CYOA Page 21
The fucking Clickers can wait. Joel isn't doing too bad, considering it's like ten against one, but you're sure he can use your help. You make your way down the hill a little, being as careful as one can be while simultaneously firing a weapon... When you glance over your left shoulder-- Oh, shit! Is that why he wanted me to come down? From this angle, you can see more Clickers heading up and over to the spot you just vacated, coming from the far side of the hill; you can barely see them well enough to tell that they're Clickers, but they're moving really fast. There would have been like five or six of them swarming you, if you'd stayed up there. And they're going to make their way down to--
-- Whatever -- you can't think about the Clickers right now with Runners in your face. Joel's doing his thing... you see a small piece of board on the ground so it must have broken after repeated use... he's smashing their heads together, stomping them on the ground... you fire until you're out of bullets, and then sprint away from the area to reload and reassess. Joel's in a very defensive position right now, which tells you he's looking to leap out of the fray as well. There's only four left. "Joel, run! I'll get them!"
"Get the Clickers!" he hollers back, but if he doesn't get out of there--
Whew! You don't have to try to work around Joel after all: he's able to break free. You fire a couple times at the Runners... then notice the Clickers are coming in fast. Joel hollers at you again, but you're in agreement this time. You shoot at the two closest ones-- there's a roaring sound down the hill a little and you think that means--
"Ellie! Get behind me!"
--yes! The flamethrower! You run down the hill to the ground and watch as Joel just barbecues all of the motherfuckers running down there. Some of them stumble directly into the flame, or into the burning body of a buddy. "Watch my back," he says... and you do it, but there aren't any left back there; all the action's in front of him. You keep looking over your shoulder, but you're mostly watching the show. You can feel the waves of incredibly intense heat rolling out of it.
"Here, get those last two." Joel, who knows you've been dying to use this weapon, hands the huge fucking thing to you, and you immediately drop your gun to hold it. "Go easy on it, now."
The two he's referring to were the farthest away, and you'd think that they'd take note of the smoldering carnage dotting the hillside here, but aside from running around the bodies, they don't seem to care. Mindless monsters! You've seen how Joel does it... you've just never had the chance to do it yourself. You wait maybe a second too long to squeeze the trigger (judging by Joel's "Ellie!" exclamation), but when you do squeeze it, the flame bursts out of it straight into the Clicker's face, causing it to stumble and screech. You hear Joel yelling at you to back up. I'm like a god, hurling fire at the abominations of the world... or like a dragon, cooking my dinner! You squirt fire in the other one's face, remembering to back up as it falls forward, and you're actually laughing gleefully when you turn around to find Joel and bump right smack into him.
"Ow," he says as you accidentally whack him with the flamethrower, but he's joking... you think. He looks amused, anyway. "You like that thing, huh?"
"Yes! It's awesome! But you can have it back now." You thrust it at him.
He snorts, but takes it from you. "Typical."
You watch him sling it over his shoulder. "Wait -- are you okay? Your arm is bleeding..."
"It's nothin'."
"Typical," you mimic him, complete with the snort. "Let me see it."
Joel looks annoyed. "Ellie, I'm tellin' you, it's nothin'. Why don't we--"
"Bullshit! Look--" You try to keep him from turning away from you by grabbing the bleeding arm, but he wrenches free.
"We've got bodies to loot. Buildin's to search."
"Let me patch it up first. And no, you're not doing it yourself. That's non-negotiable."
"I don' need--"
"Yes you do! Your sleeve's getting soaked... it looks like a lot of blood, Joel." You frown at him, although he can't see it, because he's heading for the non-burning carnage... most of which tumbled down the hill.
"Not all of it's mine -- it's just a scratch. You can look at it later, all right? We should get outta this area. Might be more of 'em nearby." He's already checking one of the unburnt bodies.
He does seem okay... but you know he has a high tolerance for pain -- and a low tolerance for being fussed over.
If you insist on dressing Joel's wound, turn to page 42.
If you help search the area and look at his arm later, turn to page 45.