CYOA Page 222

[lumy12]

Page Two Hundred Twenty-Two

It doesn't have to be a perfect staircase. You just need a rock to stand on that's higher than the ground so you can launch yourself high enough to grab hold of the top... and then pull yourself up. You frown at the clearance between the rock and the ceiling; it's worryingly narrow, not allowing you much room to maneuver.

"Ellie, I got another idea. I'll be right back, all right? Don' move."

"Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back!" he repeats unhelpfully, already far away from you.

"Don't move, my ass," you mutter to yourself. You know you can do this. You just need to move a couple rocks...

...a couple rocks I can actually BUDGE, that is...

You find a suitable one that you can push into place, with a slightly smaller one on top of it, allowing a little bit of space in between the bottom rock and the boulder-wall so that the top one can sort of settle into the groove. You test it and it's fine.

Just imagine the look on Joel's face when he returns and finds you up there already, waiting for him!

Here goes... You leap up -- grab the edge -- no, you grab at the edge, never get a good grip on it, and fall back down clutching nothing but dirt --

Fuck!

You landed funny, and you had the wind knocked out of you for a second. You're lying in a heap, and your foot -- your ankle -- fuckfuckFUCK! "Fuck, it hurtssss," you hiss to yourself.

"All right, Ellie, here's what we're gonna do!" Joel calls to you, innocently unaware that you moved... after he told you not to.

"Joel!" You don't want to tell him...

"I got the rope here." He probably assumed you were greeting him rather than trying to get his attention. "Now, it might be a bit tricky, gettin' it to--"

"Joel!"

"What?"

"I... fell."

"You what?"

"I fell. Off the... thing."

"You okay?"

"No. I mean... I'm alive..."

"You're hurt?"

"I fucked up my foot... my ankle, really... maybe both, I dunno... oww!" Just trying to straighten out your leg with your hands sends pain shooting up your leg.

"Shit. Okay, listen -- we can still do this. You got one good leg, yeah? One side that works?"

"Yeah..."

"Can you stand? If you hold on to the wall?"

"Yeah, I guess..." You sure don't feel like standing right now, but you can manage it.

"Good. I'm gonna fling the rope over there, an' you're gonna tie it around your waist. I thought maybe you could just grab it, but now I think you better tie it, too... then you're gonna climb usin' the rope. I can help by pullin' on this end."

Man, why didn't I just wait for him to come back? you lament to yourself. "Okay."

"Problem is, this rock here is pretty thick, ain't it?"

"Yeah... when I squeezed through, I took like... four or five sideways steps to get through."

"All right. I'm gonna aim for the lowest spot here... but shit, I don' know... the ceilin's too low, I can't get a good... trajectory, goin'..."

You hear him toss the rope a few times; you get the feeling this is going to take a while, so you're not going to stand up just yet. Your leg keeps sending ripples of pain up to your head... and it feels like it's taking him forever.

"That was a good one -- can you see it?"

"No."

Ten seconds later: "What about that one?"

"No."

Twenty seconds later: "Now?"

"No... I mean, I see it, but it's way up high -- I can't reach it."

"Shit." The rope sits there while Joel... does whatever he's doing on the other side, then it disappears.

"What if you like... tie it around a rock or something?" you suggest. "Would that work better?"

"Good idea. Maybe not a rock, but... -I got it. Where are you at right now? Right up against this rock here, yeah?"

"Yep. Not goin' anywhere."

"All right -- if you see the rope come over, do not reach for it. If this works, it should go right on by you... you just let it, okay?"

"Um... okay?"

You only understand what he's doing when you hear the unique sound of a bowstring and an arrow being released from it. Oh yeah! That should work! ...but you hear the sound several times, and you still don't see anything happening on your side.

"The rope's too heavy... I need to be on higher ground when I shoot it, I think, an' it might go. Hold on."

You don't know how Joel achieves his 'higher ground,' but you know he took another forever doing it. You're in a better place now, with the pain... but as soon as you move, it's like you have to start all over! You've gone through the cycle three times now since Joel started fucking with the rope.

Finally, an arrow zips by overhead! Well, 'zips' is perhaps a strong term for it... it makes it all the way over the rock, though!

"Yaaaaay!" you cheer.

"You can reach it?"

"Yeah!" As soon as you-- owwwwwww! Motherfucker! "Gimme a sec... or, a bunch of secs..."

"...Seriously? Leave it to you to think about sex at a time like this."

"Not sex! SECS!" And you laugh in spite of yourself, realizing they sound exactly the same.

"You remember how to tie it? Like I showed you?"

