Clementine peered through the Brave's windshield. All across the dingy gravel lot were cars and trucks glinting in the morning sun. Clem could see Anthony's truck parked across from them, but it was the big white RV with the red and silver stripes at the end of the lot she couldn't take her eyes off of. She couldn't see anyone moving from here, but she knew there were people inside of it.
"Omid, stop." Clem turned around to see Sarah struggling to feed Omid a spoonful of lima beans. "Come on, just a bit—"
"Nuh-duh!" demanded Omid as he swatted the spoon out of Sarah's hand, spilling the beans onto the floor.
"Omid, no!" lectured Sarah as she knelt down to pick up the spoon. "You're wasting them."
Clem felt torn as she watched Sarah try to coax the irate toddler into eating more. They hadn't had much time lately to look for more food, and had also given a small amount to their new acquaintances, meaning they had to be less picky about what they ate for now. On the other hand, Clem really hated the taste of lima beans.
"Come on," said Patty as she handed Clem her pistol. "She's got her hands full; we should go over and say good morning to our new friends."
"Okay." Clem placed her gun in its holster and followed Patty out of the Brave. It was another cold morning, and Clem found herself tugging on her jacket as she felt the cool air nipping at her skin. Shortly after stepping outside, Anthony emerged from his camper. He had an impatient look on his face and made a slight gesture with his head towards the pair.
"What's up?" asked Patty as she drew closer.
"So, you gonna go fix that thing for them?" asked Anthony in an oddly quiet voice.
"That was the plan," said Patty.
"Yeah, the one we made yesterday," mumbled Anthony. "When that old guy was hitting us with a lot of big stuff."
"What are you getting at?" asked Patty.
"You don't want to help them," realized Clem out loud.
"God damn it Anthony…"
"What do we really know about this guy?" he asked. "Our heads were spinning so much from all this new information, we didn't even stop to think if this is someone we want to keep around or not."
"It's always the same argument with you," accused Patty.
"I'm sorry, was there some other time we discussed taking on some new people?"
"No, but anytime there's an issue, you always recommend whatever choice makes us the bigger assholes," retorted Patty.
"I want to make the choice that keeps us safe. This guy is talking about spies and bombs and war and all kinds of shit. How do we know he ain't a part of all this craziness he's so keen to get away from?"
"Anthony…"
"Seriously, we've got his word to go on for all of this," said Anthony. "For all we know, maybe Houston ain't so bad but he can't go back there because he fucked over the wrong people."
"So now you want to go to Houston?" asked a dubious Patty.
"Hell no. I'm just saying, we shouldn't accept everything this guy says at face value. For all we know, he's playing us."
"To do what?"
"He could want something from us." Anthony and Patty both turned to Clem, surprised to hear her say that. "We're gonna help him fix an RV and show him how to stay alive, and that's after we saved him and Jet. If Sin did anything bad, he might not tell us about it because he'd be afraid we wouldn't help him then."
"Yeah exactly," said Anthony. "And that's probably a best-case scenario. For we all know, he's some scumbag who might slit our throats if he gets the chance."
"So what, we're just gonna ditch them after we said we'd help them?" asked an aggravated Patty.
"Keep your voice down," cautioned Anthony. "And we did help them. Clem and Sarah saved their lives, we brought them here, told them they can use the smell to avoid the dead. Personally, I think that's plenty, and it sounds like Clem agrees."
"No I don't," corrected the girl. "Just because we don't know if we can trust them doesn't mean I don't want to keep helping them."
"Yeah, and did you forget this guy has a kid with him?" asked Patty. "You think he's dangerous?"
"He could be," said Clem. "I'm probably younger than him. But—"
"But you can be dangerous," finished Anthony.
"I was going to say; but I don't think Jet's dangerous," informed Clem, irritated at Anthony's assumption.
"And don't forget, Sin said he might know somewhere we can stay, for good," said Patty. "Clem and I don't want to blow our chances at that."
"Actually, I'm really not worried about that," said Clem with a shrug. "Sin even said he's not sure if it's really safe or not."
"Clem, whose side are you on here?" asked Patty.
"I'm not on anyone's side. I want to help Sin and Jet, but we should be careful because we don't know them that well, that's it."
Patty and Anthony looked at Clem, then back at each other.
"Let's hurry up and get started already," said Patty as she marched across the gravel and towards the RV. "You know Anthony, we could get an RV for you while we're at it. It'd be an upgrade over your beat-up ass truck and that crappy camper attached to the back of it."
"Hey, I like my beat-up ass truck and its crappy camper," said Anthony. "It has a rustic charm that tells people 'There's nothing worth stealing in here, so don't waste your time."
"You don't even have a bathroom in there," noted Patty.
"I've gotten used to pissing outside," shrugged Anthony. "I like the feel of the wind on my back while I take a piss, even in winter. You two should try it sometime."
"Yeah, that's easier for you than for us," noted Patty.
"What about when you poop?" asked Clem.
"That's what my bucket is for," shrugged Anthony.
"Gross," said Patty. "This is why I'm glad I live in an RV with a bathroom now."
