The thought of taking patrol duty gnaws on the back of your mind. There was a quietness to the stables, and it housed your only friend. Why would you do it? You were the most capable? Just because you can doesn't mean you should. You had grown into Jackson, now comfortable where you were at. Nor was there any real danger going to work everyday. Something you weren't ready to forsake. You liked your peace.

You stay in bed longer, allowing yourself to stew in this. You hadn't been exactly scratching on the doors to get out. Though despite that, it might break up the monotony that had settled like dust over everything. The gnawing continued— maybe you should make a pros and cons list. The list would probably be short. Your thoughts were cut short by a rapping on the front door. You could feel yourself jolt up right. The suddenness of the act made you dizzy, god you're getting old. The sound echoed down the hall, giving a reminder of how empty the house still was.

You grabbed your bearings and yanked on a pair of sweatpants to answer the door. Hoping it wouldn't be anyone important because your sleep shirt was definitely more revealing than you intended for guests.

The knocking came again

You blew out a sigh of frustration. Someone better have their leg cut off to be knocking this early in the morning— on a Saturday no less. You padded down the hall to the front door, cracking it to peek out at the visitor. You pulled the door wide, it was Joel.

"Uh, hi." You said hearing the rasp in your voice. You crossed your arms over your chest.

"Come on, let's get going." He was fully dressed, with a rifle on his back. His gaze was briefly on you then quickly elsewhere.

You furrowed your brows at this. "Huh?"

"You're gonna go out and have a trial run with me on patrol."

"I am?" You looked at him up and down in disbelief.

"Yeah get dressed." He said now eyeing you.

"I- um." You couldn't finish. He was being so forward, you felt a twinge in your stomach. You took a pregnant pause allowing yourself to gather your thoughts. "What if I don't want to go?"

"Then I go alone, which is dangerous." His voice is deadpan. His face remains neutral, revealing nothing so far, an uncommon thing for him.

"Are you manipulating me?"

"I would never do that." He lets a small smile creep up.

"Listen I- I still need to think this though." The anxiety creeps its way up your throat. 

He softens and nods, you wonder how he imagined this tactic would go. The gnawing gets louder. Maybe you should just go, confirm your fears or dismiss them, then you'd for sure know that the stables were better. Which felt silly, a non-reason. A whiny part of you wanted to go, spend some time with Joel, see what patrol really entailed.

"Would it sweeten the deal if I told you I could get you your bow back?"

He's looking at you with soft eyes. You roll yours at him. Your bow, you had forgotten about it in all honesty— it wasn't technically yours. You sigh loudly, making a bit of scene with it, tightening your arms on your chest. "Let me go get dressed, and I want to get breakfast first."

"Deal."

You shut the door on him.

—

You adjust the bow on your back, it feels nice. You feel secure, it was like a suit of armor. Though you weren't ever as good as the previous owner, you were confident enough.

You break the silence first, "how'd you know about the bow?"

"Saw it when you came in, beautiful piece of work."

"So I've heard."

"This is just an easy patrol today, almost all of this was cleared last week. Check for stragglers. Rumors of herds has been travelin'. Best be safe." Joel says from in front of you.

"You're the boss." You say into his shoulder.

You feel a laugh radiant through his body.

It's been a long time since you were this close to someone. A new threshold had been crossed. There were so many chances you could've declined, but there was small part of yourself you couldn't help. Though the main driving force to sharing the horse was your lack of confidence. Not to mention Joel had suggested it. Which in full honestly had taken you aback— maybe you should be more well versed in riding before you took on a patrol? You kept your touch light on his waist not wanting to fully commit to holding on. He smelled like pine, it was pleasant— you wondered what you must smell like to him, if anything. You had to stop yourself from laughing thinking about the sad homemade wax soap that lived in the shower at home. 

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just taking it all in."

"Thought you fell off."

"Ha. Ha."

You feel him laugh again.

He's in a good mood you note. You take in the surroundings. Jackson has far disappeared into the distance. The large old pines rise above the two of you as you head deeper into the woods. You are evidently heading to a small mining town to check on evidence of anything passing through.

"The herds are just big groups of em, right?" You knew this all to well, you needed to gauge him on them however.

"Yup, scary shit— seen one pass through a while ago. Just missed us."

"Why do they gather like that?"

"Not sure."

"A small group chased me just before I got to Jackson. I was all up and down these mountains and never saw anything like that."

"Probably migrating or something like that, I'd imagine. Like birds."

You laugh, repeating him. "Like birds."

"Minus the flyin'."

"Of course."

He laughs.

You look up, the tall pines graze the sky as you pass. The air is cool, there is a soft breeze drifting over as well. It's quiet out here, not that Jackson was loud— there is a stillness to the woods. Here being with Joel is was peaceful, you aloud yourself to look elsewhere not be as on guard. As you continued out the trees started to thin around you, you were probably getting close or at least to something.

"Up ahead is where we're heading." Joel points out in front of himself.

