Three Orphan Pilgrimage (The Alternative to TWDG's Final Season) [Walking Dead]

63. In Passing

Clementine stared up at the overcast clouds hanging in the sky. They had been teasing the girl with the promise of rain all morning, and yet not a single drop of water had fallen from them. Clem had a sneaking suspicion the moment they finished collecting, filtering, boiling, and bottling water today, it would finally rain. But until then, she was stuck toting back water a jug at a time. Fortunately, she wasn't alone in this task.

"Thanks for helping," Clem told Jet as they pushed through the shriveled remains of the overgrowth, reaching a small pond they had visited earlier.

"No problem. I was used to getting our own water before we ever left Houston," assured the boy as he set his jug and bucket down by the edge of the pond. "The military would bring us water every few days, but it wasn't enough. We had to put out bottles and pots every time it rained, which was almost never during the summer," he explained as he dunked his bucket into the pond.

"We did the same thing, and used anything else we had that could catch water," said Clem as she carefully pulled her bucket out of the pond, her sore arms straining as she set it on the dirt. "We had a garden then, and there were a couple of really hot weeks where there was no rain, and a lot of our plants died. Sarah was really upset; so was I."

"Some people would try to grow things in their backyards in Houston. If the military ever saw it, they'd literally just pull the plant up and take it with them."

"Patty said they did the same thing in Miami." Clem removed a funnel and a roll of paper towels from her backpack.

"The weird thing is I don't even think they wanted to take them," said Jet. "One of our neighbors had some tomato plants before everything started, and they didn't even have any tomatoes on them when the military showed up, but they took them anyway. Our neighbor told us that before they left, one of the soldiers actually said they were sorry, but that they were 'following orders'."

"Orders?" Clem carefully folded a paper towel before setting it in the funnel. "Someone told them to take all the plants that could grow food?"

"Apparently," said Jet as he grabbed one of the filled buckets.

"What were they doing with them?" asked Clem as she planted the funnel on the jug. "Did they have a farm?"

"Nobody really knew. Like I said, all the food they brought us was stuff in cans, boxes, or bags. If they were growing food, they never gave us any, and they actually gave us a little more than others because Granddad worked for them." Jet lifted the bucket off the ground. "Ready?"

"Go slow."

Jet tipped the bucket forward and water started flowing through Clem's funnel and into the jug. "Granddad told me he tried to find out what happened to our house's solar panels when he first started managing the refinery in Port Arthur. They never told him, and he said he never saw any solar panels on any of the buildings the military used; not in Houston or Port Arthur."

"Then, what did they do with them?" asked Clem as she watched the water fill the plastic jug.

"If we knew that, we probably wouldn't be going to... north."

Jet finished pouring the last of the water out of the bucket and Clem examined the jug. The water appeared clear, and the towel she stuffed in the funnel had only a few minor specks of dirt in it, assuring the girl there was little to filter out in the first place.

"Looks good," said Clem as she tossed the towel aside and replaced it with another one. "One we finish these last two, that should be enough for now."

The pair quickly filtered the water in the second bucket into another jug then collected their things. They walked together through the dried shrubs and past the leafless trees surrounding this murky pond. A short walk led them right back to the highway where a familiar RV was waiting for them. Sarah helped the pair hoist the water jugs inside, setting them on the carpet near the kitchen.