"If that fancy plumbing ever breaks down, you're gonna be back to using a bucket," reminded Anthony.
"If that happens, I'll just fix up a new RV," retorted Patty.
"And leave the Brave behind?" asked a surprised Clem.
"Hey, we could still get lucky with these people and wind up somewhere where we wouldn't need to pile into tiny houses on wheels," suggested Patty as she approached the RV's door. "Although, it's a long shot, like everything we try." Patty knocked and the trio waited patiently for someone to answer. Clem listened closely, but didn't even hear so much as a rustling inside.
"You know," Anthony said in a hushed voice to Clem. "You could invite the grandkid over to your RV, spend some time with him, see if you can learn anything about his granddad or where he's wanting to go."
"Are you asking Clem to spy on them?" whispered Patty. "While standing right in front of their door?"
"Spy nothing, she'd just be getting to know him," whispered Anthony. "You could even teach him a thing too; we did say we would teach them how to survive."
"But that ain't what you're asking Clem to do," accused Patty in a harsh but still hushed voice. "You just said you wanted her to find out more about Sin through Jet."
"Well maybe she wants to learn more about these people too?" suggested Anthony. "Clementine?"
"I—" The sound of approaching footsteps abruptly silenced Clem. There was a click at the door and the group found themselves staring at Sin, who met them while wearing a combination of discomfort and impatience on his face.
"So… you two sleep okay?" asked Patty.
"No," answered Sin immediately.
"Why, is there something wrong with the RV?" asked Patty. "Because if you need anything, we—"
"It's just… the situation," said Sin in a tired voice. "Having to leave home so suddenly, and being… wherever we are right now."
"I think this place is called Lake Charles," said Patty. "Weird to name a whole town after a lake."
The man rubbed his head briefly before stepping outside to get a better look at the RV he was staying in. "I've never driven something this size before."
"Well, one upside of the end of the world is traffic is usually pretty light." Sin had no reaction to Patty's words. "So… I was going to get to work on this RV. Hopefully, I'll get it up and running this morning. It looked like it was in decent shape when I checked it yesterday evening. Should just need a jump and a few other things."
Sin just looked at the group in response, his face oddly expressionless. "Okay," he finally said. "What do you need me to do?"
"Just wait inside for now," said Patty. "I'll work on it for a while and when the time comes, I'll tell you start it. You still got those keys we dug out of the office, right?"
"Yes, I have them."
"Great, I imagine if they opened the door they must work in the ignition too." Again, Sin didn't respond. "Well, you just get some rest I guess. I'll work on the RV while Anthony keeps watch."
"Okay." Sin turned back towards the RV.
"Where's Jet?"
Sin stopped and looked over his shoulder at Clementine. "He's inside, why?"
"I was just thinking, maybe he could come over for a while." Clem noticed Patty looking at her after saying that.
"Why do you want Jet to come over?" asked Sin as he turned around.
"I just thought… maybe Sarah and I could tell him some things, about how to stay safe," reasoned Clem. "It's really dangerous out there, and I wouldn't be alive if the people who used to take care of me didn't tell me some very important things."
"And those people, they taught you how to kill all those infected ones who were trying to kill us?" asked Sin.
"Um… sorta, I mean they taught me a lot of things, but—"
"We could always do it later," interrupted Patty. "Today we can just—"
Sin walked back into the RV and out of sight. Listening closely, Clem could hear Sin and what must have been Jet talking to each other. She couldn't make out the words clearly, but the tone and speed at which they were speaking suggested it wasn't a pleasant conversation. Clem eventually heard Sin say 'That's final' and the conversation stopped. Sin returned, Jet following behind him with a black bag clutched in his hands.
"We both owe you and your friend our lives," Sin said to Clementine. "Anything you could teach him on how to stay safe would be likewise appreciated by the both of us."
Sin gave Jet a slight nudge and the boy shuffled slowly towards Clem. He turned away as she looked at him, as if he was afraid of her. Clem could see that Jet's face was racked with anxiety and his hands tensed from how tightly he was gripping his bag.
"All right then, I guess we'll get to work," shrugged Patty. "Anthony, go take the telescope and keep an eye on the road. We'll need to use the generator at some point, so we might draw some walkers over here."
"Or Houston refugees heading this way," mumbled the young man.
"The military wouldn't abandon Houston that quickly," stated Sin.
"Really? That's what you think? Even after we told you about how the military has ditched everywhere else they were staying at?"
"After they used up everything useful in the area," retorted Sin. "There was still a fair amount of resources they had yet to devour before I left."
"Yeah, they wouldn't leave until what they had left would fit on their damn trucks," added Patty. "That's when they left in Miami."
"There wasn't some other army in Miami pushing the first one out," added Anthony. "They might be on their way here right now."
"Then you should stop talking and get to work." Anthony glared at Sin in response to his suggestion, which Sin just ignored.
"Sounds good to me," said Patty as she headed for the hood of the RV. "Clem, tell Sarah to pull our RV up to this one until the generator is close to the engine."
"Right." Clem turned to Jet. "Come on." Jet slowly followed after Clem and they made the short walk back to the Brave together. Heading inside, Clem grabbed the telescope and moved back to the door, where she found Jet still standing outside.
