CYOA Page 29
Sep. 15th, 2013 05:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumy12You've gone far enough that the thought of backtracking and wasting a couple hours is abhorrent. Surely there will be a path through the mountain somewhere. Or maybe you'll find some place where it's built up enough that it's not too steep for the horses to go up and over. You can picture that in your head... you're not sure how realistic it is, though. You do remember on your cross-country trip that some of the roads you traveled did go through mountains.
It's not happening any time soon, though. The longer you plod along, the more you start to doubt your decision. Joel doesn't say anything (as is his way), but you wonder if he's having second thoughts about letting you decide this one. Well, even if he is... if he felt strongly about one way over the other, he wouldn't have let me choose, so he can't get mad at me!
You know it's silly to worry about Joel getting mad at you when the bigger problem is you might be going even more offtrack and end up backtracking allllll that way. I'm not WORRIED, you tell yourself. Just... sometimes you can't believe Joel is still with you. You've never had anyone stick around this long before in your whole life. And not just 'stick around,' but be actively involved in your life -- without you even having to ask! You get that he cares about you -- loves you -- a lot. But you don't take that for granted... everyone else who left you (aside from those who died, anyway) had a reason. It was their choice. Perhaps it wasn't entirely about you and your shortcomings... some of it was them simply prioritizing other things over you, or circumstances separating you that they had little or no control over... but you still can't help wondering how responsible you were for their decisions, even in those cases.
Basically, you just don't want to give Joel a reason. Maybe there wouldn't be a single reason, but an accumulation of reasons... changing his mind about you in more insidious ways...
You force the depressing thoughts out of your head and concentrate on being hyper-aware of your surroundings. Just like Joel taught you two years ago. He's taught you so much... but not when to admit defeat, apparently, you think grimly. And oh, wonderful -- it's now started to rain. It's a light rain... not too bothersome... it might be quite nice, actually, if it didn't feel so much like a bad omen.
After maybe ten more minutes, though, you finally catch a break. "Look up there," Joel says, pointing to the horizon. "I think that's a road through!"
You pull up your trusty binoculars and look where he's pointing... the rain's started coming down a little harder now, so it's a splotchy, watery view, but you think he might be right: it looks like a tunnel... like a mountain underpass. "Yes! Woohoooo!" You command your horse to gallop. You've been steadily ascending for a while, so he's a little tired, but you swear he understands when you tell him you're going to let him rest under cover, where the road plows through. The rain nearly drowns out Joel yelling at you to slow down. I'll slow down when I get there! you think.
Once you get to the mouth of the tunnel, you dismount and start wringing out your hair. A quick glance around doesn't reveal anything, but the tunnel is so long that there are huge patches of darkness ahead of you (and you suppose the gray sky doesn't help, either). Too late, you hear voices! And they're coming your way!
They can obviously see your silhouette, standing there at the front of the tunnel. Thankful that you haven't taken off your backpack yet, you click on your flashlight (still clipped to a strap), and one of the voice people shines a light toward you. You see three guys... and they don't look very friendly. You're about to reach for your gun when a "Hands up!" command from the guy with the hunting rifle stops you.
You raise your hands. "I'm just looking to pass through!" you say loudly, hoping Joel will hear your voice and realize that you're talking to someone besides him. He would have to be right outside to hear you, though, in this rain...
"This here's a toll road, little lady," says another guy. This one has some kind of large pistol-type gun, and he lowers it when you raise your hands.
"Okay... what's the toll?" You have a feeling you don't want to know the answer to that.
"Ohhh... let's see. What are you willing to give us?"
The leer on his face makes your stomach twist into a knot. The good thing is you're sure Joel must not have been hot on your heels -- he would've been in here already. Please please PLEASE let him be waiting outside... looking to make his move! You can try to stall... maybe lull these guys into a false sense of security. "Um... I can show you what--"
"Don't move!" says Rifle guy.
"Why don't you give us that gun, for starters," Pistol guy suggests, making a 'gimme' motion with his hand.
"It's the only one I have. Maybe... something else?"
The guys exchange looks. Rifle guy nods. "Just hand it over for now, so we know you ain't gonna shoot us, and we'll give it back to you... after."
These two guys are clearly scum; the third guy hasn't said a word, and doesn't appear to be armed. He's just hanging back, a fair distance behind the two. "After what?" you ask, though you're pretty sure you know what they're talking about. Stay calm, Ellie... Joel's right outside...
"This won't cost you a thing, honey," says Pistol guy. He's tucked his gun into the back of his jeans, freeing up both hands to... handle you, you suppose. "Just bring that gun over here nice and slow..."
You take a step forward, then slowly reach for your gun. I hope this isn't stupid... "You want it? Go get it!" You crouch enough to skid the gun along the ground, hard... yes! to the far right of the guy with the rifle, and he immediately lowers his gun -- and even turns to look at it.
Before you can even decide if you should make a run for it, a shot rings out -- and Rifle guy keels over! Joel made his move, just like you'd hoped he would! You turn and see him standing there-- you start to run back, toward him but not in the line of fire, and he fires another shot -- this one at the man with the pistol.
You halt in your tracks and look past the two men, into the darkness that your flashlight is illuminating. "Joel! There's another one!" He's running away! Hauling ass toward the other end of the tunnel. You hurry over to Rifle guy, who hasn't even keeled all the way over yet, and lunge for the rifle. He's clutching his chest, and it looks like Joel got him good... there's blood everywhere... you're not afraid of him. You're able to pry the rifle from him pretty easily and you take aim at the retreating figure--
Joel does, too...
Two shots ring out in unison... but there's no body crumpling to the ground ahead. You both missed! He was too far away, running too erratically. Joel sprints after him.
The rifle-less man is making strange gurgling noises... and somehow he manages to grab your leg. You shake him off, annoyed. He falls on his side and you kick him over. "Go ahead and die, motherfucker! Or not... I'm not going to give you a quick death." You glance at the second man -- clearly dead. Good. He's far enough away that you don't think the rifle guy can reach his gun. You round up all three guns; the rifle has a sling on it, so you can carry it like Joel carries some of his weapons. You'll take the rifle and your pistol, and shove the other guy's gun into your backpack for now. Shit -- where is Joel's horse? Hopefully right outside... it's a wonder yours didn't run out of the tunnel at the sound of gunfire (he's pretty used to it by now, but still!).
And you need to go find Joel; he might need your help! But it was just one guy... a guy who wasn't visibly armed. There could be more, though, right? That thought doesn't give you any further clarity on what to do: more men could come steal your horses and the rest of your shit while you go help Joel, or more men could mean Joel's in trouble.
If you decide to stay in this area and see if you can corral Joel's horse, turn to page 58.
If you decide to see if Joel needs help, turn to page 61.
Carlos
Date: 2020-11-25 12:44 pm (UTC)Re: Carlos
Date: 2020-11-25 02:03 pm (UTC)