum, which he says doesn't work too well for small fish."

"Maybe we should give him a little food?" suggested Sarah.

"What?" asked Clem. "He's supposed to be helping us get food."

"He can't catch us fish if he starves to death," argued Sarah.

"If he was starving he should have just told us instead of lying," retorted Clem. "I don't want to give food to someone we can't trust."

"Maybe he feels the same way about us."

"We helped him get diesel after he pointed a gun at me, and he said he'd help get us fish."

"It's been two days."

"And he said he'd get us some fish yesterday, but he lied to us and kept them all for himself!" Clem watched as Omid flinched in Sarah's arms. It dawned on her that raising her voice was probably upsetting him, so she turned away from them both and held her tongue. Clem took a breath and grabbed the seasoning salt from the counter, carefully sprinkling both strips of fish before flipping them over.

"I'm with Clem on this," said Patty, breaking the silence. "I don't doubt Anthony is hungry, but this isn't exactly a good sign. We gave him a chance even after Clem pointed out his weird walker trap, and he's still acting dodgy."

"He might be acting that way because he's hungry," insisted Sarah. "We could give him a little food now, and if he still doesn't give us any fish, we don't give him any more."

"He suggested the exact same thing," informed Patty. "I pointed out him eating better isn't going to make his crappy fishing gear any better."

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Clem.

"Well…" Patty took a breath. "We talked about it for a while, and me going with him into a town to get some things might be the best solution."

"What?" asked Clem as she turned away from the stove. "You mean like, to get food, like we do?"

"And some replacements for his equipment, amongst other things," added Patty. "He said he knows a place right off the interstate that probably still has some stuff he could use."

"How does he know that?" asked a suspicious Clem.

"He says it's overrun with walkers; used up the last of his bullets and diesel just trying to get food from it before he wound up at that gas station," said Patty. "Seeing as we know how to get past walkers, I thought—"

"This could be a trap," said Clem.

"I thought that too, but it wasn't really his idea to go there," said Patty. "He brought it up to argue against going out to find food when we already had some, and I told him places with lots of walkers usually have food left, and he said there was no getting to it without a lot of bullets, and I told him there's another way, and now he's curious. I said I could go with him to this town and get whatever he needs there."

"You're going out with Anthony to get stuff today?" asked Sarah.

"I told him I'd have to talk to you two first," said Patty.

"I don't like this," said Clem. "If he's a bad person, and you're alone with him, he—"

"Believe me Clem, I was thinking a lot about what could happen to me when I was talking to him," said Patty. "But... this is our best option."

"Why don't we just go to this town ourselves?" suggested Clem. "He can wait here and we'll bring back what we find."

"He didn't seem too keen on us leaving him," said Patty. "Accused me of trying to ditch him. Said if he told me where to go he'd probably never see us again."

"Then we can all go together," reasoned Clem. "Not just you."

"Anthony seemed okay with that, but I'm not," said Patty.

"Why not?" asked Clem.

"If we can't trust this guy, or he is leading us into a trap, then you and Sarah and Omid would all be in danger too."

"There's three of us and one of him," said Clem.

"And there might be a dozen friends of his in this town instead of walkers," said Patty.

"I thought you said you didn't think it was a trap since Anthony didn't even want to go there," reminded Sarah.

"I can't rule it out entirely," said Patty. "And even if he isn't tricking us, things could still go wrong. There could be more walkers there than he realized, or even these 'bad people' he told us about."

"Did… did you ask him where they are?" said Sarah.

"Yeah, and he told me they're outside a city called Gulf Port, some place on the… gulf. He acted like as long as we avoid the coast while we're in Mississippi, we shouldn't even get near them."

"But Patty, something could still happen to you," said Clem.

"Yeah… but better that than all of us," said Patty in a somber voice.

Clem turned back to the stove, briefly flipping the fish over before looking back at Patty. "You said you don't trust Anthony."

"I don't," affirmed Patty.

"Then why do this?" asked a desperate Clem. "It's not worth it just for some fish."

"I think it is."

"Really?"

"The food is going to run out eventually, and when that happens, what do we do?" Clem opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.

"Yeah, exactly," said Patty. "I hated Valkaria, but they had the right idea fishing for their food. If we don't start learning how to fend for ourselves soon, we might starve before we ever figure it out."

"Mah-bah?" Clem looked down to see Omid looking up at her. "Mah-bah?" he repeated.

"I think he smells the fish," said Sarah as she collected the boy. "It does smell good."

