CYOA Page 192

[lumy12]

Page One Hundred Ninety-Two

You don't see where the bullet hits him. The flashlight thuds on the ground, there's moaning and gasping... you fire again, aiming for the source of the moaning. Just in case.

Now he's on the ground, too. Completely still, just like the other one. Dead or near-dead, no threat to you.

You collect the flashlights and guns, switching off the lights in case the last guy decides to come over and see what happened. The "help me, I've been shot" thing may still work, but if the guy has any brains at all, he'll be wary when he realizes that two of his friends who came in here with you are now dead... that they clearly weren't the ones firing all three shots.

You feel slightly guilty about the second guy. It did seem like he wanted to help you there at the end, that maybe he felt sorry for you... No, fuck that -- he hurt Joel. He would've hurt me, too. They're all the same.

You can't help wondering what exactly Joel used to do when he was one of these assholes. He doesn't like talking about those days. In theory, you suppose you can imagine him hurting innocent people to take their shit... but you can't imagine him assaulting women for fun, or even just saying creepy things -- especially to a teenage girl. ...They're NOT all the same.

It doesn't appear that the third guy is coming. Is he a coward... or is he being smart? Best to assume the latter.

He may assume you've decided to take off. How would he know that you'd never abandon Joel that way?

You creep along the right side of the tunnel, prepared to shoot the second you see a silhouette in the mouth of it. You make it all the way to the end... no one's there. It's only a short way around to where they have Joel.

Treading slowly, carefully, eyes and ears peeled, you make your way there... I hear them! He's talking to the guy on the ledge-- voices indistinct, but now you know where that last hunter is. You keep moving as stealthily as you can. This should be easy -- just sneak over there and shoot the motherfucker before he even sees you.

"Guess I better go see."

Now you can make out their words... see about ME? you wonder.

And then-- fuck! He's-- You both fire at the same time!

You dive behind a boulder for cover. ...He didn't hit me!

...but you don't think you hit him, either. He must've been diving for cover, too. You peek around the boulder, from a couple angles, but don't see him.

"Did you shoot those guys?" he asks, giving you some idea where he's at. "Really?"

You don't answer.

"Shit, girl -- you're really something. You should stick around. We could use someone like you."

You stay quiet. Unbelievable... he wants to RECRUIT me? -Except then you realize he's probably bluffing.

"Come on out. Let's work something out here."

"You wanna be my friend now?" you finally answer him. "I just killed your buddies."

"You had to. I get it. No hard feelings. ...Look, we can be equal partners. You don't gotta do anything you don't wanna do."

Yeah, right! He might be serious, though -- not with that last statement, perhaps, but he might want to join forces with you. Maybe this is how hunters form their groups? "All I want is for you to let Joel go," you say, quite honestly. "Don't kill him."

"Hell, we can use him, too. That first whack on the head usually does 'em in -- not this guy. Kept fighting, the bastard."

They must've ambushed him... poor Joel. You're relieved to hear the hunter talk about him like this; the "we can use him" sure makes it sound like Joel's alive and he's going to be okay.

"You didn't call him 'dad,' " the guy observes. When you don't respond to that, he chuckles. "So it's like that, then. He prob'ly won't want to share you. That's fine... but things can change. This one bitch, she--"

BAM!

...What?! You're startled by (and then confused about) that gunshot -- you look around wildly and don't see anyone else -- plus, it was coming from--

"Joel!" You see him! He's still lying on the ground, a little farther back. "Did you just--" You answer your own question when you emerge from cover and see the guy you were just talking to -- or, rather, one of his arms, on the ground -- sticking out from his own hiding spot. You approach carefully... until you see the rest of him. Oh yeah, he's dead, alright!

Then you rush toward Joel, who still looks like absolute shit. You drop to your knees beside him, looking him over. "Are you okay? Fuck, of course you're not, but... how bad is it?"

"I'll live," he says -- and oh, how good it is to hear his voice! "Are you okay?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm fine -- they're all dead now -- well, except that guy down there on the ledge, but fuck him. -Don't try to get up, you look like you need to... stay like that..."

Joel chuckles, then coughs, grimacing. "All right... over here, then... maybe we can sit... for a little while."

It's not raining anymore, but you know Joel doesn't want to sit out in the open where you're at now. You start to help him up.

"Hey up there! Uh... I don't have a weapon. If you just help me up, I swear I'll leave you alone. I won't try nothin'. I swear on my Nana's grave."

