CYOA Page 136
Sep. 12th, 2013 11:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumy12You wait for Joel to fetch his horse -- and to tell the pretty bitch that yes you're leaving her alone for the time being. To your annoyance, you see him handing a gun to her as well. A small one that he tends to only use as a last resort, or like... to shoot Firefly pendants out of trees.
"Did you have to do that?" you grumble to him when he rides up alongside you. "You're gonna let her keep it, aren't you."
Joel shrugs. "If you were out here by yourself an' someone stole your gun, I'd want a kind stranger to do the same for you."
"Whatever." You take the lead, heading for the spot you could've sworn you saw the guy. Looking around from that spot doesn't help you find him, though.
"Hold up," says Joel, dismounting. "I think maybe you're right..."
"I am? ...of course I am! I knew I saw someone! What is that... footprints?"
"Yep. Fresh ones. Large enough that they prob'ly belong to a man. I wanna say he went... that way... but it's kinda hard to... ... tell..." The prints don't make a good trail. They seem to start and stop, which Joel doesn't find unusual... he says it's not like the ground is a perfect surface to record them. There's dirt and grass and twigs and leaves, and shadows interplaying through it all, making it difficult to see, but with some guesswork and backtracking, you're able to follow the tracks -- very slowly.
Too slowly.
"We don't have time for this," Joel declares. "He'll be long gone if we keep doin' this. I feel pretty good about this direction we're headed, though... let's just do a big sweep of the area an' see if we can catch up to him."
"Should we split up?" you ask. "Just to like... sweep from both sides at once?"
"No. There's no set perimeter... let's just play it by ear." (He means not following a perfect script or whatever, like music notes on a page... 'winging it'... it actually has nothing to do with ears! ...or wings!) "Stay close an' keep your eyes peeled."
"I could totally do it by myself," you tell him, knowing full well that he won't leave you at this point -- especially since he believes you now about the guy being there.
"You prob'ly could," Joel agrees, "but that don' mean I can jus' sit back an' let ya." He clucks to his horse, and the two of you set off at a gallop.
You ride hard for a little while, seeing nothing. It's not until Joel decides you should circle back, taking another route that covers new ground, that he gives you that I-sense-something look.
"There's someone up ahead... two o'clock... see 'im?" Joel calls to you less than a minute later, slowing his horse.
"Yeah -- that could be him!"
"You ain't sure?"
"I mean... it looks kinda like him, but -- he sees us!" The man starts to run.
It's pretty futile to try to outrun people on horseback, of course! You catch up to him in no time, and he stops, raising his hands in the air.
You and Joel are both pointing guns at him; he appears to be unarmed.
"Turn around," Joel barks at him. "Real slow."
"Please," the guy pants, complying with the request. "I've got nothing... as you can... see..."
"Ellie, is this the guy?"
"Um... I think so. I only got a glimpse... but he was wearing like a darkish T-shirt like this, I think..."
"Go look around where he came from. See if you find anythin'."
You go back farther than you think necessary, scouring the area for a bag or a weapon. You keep looking until you hear Joel calling you back; he's walking the man in your direction.
"I haven't found anything," you say when you meet in the middle.
"I had him turn out his pockets, too," says Joel. "Nothin'."
"I'm telling you -- I didn't attack no woman," the man pleads.
You ignore him. "Maybe he stashed it somewhere along the way?"
"He says he didn't."
"I didn't!" the man echoes. "Please, just let me go..."
Joel is frowning, his brow furrowed... he doesn't believe him...
"I swear I won't make no trouble for you," says the guy. He sounds pathetic, but you know that means nothing.
Joel still has the Shorty aimed at him. "If you can't take us to the shit you stole--"
"I can't! I didn't steal nothing!"
"--then come on back with us. She can tell us if you're lyin'."
"Okay! All right!"
He seems so relieved at that prospect that you think he must be telling the truth. Maybe Joel is just being overly wary?
"If you run, you'll get a bullet in your back," Joel warns him.
The two of you march the guy all the way back to the highway, then backtrack to where you left the woman. Oh please let her just be GONE, you pray. But... why? That would mean she took off with Joel's gun, which... he can spare, but... if she confirms this guy is her attacker, Joel will force him to disclose where the stolen goods are, find the shit, then shoot him -- so the bitch can be on her way. If she says this isn't the guy, well... you hope Joel will just send her off, with or without the gun, with the assurance that the guy's long gone by now. But he might not... he's pretty good at staying out of people's business, like with the creepy kid earlier... except you're afraid this chick's fear may have triggered some kind of protective desire in him.
...And hopefully that's the ONLY kind of desire... since you were sort of finding it hard not to look down her shirt, you imagine Joel was, too. So yeah... PLEASE LET HER BE GONE!
"It's just us," Joel calls to her as you approach the building from the other side. "If you're there... it's just us. Don't shoot."
Silence. ...Yes! She's gone! Oh thank--
"Did you find him?"