"It's almost done," assured Clem as she turned back to the pan. "And we could learn to fish ourselves, without Anthony."

"How?"

"We'll… we'll find some books about it, and learn how."

Patty looked over at Sarah. "Do you think you could learn how to fix the RV's engine if you read enough books about auto-maintenance?"

"I don't know… maybe? Probably not," admitted Sarah. "I mean, if you helped me I probably could."

"And why's that?" asked Patty.

"Well, because you're a mechanic, and you know what to do."

"Exactly, I've got hands on experience as a mechanic, which gets you a lot further than just a book," said Patty. "And even if he's under delivering, Anthony has caught, gutted, and cleaned at least four fish in the last two days."

"Are… are you saying you want Anthony to teach us how to fish?" asked Clem.

"It'd probably be faster and better than stumbling through it ourselves," said Patty.

"What makes you think he'll even do that?"

"I told him if this trip to town went well, and that helps him catch more fish, then we can start helping each other more long term," said Patty. "He could show the three of us how to fish, including how to cut them up, and we teach him what we know about getting past walkers. I even offered to give his truck a tune up to sweeten the deal."

"But…" Clem tried to think of a counter argument. "At least, let me come with you. Sarah could stay with OJ and—"

"It's better if only I go."

"Why?"

"Because… if something happens to me, then you two are still left to take care of each other… and Omid," said Patty. "If you came with me and we didn't come back, then it's just Sarah left to take care of Omid by herself."

"But… that could have happened anytime we went out," said Clem.

"Exactly." Patty sighed to herself. "The other reason I want to do this: If this does work, then me and Anthony can do the supply runs from now on, and you won't have to go out anymore with me."

"That's bullshit," said Clem. "You're treating me like a little kid."

"Clementine, you're the most amazing ten-year-old I've ever met," said Patty. "But you're still ten."

"So what?"

"So, you should be able to live a life that doesn't involve constantly putting yourself in danger every day."

"Everything's dangerous now," argued Clem.

"Yeah, but some things are more dangerous than others," retorted Patty. "Me and him are adults. If he can be counted on, we should be the ones who take the risks, not you and Sarah."

"So the kids just have to stay where it's safe?"

"If you actually can be safe, then yes!" Omid started crying. Turning to him, Clem watched as Sarah tried to comfort the boy, letting him sob onto her jacket. Looking over at Patty, Clem saw a mutual look of guilt on the woman's face.

"Just… just let me come with you," pleaded Clem in a quiet voice.

"I'm sorry Clementine," said Patty. "I just don't think that's a good idea."

"Clem," said Sarah as she cradled a still crying Omid. "Why do you want to go out there so bad?"

"I don't, I just…" Clem took a breath. "I just don't want anything bad to happen to you Patty."

"I… I really appreciate that," spoke an emotional Patty.

"And I know you want to protect us, but I think it's better if we all stick together."

"That's just it, all of us is one woman, two girls, and a baby," said Patty. "People may be in short supply these days, but I doubt Anthony will be the last living person we ever run into, and we might be less lucky next time. That way I see it, we got a chance to make an ally here, and we could really use one."

"But you don't even trust him," reminded Clem.

"You didn't trust me when we first met," reminded Patty.

"I was wrong."

"And I'm hoping I'm wrong about Anthony," said Patty. "I hope Sarah's right, and he's just acting off because he's been barely scraping by for so long and it's made him jumpy. I mean, that makes sense. I saw otherwise decent people act crazy when they got hungry enough. I've done a few crazy things when I was desperate enough."

"Did you ever pull a trigger on your gun when aiming it at a little girl?" asked Clem. "Because Anthony did that. Even if the gun wasn't loaded, it bothers me."

"It bothers me too Clem," assured Patty. "That's why I told him he's not getting his gun back even for this, and I also stressed how if he came back without me, then you two are leaving him behind."

"That would mean leaving you behind too," said Clem. "We wouldn't—"

"The important thing is he believes you would leave him." Patty took a deep breath. "Look, all this heavy talk before breakfast is wearing me out. Is that fish ready?"

Clem had nearly forgotten about the fish she was cooking and quickly turned back to the stove. The meat was brown now with a little black along the edges. The girl hastily turned off the stove and removed the pan. Cutting the fish into equal portions, Clementine couldn't overlook the fact she had burnt the fish. She cursed herself for not paying closer attention as she set the plates in front of Sarah and Patty. Then she sat down and took a bite out of the fish herself, and it was heavenly.

