Young and Young at Heart (The Rewrite of The Walking Dead Game: S2) [TWDG/TWD]

57. Wage Gap

Clementine strained as she pushed the cart back into the warehouse. Even with it being empty now and Adam helping, it felt like it weighed a ton. After hours of rolling logs, stacking wood, pushing the cart, re-stacking the wood in a cargo container in the yard, and being repeatedly yelled at every step of the way for everything she did wrong, Clem felt ready to just fall over and die.

"Hustle up you two," ordered Richard as the pair slid the cart into place near the entrance. "You've made me late enough as it is." Clementine followed after Richard, more on instinct than anything at this point. She long had given up ever trying to speak in front of him, knowing anything she'd say would be met with more scorn and derision. She followed after the man, not really looking at where she was going. It wasn't until Richard stopped moving did Clem bother looking around.

"Did they work?" Hearing Maude's voice, Clementine realized she was actually standing in line for lunch.

"The girl did a shit job from start to finish." Clem felt what little strength she had left draining out of her body. She could barely remain standing as her legs wobbled at just the thought of getting nothing to eat after working so hard. "But she finished, so, sure, whatever."

Richard took his food and headed for the table in the middle. Adam took his next, greedily gulping it while moving off to the side. Clementine rushed to the window next, impatiently watching for Cookie or Edmund to hand her a bowl. When she didn't immediately see them, she had a horrible feeling she wasn't getting one, but then she saw Cookie's hand.

Clementine snatched the bowl and rushed to the nearest seat. She immediately started chugging the soup, crying in joy when she felt the warm delectable liquid move down her throat and into her empty stomach. She set the bowl down, having to take a deep breath after swallowing so much.

"Jesus, Clementine..." Clem looked up and found Christa and Nick sitting across from her, troubled expressions on both their faces. "What happened to you?"

"Wood," answered an exhausted Clem as she looked at what little soup she had left. "Lots of wood." Clementine finished the last of her soup and set the bowl down. She was about to get her water when she noticed Nick was looking around.

"What—" Nick held up his hand and Clem went quiet. She watched him move closer to Christa, then put his hand on his bowl. Looking around, Clem noticed Nick was staring at Maude. As she walked past the table, Nick quietly slid his bowl towards Clem, then pulled her empty one towards him. Christa nodded to Clem, who quickly downed what was left in Nick's bowl. The trio waited in silence after Clem set the bowl down, waiting for someone to say something, then breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"I can't believe they made you work," spoke an outraged Christa.

"I got in a fight with Matt," explained Clem as she filled her empty bowl with water. "So Gene said I had to work instead." Clementine looked around the table for anyone else sitting nearby. "Um, Matt's not here, is he?"

"No," answered Christa.

"Neither's Carlos," noted Nick. "Probably because they're not feeding them." Clementine watched as Gene, Bridget, Ed and Sarah approached Cookie's kitchen shack.

"I can't wait to drive out on the open road," beamed an exuberant Bridget as she collected her food. "It's gonna be awesome."

"Yeah, well, that'll be a while with the way you were handling the truck today," commented Ed as he waited for his meals. "Should take a cue from Sarah and slow things down a bit."

"Her? She's four years younger than me," scoffed Bridget. "And she never drove anything before today."

"And yet I'd feel a helluva lot more comfortable with her behind the wheel than you." Sarah took her bowl of soup and moved away from the shack.