"I'd go on kid," said Anthony as he moved past Jet to collect the telescope. "They never invite me in." Anthony headed off in another direction while Jet continued to stand there.
"Don't be afraid, it's safe in here." Clem's words seemed to compel Jet forward as he climbed the steps. The boy stood there awkwardly in front of Clementine for a moment, flinching slightly as Sarah locked the door behind him.
"Patty said to move the Brave so that the generator is close enough to use on the other RV," said Clem.
"Right." Sarah stopped to look at Jet. "Hi."
"Hi…" he said in a quiet voice. The older girl sat down in the driver's seat while Clem just kept looking at Jet. The boy just stood there; stiff as a branch and frail enough to be broken by a hard breeze. As Clem felt the RV moving, she removed her gun from its holster and unloaded it, first by removing and pocketing the magazine, then cycling the pistol to eject the round in the chamber. As she moved to put the gun away, Clem noticed Jet was staring at her with a look of concern.
"Um, have you ever used a gun before?" Jet only shook his head slightly in response. "Well, I could show you how it works. I know they're scary, but once you know how they work, it's not as…"
Clem noticed tears were welling up in Jet's eyes now. He dropped his bag and covered his face, like he had done yesterday. The horrible sounds of the boy trying to swallow his sadness one pained choke at a time felt like tiny stabs into Clementine's heart. Unable to stand it anymore, Clem put her gun away, moved in close, and wrapped her arms around the crying boy.
"Just let it out," Clem whispered as she hugged Jet. "Just—"
In an instant, Jet's quiet sobs broke into an almost hysterical crying. It was so loud it briefly frightened Clem, then it just saddened her to listen to it. Feeling Jet's chest move as he gasped for breath, and listening to the agony in his shrill cries, just made the girl feel like crying herself. Looking up, Clem saw Sarah standing behind Jet. The older girl didn't say anything, but her face made it clear she found this as upsetting as Clem did. She stepped forward and gently placed her hands on the boy's shoulders as he continued to sob loudly. The three of them stood there together in each other's grasps until they heard a new voice cut through Jet's cries of pain.
"Muh-boo," everyone looked down to see a despondent Omid clutching Jet's leg as tightly as he could. "Muh-boo," he repeated sadly.
"Huh?" mumbled a confused Jet.
"He's saying he loves you," informed Clem as she continued to hug Jet.
"He… he is?"
"Sorta," said Clem with a slight smile.
"How did you get out of your crib?" asked Sarah as she approached the toddler. "I thought I took your rattle away."
Clem released Jet as Sarah collected Omid. Watching the older girl lift the toddler off the ground, Clem noticed he kept his sad eyes glued on Jet.
"Why is he looking at me?" asked the boy.
"I guess he doesn't like you being sad," noted Sarah.
"Why not?" asked Jet.
"Probably because we don't like you being sad," suggested Clem.
"But why do you care then?" asked a still choked up Jet. "You don't even know me."
"No but… we know what it's like," said Clem. "How terrible this all is, and how scary it can be."
"How you have to leave home," added Sarah. "Knowing you can never go back there."
"Or that your parents are gone, and you're probably never going to see them again." Clem felt saddened by her own words, and found herself looking to Sarah for some kind of answer to Jet's trouble. The older girl appeared puzzled at first, but then moved in close to the boy.
"Do you want to hold Omid?" she offered to Jet. "That makes us feel better sometimes."
"Hah-dah," said the toddler as he came face to face with the boy.
"Um… that's okay," assured Jet as he took a step back.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
Sarah backed away from Jet. "I should put him back in his crib anyway," said the older girl as she carried Omid towards the bedroom. "And find out how he got out of it again."
"Do you not like OJ?" Clem asked Jet.
"OJ?"
"His name is Omid Junior, so I call him OJ," explained Clem.
"It's really cool to see a baby again, but I've always felt kind of weird around them," admitted Jet. "They're just kind of… gross. I mean, not that your baby is gross, but—"
"It's okay," assured Clem. "OJ can be gross sometimes. I still remember the first time I changed his diaper and how much I hated it."
"I can't believe you and her are taking care of a baby," said Jet. "I mean, how old are you?"
"I'm ten, Sarah's fourteen," said Clem. "How old are you?"
"Twelve and a half," said Jet. "You… you must think I'm a wuss."
"I don't think that." Clem watched as Jet tried to clean the tears from his cheek with his sleeve. "Here, use this." Clem grabbed a paper towel from the counter and handed it to the boy, who immediately blew his nose with it.
"My granddad would be so mad if he saw me like this," said Jet as he wiped his face.
"He'd get mad at you for being sad?" asked Sarah as she walked back into the room, her voice teeming with concern.
"Well, more like disappointed," said Jet as he sat down on the couch. "In Houston, he kept telling me these are hard times, so I have to be strong."
"Nobody is strong all the time," assured Clem as she sat down to the left of Jet. "We're not; we've cried lots of times."