Chewing on the warm meat, savoring its hardy flavor, the girl forgot all about her mistake and even what they were arguing about. It was her first taste of fresh fish since Valkaria, and she couldn't get enough. Neither could Patty and Sarah, whose eyes both lit up the moment they tasted the fish. Sarah even tore off some very thin bits of meat so Omid could try it, which he was delighted to chew on for several seconds at a time.

It wasn't until Clem had reached the burnt edges of her piece of fish was her enthusiasm dimmed, and even then only slightly. The flavor was still completely different from the canned and dried goods she had grown accustomed to, and she found herself wondering what spices she should use next time as she went for another piece.

It wasn't until she found herself poking an empty plate with a fork did Clem realize she had eaten the entire thing. Looking past her own plate, Clem saw Patty and Sarah's had been thoroughly cleaned as well, wanting looks on both their faces. Omid tried reaching for the plate to pull it closer before Sarah stopped him.

"I'll make you some kool-aid and I'll get a couple of cans of something for the rest of us," said Sarah as she took hold of the boy. "Do you want beets or asparagus?"

"Do we have anything better?" asked Patty.

"We do, but not much of it," informed Sarah as she set Omid down in front of the closet. "We've got plenty of beets and asparagus though, and I figured we should start eating them in-between eating food we like better."

"I guess beets then," shrugged Patty. "Clem?"

"I don't care, either," said Clem.

"Beets it is." Sarah brought a couple of cans of beets from the closet and opened them. They contents looked like cranberry jelly, being a large red mass that was shaped like the can it came out of. Unlike jelly, the beets were already cut slices stacked on top of each other. They weren't bad, having a tart flavor, but it was hardly Clem's favorite thing to eat.

It wasn't Omid's either, who kept resisting Sarah's attempts to feed him. The older girl had to resort to tempting the boy with his sippy cup full of kool-aid to get him to swallow at least a few mouthfuls of beets. Clem wished they still had oranges they could make juice from, or even just a can of peaches, but they had gone through most of their favorite foods by now and had to save what they had left until they could find more.

"I'll take care of the dishes," said Patty as she stood up.

"Don't use much water," said Sarah. "It hasn't rained in a while, so the tank is running low."

"I hear you." Patty carried a couple of plates over to the sink while Clem carried her own plate over to the woman. "Thanks for cooking breakfast."

"You're welcome," said Clem. "It probably would have been better if I had been paying more attention."

"It's fine Clem; best meal I've had in a while," said Patty with a smile.

"I'll do better next time," promised Clem.

"As soon as we get another fish from Anthony."

Clem looked away from Patty. "I really don't want you to go with him like this," admitted the girl.

"I know you don't," spoke a sympathetic Patty. "But I think I need this."

"Need what?"

"Every day I'm alive is because you saved me," reminded Patty. "You didn't even know me, other than as that prick who tried to gouge you on fixing your RV, and you still risked your life for me. Maybe Anthony is like me, an asshole until you get on his good side."

"Patty… you're not an asshole."

"Not to you, not now, but elsewhere…" The woman took a breath. "I keep thinking I'd be willing to stick my neck out for stranger, but I haven't actually done it since I met Charlotte, and that ended badly."

"You don't have to prove anything to me," insisted Clem. "I know you're a good person."

"Well I'm glad you think I am, but I'm not so sure myself," said Patty. "I would have just ditched Anthony two days ago or worse if not for you and Sarah."

"It's not worth risking your life just so you know you're a good person."

"I'm not, I'm doing this because we stand to gain a lot if it works out, it just takes a good person to be willing to risk it. And really, it's a lot to gain for relatively little risk all things considered."

"It's still a bigger risk than we normally take," noted Clem.

"Is it? I know to keep an eye on Anthony, I'll have my guns, he won't have one," listed Patty. "That seems less risky than our regular habit of just wandering into new towns with no idea what to expect."

"Except we did that together," reminded Clem. "You should let me come with you and Anthony. If he does something bad or something goes wrong, I—"

"Might get hurt too, or worse. I get why you want to come, but really it's safer if we don't risk any more people than we have to."

"I still don't like it," said Clem.

"I know, but just think about Omid. If something happens, it's on you and Sarah to take care of him."

"Yeah…"

"Sarah's told me bits and pieces about what it was like when it was just the two of you," said Patty. "Like the first time you broke into a gas station's diesel tank, and what a pain in the ass it was."

