CYOA Page 17

[lumy12]

Page Seventeen

You understand the concept of a bank... sort of... okay so not really. Money, you can understand -- that's like ration cards. From the way Joel's talked about it, you needed to have money for everything back in his day. But people didn't carry a lot of it around with them; they would put it in a bank and then draw from it by using paper or by clicking on things on a computer screen. And the banks would use the money that people left with them to make money... by investing it in things that paid out more money, in a market for something called 'stocks' (but it's not livestock, or part of a gun... or even anything that actually makes sense) -- or by loaning it to people who then have to pay it back with extra. Since a lot of the money was paper (or worse, electronic? like it's in the wires somewhere?), it wasn't physically there, though, so what would happen if everyone wanted to access their money at the same time and the bank didn't have enough? What if someone decided to steal your money? Not like you can guard it when you don't have it with you. And Joel did say people could steal from you just by knowing the ID number associated with your funds (although there were tedious processes you could go through to get the bank to pay it back to you). Why wouldn't people just keep their money somewhere safer, and more private -- like locked up or hidden in their houses? He said people were allowed to defend themselves in their own homes... so you could just shoot any would-be thieves, couldn't you? Wouldn't that be more practical and convenient than turning it all into... nothing, basically?

Around this point in the conversation, you could tell Joel was getting annoyed, because he started to reduce his answers to things like "it ain't like that" or "that would never happen," without offering further explanation. Ration cards are so much easier!

Banks have nice areas to lounge in, where people used to wait to talk to bank staff about borrowing money or storing their money or whatever that they couldn't accomplish with just the person at the window. It's this area you're drawn to as a nice spot for lunch. One drawback is it's pretty dark inside, with the only light source being the double doors at the entrance, so Joel wants to bring the horses inside, rather than let them graze. Which is fine; you can take a 'bathroom' break later and let them graze a little. You start laying out your lunch stuff while Joel takes a look around. There's a dark hallway that leads to some offices in the back... when Joel returns from there, he's removing his mask.

"Is it just spores?"

"Yep. Few dead infected back there... we should be fine. Jus' stay alert."

"Like always!" you chirp.

"You are not always alert," Joel chuckles.

"Am so! Except when I let you be alert for me." You grin at him and he drops a kiss on your head before sitting down beside you, both of you facing the entrance.

"I am a slave to your whims," says Joel, totally straight-faced.

"Pfff. Only some of them," you snicker and take a bite of apple.

"For now. Some are just on hold 'til you're older. Assumin' you still have 'em when you're--"

You lean into him hard, shoving him with your shoulder, though of course he doesn't move far. "Shut uuuuup," you groan with your mouth full.

Joel puts an arm around you. "I'm sorry. I know you hate it when I say shit like that."

"Then why do you say it?" you pout.

"I don' know... it jus' slips out sometimes."

And he thinks I'M the insecure one, you scoff to yourself. You're slightly peeved, but that's on the surface. Under that, it's just... incredibly sad to you that Joel doesn't trust that your love for him will last. You don't know what else you can do to reassure him that you haven't already done before. But I have to try... You watch him for a moment, just chewing his food... swallowing... then you kiss his cheek. "I love you, Joel. I'm always going to love you, and want you. I wish you'd bel--"

"I do believe you," he interrupts, giving you a quick peck on the lips before turning back to his sandwich. "I told you, it jus' slips out sometimes."

"Because you don't believe me."

"Ellie, it's all right -- I didn't say it 'cause I want you to convince me, or... prove yourself to me or somethin'."

"You mean like I do to you sometimes?" you say a bit sheepishly. You can call yourself out on that; you and Joel have been together long enough that you've talked about it.

"Right. An' I'll keep tellin' you I love you any time you need to hear it."

"That's very sweet, but you do get annoyed sometimes," you point out.

"No... if I do, it's only the same way you got annoyed with me just now... nothin' a kiss won't fix."

You giggle a little and start trying to kiss him before he's even done chewing his next bite. Luckily for you, he resists -- and even takes a swig of water -- before kissing you fully. It makes you want to giggle even more, and Joel can tell; it makes him smile. You lean your forehead against his, returning the smile. "I'm always going to want this," you whisper. "I promise."

"All right," he whispers back... but you still don't think he fully believes you. In fact, he actually tenses up and pulls away from you.

The "all right" is signal enough that he wants to end the discussion, but you feel like you can do better. If the roles were reversed, Joel would try harder to reassure you. "I don't care how old you get, or how--"

"Ssshh... you hear that?"

You don't hear anything -- but you're actually quite relieved that his abrupt change in demeanor has nothing to do with you. You watch Joel listen for a few more moments, then whisper, "I still don't hear it."

"Shit... Clickers, I'm pretty sure."

You trust Joel's hearing completely, as it's been proven time and time again to be superior to yours (and everyone else's). "They can't get in here unless they push hard on that door, right? So if they don't know we're here..."

"...we're pretty safe," Joel finishes. "But that door to the hallway there prob'ly ain't soundproof, an' there's some broken windows in the offices back there. Just finish up real quick an' then we'll pack up an' evaluate."

While you stuff your face, you finally hear the fucking clicking sounds... coming from the east. Joel's packed up everything already, practically one-handed while shoveling food in his mouth with the other. "Do you think we could leave before they get close enough?" you ask him. You'd have to be quick, since they're obviously headed this way... and it's hard to be super-stealthy on horseback.

"Maybe. Might be askin' for a battle, though," Joel replies as he fastens a saddlebag. "We could also wait it out here an' see. You can't see 'em through there yet, can you?"

You peer through the dirty doors and find that indeed you can't. "No. What should we do?"

"What do you think we should do?" he lobs right back at you.

"I dunno!" You're the boss here, you almost add... but any time Joel treats you as more of an equal than a child, you don't want to discourage it. You know if he felt strongly about one option over the other, he wouldn't have offered you the choice.



If you leave the bank, turn to page 34.

If you hide in the bank, turn to page 37.

Comments

Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

The open part about the the back was interesting, not much on this chapter thought.