lumy12

Page Twenty

The still-nameless boy starts leading you into the woods. You're on horseback and Joel's on foot, just leading his horse. You didn't get a chance to discuss it so you're not sure why, but you think he wants to be free to fight (both of you have a gun drawn). If running away is deemed the better option, Joel can swing on up into a saddle faster than you would have imagined; you've seen him do it before.

You make a little comment to Joel here and there, like about how you hope you guys don't get lost, or hey those flowers over there are really pretty... but for the most part, you're as silent as your guide. It probably takes a good half hour or so to finally reach your destination...

...and it doesn't appear to be a trap. It's a little cave, sort of hidden from view amidst the rocky and forest-y terrain. Actually... it might be a BIG fucking cave with a small mouth?

"In here -- and your horses won't fit," the kid points out. It's true; it looks like Joel won't even fit in there without stooping over.

You look to Joel for direction. As a general rule, you don't leave your horses unattended -- and for all you know, the boy regularly lures hapless travelers back here, somehow sends a signal to someone nearby, and they take off with your horses while you're inside. Not that he can't do something like that to us -- or worse -- on the inside as well, you think grimly.

"How far in we goin'?" asks Joel.

"Not real far," the kid answers... rather unhelpfully. But you're not the greatest with describing distances, either.

Joel frowns. "How 'bout you just go in an' bring out what you're wantin' to trade, then?"

"Well... there's kind of a lot," the boy hedges.

"We can wait."

"It's easier if you just pick out what you want," the kid argues. Joel gives him a look, and the boy keeps scowling, but he sighs and grumbles to himself as he disappears inside the cave.

You holster your gun and dismount your horse, but with another Look from Joel, you pull the gun out again.

Joel arches an eyebrow at you. "You really trust this kid?"

"Of course not. But he brought us all the way out here and nothing happened, so..."

"Nothin' yet," Joel amends. "Keep an eye on that entrance. In fact, why don't you get back up on--"

"Then why don't you?" you complain.

"All right then." He mounts his horse, then looks at you expectantly until you do the same. "Now we're ready to run if he leads a small army out of there with guns aimed at us."

You roll your eyes, but you know he's right to 'err on the side of caution,' as he says.

It's a few minutes before the kid reappears in the opening, dragging something behind him. He looks at the two of you -- and your guns, you suppose -- warily for a moment, then turns and drags the thing (a big ax?) back inside. "What, you're not trading that?" you call after him.

"I'll bring it all out at the same time!" he yells from inside.

You smirk at Joel. "Does he think we're just gonna take it? We could just shoot him and go take everything in there, if that's what we were gonna do."

"There's an idea..."

You actually believe him for a second, until the expression on your face makes his lips almost twitch into a smile.

You do know that Joel might very well do it if circumstances were different. If the two of you were starving and the boy had food, or you were in desperate need of something he had inside -- and for sure if he was somehow about to kill you, maybe even just hurt you -- Joel would get violent if necessary. You've learned that that's the major difference between Joel and Tommy; Tommy is what Joel calls a 'would-be pacifist.' The 'would-be' referring to the fact that it's not possible in today's world to be completely non-violent and still stay amongst the living; at the very least, you have to defend yourself against enemies. Even inside the quarantine zones... how many fights did I used to get in back at school, where I was allegedly SAFE? You didn't really understand the true meaning of the word, before Jackson. Before Joel, actually. And of course, even those two things can't provide perfect safety. Nothing can. Ever.

Eventually, the boy has moved enough of his inventory to just inside the cave, where he apparently feels comfortable enough to bring it out in small groups. He spreads it all out on the ground.

"We weren't going to just take it, you know," you tell him. He just scowls.

"That was smart of you, though," says Joel, and he's rewarded with a hint of surprise at the unexpected compliment that flickers across the boy's face as he looks up at Joel... but it's gone a second later. "Never trust anyone. You live longer that way."

"Um, with certain exceptions," you add, glaring at Joel. "Like... it's good to be cautious, but let people earn your trust after a while."

"Do you think we've been here long enough that he should trust us?" Joel asks, chuckling.

"No! I'm just saying." You continue to watch the boy laying out his wares. "I didn't trust him at first either," you tell the kid, "but now I trust him with my life -- actually, I trust him more than I trust myself. And that's like... that's the sort of thing that makes life worth living. You know?"