"I cried when I left home too," added Sarah as she sat down to the right of Jet. "My dad took us to this shipping place once our car broke down, and told me we'd have to stay here for a while, and I just kept crying the whole time."
"I didn't cry when I left home, but that was because my parents weren't there anymore. After I found out they were… dead, I cried a lot," admitted Clem as she turned to Jet. "You said something about your mom and dad to your grandpa, are they—"
"I don't know," said Jet. "They weren't in the country when… everything went wrong."
"Where were they?" asked Clem.
"Afghanistan," said Jet. "They work for this organization that brings doctors to people who really need them, which means they have to go to these really dangerous places."
"Your parents are doctors?" asked Sarah. "My dad and Clem's mom were doctors."
"Oh, well mine aren't. I mean my dad is a pharmacist, but that's not the same thing as a doctor," said Jet.
"What about your mom?" asked Clem.
"She does something that helps with purifying water I think, something to do with engineering," said Jet. "She used to work with Granddad before she and Dad got this new job about a couple of years ago."
"My dad was an engineer," said Clem. "Although I was never sure what he did, he just said something about fixing roads and bridges."
"He was probably a civil engineer, like my mom is," said Jet. "It just means you build and maintain anything important that isn't part of the military." Jet sighed after saying that.
"What was it like living in Houston?" asked Sarah.
"It sucked, mostly," shrugged Jet.
"I'd still like to hear more about it," said Sarah.
"Well, at first, it wasn't too bad," admitted Jet. "The police went around, telling everyone to be careful and avoid anyone you don't know. Back then I guess people thought it was just a regular sickness, and not this weird kind that makes dead bodies move around and kill people.
"But then the military showed up, and we couldn't leave our houses most of the time. Only in the mornings when people went to work and school, then for a while in the evening when they came home."
"They still had school even after the walkers came?" asked Clem.
"And people were still doing their jobs?" asked Sarah.
"For maybe a month or so. I remember I was happy when school was canceled, then the power went out."
"You still had electricity a month after walkers showed up?" asked a surprised Clem.
"I guess we were lucky?" shrugged Jet. "Granddad got his new job with the military around the time they started turning the power on only during the weekends, and that's when things got worse. They started bringing us less food and stopped bringing us certain things we'd ask for all together. I'd have to go back and forth between our home in Houston and this place the military worked at in Port Arthur because of Granddad's job. One time we came back and found someone had broken into our house and taken almost everything we had while we were gone."
"Who did that?"
"I don't know, the military never found them, or if they did, they never told us," said Jet. "They started building walls after that, big walls, and all over the place. Even though they didn't give us much food, they gave the people in the other neighborhoods even less."
"Why'd they do that?"
"I think because Granddad was important, because of everything he did at the refinery, so they gave us a little more. We weren't the only ones. Some of the people who worked at the refinery moved into the houses near ours."
"What about the people already living there?" asked Clem.
"A lot of them were gone by then, but I know one of our neighbors, the Greens, had to move out so someone else could take their house," said Jet.
"The military took away their house?" asked Sarah.
"Yeah."
"Well, where did they go?" asked Clem.
"I don't know… actually I think I do." Jet suddenly looked very tense. "One time, when we were driving to Port Arthur, we had to take a different road then we normally did, and we went through this neighborhood I hadn't been to in a really long time…
"There were so many people, and they all looked horrible. They were dirty, and their clothes were torn up, and almost all of them were really, really thin. I actually thought they were the infected people I kept hearing about until Granddad told me they weren't. And there were so many of them, and they were all looking at us as we drove past them, and I just kept thinking 'This must be where they sent the Greens."
"Did you see them?" asked Clem.
"No, but I couldn't think where else they could have sent them. There were way more people there than there ever was in my neighborhood, even before things changed," said Jet with a sigh. "I hated living in Houston, and I had it better than almost everyone. I don't know what that makes me… an ingrate I guess."
"I used to live somewhere where I had things better than a lot of people," said Sarah as she placed a hand on Jet's shoulder. "I hated it too, and felt bad that I had more. But do you want to know what I realized after I left that place?"
"What?"
"I can help people who have less than me now, because I don't live somewhere that doesn't let you do that," said Sarah with a smile. "And that makes me feel better."
"Is that why you and her are helping me and Granddad?" asked Jet.
"Yeah," said Clem with a smile. "We like helping people."
"That's good to know," said Jet with a nervous grin. "Still, what was wrong with the place you were staying at?"
"A lot of things," said Sarah, sounding bitter.
"Like Houston?" asked Jet.
"Yeah," said Clem. "But with way less people."
Jet sighed. "And, you've just been moving around ever since you left this place?"
"Pretty much," said Clem. "Sometimes we'll stay in the same place for a while, when we need to rest, but we always have to go when we start running out of food."
"Granddad always said it wouldn't last."
"Food?"
"Everything."
"In Houston?"
"Everywhere." Jet took a deep breath. "Even before things changed, he always talked about how the world wouldn't last, and we'd run out of things we'd needed. Even before everything changed, he used to talk about moving out of Houston all the time. He said big cities couldn't go on much longer with things the way they were."
"Why didn't he move then?" asked Clem.
