cabin in the woods
Joel
Joel was standing in a hallway that was all too familiar, lights flickering and a smell of gunpowder permeating through the air. There was a gun in his hand, and he looks down to observe it, turning it over, and inspecting it. He feels the weight, the cold metal, the allure of the trigger.
He knows he needs to run. So he does. Everything is in slow motion: he’s tripping and falling to his feet, but the gun stays. He is storming through so many doors, pointing and shooting at whoever is in his way. The faces were blurred and he swore he heard someone he knew yell his name but he kept moving.
He bursts through the doors and sees the surgeon bent over Ellie and he points the gun at the surgeon’s head.
“Let her go,” he demands, but when the surgeon turns around it’s Sarah’s face and he stares, the gun shaking, and suddenly everything around him is growing dark--
Joel wakes with a start, breathing fast and heavily, frantically looking around. It took him a moment to adjust to his surroundings, remembering he was laying on the forest floor going after Ellie. He lets out a long breath, slowly standing up. He grunts as he feels the healing wound on his side. He had removed the stitches himself and has been keeping up with cleaning so there were no problems. He doesn’t need a damn doctor to do it for him. His back was aching and his joints were stiff, so he quickly gave them a stretch before beginning to clean up his camp and hopping back onto his horse.
It was two weeks into the trip and though he was impressed with his timing, he was still impatient to get to Seattle--even though he was getting awfully close. He hates riding a stupid horse for hours on end and misses his truck for the brief time he had it all those years ago. His body has definitely taken a toll on the constant sleeping on the ground and endless horse riding, but he would never admit it out loud. He can still fight off clickers and choke a grown man out...so he’s still got it.
This trip has also given him a lot of time to think. There have been multiple times, at least when he first began, where he damn near turned around and let Ellie be, just like she wished, but there’s just an innate part of him that can’t sit and let that happen. He is glad she’s with Quinn because she seems to have proven herself useful over the years, but they’re still both just kids.
He is also very aware that this stunt he's pulling will be added to the list of things Ellie resents about Joel. He knows he’s selfish for not listening to her wishes, but he needs to protect her. He fears that Ellie has no idea what she’s going up against because Abby was fucking scary. Joel remembers her face, her snarl, and her zero hesitation to pull the trigger. He knows she’s been waiting, practicing for that very moment and the fact that she missed was even more motivation to finish the job. He can only hope that Abby will spare Ellie; because deep in his bones, Joel knows what would happen if she doesn’t come back alive.
Hours later, as the sky begins to turn orange, he finds an abandoned cabin tucked into the woods off some road. He quietly makes his way, on high alert for any clickers, and scans the perimeter before walking into the cabin.
It was old and run-down, as with every other house he’s stayed in. He was still very cautious because it looked recently lived in; cans of soup littered the floor, blankets on the couch and a knife on the counter that had collected very little dust. He keeps his rifle ready, taking quiet steps as he walks through the cabin. There was a small hallway that led to a closed door. He takes a deep breath and opens the door.
“God,” he breathed as he saw two corpses lying on the floor of the bedroom: one human, one clicker. A gun was near the human hand that had been very obviously bitten. He blows out a breath, knowing this guy couldn’t have been dead for too long, no more than a couple of days old.
“I’m sorry,” Joel whispers, before backing into the hallway and shutting the door again. For some reason Tess flashes through his mind, remembering her eyes and that fear. He purses his lips and clears the thought from his mind, forcing himself to focus only on what is happening now.
He throws his backpack on the floor, feeling too tired to go out and hunt, and rummages through it, trying to find something that might hold him over. A protein bar and a can of noodles. Meal of a king, he thinks sarcastically, ripping open the bar.
While eating, something catches his eye in the corner of his periphery. He stands up, curious, and walks over to what looks like a book. He bends over and flips it over, his heart stopping as he reads the title. No Pun Intended: Volume Too.
He stuffs it in his bag, choosing to pick a more optimistic view of giving it to Ellie once she sees him. Because he knows it’s hers. He hopes to God that this means she’s still alive and maybe not too far ahead of him.
Not hungry anymore, he lays down on the couch, his rifle assuming the normal position of his arms. You’d think it would be easy to travel by himself after all these years of surviving apocalyptic madness. But no, not quite.
He closes his eyes and is soon drifting off, recalling a joke from the book:
Why don’t ants get sick?
Because they have little anty bodies.
Joel falls asleep with a smile on his lips.