You're not sure the boy heard you... but you think he did. You get the feeling he just doesn't want to discuss shit like that with you. Which is fine. It's also possible he doesn't comprehend it at all, because he's never had anyone love him. ...perhaps not so unlike yourself, when you were his age? Pffff -- he's nothing like me. You know nothing about him, but you know that much. It occurs to you that his little dance with the ax earlier might have just been a farce, because he's probably done this with other people. Plenty of times. Maybe he's just trying to look more innocent than he is... except if he was going to play it that way, wouldn't he make more of an attempt to look like a nice kid?

The kid stands up, takes a couple steps back, and looks at you and Joel, which is apparently an indication that he's ready to open up his store for business.

A pitiful little store it is, too... but he does have some cool stuff. You and Joel move forward to inspect the goods. The ax is pretty sweet; you can definitely use that. You pick it up and nearly drop it right away, not expecting it to be as heavy as it is. Okay, so JOEL can use that... you hand it to him for appraisal. You pick up a little case of something, unzip it... CDs?! "Whoa... where did you get these?!"

He shrugs. Which you suppose is one step up from not answering.

You don't recognize any of the CDs as ones that you've seen in Jackson. Some are plain, or plain with some words that appear to be scribbled on it in marker. "Do you know any of these?" you ask Joel as you hand that to him too, already moving on to the next item before he even answers... though you do register his "no" after he flips through them a little. The kid doesn't have a lot of stuff -- like, 15 items? -- but he does have some interesting things. Clothing... toys... books... useless-looking trinkets... and even-more-useless-looking jewelry...

"I have more stuff inside," says the kid. You wonder how many people he had to rob to get this shit.

"But this is the best of it, right?" Joel says it more like a fact than a question... and the kid nods.

Joel questions him about a few things, and the kid gives him basic one-word answers. Mostly yes and no. You can tell he's trying to determine what the boy uses the ax for, since it's probably too heavy for him to wield properly, and you realize it's because Joel doesn't want to take something that's extremely useful to the kid -- even though he's not a particularly likable kid. It kind of melts your heart: That is SO SWEET!

You end up trading for the ax, the CDs, a boy doll (Joel calls them 'action figures,' but to you, they're just boy dolls), and a bracelet. And even the doll, Joel wouldn't have taken if the kid admitted that he liked to play with it or something. You know of a kid back in Jackson that Joel must be thinking of giving that to. You wonder briefly if Joel actually thinks that you would want to wear the little beaded bracelet, but when you make it very clear that you wouldn't, he mumbles something about how a little girl at home might like it. Some of the clothing would definitely be put to good use at home, but it's bulky to travel with, and possibly useful to the kid (for future trade, if nothing else), and besides, there's only so much food you're willing to part with.

Joel offers a rather low amount, to which the kid agrees, but he was obviously expecting the kid to haggle with him for more because he then increases the amount, unbidden. And, to your surprise, he hands over a little book of matches and a partially-full box of ammo that will fit his gun. More to defend himself with than for hunting, with that tiny thing; the kid relies mainly on traps that he's set nearby to catch small animals. But when the boy goes to take the box, Joel pulls his hand back. "I'm gonna leave this for you, but not here. After you go back inside, we're gonna leave, an' I'll put it somewhere you can see it real easy."

"You think he's gonna go load his gun real quick and shoot us in the back?" ...but you don't know why you even bother to ask. Of course Joel's thought of the possibility. You should have, too.

"Like I said... never trust anybody," Joel replies, still looking at the boy. "I reckon I can't stop you from shootin' people with these bullets, but I want you to remember that you don't got very many... that makes 'em valuable. An' when things are valuable, you gotta pick an' choose how you spend 'em. Best to save 'em for when you really need 'em, like when you get attacked by infected."

"Or by assholes," you add.

"Them too," Joel agrees. "We square?"

He looks puzzled.

"Do you feel it was a fair trade," Joel translates.

The kid just stands there, mute. A 'thank you' would be nice, but perhaps too much to hope for. "You even got a bonus lecture for free!" you joke. Joel glares at you, and you swear you almost see a smile on the little guy's face.

"Hey, can I see inside now?" you ask the boy on a whim. Maybe it was that almost-smile...

Joel continues to glare at you. "I think we'd best be on our way."

"Aww, c'mon... we're like... business partners now. He's cool. Just real quick. ...I'll bring my gun," you add, in case it makes a difference.

"Let's go." Joel is already mounting his horse.

For some reason, his reluctance to let you go inside only makes you want to do it more. But, as usual, he's probably right; maybe you should just leave.

If you go inside the cave, turn to page 40.

If you leave, turn to page 43.