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

84. Laurel Street

Everyone moved forward along the road at a brisk pace, tense and paranoid about what awaited them. As they walked, Clementine couldn't stop thinking about whoever was in the church with them. Someone opened the front doors and locked the back door. And someone lit those firecrackers and threw them inside. They set a trap, and without anyone noticing until it was sprung.

Despite what Christa said about it not mattering, Clementine couldn't stop herself from wondering. There were a lot of people at Shaffer's, and Clem knew that at least some of them survived, but she couldn't really think which one of them would bother following them this far out without some backup. Really the only person Clem could think of was Matt. He heard Nick's instructions on how to get to Saint Christopher's. He knew about using fireworks to draw walkers. And trying to kill her and everyone else sounded like the kind of thing he would try.

Moving along McCall Road felt more unnerving with every step. All the trees blocked out a lot of moonlight and Clem could hear walkers moving about and moaning in the distance, but she could rarely see them. The darkness also made it hard to see if there was anyone following them, which worried Clem more than walkers right now.

Reaching the end of McCall Road, Nick turned right and everyone followed his lead. With each passing step, the sounds of groaning undead and aimless shuffling grew louder. Looking around, Clementine could see some walkers moving about in the yards of the nearby houses, but not nearly as many as she could hear.

Reaching the end of the road, the group stepped over a pair of railroad tracks and started moving through a parking lot. Nick started cutting across the lot and headed towards an intersection Clem could see in the distance. Clem watched as Nick moved to the center of the intersection, then just stopped.

"What is it?" whispered Clem as she reached Nick. "Why..." Clementine looked out at the street in front of them, and could see walkers. Everywhere she looked, she could find at least one idling about. Roaming across the street, wandering by the buildings, or just waiting for something to come to them. They were spread out all over the place, rarely more than two near each other, but that did little to ease Clem's mind.

"Please tell me this isn't Laurel Street." Nick answered Christa's question by pointing to the traffic light over the intersection. The sign beside the lights read 'Laurel Street.' "Fuck."

"And north is that way." Clementine put her compass away and pointed right down the center of the road.

"Maybe we could go around?" whispered a nervous Sarah.

"There's probably plenty more all over town," said Nick. "Like I said, Shaffer's hasn't cleared out Springfield yet, and the herd just passed through."

"Fastest way between two places is a straight line," stated a determined Christa. "How far is the school we're looking for?"

"I'm not sure," said Nick. "But I don't think it's a big town."

"How can you be sure?" asked Clem.

"Well, looking at the signs, there's city hall." Nick pointed to a modest brick building with three storefronts on it. The top of the building read 'City of Springfield' and the nearest front had the lettering 'City Hall' above it. The one farthest away said 'Police Dept.' "Can't imagine a town that has the police department and city hall in a building that small being all that big."

"Let's just get this over with." Christa started marching forward, the others following in her footsteps. Nick gripped his crowbar as he positioned himself ahead of Christa while Clem found herself with Sarah right behind Christa. The girls watched the sides of the road, their weapons in hand, trying to ready themselves for something they both hoped wouldn't happen.