lumy12

Page Fifteen

You're bound to get dirtier over the next few days, and can indulge in a full bath then. For now, you're content to just wash your hair, since Joel clearly doesn't want to stay here long. Since you're only washing your hair, you don't even have to undress: you can just dunk your head upside down in the water to rinse it.

"Be quick," Joel urges as he passes you the bottle of shampoo.

Actually, it's a flask, which is more commonly used to hold alcohol, according to Joel. And you suspect he's right, because the mouth is so small that it takes kind of a long time to funnel shampoo into the thing. Anyone passing by (any old-timer, at least?) would have to wonder if you're washing your hair with alcohol!

Well, we won't be here long enough for any passers by to see, you think as you pile your hair on your head and lather it up.

You're squatting there beside the river, wringing out your squeaky-clean sopping-wet hair, when Joel comes rushing over to you. What the fuck?!

"C'mon -- over here --" Joel yanks you by the arm and you stumble after him.

"What is it?"

"People," says Joel, pushing you behind a large rock and crouching next to you, one of his pistols drawn. "Comin' from the other way. On horseback. Two of 'em, I think. I'm sure they've seen our horses, so they'll likely be over here to investigate."

You peer from behind the rock, but the horses are partially blocking your view and you don't see anything. "Can't we make a run for it?"

"Sshh -- they're right... right there... no, too late for that. Maybe if you'd been up there already... but I wasn't gonna leave you."

"Thanks for that," you snort. You feel slightly guilty for unwittingly botching the getaway, but you don't detect any reproach in the words... just a statement of facts.

"You're right..."

You hear a female voice and yeah, they're definitely close enough to shoot you -- you'd make easy targets, collecting the horses. Of course, you have no doubt that Joel could've shot them first, had he chosen to. You know he wouldn't hesitate if they were threatening the two of you, but he's adopted a more live-and-let-live philosophy than he had on your first trip.

He scoots away from you, staying behind the rock... perhaps angling for a better--

"Do you see anyone?" another female voice asks.

"No... they've gotta be close, though..."

"Holy shit... look at all this stuff!"

"...Maybe something happened to them?"

"Or maybe they're just off shitting in the woods. Who knows. I think we should just go."

"Have you lost your mind? There's BOUND to be useful shit in those bags-- look over there. They have BOOZE?!"

You lift your head, extremely slowly and carefully, until you can see them... one on horseback, the other dismounting. Two women, two horses. You're sure Joel doesn't intend to let them steal your stuff -- he hasn't gone that soft -- but you're not sure what he's waiting for. Probably for them to lower their guns? The one on the horse has a shotgun, and she's looking all around like she's waiting for you to come into view from somewhere in the trees.

"Hurry up," says the horsewoman as the other woman trots down the bank toward your shampoo. "And look in the bags -- forget that little--"

"Lower that gun or I'll shoot her!" you hear yourself yell, lowering your head so that you're completely behind the rock again. Whoops, probably should've waited for a signal from Joel...

Yep, Joel looks... not furious, at least. Just irritated. You don't even have your gun trained on the woman. But you could, if you move a little...

"...behind that rock..."

Joel fires -- but it's just a warning shot, in the other direction. You hear some scuffling... some horse-y sounds... someone calling out, "Chuckie, no!" -Although it's a strange name, you assume they're referring to one of the horses -- and you certainly hope it's their horse you hear galloping away, rather than one of yours!

"Ellie!" Joel barks--

--which means it's time to reveal yourselves. Both of you spring up at the same time, Joel shouting at them to drop the guns, you aiming at the woman on foot and Joel at the one on the horse. The horse is like... turning in circles and lifting itself up on its hind legs, its rider desperately trying to regain control. She can't do this and aim at Joel at the same time, so Joel has the advantage there.

As for you and the other woman... both of you are aiming at each other. You still have a rock to duck behind, assuming you're quick enough, whereas she's out in the open...

"Go after him! Go! I can handle them!" says 'your' woman, glancing away for only half a second at a time, like she's afraid to take her eyes off of you.

You imagine they're trying to exchange looks the way you and Joel sometimes do, although with just the fleeting glances, perhaps that's difficult. You hear more galloping... and it's not followed by a gunshot, so Joel is apparently okay with the woman leaving.

He comes up beside you. "Lower it," he orders the woman. "You're outnumbered now."

If you had to guess her age... maybe forties or fifties? Not young. Her blond ponytail is streaked with gray beneath a scruffy brown cowboy hat. She's dressed similarly to Joel. You get the feeling she likes to think she's tough. You can tell she's scared, just trying to hide it with an angry expression. You wonder if that's what you look like when you're scared... I hope not. I hope I look more like Joel: I can never tell when he's scared! And you wonder what she means by saying she can 'handle' you and Joel... because from where you stand, it sure doesn't look like she's handling anything.

Except she's not lowering her gun. A rifle.

"Lower it an' we'll let you go," Joel tells her.

She snorts. Like she doesn't believe you. For some reason, she turns and spits on the ground.

Gross -- was that really necessary? You see her glancing back at the river... like maybe she thinks she can escape that way? "Current's too fast. You'd drown," you warn her.

"I'm a good swimmer," she replies defiantly.

Joel sighs. "You shoot one of us, the other one shoots you. You can't win. Just drop it."

You wonder if she's stalling, waiting for her friend to return with her horse. You see something else in her face, too... she's had a hard life. Whatever she thinks we might do to her, it might be worth it to her to lose her life rather than go through it -- she'd rather go out on her own terms...

Joel is really good at reading people, and he's taught you some things in the past two years (although you apparently can be a bit... fanciful in your interpretations?), but he can't teach you how to have a gut feeling, the way he does sometimes. That said, it does seem like 'gut feelings' are a skill that you're honing with experience; whatever her deal is, your gut is not liking this bitch's refusal to stand down. Joel is poised to pull that trigger, so ready that you can practically feel the itch in his finger... he sees it, too...

Utilizing another survival tool you picked up from Joel, you imagine what you would do in her position. Stalling in the hopes that her friend's return will create an opportunity to act seems like her best bet. Maybe you can reassure her that you and Joel really will let her go. ...Sure. While pointing a gun in her face.

"If you don't lower that gun right now, I will blow your fucking head off," you warn her.

Yet still, she doesn't. And that trigger finger of hers looks even itchier than Joel's.

If you shoot the bitch, turn to page 30.

If you try to talk her down, turn to page 33.