You snort. "Okay, we'll think about it."

"The horses," Joel mumbles when you get him settled on a blanket, leaning against the wall of one of the alcoves.

"They're fine. And there's three of them now," you tell him happily. "Well, there might be. Hopefully we didn't scare him off."

"We should get 'em." Joel starts to get up again.

"No! You can barely move." As evidenced when the gentlest of pushes is all it takes to still him. "I'll go get them."

His grip on your arm is strong, though! "No. Don't... don't leave."

"You'll be fine," you assure him -- although you're pretty sure he's not worried about himself. He never is! It's always you. "I'll be right back to protect you, don't worry."

He smirks at you. "You're lovin' this, ain'tcha."

"What? No. I hate that you're hurt." Of course you're not loving this! Silly Joel.

"Better me than you." He looks at you soberly. "You sure you're all right? They really didn't hurt you?"

"Nope. They didn't." You realize it probably looks otherwise. "None of this blood is mine." And that one punch won't leave any bruises visible to Joel, so he doesn't need to know.

"Good."

"I never touched her! You know that, man!"

You're partly annoyed, partly amused. "Fuck, that guy's listening to everything we say?"

"Well, there's nothing ELSE to do down here!"

You'll just try to ignore him. "I really should go get the--"

"No -- not unless I go with you."

You groan good-naturedly. "Do you know how much longer it will take if I have to haul your ass over there? No. I'm going. I'll be right back."

"Please, Ellie." He tightens the grip on your arm.

"What if someone steals them?" you try to reason with him. "If you're so worried about me leaving, you must be worried there's more assholes around here... which means I need to go get them and keep them safe."

"It ain't that I'm worried..."

"Well, then what are you?"

"It's... just in case. You never know." Meaning he's worried.

You argue about it for a couple more minutes before he finally gives in. "Be real careful, all right?" he says. Like it's some big trek you're about to make.

"Of course." You gather up all the weapons and tuck them around Joel -- the way mothers in movies tuck stuffed animals around their kids when they're going to sleep. "You be careful, too. Stay awake 'til I get back."

"I ain't gonna go to sleep," he says with a chuckle.

But he will, if you can coax him to. "Shoot anyone you see who isn't me," you advise. You turn to finally leave--

--and he stops you again! "Ellie, wait."

"What?" you groan, a bit less good-naturedly this time.

"Just... I'm proud of you, kiddo."

...OH. You blush and look away. "I didn't do much, really."

"Sure you did. You took on all them hunters by yourself... with no help from me. An' you did good. Real good."

"You helped with the last one," you say kindly. You absolutely love making Joel proud -- you live for it, even -- but it never fails to make you feel awkward in the moment of recognition.

"You would've had that one, too." He smiles weakly. "Hurry back, yeah?"

Of course you'll hurry; you don't like the idea of leaving Joel alone in the state he's in.

"You guys really care about each other, huh? That's nice. You're lucky, you know? Really lucky."

The guy had been quiet for a bit so you nearly forgot about him. "Shut up," you mutter as you pass by without looking down. He's right, of course. You know how lucky you are; times like this remind you of it.

You'd like to think that if you help him off that ledge, he would be true to his word. That swearing on ~Nana's grave~ signifies something more than just desperation. They're NOT all the same! That's my final opinion on the subject.

But you can hear Joel's voice in your head, contradicting such thoughts: "You can't trust people out here. You think he'll be so grateful for our help that he'll forget we just killed all his friends? Even if he cheerfully waves goodbye and wishes us well, you think he won't come kill us in our sleep and take everything we've got? You wanna be lookin' over your shoulder the whole rest of this trip?"

He's right, of course. You don't have to kill the hunter; you can leave him there to find his own way up -- or down. But helping him is too risky. You have way too much to lose (...and you're not even thinking about your stuff).

Maybe you'll just toss him a jerky stick or two when Joel isn't looking.


THE END



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Comments

Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

Ahhh... I like it when Ellie thinks that some people are good and can change. Yeah not all of them are bad as Joel always thinks. I like this part was so exiting love the action, I don't know why you always said that your not good at it, but I think you're.

Re: Carlos

[luminations.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It makes it more exciting knowing they could die, right? In a "real" fic we don't like to kill them. And yeah Joel likes to think they're all bad but that only makes sense in video games...lol