@gaydemonwolf
"ellie." voice stern, reprimanding - like he had to be with her, always. she still never listened, which was incredibly exhausting. why did this kid have to be so difficult? the past two days she'd been on him, complaining she was hungry, which she was all the damn time. but joel .. out of the kindness of his heart, gave in. it was dangerous, very dangerous - especially since he was alone in this, with no back-up, but with the rest of town cleared or too crowded by infected, he'd had only few options.
maybe they'd get lucky. some towns had been overrun so fast that the stores were still stocked - so while joel doubted they'd be finding masses, he was hoping they might get lucky to find at least something edible. he was a good hunter, but in formerly heavily populated areas finding any game was difficult.
"what did i just say?"
"flashlight out & stay close. i know, i know. there's nobody here, joel. see?" she kicked an empty box along the floor, silence was the only answer.
"ellie." the roll of his eyes sounded in his voice & once again, joel regretted jumping on the chance to get a truck, because if he'd taken the time to think it through, he wouldn't be stuck with her. she was also talking, constantly. either to herself, or him & he just wanted the usual silence back.
they made their way in through the front, flashlights the only source of light. yes, he'd chosen to go in the night for the extra cover. "you know what to look for?"
"yes, joel. i know. you told me like fifty times." she was huffing like he had personally offended her.
what they were looking for, mostly - was cans. maybe clothes, if lucky - or utensils, weapons. anything really. joel was taking his time making his way through, kicking empty boxes with his feet. he found some things they needed, which was something. shoe laces, a few knives, gloves for ellie, a pair of shoes (for her, sadly - not for him, his were wearing down fast).
ellie had, as per usual, strayed from his side, but joel had been busy throwing everything he could find into his pack that he only realized when he heard her yell.
"jackpot!" she laughed & he could hear her grin. food then?
"ellie!" where the fuck did she run off to this time? "ellie?"
"over here, joel. you won't believe this. someone did all the work for us." he could hear the excitement in her voice, but to him... alarm bells. someone else? gun out, he made his way towards her, panic rising when he, once again, heard her yell.
"holy shit! what the fuck, dude?! uhhhh, joel...?"
he made it over just in time to find her & someone else - with a gun, too who was most likely the owner of said ... jackpot of canned foods.
"easy.... easy. we don't want any trouble, okay? ellie, c'mon. we're gonna go."
"but.. joel." she wanted the food, he knew, but they did not have the upper hand in this. she was at gunpoint & he wasn't going to risk her eating a bullet.
"ellie."
"alright, alright.... i'm going... okay? see?" slow, slow steps. "no need to shoot."