"I think he was saving his money so he could buy a house somewhere else, but then everything went wrong and money became useless," said Jet. "I still remember how mad he was when the military shut down all the stores and took everything in them. But he didn't stay mad. It was like he knew this was going to happen."
"He knew that lurkers were coming?" asked Sarah.
"I just mean he knew the world was going to end eventually," said Jet. "He always said society ran on hydrocarbons, and there weren't enough of them to keep it running forever."
"Hydro what?" asked Clem.
"Hydrocarbons; oil, basically," said Jet.
"Like gas and diesel?" asked Sarah.
"That's two things you can make with them," said Jet. "Oil is full of stuff called hydrocarbons. Places like where my granddad worked took oil and other stuff with hydrocarbons, then split it up or combined it with other stuff to make things people used."
"You know a lot about this stuff," noted Clem.
"Both Mom and Granddad worked at a refinery, so I ended up learning a lot about this from them," said Jet.
"Do you know why gas doesn't last more than a couple of years?" asked Sarah. "Someone we knew said it oxidizes or something."
"I think that means the air is combining with it, or something," said Jet. "Gasoline has a lot of ingredients, and things like water, or air, or bacteria can get to it and change things and make it useless."
"Bacteria?" asked Clem. "In gas?"
"Yeah, certain bacteria can grow in gasoline and diesel and ruin it if you don't take care of it."
"Diesel too?" said Sarah.
"Yeah."
"We thought diesel lasted longer than gasoline," said Clem.
"I think it does, but it can still go bad too." Clem exchanged a concerned glance with Sarah as they were reminded of that particular fact.
"What about propane?" asked Sarah. "When does it go bad?"
"I don't think it does," said Jet. "I remember Granddad saying something about only the tanks ever going bad, not the propane itself."
"Really?" asked a surprised Clementine.
"Yeah, he said your only problem with propane would be if it leaks."
"Too bad you can't run a car on propane," said Sarah. "Then we wouldn't have to worry about the Brave's fuel going bad anytime soon."
"Actually, I think you can run a truck on propane," said Jet.
"Really?" asked Clem. "We can put propane into the Brave's gas tank?"
"Um… no, you'd need a special engine for that," said Jet. "Granddad said there are a few out there that ran on something that was pretty much the same as propane, but they were rare."
"But why?" asked Clem. "How come more cars didn't run on propane instead of gas?"
"Is it because it's not made out of oil like other things?" asked Sarah.
"Actually, I think propane is hydrocarbons too, just a different type," said Jet. "They also make plastics and lots of other stuff out of hydrocarbons, not just gasoline. Like Granddad said, the world ran on them."
"If it came from the same stuff, then how come cars didn't run on propane?" said Clem. "If it lasted longer, wouldn't that have been better?"
"Granddad said they weren't worried about this stuff lasting a long time," shrugged Jet. "He said that was one of the biggest problems in the world, that there weren't any plans for if things stopped working right. I used to think he was kinda crazy, but I guess he was right. Almost all the food the military brought us was stuff they were taking from grocery stores and people's houses, they didn't know how to make more of it."
"We tried growing our own food in a garden," said Sarah. "We got some good stuff from it, but not nearly enough. Anthony showed us how to fish, so sometimes we catch them, but—"
"We mostly just go looking for food people left behind," finished Clem. "Which is going to run out someday."
"Yeah, most of what we eat is leftover from people who died," said Sarah. "If so many people hadn't of died, we'd probably have starved by now."
"Granddad used to say the only reason the world used to work is because a bunch a plankton and plants and other stuff died millions of years ago and turned into oil," said Jet. "He said oil ran the world we lived in, and it would also destroy it; either with it running out, or people killing each other over it, or the planet got messed up from burning too much of it, or all three."
"Your grandpa would tell you stuff like this?" asked a surprised Clem.
"Yeah," shrugged Jet. "I think he's actually mad people coming back from the dead wrecked everything instead of what he said would happen."
"I think I'm just mad that everything is wrecked," realized Clem.
"I know I'm mad," admitted Jet. "This will sound stupid and selfish, but I think the worst part of all this is I will never get to go into space."
"Space?" asked Clem.
"Did you want to be an astronaut?" asked Sarah.
"Ever since I was six, and my mom took me to Space Center," said Jet. "And I didn't just think about it like other kids, I looked up all the stuff you had to do. I started exercising more because astronauts have to be in the best shape. I even saved up a hundred dollars to pay for a vision test because you can't be a pilot if you have problems with your eyes."
"You wanted a vision test, when you were six?" asked a surprised Sarah.
"Yeah, I was already planning everything out. I'd go to college and get a degree in engineering, then join the Air Force so I could become a pilot one day. Did you know you need a thousand hours piloting jets just to even try to be an astronaut?"
"Is that why you're called Jet?" asked Clem. "Because you wanted to fly jets one day?"
"I wanted to fly a space shuttle. But no, Jet is just short for Jettapon. It's a Thai name."
"Tie?"
"As in Thailand; it's where my grandparents and my dad are from. I've never been there though, and I don't think Mom has either." A familiar rumbling sounded from behind the RV. "Is that your generator?"
