lumy12

Page Twenty-Five

When you first met Joel, he told you over and over to listen to him and do whatever he said. You didn't always do it (good thing, because defying him did save his life more than once), but you tried to... most of the time. You've been through a lot together, and you know he's smart -- what he calls 'street smart.' He always has your best interest in mind.

...but not always his own, a little voice in your head adds. You try to ignore it.

You strain your ears, trying to listen. You don't hear anything. "Joel? Are you okay?" you call loudly.

"I'm fine! Jus' stay there, all right?"

He sounds okay... but you also know he's an excellent liar. Even to you -- you, who knows him best. You know him even better than Tommy, his own brother, does.

You still don't hear anything. You listen for a few more minutes before calling out again. "Joel?"

You wait for him to answer.

...and wait... and wait...

Shit! "Joel?! Joel, where are you? Can you come back here? ...now?"

Nothing.

"JOEL!" you yell one more time.

Oh my God, if he's fucking with me...

"Joel! I'm coming out now! Your ass better be up there!"

You don't bother getting dressed, or even toweling off -- so you're fucking freezing in your wet swimsuit. You grab your gun and do a quick scan of the area while you hurry back to the horses. They're still here, so... not like he left, at least!

The horses are here, but where the fuck is Joel?

"Joooooooooooooooel!" you yell at the top of your lungs. "This isn't fucking funny!!!"

You decide to go fetch your clothes and get dressed, because you might as well while trying to figure out what to do next. You know that if you get separated somehow, you're supposed to try to return to the last place where you were together. That eliminates the possibility of looking for each other in random directions and missing each other. Of course, it may not be possible to return to that place... if you're hopelessly lost, say, or hurt... you can try to signal each other with gunfire, but since that's not exactly an unusual sound Outside, it's not a foolproof marker of your location. You don't think that would help much here, because you can't imagine that Joel wouldn't know the general direction of the river, and from there, he'd only have two ways to go to reach you -- and he'd probably know the right way from there as well. If he would fire a shot, though... that would be something for you to go on.

But if he's not alone... maybe he wouldn't fire it. Maybe he would rather deal with whatever threat he'd encountered on his own and not 'drag' you into it. Or, obviously he could be firing at an enemy -- or they at him. Since there's not a lot of people out here in the middle of nowhere, you'd have to assume that Joel is in the vicinity of the shot.

You've dressed, put your supplies away, and shoved your hair into a messy ponytail. You're ready to go. Go WHERE?

And do you really want to leave? What if Joel comes back here and you're gone?

If you leave Joel a note and go search for him, turn to page 48.

If you wait for Joel to return, turn to page 51.