"See the tracks? C'mon!" Tommy shouted and Joel sped up on his horse.
They were sprinting through the woods following the only evidence that she went through.
"She couldn't have gotten far, we'll find her don't worry!" Tommy called from the front again.
"Stubborn teenager." Joel mumbled to himself before hearing Tommy shout again, "She usually pull these stunts?"
"Actually this is the first time." Joel replied as they went deeper into the woods.
"Well she didn't go through here." Tommy stopped when he saw the way barricaded.
Joel looked around, seeing a small trail where the tracks continued.
He turned the horse around and led the way, with Tommy right on his heels.
They saw some massive rocks in front of them and as Joel's horse was about to jump through a giant pile of wood laying in the way a trap went off.
They managed to avoid it so it didn't harm them but both him and Tommy quickly jumped off the horses and hid behind another pile of wood.
"How many do you see?" Tommy asked, making Joel groan,
"Too goddamn many."
Them and the bandits started firing at each other but Joel and Tommy were much more skilled, taking them all down.
"Is that all?" Tommy looked at Joel.
"Seems like it." He said, going to explore the only house that was there but it was completely empty so they went to get the horses again to continue searching for Makayla.
They got to a small ranch, seeing a house in a pretty good shape in the distance.
"That's our farm, she's gotta be there." Tommy said from behind Joel and Joel noticed one of Tommy's horses in front of the house before they made their way to it.
"Area looks clean." Joel looked around before both him and Tommy got down from the horses.
He opened the door.
"Makayla?" He asked, scanning the interior but no one answered.
"Makayla?!" He shouted again, more angrily.
"I'm up here!" Makayla shouted back raspily, sounding annoyed and it made Joel roll his eyes and mumble under his breath, "Jesus Christ."
He walked upstairs and by the time Tommy got inside the house too.
Joel saw the only door that was slightly opened, at the end of the hallway so he went to open them, seeing Makayla sitting by the window.
He huffed and looked away. Why would she just dissapear? Creating problems..
She was reading some kind of book and when Joel noticed she wasn't even acknowledging him he spoke up,
"Get up. We're leaving, c'mon." He said turning around to leave while looking back at her but she didn't move a muscle.
"And if I say no?" She asked calmly making him frown.
He turned back around, looking at her with a furious expression on his face.
"Do you even realize what your life means? Huh?" He asked with a challenging voice and continued, "Running off like that. Putting yourself at risk! It's pretty goddamn stupid."
Makayla looked him up and down.
"Well I guess we're both disappointed with each other then." She squinted her eyes at him and he took a few steps closer, getting even angrier.
"What do you want from me?!"
"Admit that you wanted to get rid of me the whole time!" Makayla raised her voice, sitting straight and putting the book down.
Joel dodged her eye contact, "Tommy, knows this area better than-"
"Oh! fuck that-" Makayla stood up with an annoyed sigh.
"Well I'm sorry! I trust him better than I trust myself."
"Stop with the bullshit. What are you so afraid off?! I can take care of myself, we're a great duo so what's your problem?! I'm gonna protect you from getting infected and you're gonna protect me from getting killed. Just like we've done mutliple times already!"
"How many close calls have we had?!" He groaned.
"Well we seem to be doing alright so far!"
"And now you'll be doing even better, with Tommy!" His voice was raspy and loud. He was full on raging right now just like when he found out she was 19.
He then turned around, hoping she'd follow him now.
"I'm sorry about what happened to her Joel."
"What?!" Joel turned back around abruptly, not understanding what she was going on about.
"Maria told me about Sarah and I-" She took a step closer but stopped as he spoke up, "Makayla-" he warned her, "You are treading on some mighty thin ice here."
"I'm sorry about your daughter Joel. But I have lost people too."
"You have no idea, what loss is!" He grunted and clenched his jaw afterwards, trying to control his temper.
"I've been alone for since I can remember. And then I found you. I trust you with my whole fucking life Joel and I don't want that to go away. So just- don't leave me. Please.." her eyes were glossy as he watched her pour her heart to him but he kept his face stone cold.
"You trust me, because I let this go too far. That was a mistake. And we are going our separate ways-"
Suddenly Tommy barged into the room, "Get it together! We're not alone." He had his gun in his hand as Joel grabbed his own and they positioned themsleves on each side of the door, behind the wall.
And with her head low and heart broken, Makayla did the same.
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