"Yeah, Patty's probably using it to fix your RV." Clem watched as Jet sat up and moved to pick up the black bag he dropped earlier.
"Do you think I could plug something into it?" asked the boy.
"What?" Clem watched as Jet opened his bag.
"Is that a laptop?" asked Sarah.
"Yeah," admitted Jet in a timid voice.
"What do you want to do with it?"
"I don't know, maybe look at some pictures on it?" shrugged the boy. "We lost all our photo albums when the house burned down."
"I wish I had a photo of my parents," said Clem.
"Or my dad," added Sarah as she stood up. "I'll go plug it in for you."
"Thanks," said Jet with a smile, the first Clem had seen on the boy since meeting him. As Sarah stepped outside, Clem watched as Omid walked out of the bedroom, his hands over his ears.
"Oh, is the generator bothering you?" asked Clem as she picked up the toddler. "Don't worry, you can stay out here with me and Jet." Clem turned to see the boy staring at her with a look of astonishment. "What?"
"I just still can't believe you're taking care of a baby," said Jet. "You said you're only ten."
"I've been taking care of him since I was nine and a half actually." Saying it out loud, Clem suddenly realized how strange that actually sounded.
"I don't think I could ever do something like that," confessed Jet.
"I didn't think we could either," admitted Clem. "I'm still not sure we can; he's still not even a year old yet."
"Yeah, but you're doing it right now," noted Jet as he turned away from Clem. "I never would have been an astronaut anyway. Astronauts are brave; I'm not."
"You don't know that," said Clem. "I never thought I could do a lot of things until I had to. Sarah too. You're probably brave too and just don't know it yet." Jet just stood there, slumped over by the weight of his own perceived lack of worth. Trying to think of something to say to him, Clem found a small hand reaching for her hat.
"Mah-bah," said Omid as Clem intercepted his hand.
"No, you got your own hat that you never…" Clem set Omid down, then darted into the bedroom. She rummaged through their drawers, pushing their clothes aside until she finally found it.
"Here," said Clem as she returned to Jet. "Why don't you have this?"
Jet turned around to find a small gray hat in her hand. "Where did you get this?" he asked as examined the Apollo logo on the cap.
"At the Space Center in Florida," said Clem.
"You went to the Kennedy Space Center?" asked a surprised Jet as he read the words running across the side of the hat. "And you're just gonna let me have this?"
"Yeah, we got that for OJ when he wanted my hat, but he doesn't actually like wearing it," said Clem. "It might be kind of small but—"
Clem watched as Jet unbuckled the back of the baseball cap and stretched it as much as he could before slipping it on top of his head. It was clearly a snug fit, but it did seem to fit on him. "Thanks, a lot." Clementine collected Omid off the carpet just as Sarah stepped back into the Brave.
"Sorry, I stopped to give Patty a hand with the…" Sarah paused when she saw Omid. "He got out again, didn't he?"
"Yeah," said Clem. "The noise from the generator was bothering him."
"I think the latch on his crib is broken," said Sarah. "I tried forcing it shut, but I guess it didn't work."
"Did you plug in my laptop?" asked Jet.
"Yeah," said Sarah. "But why did you bring it here if it wasn't already charged?"
"Ever since we got robbed, I just always kind of keep it close. I'm glad I did, it's all got left from home now. Well, it and this." Jet reached into his bag again.
"A calculator?" asked Clem as she studied the beige device. "What's so special about it?"
"Well, it still works," said Jet. "You never need to change the batteries because of the little solar panel on the top."
"Doesn't every calculator have that?" asked Sarah.
"Yeah, but Granddad always made a big deal about how this one is over twenty years old and it has worked the entire time," said Jet as he handed Clem the calculator. Looking closer, she could see the plastic had faded from its original color and there were nicks around the corners and edges. Fiddling with the buttons, Clem confirmed it did indeed still worked.
"Why would he give you this?" asked Clem.
"I think he wanted to teach me something. He gave it to me on my tenth birthday, the same year my mom got me the laptop. He said it would last me a lot longer than my computer would because it was built to last. It also says made in Thailand on the back, although I don't know if that's one of the reasons he likes it or not."
"I guess it is kind of cool when you think about it," said Sarah as she watched Clem hand the calculator back to Jet. "Even though it's really old, it's more useful than a lot of new stuff that need batteries or gas to work, which we can't always get. Sorta like that victrola Walter had, where you just had to wind it and it would play music."
"Too bad you can't just wind our RV," said Clem. "Or put solar panels on it."
"Well, an RV takes a lot more power and is way more complicated than a calculator," said Jet as he put the device away. "Still, Granddad was always talking about how people should be more self-sufficient and there were all these things they should be doing."
"Like what?"
"Well, we had solar panels on our house in Houston," said Jet. "Granddad said they weren't enough for everything, but they could power most of the important stuff by themselves."
"So does that mean you had electricity even when the military shut off the power?" asked Clem.
"No, the military took the solar panels off our roof like a week after they showed up…"
Following an odd grunting noise, Clem looked over to see Omid tugging on the closet door. It was only partially cracked, but the toddler's attempts to open it were gradually sliding it further ajar.