"It took us all day," remembered Clem. "We were really lucky there was a store next door with lots of tools, and that Sarah got the generator working."

"She also told me about when you two raided a gun store."

"I was so stupid, just rushing in there," said Clem. "And the worse part was just leaving OJ alone when we tried again. We were gone so long he probably thought we were never coming back; he just kept crying for like an hour after we finally came home."

"I'm sorry," said Patty. "All the more reason you should be here with him now, you and Sarah."

Clem sighed. "Just… just be careful."

"Oh I will," said Patty. "I'll have my shotgun, pistol, switchblade, and I was going to stash my revolver in my sock."

"Oh yeah, you haven't taken the gun with you in a long time," noted Clem.

"I haven't really felt like I needed it after we started working together. I guess you made me feel safer than a hidden gun." Clem smiled upon hearing that. "Plus, I don't have any extra bullets for it since it uses a different ammo from our other pistols, so I kind of thought it wouldn't do me much good."

"You could take the ankle gun we have," suggested Clem. "It uses nine millimeters."

"Yeah, but it's also bright pink, which means Anthony might spot it," said Patty. "You weren't happy when you noticed I had a concealed weapon, I doubt he would either."

"You could leave it behind," suggested Clem.

"Do you want me to leave it behind?" asked Patty.

"Well… no."

"Then best bring the gun that's harder to spot."

"Right, I'll go get it." Clem grabbed a stool and used it to reach the cupboards. She grabbed what she thought was Patty's revolver, but discovered it was Anthony's. Their guns looked nearly identical except for the color; Anthony's was silver while Patty's was black. Locating the correct weapon, Clem gathered the few rounds they had for it and loaded the gun while Patty and Sarah gathered the rest of their gear.

"I'll need to borrow your raincoat," Patty said to Sarah. "I'll need one for Anthony."

"Right, I'll go get it," said Sarah as she approached the fridge.

"Just pack them both into my bag," said Patty as she loaded her shotgun.

"You're not going to wear yours?" asked Sarah as she grabbed the raincoats.

"Not right now. I told Anthony he'd only find out our trick for dealing with walkers once we got there," said Patty as she cocked her shotgun. "He saw us wearing them when we first met, but I doubt he's pieced together exactly how they work just yet."

"You should take Sarah's watch too," said Clem as she set out an extra respirator and gloves for Anthony.

"What for?" asked Patty.

"So you know when to call us, to let us know you're okay."

Patty looked at Clem, then smirked. "Sarah, do you mind?" The older girl responded by removing her watch and handing it to Patty. "Um… you're sure this thing tells time?"

"Of course it does," retorted Sarah.

"Just a little hard to make out the numbers through a damn star chart," said Patty as she strapped the timepiece to her wrist. "I'll call you every hour on the hour, sound good?"

"Yeah, that sounds great." Clem grabbed their radios along with an unopened pack of batteries. She quickly swapped in the new batteries, then turned both radios on, doing a quick check that they both worked and were tuned to the same channel. "I'll have my radio with me the whole time," said Clem as she handed the woman her own radio. "So if anything happens—"

"I'll call, don't worry Clem," said Patty as she clipped the radio to her belt.

"I packed a few good cans of food, a bottle of water, and some freeze-dried ice cream for your trip," said Sarah as she handed the woman her backpack.

"I appreciate it, as always," said Patty as she threw her backpack on. "Unless there's anything else," said Patty as she tied off her scarf. "I guess I'm outta here."

Clem stared at the woman for a second. She looked confident, but Clem could still see a hint of fear hiding behind her eyes. Patty was about to turn for the door when Clem shot forward.

"I'll miss you," said Clem as she hugged the woman.

"I'll be back," assured Patty.

"We'll be waiting right here for you until then," said Sarah as she also hugged the woman.

"Muh-boo!" giggled Omid as he grasped Patty's leg with both hands.

"You… you guys are the best," confessed Patty as she threw her arms around both girls. "All right, if I don't leave soon I'll never go." Patty pulled free of the group hug, which Clem resisted briefly before finally letting go. She watched through the windshield as Patty went out to meet Anthony. They talked for a while, then Patty climbed into the truck with him and the vehicle drove off the field and back onto the road.

"I'll call you in an hour," spoke Patty's voice from the radio. "Until then, stay safe."

"You too," said Clementine as she watched her friend disappear into the horizon. "Stay… stay safe."