CYOA Page 140

[lumy12]

Page One Hundred Forty

Flashlight clipped haphazardly to your shirt (backpack straps are much better holders), gun drawn and ready, you scan what you can see of the living room from the railing at the top of the stairs. Did I just see a flash of...

"Who's there?" you call out as you descend the staircase (no need for stealth, since you're not exactly hidden with your light and all). "I have a gun!" You definitely hear something in the kitchen! You rush over there -- there's a guy! -- "Freeze! Stop or I'll fucking shoot!"

The guy does stop... and he turns around slowly. He's scruffy-looking, with a big fuzzy beard. Not young, but probably not older than Joel. "Yeah? Guess what. I got one, too."

And so he does; he's holding a pistol at waist-level. Fuck!

He smiles... and you suppose you'd have to classify it as a menacing smile. "I don't wanna shoot you, missy. And you don't wanna--"

BANG! A shot rings out and you nearly jump out of your skin.

You realize you're not hurt, so... But I didn't pull the trigger... did I?

The guy drops the gun and staggers back, eyes bulging, spitting blood into his beard. A light that's not yours sweeps around the room. "Are there any more of 'em?"

Oh! DUH! Of course it was Joel! "Shit, you scared me! I dunno. He's the only one I saw."

"You all right?" he asks distractedly; he's already in the next room.

You watch the intruder gasping for breath on the floor. "Yeah..."

"Good. Take his gun. Go check on the boy, I'll check outside... an' everywhere else..."

You pluck the dying man's gun from the floor and head up the stairs to Zack's room. He's not in his bed! "Zack? Zack! Where'd you go?" Great -- leave it to the little punk to use this to his advantage and run--

"Ellie?"

Whew! He's in the room. "Are you... under the bed?"

"Is it safe now?"

"Yeah! Yeah, come on out."

He scoots out, stands up, and dusts himself off. "It's kinda gross under there."

"Ha. Gross but safe." You look at the space he emerged from and wonder if you would even fit under there. Poor Joel... HE sure wouldn't... wait, why the 'poor Joel'? I can't imagine him ever hiding under a bed. And... you realize now that you wouldn't, either. Not anymore. Not for the past... long while, actually.

This revelation makes you feel very grown-up. I'll have to tell Joel! Because you love telling Joel things that prove your ad up,ulthood. Except... maybe you don't want to, because you can imagine him either saying "that's cute" or launching into some lecture about how sometimes it's better to hide than to fight if the odds are against you, blah blah blah.

"What happened?" Zack asks you as he flops on his stomach on the bed, propping himself up with his arms.

"A guy came in here... looking to steal shit, I'm sure, but since we brought everything upstairs, he wasn't having any luck downstairs, and I heard him, so I went down there--"

"You went down there?!"

The jaw-dropping awe is kind of cute! "Well, yeah. I have a gun, remember? But the guy did too, and I was thinking about shooting him but before I could make up my mind, Joel shot him. Like I didn't even hear him and suddenly he was shooting the dude." He probably woke from a dead sleep (or... as close as he comes to that while Outside?) when he heard your voice in the hallway.

"Why were you thinking about it? Why didn't you just do it?"

"Cuz... well, he had a gun, too..." You could have shot him in the back, though, and you didn't. "I guess... I needed to see him first? See if he was bad, or..."

"Of course he's bad if he's trying to steal from us."

"Ha. Things aren't always that black and white." ...Oh my God I sound exactly like Joel now! Lord help me-- "Me and Joel have stolen things before, you know. When we had to. You were going to steal from us when--"

"No I wasn't!"

"...Okay, whatever. Anyway -- Joel made up his mind a lot faster than me. He's looking now to see if there's anyone else around. So don't worry, see? He'll keep us safe."

He smiles at you... and it's like, hero-worship or something? "You will, too."

"Oh... yeah. Yeah, of course." Yep, definitely feeling grown-up now! "You've been Outside for, what... over a month now? You never had scary people bothering you?"

"No... I mean, like, one time there were these men... they saw me but weren't real close, and they started calling to me, like trying to get me to come over? And I just ran the other way as fast as I could."

"That was smart. Did they chase you?"

"Nope. I had my backpack but nothing else -- I mean, my gun, but no bullets, so it doesn't count as a thing, really. You guys... you have horses... and lots of bags and guns and stuff... and a flamethrower..."

Everyone seems to love the flamethrower. "Yeah... the more shit you have, the more attention you attract. Especially the horses."

"You mean cuz they're big and stuff? Or cuz people really want them?"

"Both, I guess."

Zack looks thoughtful. "What if you trained your horse to kick everyone who isn't you? Then it could never get stolen, right?"

You chuckle. "That's a pretty good idea. Not sure how to go about doing it, but it sounds good. Except you'd have to train him to be nice to your people cuz it's not really practical to-- like, what if you get hurt and someone else has to ride him?"

"Oh yeah, huh. So he just kicks strangers then. Hey -- why did you go downstairs?"

The abrupt subject change throws you for a second. "Why did I go downstairs? I already--"

"I mean when you saw the guy -- why didn't you go get Joel?"

"That's a good question," says Joel from the doorway -- sneaking up on you yet again.

"Fuck! Stop scaring me!" you laugh.

He just looks at you expectantly.