"Come on, you already had breakfast," said Clem as she picked Omid up.
"Ah-bree," he pleaded.
"No, you've had enough ice cream for today," said Sarah. "We've got to make it last."
"You have ice cream?" asked a confused Jet.
"Freeze-dried, we got it from the Space Center," said Clem.
"Man, I wish I had gotten to go there. I heard the Kennedy Space Center is better than the one in Houston." Jet sighed to himself. "Oh well, I guess all that stuff is pointless now. I should probably learn how that gun works."
Clem handed Omid over to Sarah and then reached for the pistol in her holster. The second she felt its cold metal at her fingertips, Clem found herself hesitant to draw the weapon. Looking at the resigned disappointment hanging on Jet's face, she found her hand moving away from her gun. "You can learn about it later," reasoned Clem. "Why don't we do something else today? Something fun."
"I thought you were supposed to teach me how to stay alive?" asked Jet.
"This is part of staying alive," said Clem with a smile.
"Having fun?" asked a skeptical Jet. "Really?"
"Yeah really. What's the point in staying alive if you don't have fun at least some of the time?"
"Do you guys ever have fun?" asked Jet.
"Of course we do," assured Sarah.
"Really?"
"Yeah," confirmed a confused Clem. "Why is that hard to believe?"
"I don't know, I guess it's just… after seeing you kill all those infected people, and save us, and see that you're taking care of a baby, I figured you two would never have time for fun anymore."
"Well, we don't have a lot," said Sarah as she looked at Omid.
"That's why it's so important to have fun when we can," said Clem. "Because we might not get a chance to later." Clem found herself regretting telling Jet that as soon as she finished saying it. Reminding the boy of the uncertainty in all their futures just seemed to kill the slight smile the boy had on his face. Clem racked her mind for anything to change the subject, and then suddenly it came to her.
"Do you play chess?" asked Clem.
"Chess? Well, I played it on my computer sometimes."
"Would you like to play against us?" suggested an eager Sarah.
"Um… sure," said Jet with a smile.
"Here, Clem, take Omid," said Sarah as she hurried to collect their chessboard, clearly excited to have a new opponent. "If I win, you can play against Clem next."
"What if I win?" asked Jet as he sat down at the dining table.
"Then you're the best chess player here," informed Clem. "Because I can't beat Sarah, at least not yet."
"I used to set the computer on hard when I played chess," warned Jet with a smile as he watched Sarah set the board in front of him.
"I played chess against my dad for years," boasted Sarah as she set up her pieces. "And he had to stop because he couldn't beat me anymore."
As she saw the pair ready to square off on a checkered battlefield, Clem suddenly noticed Omid fidgeting in her arms. Before she could even ask, she smelt what was wrong. The girl headed back into the bedroom and got to work. They were just about out of diapers again, and were running low on wipes as well. Omid didn't help either by being uncooperative the entire time Clem worked to clean up after him, and even nibbling on his feet didn't seem to help on this occasion. She suspected the generator was making him fussy; Clem knew she was starting to find it irritating herself.
Thankfully, the generator stopped and Clem breathed a sign of relief as she put Omid in his crib. She tied a sock around the busted latch, then went to toss out the dirty diaper, only to discover the trash was full. Knowing Sarah and Jet were surely busy with their game now, Clem tied off the bag and carried the garbage out herself. She shuttered slightly as she headed back outside into the cold. Clem moved away from the RV and down a row of cheap looking cars before stopping and just dropping the bag on the gravel, figuring this was as good a place as any to leave it.
Turning back to the Brave, Clem spotted Patty and Sin standing in front of the other RV, both peering into the motor as if they didn't know what was wrong with it. Looking away from them, she saw Anthony on top of his truck, where he was dividing his time between occasionally looking through the telescope and eyeing a magazine he was holding.
Heading back into the RV, Clem found her mind was more preoccupied with what was outside now. She tried watching Jet and Sarah play chess to distract herself, but it didn't work. She found her eyes kept drifting back to the windows, and her thoughts towards everything that was still out there they had yet to see. Without knowing it, Clem opened her mouth to speak.
"Jet." The girl briefly bit her lip before speaking again. "Where does your grandpa want to go?" Clem regretted that question the second she finished asking it. It hadn't even been distrust that had prompted her but curiosity; curiosity born out of a desperation to finally find a haven they had been seeking for so long now. She could see from the way Jet's face twitched slightly that she had made the boy uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, just forget—"
"It's not anywhere famous," said Jet suddenly. "And maybe that's a good thing, seeing as it sounds like all the biggest cities are messed up, including Houston now."
"Do you think it'll be safe there?" asked Sarah.
"I hope so." An uncomfortable silence followed Jet's comment, one Clem felt compelled to break.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have even asked you—"
"If Granddad doesn't tell you where it is I will," assured Jet, an odd mix of anxiety and determination in his voice. "You saved our lives, and I'll never forget that."
"It's okay," assured Clem. "Like I said, I shouldn't have asked that."
