CYOA Page 94

[lumy12]

Page Ninety-Four

You don't have the patience right now to squint at specks and flecks on the ground. Joel might need you! In fact, he almost certainly does need you, or he wouldn't have been gone this long in the first place.

Your gut is telling you to continue down the riverbank. Maybe Joel got distracted by something... in the water? I would've seen him, though! ...I think? Okay, maybe he didn't go in the water -- you would've heard that, right? -- but he moved in that direction...

...and most likely headed into the woods, which seem to get denser the farther you go. This is dumb... he could've gone in there at any time and then headed in any direction... all I know is that it was away from me. And you assume he didn't backtrack, because surely he would've said something to you if he came back your way...

You call Joel's name every couple minutes or so; each call is met with silence. You try to listen to your gut, but it isn't talking to you anymore. Stupid fucking thing! You are seriously reconsidering the looking-for-tracks thing when something catches your eye -- and it's not even down on the ground. It's up: a plume of smoke to the northwest. It might not be Joel-related, but you have to check it out. You finally have your heading.

You increase your horse's pace, along with the frequency of calling out Joel's name. Your gun is drawn, every muscle tensed and ready for... WHAT, though?... You're so busy fretting about Joel, trying to squash the rising panic (that your gut seems to be sending up the pipeline now, the motherfucker... you just know this is going to be bad), that you somehow don't see the man in front of you until a bullet whizzes by your ear.

Fuck!

You return fire, but you miss as well; it's kind of hard to get a good shot off when you're also trying to not get thrown off your horse, and the dude wasn't very close to you. Then both horses start running so fast (veering off to your left, away from the man) that you'd never be able to aim properly, even if you weren't busy trying to keep control of them both with one--

Yeah, that was impossible... Joel's horse slips out of your grip as another shot rings out. This one missed worse than the first one, and you're thankful that the guy seems to be aiming for you and not the horses. He probably wants to put them to use (it's really an awful waste to kill a horse!); his primary goal isn't to stop you. The horses are running somewhat in the right direction, at least...

You look over your shoulder after what feels like a long-enough sprint away and, with no sign of the hunter, you pull up on the reins. "Whoa!" you yell loudly enough that you hope Joel's horse will also decide to obey without the reins-yanking. "Summer! Come back here, girl!" By some miracle, she actually obeys you, and she even comes over to 'talk' to your horse, Lucky. You hastily dismount so you can lead both horses... to... where? Fuck --

You're really close to the source of the smoke now: a factory of some kind. Like a lumber mill -- you can see log piles and stacks of what looks like wood. Your first thought is oh hey the smoke is legit, it's like a real manufacturing plant at work -- but if that were the case, you wouldn't see so much of it, and so low... like it's escaping through the windows instead of being funneled up through chimneys. ...Smokestack, you hear Joel correcting in your head. Oh Joel you better not be in there... but where else could he be? You don't want to take the horses too close to it, but you don't want that fucking hunter to come along and steal them, either. He was moving away from here... he probably wouldn't expect me to be going into a burning building, right?... You hope he's given up by now, because if he's running this way, it wouldn't take him long to catch you.

You're approaching from a different direction now; maybe keeping them on the opposite side of the building -- which appears to be the front -- would be enough to hide them. You really can't worry too much about it right now because you have to find Joel. Would he have gone in there? WHY? ...Or did the fire start after he went inside?

You hastily secure the horses to a fence post and sprint for the entrance. "JOEL!" you yell at the top of your lungs.

The doors won't budge. A window, then... or maybe around the back. Man, if there's as much wood inside as there is out here... "Joel! Are you in there?!" You find a way in around the side of the building, through a damaged wall that you can easily climb through. There's not as much smoke over here, which is convenient, but if Joel's in trouble, he's probably not going to be on this side.

You know it's important not to breathe in so much smoke that you pass out. Before going any farther inside, you retrieve a rag from your backpack to hold over your nose. You know that's what you're supposed to do, but... how effective is it, really? It's not like the rag actually supplies fresh air. Joel's spore mask would be more effective. And what if Joel can't hear you yelling for him, with your voice muffled by the rag?

You're in an office-y area, with desks and chairs and computers and things... you tear through what looks like a classroom, or maybe a meeting room, and come to a closed door -- closed, but with smoke creeping through beneath it. You try the doorknob -- ow! It's hot enough that you use the rag to open it. And it will open, you see... but you pause here. What the fuck am I doing? There's obviously a fire in that room... what if Joel's not even in here?!

You're scared. ...Well, so what? If he IS in there...

You pull the door open slowly. A blast of heat makes you feel like you just opened the oven door at home -- and you generally don't go sticking your head in there. You stay behind the door for the moment. "Joel! Are you here, Joel? Where are--" you manage to yell before you have to cough. The coughing reminds you to keep the rag on your face.

It's so smoky in the next room that it's hard to see what's going on, but you can tell that this is the manufacturing area. A large area full of machinery, conveyor belts, piles of wood... and what Joel calls 'catwalks' overhead. It kind of reminds you of the dam back home. You can hear the fire, feel its heat... but you can't even see it, the smoke is so thick! So you're still not sure exactly where the fire is. You hear a loud crash ahead to your right -- shit's falling from above! A beam, or one of the catwalks maybe?

You wish so badly that you could hear Joel's voice right now, behind you, yelling "are you crazy?!" at you -- because you just entered a burning building. Or for him to just suddenly appear at your side, telling you not to be scared, that he's got you...

Get a grip, Ellie -- you're here to rescue Joel, not the other way around!

Possibly rescue. If he's even fucking here. Why would he be here, anyway? Maybe you are crazy.

Your eyes and throat burning, you drop to the floor... less smoke down there! And you can see a wee bit better. What's that over there... it looks like a man on the floor! Your heart lurches: is it Joel? You can't tell from here! "Joel!" you scream again. It actually hurts your throat to scream. You start crawling in that direction -- the direction the crash came from, but fortunately, your path is fairly unobstructed. Nothing big in the--

"Help!"

It's a voice that is... definitely not Joel's. It sounds female. And it's coming from the left side of the room, opposite of where you were about to go.



If you continue to head toward the man on the ground, turn to page 165.

If you change course and head toward the voice, turn to page 170.

Comments

Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

oh, this was the fire you're talking about?

RE: Carlos

[luminations.livejournal.com]

Yep!