"Yeeessss... who knew that one of your lectures might actually come in handy someday?" you tease (although truthfully, he's taught you so much useful shit like this).

"Now if I could only get you to listen to me, we'd be in business," he fires back.

You've hobbled over to where the arrow is dangling limply from the rope, and you start trying to untie it. You know Joel can shoot a hell of a lot farther than this... but you also know that if you fuck with arrows in any way, it totally jacks up their flight. "Who says I wanna be in business with you? Didn't you say never to mix business with pleasure? I choose pleasure. Pleasure, please!" you add, because you like the way it sounds.

"Just concentrate on what you're doin', please?" Joel replies.

When you've made yourself a little make-shift harness and it feels snug and secure, you tug on the rope in front of you so Joel can feel it. "Done! So... the rope's not gonna fray too much over this rock?"

"Unless I accidentally lodged it against a shard of glass up there? It should be all right. We really only need a couple real good pulls 'til you're at the top, where you can crawl. You can crawl with your arms an' just... drag your feet behind you... maybe it won't hurt too bad..."

You already know it's going to hurt. But that's your own fucking fault. You take a deep breath... and exhale. "Okay! Let's do this!"

"Right -- so, since you can't walk up the wall... you're gonna have to push yourself with your good foot, as you climb... you understand?"

You understand. You understand that this is going to suck balls, but you have to do it if you don't want to be stuck here. Joel does the one-two-three-go thing to start you both at once, and then you're on your way up! You instinctively try to use your bum foot to help you scale the wall, and ohhhhhh was that ever a mistake! You cry out in pain and poor Joel thinks something is wrong (something else, that is). You tell him to keep going... and after the first time you push yourself with your good foot, he asks you to give him some warning when you're going to do that; apparently it's extra taxing on the other end. You shout to him next time, and you can see that it does work better when he's expecting it.

It can't be more than a minute or two 'til you're at the top -- and over the top, wedged between the rock and the ceiling -- but you're so sweaty and exhausted that it feels more like a half hour. Yet you're not done -- you still have to pull yourself forward to the other end. For the moment, you just lay there, thrilled to be past the worst of it.

"You want me to... keep pullin' you?" Joel asks breathlessly.

"Yeah, can you? ...Is it easier now?"

"Yeah... much. But I don't like the thought of... draggin' you over a rock."

"Pfff -- just do it! I'll crawl too but Joel, my leg feels like it's on fire right now... I just wanna get off this thing... if you can pull me and get me over faster--"

"All right, all right... you ready?"

Joel pulls while you... basically arm-crawl. Propelling yourself forward without using your legs at all, because they seem to want to work in concert and they just fucking can't right now, so it's just easier to ignore them both. The most challenging part is this fucking hole right in the middle that's too big to navigate around... more of a valley than a true hole, but annoying as fuck because your body works better right now when it's straight. You ask Joel to stop pulling until you get through that part. After that, you're so close...

"Joel!" you squeal when you get to the edge. He's as sweaty and red-faced as you must be.
He smiles. "There you are... all right, this is maybe gonna be hard for you... can you swing around so that-- which one is it? Which is the bad side?"

"My left."

"Left... okay... can you rotate this way..." He mimes the way he wants you to turn.

"Can't I just keep going forward? You'll catch me!"

He chuckles. "Upside down? I'm sure I'd at least break your fall, but..."

"You'd totally catch me."

"But there's also a chance you'd still hit your head, even so. I'd rather catch you right side up, if you don' mind."

You squiggle around sideways, and try to ignore the throbbing protests of your ankle. "Okay... so I just..."

"If you can start to lower yourself from the top, you don' have to free-fall..."

"I trust you."

"Well, I don't. Please... if you can just get your legs over an' then drop I can catch you real easy..."

You turn again so that you're draped over the thing at a right angle -- or, you would be, if it was a straight surface. It's a less dramatic angle, but the scary part about it is you can't see. "Am I in the right spot?"

"Yes, I'm right under you. Slide on down... then let go an' I'll catch you."

"Okayyyyy... ahhhh!" You know he's going to catch you, but it's still scary!

He catches you, but the force of the fall brings you both to the ground -- in slow motion (how did he slow down time?!). Holding your back to his chest, he twists around so that he lands on the ground, absorbing the impact, and you land on him, favoring your right side. He shifts you off of him just enough so he can sit up, keeping his arms around you, and now you can hug his neck.

"Are you okay?" you both ask each other at the same time, which makes you laugh.

"My fucking ankle hurts like a bitch," you grumble. "But the fall was good -- did I hurt you?"

