CYOA Page 22

[lumy12]

Page Twenty-Two

You remember when Joel got injured on your first trip... how sick he was... how in the back of your mind, or deep down in the bottom of your heart where you hardly dared to feel it, you hadn't thought he would make it, but you couldn't let yourself think that way. He had to make it. He just had to. Because if he didn't make it, you were as good as dead, too... even if I did somehow survive out there, I'd be dead. And you don't want to be thinking about this now, but it's hard not to when you look at this poor man on the floor in front of you. What if you had just shot Joel to put him out of his misery?

What if you and Riley had just shot each other?

Nope, you learned a long time ago that you have to fight for every minute you can. And why shouldn't you help another person do the same? Death comes soon enough for all of us as it is.

The first thing you do is bring the man some water. You kneel next to him, ask him if he'd like a drink... ignoring Joel, whose disapproval is practically radiating off of him in waves. You can't even get the dude to lift his head, though he doesn't resist when you cup the back of his head and push it up a little. You settle for merely drizzling a tiny bit of water over his cracked lips.

"Ellie, he could have lice or somethin' for all you know," Joel grumbles. "Don't touch him."

You roll your eyes at him. "Too late. If I get lice now, I guess that's a small price to pay to save a life." And now you're fighting back the urge to yank your hand away... or to scratch an itch on it that must be a figment of your imagination...

"You don't even know this guy. A week ago, he mighta been shootin' at us, for all you know. Tryin' to rob us, kill us..."

"We were in Jackson a--"

"You know what I mean. He ain't one of us."

"He might be the nicest guy on the planet. Maybe he has a family who's missing him and hoping he's okay." The man twitches his lips, which you take as a good sign. "That's it, yeah, drink some more..."

"Is he drinkin' it?" Joel asks dubiously.

You watch the water trickle down his cheeks; Joel can't see it from where he is because the lighting sucks. "Yeah. He is. See? That means he wants to live."

Joel steps closer. "One of his wounds is prob'ly infected. That's what that odor is. We didn't bring a lot of penicillin, an' I'll be damned if I let you use it on this half dead guy."

"Joel!" You glare at him.

"You think he can even hear me? It's the truth."

Sometimes you really wish Joel would just try to be less of a jerk. You carefully lay the man's head back down, set down the water canteen, and stand up, brushing off your (not itchy!) hands on your jeans. "One dose," you say firmly, giving Joel your best no-nonsense look.

"No," Joel replies, just as firmly, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "We might need it. An' if we don't, someone in Jackson might. One of our people."

"You don't give a fuck about people in Jackson," you retort. You know that's not totally true...

...but Joel doesn't deny it. "Maybe not, but I give plenty of fucks about you. An' if I'm the one who gets hurt, how would you feel if you coulda--"

"Okay okaaaay," you interrupt him, moving forward to run your hands up his arms... and back down, as he doesn't move a muscle. Maybe I need to change tactics... "I get it, Joel. Really. You're right."

"Good. So let's--"

"But--" you jump in quickly -- "that doesn't mean we can just... abandon this guy. We don't have to use all of it. Just a little bit." This time, you pull Joel's arms apart and wrap them around yourself -- and he's letting you, which is somewhat promising...

Joel sighs. "He needs medical attention. More than we can give him."

"So did you, and I saved you," you remind him, pulling his face to yours for a little kiss.

"Oh no you don't," Joel chuckles.

"Oh yes I do," you smile back. "Please, Joel?" you murmur between kisses.

Joel is annoyingly resistant to your charms. "What is it you think you can do for him, Ellie? Nurse him back to health? You wanna stay here a while?"

"No..." Oh! That's it! "If only we were going to a hospital or something!" you cry with sudden inspiration.

"Shit. Ellie--"

"Shut up, we're doing this! We can put him on my horse--"

"He can't ride a horse," Joel interjects.

"No, like... lay him over the back."

"He'll slide off."

"We'll tie him. Oh -- no! I know! We'll pull him on a mat -- on one of those seats over there! The bench kind!" You run back to the dining area of the restaurant and start scanning the room for the perfect makeshift gurney. "Look -- here! This one! Can you break this off from the... thingie?"

Joel laughs. Like, an actual laugh. "If I had a chainsaw, maybe. You know how good those are anchored in there?"

You scowl at him and keep looking. "But... maybe if there's one that's fucked up, like... what about that one? It looks like someone shot it. Maybe it's looser..."

"Just 'cause it's ripped up don't mean it'll come loose an' make a nice little portable bed." Joel follows you while you scout, and when you pause, he turns you around and pulls you into his arms, then plants a kiss on your forehead. "Look. It's real sweet that you wanna help this guy. It is. But even if we manage to rig somethin' halfway decent to get him to St. Johns, he ain't gonna make it."

"You don't know that," you groan, frustrated.

"I do. I've seen a lot of dyin' men in my time, an' that's what he's doin'. He's just takin' his sweet time about it."

Because he wants to live, you think helplessly. If you can't take him with you... it's true that he's probably better off just getting a quick death. Even with a dose of penicillin, he'd need someone to stick around and feed him, water him, clean him up a little... keep him safe... and if he starts to get better, he's still going to be too weak to do much for a while. Joel was an aberration in that regard -- but he was highly motivated to come rescue you from that creep David, and he paid for it later. Busted his stitches and everything.

However, you're not yet convinced that you can't take this guy with you. And once you're convinced, you know you can get Joel to go along with it, and to help you; even if he's immune to your charms on this matter, you can simply refuse to leave until he's on board. Joel won't continue on without you.

But even if you're successful, what if you're just fighting the good fight here to prolong this guy's life, only to ultimately lose the war?


If you do what Joel wants and let him kill the man after all, turn to page 24.

If you refuse to leave until you find a way to transport him to the hospital, turn to page 44.

Comments

Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

poor guy he probably going to die any way... right?

Re: Carlos

[luminations.livejournal.com]

Looks that way...

RE: Re: Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

he did... : (