Fuck! NOT gone.
"Maybe," Joel replies, pulling ahead of you and the captive. "You tell us."
She comes around the corner before you get there, looking startled as fuck when she sees the man with you (and she still hasn't buttoned her shirt?). You notice Joel has positioned himself where he can see both of their faces. You pull forward so you can do the same.
"Is this the guy?" Joel asks, aiming his gun at the man again. "Jus' say the word an' I'll shoot him right--"
"No!" she cries. "No, it's not! It's not him."
He shifts his gaze back and forth between the two. "You know him, though?"
"No," she answers... with just enough hesitation to make you wonder...
"Hm. You sure about that?" Joel presses. "You looked real nervous when I was about to blow his head off."
"Well, I... I'd hate to see you kill the wrong person, you know."
You hop off your horse and approach her, gun in hand but not drawn. "Can we have our gun back now please?" you ask oh-so-politely. "You're safe."
She hands it to you, somewhat reluctantly (you suppose you can't blame her for that). You stick it in the waist of your jeans. "Thanks. I see you fixed your pants... what about your shirt?"
"Ellie--"
"I'm just wondering why she hasn't buttoned it up yet," you say without looking at him -- because yeah, something's up with this bitch...
"I, um... the buttons came off, see... so..."
"Yeah, I see that. The funny thing is, I noticed earlier that they were there. Unbuttoned, but there. Joel, isn't it funny that they just happened to fall off after that?"
"They were barely there," the bitch says hastily. "They came off when I tried to button them. The man... when he tore at my shirt..." She looks like she's about to cry again.
Seriously?! You don't know why she'd want to stay half-naked... unless... you glance at Joel now -- he's not buying it! YES!
"You know her, don't you," Joel addresses the man. "You were tryin' to give her some sorta signal when we got here. Tell her how to play this."
"I've never seen her before in my life, man, I swear," the guy says... fairly believably, to your ears...
But perhaps not to Joel's. He casually steps down off his horse and moves closer to the man. "One of you better start tellin' us the truth."
"I am!"
"I don't know her!"
"Never seen him before!"
Joel lowers the gun, and both of them seem to exhale. Then he swiftly punches the man in the stomach, doubling him over.
"Stop!" the woman shrieks.
You snort. "You don't know him -- what do you care?"
"But -- he's innocent! You don't need to hurt him. Please!"
Joel trains the gun on the guy again. "What should it be next, Ellie? A kneecap?"
You wonder if he'd actually go that far. "Uh... how 'bout his balls?"
Joel smirks at you. "That's cold. All right..." He aims the gun...
"No, wait!" begs the man, who is now covering his crotch with his hands. "You're right! I lied. I... do know her. But I didn't rob her!"
"You were tryin' to rob us," Joel surmises. He shakes his head. "We look like easy marks or what?"
The bitch turns her big green eyes on Joel. "Please... we have nothing. We were robbed... they took everything. Everything! And you have horses..."
"I don't get it. What's with the act?" you ask either of them. "Why not just rob us in our sleep or something?"
Neither of them answers, so Joel does. "Sometimes it's easier to do when it's an inside job. Especially when you got no weapons."
"And if we spend the night in a house they can't sneak into," you add. "Have you guys done it before?"
They both answer no, but Joel just shakes his head. "This one has," he says, indicating the bitch. "She's a pretty good actress. Fooled me at first."
"Not me," you brag (...it's partly true, at least?). "I knew something was off. She didn't want my help -- only yours. She was going to seduce you, Joel!" ...because that makes it easier to get 'inside' for the INSIDE job? Or is she just a total skank?
The woman is crying... maybe for real this time, who knows... Joel motions for the dude to go stand with her. "Well, now the only question is what do we do with them."
The man puts his arm around the bitch. "Please... if you let us go, we won't ever bother you again, honest to God."
Joel holsters his gun, and you think his decision is made, but then he strolls over to you and pulls out the little pistol you're carrying for him. The one he gave to the damsel in distress. He toys with the gun a little... cocks it... "Don't worry. I'll make it quick."
You couldn't care less about the woman -- stupid bitch! -anyone who tries to fuck Joel NEEDS to die! -- but you feel kind of sorry for the man. If he's in love with her... well, she was going to let Joel shoot his balls off! Maybe she would've stopped him in another second, but you bet she's just using the poor bastard. He just strikes you as utterly pathetic. And like... if you and Joel were going to do this to people? Joel would never be cool with you seducing other men. Fuck, he doesn't even let me seduce HIM! You wonder if it bothers the guy, or if the ends justify the means.
Well, if you're going to stop Joel, you better say something now.
If you convince Joel to spare their lives, turn to page 216.
If you let him shoot them, turn to page 220.
Carlos
Date: 2021-02-07 06:23 am (UTC)Re: Carlos
Date: 2021-02-07 12:58 pm (UTC)