"No, no... it was just easier this way."

"What way?"

"Goin' with your momentum... let me see your foot... ...shit, it's swellin' up real good. I'm gonna take your shoe off..."

You wince, even though he's gentle... as long as I don't CRY in front of him like a baby...

"We need daylight. Can you stand with me?"

Daylight... "Shit, my flashlight was on my shirt! It must've come off-- it must be up there!" You look up mournfully.

"Well, we ain't climbin' back up there to get it. It's all right. Keep your arms around me..."

He helps you to your feet -- er, foot -- but then sweeps you up in his arms again, in the more traditional cradle-like carrying position. "You don't have to," you protest feebly (because you don't mind at all).

"Humor me then," he says lightly.

"If you insist..." It's not as much fun being carried as it should be, though, because your foot is making you too miserable to care about doing anything playful with Joel. You're like halfway to the entrance when you suddenly remember-- shit! "Oh, wait -- my backpack!"

"I'll go back an' get it in a minute."

"No! I'll just hold it -- I don't want you coming back in this creepy cave without me! Pleeeeease?"

He turns around without a word.

"Thanks! You don't have to put me down. If you just lower me enough so I can grab it..."

When you reach the fork, though, you see David standing there, on 'his' side, eerily illuminated in the soft blue natural light from above. "I told you not to go down there," he says... more matter-of-factly than smugly.

Joel snorts. "She don't listen to me either, kid."

"I just wanted to see what was there!" you say, instinctively defending yourself even though you deserve the I-told-you-so. "You didn't tell me it was dangerous."

"That would've just made you more curious anyhow," Joel points out... and he's probably not wrong about that.

"Why did you come back?" asks the boy. He sounds... hopeful, maybe? Like he wanted you to return?

"We forgot something," you tell him. You try to look at the kid as Joel carries you off down the other path, but you can't see him now. Again, you feel like you should say something to him -- something amazingly profound -- but you can't think of anything. Don't be stupid, Ellie, you chide yourself. Do you really think you can change this kid's sad life with a few words, even if they ARE amazing? Would he even GET it?

"There it is... can you get it?" asks Joel.

Whoa... how did he do that? Get it/get it! He lowers you enough that you can swing your arm around and scoop up your backpack. It's not as heavy as it might have been without the use of saddlebags to store your more cumbersome items. You hug it to your chest. "Sorry... I just added extra weight for you."

"Tch. A few measly pounds."

"Joel... wait. Before we go back... maybe you should talk to David."

"...David?"

"He says that's his name."

"An' say what?"

"I dunno... he's... kind of fucked up."

"Ain't everyone?"

"Well, yeah, I guess, but..." You whisper, as if the kid can hear you. "He lives with skeletons. Not the in-your-closet kind -- real ones. He says they're his parents."

"That's... ..."

"Fucking creepy," you supply.

"Sad. Real sad. Are they his real parents or he just likes to pretend?"

"Real. I mean, he says they are, but... fuck, maybe they're not? That's even more fucked up, if they're not!"

"I reckon it's none of our business, either way."

"But--"

"What do you want me to say to him?"

"I dunno... something amazing."

"Oh, is that all?" he replies sarcastically.

"I guess it's dumb of me to think that... that maybe we can do something for him."

"I thought you didn't even like this kid."

"I don't."

"So leave it alone. The kid is bad news, an' we got our own problems. I just wanna get your leg wrapped up an' get on our way... get you to the hospital where they can fix you up right."

"Okay, whatever," you grumble. As you approach the fork again, you try to think of something to say to David, something more than just goodbye... maybe not something amazing, but something that at least doesn't suck?

As it turns out, you needn't have racked your brain for such a thing, because he's gone. You'll probably never see him again. I should be like Joel and just forget all about it... worry about our own shit... like how the fucking pain has somehow twisted its way into my stomach...

But you never really forget things. The creepy kid with skeleton parents will likely become another feature in your nightmares.



THE END



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

Comments

Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, Ellie leave David with his skeleton parents... he is happy with that. LOL

I read all the comment on you new fic, yeah you have there some people that really miss you writing that is nice. Yeah you're going to do better on the Ao3 because people are reading more TLOU stories there. After the boom of the second part is gone the people from the FFN is less now, so don't espect much there.

Re: Carlos

[luminations.livejournal.com]

Poor little dude!

Yeah so far no meanies :) Someone told me a month or two ago that there were more Joellie people on FFN, but that doesn't seem to be the case from what you are saying (and from getting way more response on AO3 so far). I think the people I've gotten so far were "subscribed" to me from before and decided to come check it out, no new people....