❘༻༺❘
𝐉𝐎𝐄𝐋'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕!

𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 on a small cliff, Clyde watching over the perimeter, while I sat down exhausted.

Minnow painted a target on one of the cactuses that grew there.

"That was a good, uh, little workout." I sighed, Y/n grabbed my shoulders.

Minnow walked towards me, and grabbed the crossbow, I lifted my head up slightly and she pushed it back down so she could pull it out of the backpack resting on my shoulders.

"A girl, huh?" Clyde commented.

"Yeah." I nodded. Y/n walked next to Clyde and sat down, raising up her pants and revealing the bandage I thought I had seen before.

"You both left a nice, safe colony to travel all the way to the ocean. For a girl you ain't seen since you were, what, 17?" He asked in disbelief still looking around.

"No, I know what you are thinking. I know how it sounds. It's crazy." I squinted and shielded my eyes from the sun. My eyes still focused on Y/n who slightly winced when she pulled down her pant leg again.

"But I don't know." I continued. "If you knew our connection you'd probably feel differently. We actually just got back in touch over the radio a few weeks ago. And it's still there."

"It's so magical and sweet." Y/n sarcastically remarked as Clyde helped her up.

I glared at her and she chuckled. "I'm kidding."

"Anyways. She loves me too, so it's like a "Pick up right where we left off" kind of thing." Minnow's expression changed to one of disgust as she handed me the crossbow which now had an arrow placed neatly in it.

"You ever hear the term fool's errand? And why is she here anyway." He pointed to Y/n.

"I came for moral support I guess." She shrugged.

"And, what, so I'm a fool because I believe in true love?" I focused on the first part of the question.

Minnow pointed towards the target, signaling me to shoot.

"No, you both are fools because you are out here alone. You-" He pointed towards me. "-Don't know a thing about survival."

I shot and missed. Minnow sighed and looked at me in disappointment.

"Wind." I blamed.

"You shoot for shit." He stated. "Yet you got an attitude like you are some kind of noble warrior. Floating the wings of love. Doesn't work like that" He finished.

Minnow placed another arrow into the crossbow as Y/n walked towards us and sat on a rock next to me.

"Okay. Super encouraging speech."  I squinted at him and looked down at Minnow who handed me the crossbow once again, signaling towards the target.

I lifted the weapon up and looked through the sight, hesitating. As I pulled the trigger I slightly moved my hands resulting in the arrow landing on the floor.

"Damn it."

"You are braining out." Y/n stood up now standing behind me.

"Huh?" I questioned. Minnow shook her head in agreement and looked at her.

"Y/n's right. You are thinking too much."  Minnow turned to me.

"I always clear my mind and say to myself. "A needle through water."

"A needle through water?" I looked at the young girl in confusion.

"Trust me. My dad was the best archer in my colony." Minnow tilted her head.

"Oh really? Okay. Then how come he's not the one giving me the lessons?" My head snapped towards Clyde.

"'Cause I'm not her dad." He straightened up from leaning into his machete.

"Yeah. My dad got killed. Back when we lived in the subway station." Minnow agreed.

"Along with Elliot." She looked at Clyde.

"Elliot?" Y/n joined the conversation.

"My son." The man explained.

"Oh." She looked down. "I'm sorry."

"No need to be sorry. We all have stories like that. Don't we?" Clyde reasoned.

Y/n looked up at him. A sad look plastered on her face.

Minnow handed me the crossbow and signaled Y/n to help me aim.

She got closer to me, so close that I could feel her breath on my neck, chills running down my spine.

She raised her arms and placed her hands on my forearms, she moved them, aiming almost perfectly towards the target.

I looked back at her, our faces close together, I felt myself blushing, but I couldn't help looking at her.

"Concentrate on the task, lovebirds." Clyde commented, crossing his arms.

Y/n chuckled and turned my head back so I could do as told.

She stepped back and let me do the rest. I accommodated myself and pulled the trigger while whispering to myself "A needle through water." I closed my eyes which resulted in me moving the crossbow slightly and the arrow landing on the other side of the target.

"It was better." Minnow said, a hit of annoyance laced on her voice. I noticed her giving a hard short glare at Y/n, but stayed quiet.

"It was really good, right?" I looked at Y/n excited.

"Of course Joel." She patted my shoulder.

"Tell you what, kid." Clyde took a step towards me. "You are gonna hand with us. You need to know stuff."

"Yeah. Okay." I nodded, placing the crossbow on my backpack.

"First lesson." He pointed towards Y/n, signaling for her to also pay attention.

"Always survey from high ground when possible-"

"Always." Minnow repeated.

"Helps you spot the big ones in advance." Clyde continued.

"Nice to know that this is not following us anymore." I sighed. Minnow walked towards the cactuses.

"No, no. It's definitely still following us. Just saw it." Y/n looked at me.

"What-" I looked at her in disbelief.

"Yeah." Clyde agreed. "Chumbler." He looked at Minnow.

"I knew it." The girl exclaimed.

"Big son of a bitch too." Clyde added.

"Big sonovabitch." Minnow raised her arms up, the arrows on her hands.