"Well... I wasn't sure there was someone down there," you answer. "I would've felt really dumb if it was just--"

"It don' matter if you'd feel dumb. How many times have I told you--"

"Yeah yeah," you groan. "Better to be safe than sorry, or whatever cliché you wanna use."

"I'm serious. You could've been killed."

"Well, you know what? So could you! That's just-- that's fucking life. We both have guns. What's the difference?"

"He's bigger. And older," Zack points out helpfully.

"I don' mean to say you ain't capable," Joel says as you roll your eyes. "You are. You're level-headed in dangerous situations... you're a good shot... an' you've got pretty good instincts. But I... have more experience. A hell of a lot more."

"And you can kill grown men with your bare hands," you add, because you're sure he's thinking it. "That's great and all, but if I get in trouble, I can fight, too. I've been fighting people bigger than me my whole life. If all else fails, I can always kick 'em in the balls."

Joel sighs. "I still wish you'd come to get me. Safety in numbers, at the very least?"

"Okay, I'll give you that one," you say kindly. "We do make a good team. But you were asleep."

"I don't care, you still should've--"

"Okay, I get it, I'm sorry, okay?"

"No need to apologize. Just... next time--"

"Yeah, yeah. Next time come and get you."

"I thought it was really brave of you, going by yourself," Zack tells you.

Aww! "Thank you, Zack! Joel's going to say 'I don't care if it was brave, I'd rather have you be safe than dead'--"

"That's right," Joel interrupts you. "You know me so well. So why do you do these things that go against everythin' I say?"

"Because I'm a horrible person, Joel," you say sarcastically. "Look, I thought... maybe it was just a squirrel or something. I didn't know it was a guy."

"A squirrel?"

"They can fit through that hole in the back door window. Why not?"

"All right, well... no sense arguin'. I didn't find anyone else around... an' I moved that guy out of the way, down there. You wanna go get some sleep now an' I'll take my turn?"

"Oh... is it your turn already?" You did kind of lose track of time when you were writing... writing! Shit--

"I don' know... but seein' as how I'm wide awake now..."

You didn't even bother to hide your journal! It's sitting right there on the floor for all to see. You don't mean to draw attention to it now, but you can't leave it in this room. You casually just... well, okay, you fucking lunge for it. As if one of them might snatch it up and read it right this second if you don't secure it.

"What's that?" Zack asks.

"I was... journaling, before. You know. To pass the time on my... shift."

"You mean like... writing in a diary?"

"Yeah."

"About what happened today?"

"...Yep!" Oh God, Joel can't tell I'm blushing, can he?!

"Can I see?"

"No!" You force a chuckle to hide your discomfort. "Dude, it's really... rude to read other people's diaries."

"Why?"

"Cuz it's private, that's why!"

"But... I already know everything that happened today. It's not like it's a secret... ?"

Joel chuckles. "Son, girls like to talk about how they feel about everythin'. So... some of that's prob'ly private, yeah?"

You're very glad Joel thinks he knows what you so desperately do not want Zack (or him) to read.

"I didn' know you were actually writin' in that thing," Joel says to you. "Thought it was jus' some old journal you liked to read."

"You're not allowed to read it, either," you tell him firmly.

"Understood. I'd never invade your privacy that way."

You stifle a giggle because 'invade your privacy' sounds dirty, but obviously, you can't make any suggestive remarks about it right now. "I'm... gonna go put this away."

Joel waves you on. "Go on -- you can get some sleep. I'll hang out in here."

"You don't have to," Zack mumbles.

"Yes I do. It's all right... I can sleep on the floor by the door here."

You go put your 'journal' away (God, you hope Joel's serious about respecting your privacy! To be honest, you're not sure you'd be able to resist the temptation of reading his diary if the tables were turned) and climb into bed. Your adrenaline spent, you realize you are pretty tired.

You hear the murmur of Joel's and Zack's voices down the hall. You wonder what they're talking about. You're not vain enough to assume they're talking about you; you're just curious. You wonder what you're missing.

Dragging the covers of the bed with you, you head back to the room. They stop talking and look at you. Zack's under the covers already. "I brought you stuff to lay on," you tell Joel.

He smiles. "Thank you. That's awfully sweet of you, kiddo."

You start spreading out the covers on the floor. "But you can keep talking," you add... because they haven't resumed their chat.

"He's goin' back to sleep anyhow." Joel stretches out on the blanket you brought and switches off his flashlight.

"Oh. Okay. Well... I'll just hang out with you for a while and... not talk."

"All right. As long as you go to sleep, too."

"Deal." You switch off your light as well.

With the room dark, you tentatively lean against Joel, half expecting him to push you away. He doesn't, but he doesn't hug you close, either. "Good night, baby girl," he whispers.

"Good night." You almost add an "I love you," but catch yourself in time. Not that it would be inappropriate, really... you could love him like a dad... hell, you did, for a long time. You still do, in a way. But you guys never said it to each other before it... took on another meaning.

You're content just to be next to him. Feeling the warmth of his body, hearing him breathe... you'll probably fall asleep soon anyway.

But first, hopefully you can get some good thinking done: you need to work out what fictional-Ellie is going to do to fictional-Joel next!


THE END



If you'd like to start another adventure, return to page 1.

Comments

Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

Nice ending... Joel is like Han solo he shot first... LOL

RE: Carlos

[luminations.livejournal.com]

Yep because OF COURSE!