CYOA Page 14

[lumy12]

Page Fourteen

When you were surveying the scene, the houses dotted along a side street caught your eye... off the beaten path is usually a good thing. You lead Joel to one of the little cottages with a fenced yard. "Look, we don't even have to hitch the horses!" you exclaim.

Joel chuckles. "The fence is leanin' hard over there, though, see? They could jump that real easy."

"But it's not broken... they'll get that they're supposed to stay inside it..."

He shakes his head, smiling. "I know horses are smart, but they ain't people. They get spooked, they'll run an' they won't think twice about leavin' us here."

"Maybe around the back, then?" you say hopefully. Not that it's a big pain to hitch them to something, but you know the horses are used to freely roaming the pastures of Jackson in their down time. You imagine they must hate having that freedom to move restricted.

"All right, let's look..."

And around the back, there is actually a small paddock with a fence that's not in too advanced a state of disrepair -- good enough for Joel to agree to let them hang out there freely in the overgrown grass. Inside, you find that the kitchen table has been moved into the living room, in front of what was apparently once a nice leather couch. Joel checks all the rooms for signs of life while you lay a small blanket over the table and assemble your lunch on it. You assume the table has been moved because the kitchen chairs are broken... but it's a pretty awkward reach from the couch up to the table. When Joel comes back to the room, you declare, "I feel like a midget!"

"More than usual, you mean?" he jokes as he slides in next to you.

You lightly punch his arm. "Shut up. Look, even you don't have a comfortable reach!"

"A coffee table would work better in this room, yes. Or we could sit on somethin'..."

"But we're not having coffee." You've heard the term 'coffee table' before, and you know that despite the name, it doesn't actually have anything to do with coffee, but you can't help thinking it anyway.

Joel takes a bite of his elk'n'tomato sandwich. "Don't remind me."

Aww... poor Joel. You know he misses coffee. Whenever the subject comes up of what he misses from the old world, you feel so sorry for him -- you think he definitely has it worse than you, since you've never known what it is that he's missing. Joel thinks the opposite -- he feels worse for you because you never had or experienced whatever thing. Though in this case, he's said before that he's not so sure you'd like coffee.

While you're eating, you notice that there are some nice framed pictures on the walls. Broken chairs, a broken TV screen, bullet holes in the windows... but these survived. One is a tranquil beach scene with the silhouette of a couple, and "Mike and Emily September 24, 2011" in fancy script across the bottom. There's also a wedding photo... and a portrait of a laughing baby. "Do you think this family was killed here?" you ask Joel. "Maybe not here in the house, exactly, but nearby. Cuz if they just left... they would've taken these personal things with them, wouldn't they?"

"Not necessarily. Sometimes there wasn't much warnin' at all... an' you know how we have to pick an' choose what we carry with us. Limited space. Besides, how many houses have we passed through that still have--"

"Yeah, I know, but... these are really nice. They could've taken those out of the frames and rolled them up or something. How sad."

Joel doesn't seem particularly sympathetic toward the lost family. You expect him to remind you (again) that there are worse things in this world than leaving mementos behind... but he doesn't. Just eats quietly.

Your gaze keeps drifting back to the wedding photo. The smiling couple, beautifully dressed, presumably excited about what the future has in store for them. Little did they know that in about two years, their lives would be over -- or at least, completely different. "Right before your birthday. Was it September everywhere... when the outbreak happened?"

Joel keeps chewing without answering. You think maybe he's not going to answer you but then he swallows. "Don' know. Where I was, yeah. I ain't sure exactly when it spread to all over. We knew it was happenin' in certain areas already, before..."

...before it happened on my birthday, you mentally finish for him.

"Why?" he asks before taking another bite.

"Just... the date on that... painting-type thing on the wall over here. It was right around their two-year anniversary. If it happened at the same time as yours."

"Mm," Joel mumbles... disinterestedly, it seems.

You're not sure why it irks you that he's not trying to invest himself just a tiny bit in imagining this family's plight with you. You've seen him do it before. Being in Jackson for over a year, you haven't been exposed to places like this in quite some time. The houses in Jackson are all... sanitized of personal touches from the old world. Maybe I'm being insensitive? Maybe Joel doesn't want to be reminded of... whatever... Your trip from Boston was hard, and there are plenty of parts you'd definitely like to forget, but getting to know Joel, little by little... I wouldn't trade that for anything. And at first, the only means you had to connect with him were the trinkets you found along the way. It didn't take you long to learn that direct personal questions were not welcome. But he's not like that anymore -- not with me!

While the two of you eat your lunch in silence, you consider the possibility that Joel could be reverting to that mindset simply from being Outside. You've already endured multiple lectures on how things are different out here than in Jackson, and that you're not running off on some romantic adventure.

Still... he did cuddle with me last night... You wash down the last of the meal with a swig from your thermos and settle back on the couch to wait for Joel, who's almost done. You trace lazy circles on his back, and think for the gazillionth time how lucky you are to have him. Not just to have him in your life, for a host of practical reasons... but to have him. His heart. To share the closeness unique to the two of you. You're sure that couple on the wall loved each other, but no way did they love each other as much as you love Joel. Because that's impossible! Even so, if they loved each other enough to get married and make a baby... "I hope they died together," you say out loud. Because the thought of one of them without the other is just... unbearably sad.

"Hmm?" Joel takes a final swig of water and glances back at you.

"The people who lived here, of course. Mike and Emily." Jesus, you were only talking about them a few minutes ago!

Joel just squeezes your knee. "You ready to go?" He pushes the table slightly away and starts to stand up.

But you tug on his sleeve. "Noooo... I'm not."

He lets you pull him into your arms and nuzzle his cheek. "We should get goin'," he whispers.

"What's the rush?" you whisper back, planting little kisses on his beard on your way to his lips...

"We left the horses unattended," he reminds you, but when your lips touch his, he doesn't pull back.

"We can hear them through the broken windows," you remind him right back. You can't really hear them right now, but if they were to start neighing and stuff, you'd hear. You kiss him a little longer this time, keeping your lips loose and soft, mouth open... and your tongues find each other. Yes! He's into it! you think happily.

...until he pulls away after like ten seconds with a soft groan. "We should get goin'," he repeats, a note of laughter in the words this time.

He's right, of course; you stopped to eat and rest, and now you've eaten and rested. If you turn every break into an hour-long make-out session, it'll take forever to get to where you're going.

Okay, so you don't have to do that on every break, but would this one be so bad?


If you convince Joel to keep making out with you, turn to page 27.

If you agree to hit the road, turn to page 31.

Comments

Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, this could was a romantic adventure.