"It has got our scents too." Y/n walked towards Minnow. "It's gonna be hard to shake."

"Then why are we still standing here?" I exclaimed in disbelief.

"Relax. Chumblers aren't fast." Minnow started. "We gotta keep moving."

"Should've already been gone." Clyde started walking, Minnow and Y/n on his tail.

I stared in fear. "It's got our scent."

"Oh, yeah it does."

I looked over the cliff quickly, a big monstrous animal luring at the bottom, I gasped and quickly ran towards the rest.

*

"Where are you guys headed anyways?" I quizzed, walking behind Minnow. My arm wrapped around Y/n's waist.

"To the mountains." Minnow elaborated.

"What's up there?" Y/n asked curiously.

"A, uh, place called Snow Mountain Wilderness," Clyde explained. "Supposed to be some kind of colony up there, full of survivors. The cold and elevation help to keep the monsters away."

"You guys should definitely come with us." Minnow looked back at us.

Y/n looked at me, not hating the idea but knowing it wasn't why we had come here.

"Well we would-" She started but I cut her off. "But you know-"

"You gotta go find your girlfriend." Minnow finished for me, turning back to the front. "Why are you doing it anyway, you already have Y/n, and you too seem pretty lovey-dovey." She mocked.

Minnow climbed up a small hill angrily.

"Uh-" I looked at her in confusion.

"Minnow." Y/n called. Minnow just glared at her.

"If you knew her you'd really like her. She's a super cool person." I defended.

"Well, she's not gonna like you." Minnow kicked a rock. "'Cause you can't even get out of a Sandgobler's nest. And honestly I just like you 'cause you have a really cute dog."

"Hurts my feelings." I shook my head.

"Hey, that's mean-" Y/n looked at the girl, who rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Oh, don't even get me started on you." Minnow pointed towards Y/n jealousy evident in her tone.

"You guys are so useless." She continued.

Both me and Y/n looked back at Clyde who sighed and shook his head.

"It just means she likes you. She's uh... She's been through a lot." The three of us stopped walking.

"Yeah." Y/n looked at him sadly.

"So annoying." Minnow broke a piece of grass.

Clyde looked behind me and Y/n, a look of caution taking over his expression.

"Joel, Y/n." He slowly said.

"What?" Y/n asked in confusion.

Minnow stopped and looked down at us.

"Don't move." Clyde stated.

Y/n and I forrowed our eyebrows.

"Oh, my god. Why?" I started panicking.

"There's uh, there's a Boulder Snail behind you."  He stood still.

My eyes widned, but Y/n quickly and carefully dropped her backpack to the ground.

"Clyde, could you please lend me your button-up." She took her jacket off.

"Why-" He was cut off by her. "Just do."

"Joel." She called out without looking at me. "Take of your shirt."

"My shirt? What do you mean?" My eyes started watering.

"Just do Joel." She started taking off her own shirt and Clyde turned around.

"Do what she says, Joel." Minnow whisper-shouted.

I started doing the same and Y/n put on the button up that Clyde had dropped to the floor.

"Joel. Give me your shirt." I froze. My hands shaking as I took it off slowly and held it in my hand. She took the shirt from me forcefully and turned around slowly.

"Okay, buddy." She shushed. "Shh, shh, shh, shh. Easy does it." The creature growled.

"It's okay. You're all right." She placed the shirts on the creature carefully.

"Okay now. On your way." Y/n took a step back.

The snail looked at her, the spikes in its head dissapearing. It turned around and started moving slowly, leaving us behind without any harm.

"Good boy. Good boy." Clyde sighed in relief.

Minnow crunched up and looked down at my scared figure. "What you so scared for? Boulder Snails are nice."

"There can be nice ones?" I looked up to her and then next to me to see Y/n taking two shirts from her backpack, handing one to me and keeping one for herself, planning on giving Clyde his back.

"You can always tell in their eyes. Just look at their eyes."

"This one probably saved our lives too." Clyde looked at Y/n.

"What- saved our lives?" I looked at both of them.

"Yeah. Gonna spread our scent all over the hillside." Y/n explained.

"Shoot. That old Chumbler ain't gonna know which way to go." Clyde added.

"So the Chumbler's gonna follow our shirts?" I started putting on the shirt Y/n handed me, still staring at them in shock.

"That's oversimplifying things. But yes." Y/n groaned as she picked her backpack off the ground.

"Thank you, Mr. Boulder Snail." Minnow waved.

Y/n looked at her and smiled at the girl's cuteness. "Thank you, Mr. Boulder Snail." Y/n repeated.

I mumbled trying to say something but I just couldn't.

"Yeah, they're very sensitive, you know." Clyde commented, taking his shirt back from Y/n who had quickly changed. "But they'll crush your ass... In a second."

*

We all sat on a hill. A fire in the middle. Minnow rested in Y/n's legs, who was playing with her hair, Boy laying next to them. I sat in front of the fire, drawing, while Clyde looked over my shoulder.

"What you working on there man?" I looked up at Clyde who looked kind of impressed.

