Salvation. The Walking Dead: Season Five.

Road to Atone - Part Four.

*

Minerva had been the one to lead them there, calling out from a distance that rendered her a mere speck on the asphalt horizon up ahead.

The other four had been lagging behind for a good few miles now; Clementine once again left struggling to identify with the seemingly limitless energy Minerva had shown herself to possess ever since (re-)joining their ranks.

The redhead stood atop the shell of a burned out car as they caught up, a scorching sun at her back. She'd taken her jacket off to combat the heat; her normally loose and low hanging top tied up to reveal an impressive albeit pale midriff. It was hard for Clementine not to be envious of Minerva's physique. Especially when Violet had once had the pleasure of enjoying it.

Not that Clementine was particularly critical of her own considering the constant running from walkers over the years had left her with a slim if slightly under nourished figure.

She pulled her eyes away when she realised she was staring, a now concious effort made to focus them instead on the dilapidated structure that Minerva's outstretched arm pointed to.

"It's a roadhouse!" She exclaimed, her enthusiasm almost immediately dashed however when Violet rolled her eyes; beads of sweat sailing the new wave of wrinkles on her forehead.

"Exactly. And it served meats! Anything still left in there is going to be fucking rancid, Min." She complained, vexed at yet another let down. They were now miles further out than their searches had previously taken them, and so far had near scraps to show for it.

Minerva fumbled to offer up the prospect of something slightly more appealing, albeit also potentially poisonous. "Well what about peanuts and shit? Fucking... uh, trail mix?" She suggested.

"I guess..." Clementine answered after an equally unconvinced silence from the others, though even her reply only came in part to drown out the audible moaning from her empty stomach.

She hadn't eaten properly now in days, having given the majority of her already meager meals to AJ. Her hunger had her aching for the rudimentary promise that Richmond had just began to fullfil in the way of agriculture before what always happens, happened.

Clementine had her melancholy cut short as Louis slapped his hands together loudly by her ear, an epiphany having formed quickly in the interim.

"That's not the only thing these places used to serve" He half belted out - proof he'd been in his own head for longer than Clementine - and took off toward the beaten restaurant; 'Clairles' held out before him like some kind of comically blunt sword leading the way to war.

"Hell yeah, that's the spirit!" Minerva replied, equally as clueless as the rest of them to Louis' desire and yet leaping off the roof of the car and hitting the ground running to chase him down anyway.

"So I guess we're checking out the roadhouse then." Clementine confirmed, another stab of envy as she watched Minerva dash through the entrance and into the sanctuary of shade.

She pulled the rim of her baseball cap down with one hand in response to further shield her own face from the sun's sweltering gaze, while Violet took the opportunity to hold her other now Minerva was out of view.

The two had tried their best to keep any displays of affection to a minimum out of respect for her feelings but she'd been taking things strangely well. Clementine had expected nothing but a burning hatred in Minnie's eyes every time theirs met but it just wasn't there, which in a ways was all the more unsettling.