The trees become even more sparse as you cross on to a dirt road— or at least what was one. The foliage has taken it back, with only a curve ahead sign marking what it once was. The horse follows through a crude trail cut through the brush as you enter what must have been a down town. Everything is overgrown, windows and doors are either broken or boarded on the brick and mortar buildings. There are small trails weaving back and forth to the buildings, small footpaths alerting that humans must've been here recently.

"What exactly are we to be looking for?"

"I'll let you know if anything looks off, this place we often just pass through. All the buildings have been pretty much cleared out."

"You got is boss."

You hear him sigh.

You scan the area, the stillness followed you from the woods. The buildings themselves must have been touristy, having silly names like 'ye old saloon' and 'outlaws hat shop'. You reach the end of the downtown met with a dilapidated gas station. It looks out of place amongst the tourist town and dirt road. You cast your eyes ahead, peeking from behind Joel. You see smoke in the distance.

"You see that?" You inquire to him

"Headed that way already." He says as the horse picks up a bit of speed.

"It friendly?"

"We'll have to see."

"Oh."

The horse keeps a steady trot, weaving back into the woods. You're acutely aware of the small incline ahead. The horse continues to keep a clipped pace, not missing a beat. The smoke grows nearer.

"That's gotta just be a camp fire."

"That's what I was thinkin', though I'd like to see who left it."

A fear strikes through you, you can feel it pulse in your toes. The horse picks up a quicker trot and you're forced to hold tighter to Joel. The smell of pine engulfs your senses, you can feel his back pressed against you now. You tentatively bring your arms around to wrap around his middle as to hold your balance. He makes no notice of this, you can feel how tensed he had become. You wonder if this fire may be a bigger deal than he was willingly admitting. Grass starts to become thicker as you head up a steeper incline. rocks soon start replacing the grass below. The smoke is larger now, it's grey conforming the probability of it being a camp fire solidified.

A clearing in the trees comes into view, Joel slows the horse to a stop. The top of the hills looks down on an even clearing. The ruins of an old campsite lays below.

"That's one of those camping parks right? It has to be."

"Yeah pretty overgrown, I can't remember the last time any of us ventured in."

"There's our fire." You peek over the hill again, "and what is left of them."

Joel is silent.

The scene below is gruesome, what you can make out to be three bodies— maybe just two. They are strewn about with a foul amount of blood staining the overgrown brush. Your first thought is an animal. Though something more sinister was behind this. You run through you head what type of infected could have inflicted such a scene. Something large and strong, something not too interested in the simple act of infecting. The usual run-of-the-mill infected often kept their prey somewhat alive, needing them to still be mobile to continue the spread or so you had gathered. Though, if there was some sort of group of them it could possibly just kill whomever it was.

Your mind wanders to Mia, the small girl always in her own thoughts. When you thought of her you desperately cling to anything but the end. The end was horrific, the rain, screaming and the tang of blood in the air. It had happened so suddenly, Bruce— who was supposed to be keeping watch had passed out after his attempt of drinking rubbing alcohol to get drunk. A small gaggle of infected had come knocking at the camp. The group had been tired of the constant moving, finally you had convinced Ned to make camp. Just as you found sleep they found you. The screaming had woken you, delirious you had ripped your knife from your side, leaving a small cut as you opened. You had scrambled for your gun, but it was too late. They were already on top of her, and then you heard it. Having only come across one before, this one towered over the rest. A bloater, the noise it made was wet as it pulled at Mia. Ripping her body. It took everything in you to run, you imagined that's what a few others managed to do. But you never saw any of them again. You ran and ran until your chest was on fire, your legs shaking.

You took another look at the scene below, feeling that fear creep over you. You could feel the dark hand slithering around your throat. You pulled yourself into Joel, grounding yourself.

"What do we do?" You whispered into his back.

Joel pulled the horse back slow, having her slowly maneuver back from whence you came. This could either go one of two ways. You either head down there to further investigate or you call it a day and head back for backup. You fear Joel has chosen the latter. You could take this moment to beg to go back, he'd probably listen. But you allow him to continue back down the hill. Maybe there will be a chance to prove yourself. You feel sick of yourself and this gross indecision, the inconsistency. You grip Joel tighter as you approach the burnt out fire. Maybe this will signal that you're not entirely thrilled but are willing to proceed.

"A bloater did this." You speak in a hushed tone to his back.

"I know." He whispers back.

He silently dismounts the horse, handing you the reins. You guys are a few paces from the fire. He slowly edges closer and you just watch, he looks back to you as an I'm okay look. You nod to him. You watch as he makes his way around the body's, he's swung his rifle around and is carrying it on guard. He looks back to you once more pointing out to the woods. You follow his point to the clearing in the brush. It's a recent clearing probably left buy whatever blew through.

You watch as he circles the campsite a few more times before returning to you.

"I'm gonna go take a look."

"I- what? Shouldn't we go get someone."

