CYOA Page 57
Sep. 14th, 2013 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumy12It's too late to avoid a firefight at this point! You start firing your pistol at the infected closing in on you. You need Joel to start killing them too so you have time to pull shit out of your backpack -- and he's practically firing before he even gets over the hill. In typical Joel fashion, he goes for the ones that pose the most immediate threat to you.
And that gives you enough time to shrug out of your backpack and grab something you can lob at the fuckers. You still have to hurry, though -- you grab the first thing your fingers grasp. You barely glance at the bomb you're hurling into the midst of some clickers coming up on Joel's side.
Maybe you should have looked at it a little closer, though... you reload your gun and start firing again. For a moment, you're confused about why the Clickers you just hit are still advancing... and why there's a cloud of smoke behind them... "Oh shit! Oops!" You realize your mistake and want to correct it, but you might as well empty your gun first... which doesn't take long. Joel Molotovs some of them, but one Clicker avoids getting fried and is practically all the way up the hill -- right where Joel is! -- Joel shoots but he's out of bullets and needs to pull another gun-- he's not going to do it in time-- you lunge at the Clicker with all your might and knock it over, then start stabbing its neck and face over and over until it stops moving.
You realize you left your backpack behind. You get up and Joel yells at you not to move. ...yeah, you see it's because you'd be running right into his line of fire. You're not an idiot! So you go behind him, no big deal. But in the seconds it takes you to reunite with your backpack, Joel's nearly disposed of the rest. There are only three left, and he's blowing them away with one shot each, so no sense tossing anything else at them. "I think that's it," you say with relief, surveying the area and seeing only carnage. "Good job!"
"You all right?"
"Yep! You?" You zip up your backpack after grabbing more ammo from it.
"I'm good. That was a... interestin' strategy you used," he says lightly.
You feel yourself blushing, and decide to take an extra long time loading your gun so you don't have to look at Joel. "Yeahhhhhh... I fucked up, okay?" Please don't decide to be a dick about it, Joel...
"Really?" Joel says, all sarcasm now. "You don't say."
Out of the corner of your eye, you see him approaching with a rag in his hand... and realize you'll probably have to look up soon because you undoubtedly have clicker blood all over your face; you've had to blink to keep some from dripping down into your eyes. Or maybe I still won't have to... You get your backpack on as quickly as you can and snatch the rag from his hand. "Let me do it." ...and you bury your burning-with-shame face under the guise of washing it.
"Never seen anyone use a bomb that's designed to blind on a creature that's already--"
"I knooooooow," you groan into the rag. "I grabbed the wrong one. Will you shut up about it already?"
"You not only grabbed the wrong one, you proceeded to use the--"
You fling the rag at him angrily and run to the body farthest away to begin looting. If he says one more fucking thing I'm just going to run and not stop! you fume inwardly... although you probably wouldn't run. It's childish. And you just need to calm down enough to act like you don't care that he's teasing you.
You expect Joel to begin searching on the other end so you can meet in the middle, as that's the practical thing to do, but to your annoyance, you see that he's walking your way. You position yourself with your back to him and start checking the next body slowly.
"Ellie, I'm sorry."
...What? An apology?! That's weird. He didn't do anything wrong. You did. Twice, actually. Three times if you want to count the grabbing and the throwing as two separate things, like he did! You should be the one apologizing. "No, I'm sorry. My mistake started that whole thing, and then I... fuck, I can't do anything right." ...You didn't mean to give such a whiny, self-deprecating apology, but there you go. Can't do anything right -- including apologies.
"I'm sorry for pickin' on you. You were clearly upset an' I kept on with it."
"Whatever. I deserved it." Oh my GOD stop whining already! you yell at yourself. You feel Joel watching you.
"You... already checked those pockets. Twice, I think."
You sigh and stand up, but don't turn around to face him -- until he grabs your arm and sort of makes you.
He presses the rag to your forehead. "Missed some."
You manage to bite back yet another whiny comment about how you can't even do that right. You let him wipe your face and hair since he really seems to want to for some reason, and you just stare sullenly at a button on his shirt.
"You hurt anywhere?" he asks gently, and you shake your head. He tilts your chin up, but you manage to keep staring resolutely at that same button while he swipes at your chin and neck. He tucks the rag on his belt, and you start to turn and make your escape -- but then he does something that really surprises you: he pulls you into a hug.
You and Joel do hug sometimes, so it's not that shocking, really... but you just stand there stiffly, waiting for him to let go.
And he doesn't. "You did fine back there. An' there's still no one else I'd rather have at my side in a fight."
"Bullshit," you mumble into his shirt... and you finally put your arms around his waist to hug him back.
"It's true. You saved my life. That one Clicker--"
"You were reaching for a shiv. I just got there first. Big deal."
"You don't give yourself enough credit, kiddo." He gives you a squeeze, kisses the top of your head, and lets go of you.
So annoying... how am I supposed to stay mad at him when he's being sweet? And you do deserve to get teased for your mistakes (you'll have to joke about it later so that Joel knows the subject's not off limits). You might actually be more uncomfortable with the sweetness than with the teasing. You can't even seem to manage a simple "thanks" right now, perhaps with a moment of eye contact to underline the sincerity... so you just get back to work.
By the time you and Joel hit the road again, things feel like they're back to normal.
* * * * * *
The rain starts in late afternoon and continues steadily into the evening, ensuring that you'll be having a cold supper tonight. Since neither of you wants to sleep too close to the highway, you go down some dirt road that leads to a few houses that are more remote (you prefer to stay overnight in houses than other types of buildings anyway, and usually the houses are not located directly on the highway). "This one'll do," Joel shouts to you over the rain, turning his horse to the left and trotting up the long gravel path leading to a two-story house.
You look at the house, looming over you menacingly from its hill... backlit by a huge flash of lightning that creates an ominous-looking silhouette... it gives you the creeps. ...I guess because of the rain? You follow Joel up the path, fully expecting him to turn around and tell you he's getting bad vibes off this one.
He doesn't. He has you wait outside with the horses -- on the porch, with the horses right next to the iffy-looking steps but still under the awning -- because he has to do his check-the-house routine. Again, you expect him to return shortly, saying you have to leave... instead, you hear him calling to you from the side... oh! the garage-- he's opening it and motioning for you to bring the horses over.
"You didn't find anyone inside, then?" you ask as you lead them inside. Um... duh, Ellie? Why would he bring you in here if he did?
Joel has a harder time closing the garage door than opening it (probably because he had that cord in the middle to pull it up, but it doesn't work in reverse). He doesn't answer your dumb question until he's done yanking it to the ground, grunting a little. "It's clear. Got a table we can eat on an' beds we can sleep in, even."
"...So you wanna sleep here?"
He answered that first dumb question as if it wasn't dumb, but the second one makes him give you the what-an-odd-question look. "Unless... you'd rather sleep out in the rain an' muck?"
If you tell Joel about your inexplicable fear of the house and ask -- beg, if you have to -- to go somewhere else, turn to page 109.
If you keep quiet because you think you're just being a baby, turn to page 113.
Carlos
Date: 2020-12-02 12:20 pm (UTC)Re: Carlos
Date: 2020-12-02 01:19 pm (UTC)Yeah, isn't it more like Joel to get vibes off things? ;) Guess you'll have to keep reading!