CYOA Page 220
Sep. 11th, 2013 06:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumy12You don't give a shit about a couple of thieves, so why intervene on their behalf? Besides, the bitch pissed you off. You know Joel won't particularly enjoy killing them, the way he seems to when it's more of a challenge... and when the people are bigger dicks or whatever.
But these two... are just pathetic. Clinging to each other, crying, begging the two of you for mercy. You don't blame them, of course; what else are they supposed to do? They're completely helpless.
"Hey," you nudge Joel, ignoring their pleas. "How about I do one and you do the other?"
"No. I got this."
"I don't mind."
"I said no. In fact, why don't you go back around the corner an'--"
"I can handle it, Joel."
"I don't want you to handle it."
"It's not like I haven't killed people before. Tons of them."
"This is different an' you know it."
Yes, this has come up before -- you've argued about it more than once. "Not really. We know they're liars... maybe they just do this for fun. They might have a shitload of weapons stashed in one of these buildings or out in the woods-- "-- you ignore their cries of "we don't!" -- "--and they figure we'll feel sorry enough for them that we let them go, then they come kill us in our sleep because we didn't play with them. Shut up!" you finally snap at them. "We're not gonna believe anything you say! What was my point..."
"Don' know. Sounds like you're jus' speculatin'."
"Well, yeah, but... oh! Right. So, this is still self defense, because obviously they've made themselves our enemies now. Just because they're not physically trying to hurt us right now doesn't mean they're not a threat. It's kill or be killed, and we need to stay on the 'kill' side."
"Except we've been more... 'live an' let live' for the past year or so."
"Yeah -- at home. We're Outside now. The rules are different."
"They don't have to be." Joel smiles wryly. "But I'm inclined to agree with you on this one. They tried to con us. Maybe it'd be different if they approached us all friendly-like an' asked for help."
"Please give us another chance," begs the woman.
"We fucked up, bad," adds the man. "I know it. But if you--"
"Sorry," says Joel -- in a very not-at-all-sorry tone. "It don't work that way. You fuck it up, you can't fuck it back down. But I said I'd make it quick an' painless, an' I will."
In spite of your 'I can handle it' stance, you turn away when you see Joel's trigger finger start to coil.
He fires two shots in rapid succession, and the whining immediately stops. There's no cries of pain, no moaning... just silence. You know he shot each of them in the head, and that the bodies... well, they won't be pretty. Not looking!
"You all right?" asks Joel, and he turns you completely away from the sight.
"Me? You're the one who did it. Are you all right?"
"It's just business. Kill or be killed, like you said."
You said it, yes, but you got it from him in the first place. "If that was true -- just business? Then you would've let me kill that-- well, one of them." You were totally going to kill the bitch and let him kill the guy, if Joel had agreed to split with you.
"I won't lose any sleep over it. In fact, I'll sleep better knowin' they ain't around."
"Really? They were hardly scary. Even if they tried to rob us the normal way now--"
"They were desperate, though. Starvin' animals can be more dangerous than the not-starvin' ones."
"I guess that's true..."
"It is. Maybe they would've run just now if we'd let 'em, but they'd remember our horses... all our guns'n'shit... bags of food... they'd come back."
You nod. "So that's how we can justify it."
"Don't gotta justify it. They already tried to steal from us. Now if you're ready to go--"
"Almost." You kiss him softly, then hug him tight. "I love you, Joel."
He chuckles. "Love you too, but what brought this on?"
"I dunno... I think I'm just proud of you." You pull back and grin.
He looks at you quizzically. "Uh... I didn't exactly--"
"You didn't even notice the buttons on her shirt, did you?"
"What about 'em?"
"They were just undone but then I think she ripped them off cuz she knew she had to fix her clothes and she didn't want to -- she wanted to make you look... get you all horny and distracted or something. And you wouldn't look. Ha! You always notice little things like that about people when you're trying to read them so I know you would've seen what I saw."
"I don' notice shit about their clothes, really... it's more about their body language, their expression... somethin' in their voice... why were you lookin' at her chest?"
"Well, it was kinda hard not to. That's why I'm so proud of you, see?"
He smiles. "You're cute."
"And pretty?"
"And pretty."
"She was, too." Much prettier than the dude. But now they're both just ugly bloody corpses...
Joel kisses your brow and pulls away... not bothering to lie and say that she wasn't pretty... or that you're prettier. "C'mon, let's go find a house to stay in tonight. An' don't look back."
"You mean like... actually looking, or--"
"Both literally an' figuratively. What's done is done."
"Okay."
You'll try.
You're already doing the what if thing in your head... the anger you felt toward the woman seems petty now. Insignificant. She's dead, and you're... not. Her life is over, and yours gets to continue. It feels almost random, somehow.
But I'll try...
If you'd like to start another adventure, return to page 1.
Carlos
Date: 2021-02-08 12:31 pm (UTC)Re: Carlos
Date: 2021-02-08 01:39 pm (UTC)