"Just a little project I started a while back in my colony." I explained, looking back at my drawing.

"Every time we encountered a new monster, I'd just make a little entry." I continued, Y/n looked at me and smiled.

"Mhm." Clyde hummed in response, urging me to continue.

"Its a drawing. Um, just some info about it. You know, strengths, weaknesses. Stuff like that. Made me feel like I was helping out, you know."

"You're a pretty good artist." Clyde complimented.

"Thanks." I replied, turning the page.

"I've seen this one. Ugly bastard."  He pointed towards the page where the ant that took Connor was. "Also doesn't like shotgun blasts to the head. Might wanna add that" He leaned back.

I nodded awkwardly and wrote the "new" information into the page. "Yeah. got it."

"Do you mind if I..." He reached towards the notebook.

"Oh, sure." I handed it to him.

"Yeah. Oh, thanks. Thanks" He took it turning towards the first pages.

"Oh wow." He touched the drawing.

It was one of the firsts one i did, that I actually did like. It resembled the day Agatha 616 reached the earth.

"We were sixteen when it hit." I motioned towards Y/n.

"Yeah, they sent everything up at once to take her down." Clyde remembered.

"They had the balls to call us the lucky ones too." Y/n put her arm around Minnow. "Just 'cause whatever the hell was in those things didn't affect us."

Clyde nodded in agreement. "Ain't nothing lucky about getting kicked off the top of the food chain. Lemme tell you that."

"Yeah, my parents thought if we could just, make it out of Fairfield, and take Y/n with us, we might have a shot." I looked down, momeries flooding back.

"Wait, wait, wait." Clyde looked between me and Y/n. "You both are from Fairfield?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Man, I've never met anyone who made it out of Fairfield. That place was basically ground zero. Shit. I've only heard horror stories." He shook his head and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad." I looked at the fire in front of me. From the corner of my eye I could see Y/n look up, and clench her fist slightly.

"Uh, your parents, uh." Clyde started but I cut him off. "Oh, uh, no. I've just got Y/n. Couldn't save 'em."

"You putting that on yourself?" He asked sadly.

"Mmm."

He turned to Y/n who was still looking up. "What's your story?"

She gave a small chuckle, almost like a scoff. "I don't really know, I never got to say goodbye to anyone really. My parents weren't in town, and uh, well they almost never were. I wasn't doing really good emotionally and I had summer school so I guess not seeing them was also my fault. I just wish I could know if they are even still alive. And if they are not, what I could've done to save them." She looked at him and then at Minnow who looked at her, pity evident in her eyes.

"You need to stop blaming yourselves. You're from Fairfield. You shouldn't even be here. Right? You are both barver than I thought." Clyde reassured.

I looked up at him, I felt honored, yes it's crazy that I made it out alive, but, I had never been praised for doing so, and it made me feel useful and valorated.

"That's the coolest thing anyone's ever said to me." I smiled.

"It's a good start." Clyde patted my shoulder and handed me the notebook.

"Keep it up. Book like this could save someone's life out here."

I stared at the book for a second before thanking Clyde.

"You um, sure your girl's worth it? Coming all this way?" He quizzed.

I tilted my head. It did sound crazy, I mean it was, but, what else would I do, stay inside the bunker for the rest of my life? After seven years I was able to go out into the world, with the person I cared most in the world and met an amazing dog and people in the way, I mean even if we don't make it, I got to live my life a little more.

"Yeah." I blurted out, my tone soft.

"Don's settle, Joel." Minnow said, grabbing Y/n's hand.

"She's right. You don't have to." Clyde agreed. "Not even at the end of the world."

I laid down using my backpack as a pillow. Closing my eyes I felt myself slipping into a deep slumber until two loud claps startled me.

"Okay!" Clyde exclaimed. Boy whined, jumping in fear at the sudden noice.

"Time to break camp! Let's go!" Minnow, Y/n and Clyde stood up.

"Uh, wh-" I looked at them, confused.

"Lesson two. You get a hot meal or a good night's sleep. Not both." Clyde instructed while packing.

"Not both." Minnow repeated.

"Are you being serious?" I stated.

"Something will have smelled our food and be all over this camp withing the hour." Clyde explicated.

"They are right Joel, sorry." Y/n looked at me and slightly cringed.

"Okat then, but why wouldn't you tell me that though? I didn't do either."

"I can't tell you everything, man. Keep up." Clyde said while pouring water over the fire.

"Let's go, Joel." Y/N stood in front of me holding a hand out offering help for me to stand up, I took it and stood up, grabbing my stuff.

I kept groaning like a little kid but ended up giving up knowing we wouldn't and couldn't stay.

"Well let our next journey begin." Minnow smiled.

"Yeah, yeah."

✎⁀➷ 𝘈𝘜𝘛𝘏𝘖𝘙𝘚 𝘕𝘖𝘛𝘌
Im so so sorry i promised i'd upload this Saturday, everything i had written got deleted when i tried to update because of my shitty wifi, Il try to update weekly and I apologize if sometimes I don't, Im not doing great in school and I still have to catch up.