Jet turned his attention back to the chessboard after that, and the incident seemed to quickly fade from memory for everyone but Clementine. Feeling guilty now, the girl stood up and returned to the bedroom, thinking it would be best just to let their guest play a game in peace.
The first thing Clem noticed was Omid tugging on the sock she had left, which he had nearly unraveled by now. Picking up the boy, Clem split her time between keeping Omid entertained and cleaning up around the RV. She'd occasionally stop and watch Jet and Sarah play chess. Both of them took a very long time to decide on moves, and each had an intense look in their eyes. Watching them was almost hypnotic, and Clem wasn't sure how long she was staring at them until she heard a knock from outside.
"I got it," said Clem as she hurried to door.
"It's alive!" announced Patty as she stepped inside. "It was a lot more work than I was thinking, and I'm gonna want to replace some things at the first auto shop we see, and the plumbing doesn't work yet because there's no water in the tank, but your new previously-owned RV is ready to roll."
"Really?" asked an excited Jet. "That's great."
"And here, I think this belongs to you." Patty handed Jet his laptop back, along with the cable to charge it. "It was hooked up to the generator pretty much the whole time it was on, so it should be good to go for a little while."
Jet wasted no time opening the computer and turning it on. Clem found it oddly compelling watching its screen flicker to life; nowadays it was almost like watching magic. Looking at Patty and Sarah, she noticed they seemed as fascinated by this small technological miracle as Clem was. Immediately after the machine finished booting up, Jet clicked on one of the icons and a picture appeared on the screen.
Clem recognized Sin standing in what looked like the backyard of a two-story suburban home. Beside him was an old gray haired lady with a sweet smile and a colorful dress. To the left of them was a younger couple with big smiles on their faces, and between them was a much younger Jet sporting a goofy grin.
"You all looked so happy," said Sarah.
"Except Sin," noted Patty. "I guess he never smiles."
"He really doesn't," confirmed Jet.
"So is this your grandma?" asked Clementine as she pointed to the older woman.
"Yeah, she died a few months before everything got bad," said Jet with just a hint of sadness. "I really miss her, but in a weird way, I'm kind of glad she doesn't have to go through all this terrible stuff."
"And those must be your parents," said Patty. "They were a cute couple."
"They're both really smart, and they're used to going to places where things are bad, so I'm sure they're okay," said Jet, his voice free of doubt. "I just don't know how I'm ever going to find them again."
"Well, one thing at a time," suggested Patty. "Let's see if we can find somewhere we can stay long term, and then we can think about how to track down your parents."
"Do you really mean that?" asked Jet. "You're not just saying that to make me feel better are you?"
"I don't know, maybe?" shrugged Patty. "Honestly, I don't know what I'd do if I found somewhere to settle down at this point. If we figured something out, I'd probably be game to do it."
"Granddad would help you," assured Jet with a smile. "He doesn't like to admit it, but he really misses Mom. If we could actually figure something out that would work, he would—"
"Jet," called Sin from outside. "Are you in there?"
"Yeah, I'll be right out." The boy closed the laptop and stuffed it into his bag. "Thanks for everything."
"Don't thank us just yet," said Patty. "We're still stuck up shit creek, we just all have paddles now."
"Yeah, well, I feel a lot better with that paddle," said Jet with a smile.
"Jet!"
"Coming."
"Tell Sin we'll be leaving soon, and that he should follow us out," said Patty as Jet darted out of the RV. "It's still kinda early, so maybe we could scrounge up some food north of here before it gets dark."
Poking her head out the door, Clem felt content seeing Jet return to his grandfather. There was something in the way he was moving that she found uplifting. Whereas he was barely shuffling forward earlier, he seemed to be skipping now, and it made Clementine feel a little like skipping herself.
"So, you find out anything about them?" Clem turned her head slightly to see Anthony was standing right outside the door.
"Real smooth man," sniped a sarcastic Patty.
"I'm just asking," he said innocently. "I mean, he was in there with y'all for a while, you must've overheard something."
"Just that wherever Sin wants to go, it's nowhere famous," said Clem.
"That's it?" asked Anthony.
"What the hell were you expecting?" asked Patty. "That Jet would tell the girls all about his grandfather's manifesto?"
"I was just wondering if she heard anything we should be worried about," said Anthony.
"Not really," said Clem. "Jet even said he'd tell us where we're going if Sin doesn't."
"So, the kid thinks the old man might not clue us in to his secret getaway spot," noted Anthony. "That's telling."
"Anthony…"
"It is," he insisted. "It means the old guy must think this place is for real if he wants to keep it to himself."
"Yeah, you're right," realized Clem.
"And it means even the guy's own grandkid thinks he's capable of pulling a double-cross."
Clem didn't say anything this time, but once again, she found herself agreeing with Anthony's observation.
"Just get in your truck," said Patty. "If we hurry, we might get some scavenging done today."
Anthony shrugged, then turned back towards his vehicle while Clem closed and locked the Brave's door. As they moved out of the car lot and back onto the street, Clem couldn't help eyeing the new vehicle following them in the rearview mirror, wondering how it would change things. Then she looked ahead at the road, and all she could think about was where they were going next.