"I gotta catch the trail."

"What? The horse? I have to come." You can feel the panic rising in you.

"We can tie her up, c'mon." He holds out his hand to you.

You take it, holding your body tight. He can't feel the shakes beginning. You slip down off the horse. You can feel the heat of his hand covering yours, he releases after you look down at them. He pulls the horse over tying her to a nearby tree. He slacks the bridle in case she may need to escape.

You follow close behind him, you can feel the heat radiating from his back. You keep your composure, not letting your footfalls make a noise. The clearing is crudely ripped apart, making note that quite a few of infected had run through, in addition to the large body that acted like a plow. You wind slowly through the path, the smell hits you first. Rotting, and rancid you see them in the distance. They've slowed, you can see the bloated had lost steam was was now covered in twigs and sticks.

Joel turns around to shush you, you roll your eyes at him.

"We can pick them off, call it a day." He leans down to you in a hushed whisper.

You feel a knot in your stomach, you whisper shout back to him. "Are you nuts?"

"I have my bow too." His tone is low.

"Sounds good Katniss Everdeen."

"What?"

"Never mind, do you have a plan?"

"I have this for you." He reaches to his back pocket and pulls out your knife.

You silently take it, feeling the full shaking again. You have to reel yourself in. And like that feeling the weight of the knife in your palm the adrenaline pumps. You look up to him, he's watching you. He gives you the silent directions and disappears into the foliage. You take a deep breath, letting the adrenaline rise in your chest. You crouch and begin to make your way to the first infected. You can now see Joel again out of the corner of your eye taking down an infected silently. Three more to go you count in your head. You silently approach an infected woman. She must've once been very pretty, her hair now matted and stuck down on her face. You can see the beginnings of a clicker start to from. Blindness slowly overtaking her.

You take one quiet leap to her, taking no time to plunge the knife deep through her neck. There's a soft gurgle as you guide her to the ground. Now you really feel the adrenaline, it's pulsing in and out. You thrive in this, feeling the high stakes and danger of it all. It feels like you're removing your skin, like you can breathe again. You swallow the feeling of dread in the comfort of this. Inwardly rolling your eyes at how easy Joel was able to peg you like this. You crouch, swiftly making your way to the next infected and preforming the same routine. You pull out your bow to silently pick off the rest. You continue until they're all down, four in total.

You hear the whistle, you feel the adrenaline pulse again. You had never taken down a bloater before, that was one that was never on the table to take down. But Joel was determined, and so were you. You see him up ahead in the clearing creeping down low out of sight of the bloater. The bloater, who took up residence at the head of the clearing is now bounding for the sound of the whistle. You hear the crack of the rifle and it's on. You dash into the brush and whistle. The bloated makes a blood curdling sound, and changes direction towards your whistle. You hear Joel load his gun, and it cracks again. This shot brings it down to its knees, a horrific viscous liquid starts to trickle out of the wounds.

You dart from under the brush swiping at the bloater as it tries to lunge at your sudden movement. You catch the tips of its fingers taking them clean off. It wails in response, ejecting its wet spores. You don't dare take a look back as you slide in to the brush with Joel. You're panting hard, Joel loads his rifle once more and hits it head square. More of the black liquid oozes. It seems incapacitated to an extent now. You continue to take turns whistling, and swiping.

You can feel the hot anger rising from the once human figure. It takes the last of its strength and pulls itself up. You're ready for it, you give yourself a moment to breathe before you lunge from the bushes once again. This time plunging your knife deep in its side, and pulling everything and using every last bit of strength you have to rip at its rib cage. Joel rises from the brush and lets off one more shot to the head. The large bloated figure falls to its knees once again, falling face first into the dirt.

You let out a cry of relief, now panting hard too can feel your heart racing. You stretch yourself to stand upright, only to immediately put your hands on your knees to catch your breath.

"Holy shit."

You're still panting, you look up at him. He's boring into you. "Yeah." Is all you can muster.

You feel him at your side, he lays his hand gently on tour back. "I knew you had it in you."

"Yeah and I won't have it in me again for a few weeks." You gulp air in. "Fuck Joel, what the fuck?"

"I know."

"Fuck you for that one. Jesus." You're not angry, but you need him to know what that just did to you. The place you went. It felt good, so good. You never in a million years wanted something like that to feel good.

"Deservedly so."

"Ya think?" You can feel the warmth of his hand still on your back as you rise. The adrenaline is subsiding and you fear you may get the shakes now.

"You're shaking." He notes

"I just need a minute." You say letting yourself fall to the ground. You pull your knees up and wrap your hands around them loosely.

He does something unexpected, he takes a seat next to you. Groaning as he goes down, you can hear his knees crack. Close, he's so close. You can smell the pine and woods radiating off of him. He sits with his legs crossed with his knee touching your thigh. He sits silently, as you try to calm yourself. You lay you head on his shoulder, and he wraps is arm around yours.

"I think we just bonded."

"Sure."