His hands on my neck - Joel Miller.

6.

Time flew by. The City of Jackson was completely taken over by winter. Everyone was more careful now, nobody wanted to cause trouble or attract any dancer to the city and the people it. Patrol of the city was more often, and Joel was taking an active part in it. Hope was spending most of her time helping the people in the hospital. Except for the nighttime, when she was not needed by the team. On one of the nights, the man was back to patrolling in the north. Since the house where he lived was in the North, it made sense to everyone. Before heading out Joel packed the rifle in his backpack and closed the zip of his jacket as he headed into the coldness of the night.

- Hey Joel! – His partner for the night was Chris. One of the close friends of Tommy, the one he could trust. The two started walking away from the city following the trace of the unknown footsteps leading into the woods.

- Hey, nice to see you, - Joel looked at Chris for a moment, as if he was acknowledging his presence, and put the knife back into his pocket.

- You too. How are things going? – Man's whispers were hard to hear because of the creaking snow, and the fact that Joel never tried to get into the conversations he wasn't interested in. But, lovers of the small talk were still alive even after the apocalypse.

- All well, seems to be quiet, - He was looking around and then paid more attention to the footprints on the snow, trying to realize if they weren't wasting time on another deer that was running around.

- Oh yeah. Hope it's not the calm before the storm you know, - And that was really something everyone was worried about. It's been a long time since somebody tried to get inside or was around the city. Some people tried to brush it off with the weather outside, but the majority still had the worry inside of their minds all the time.

- Yeah, don't worry about it, - Joel continued to follow the steps, as the lonely houses were further and further away from them with every step they took.

- Have you heard the rumors? – Chris stopped for a moment, trying to understand if the creaking on the side was because of the wind or if someone was watching them ready to attack.

- I don't have time for that, - The man just said what was on his mind, the last thing he cared about was if anyone got married, or died.

- Then you better be careful, rumors say your neighbor had a man over at night, - A soft chuckle came out of Chris's mouth. Little did he know that his words only got a smirk on Joel's face, even though the man wanted it to be their secret, not the information for the public.

- Hope's personal life is her own stuff, I don't involve myself in it, - He got the rifle out of the bag, as the noises on the side intensified. Joel didn't care if anybody already knew that the man was him, but didn't want the whole Jackson to talk about it.

- Just wanted you to know buddy before you wake up from, you know, noise, - Chris chuckled once more, most probably imagining how Joel would find out the scene of Hope with someone else in their living room. Then, nobody knew that there was no one from the outside of the household in the house.

- Thanks man, now let's get back to what we are supposed to do, - Joel didn't have any interest to keep on going with this conversation. If they were about the get attacked, the last thing he wanted to talk about was who Hope slept with.

Turned out, it was just a deer. The rest of the night was quiet. Both men got quite far from the city into the woods, and with the first rays of the sunrise came back to the Northern side of Jackson. The city started waking up. People rushed somewhere doing their own tasks, as if there were none of the infected walking somewhere near but so far away. People of Jackson went through some shit, and all they tried to do now, was to live or to pretend. Never Joel was more thankful that he could do patrolling next to his house. It gave him some peace of mind that all the people he cared about were in safety, protected by him. But also, it didn't take him long to get to the house where he could take the rest until the next patrol. He quietly opened the door, in case if Hope was still sleeping. Little did he know that she was already up and busy with something unknown to him in the kitchen.

- Miss Hope Harrington, the rumor says you had a man over, - Joel approached the table and left a gentle bite on her neck, as his hands fell on the girl's waist.

- Oh really? If you see him let me know, - Hope sat on the side of the table, as she grabbed the collar of his jacket and pulled the man towards her, living a kiss on his lips.

- We have to be more careful, - The man whispered in her ear, first looking inside her eyes, and then looking out of the window. The interest quickly raise in his mind on how many people would see and hear them, if they were having sex on the kitchen.

- Fuck it Joel, who even cares, - She looked him in the eyes as Hope stroked her hand on his cheek, getting a bit tickled by the man's beard that he didn't trim in a couple of days.

- I don't want Tommy or Ellie to get to know about it from the rumors, - In his perfect world everything they do would stay perfectly in the bedroom and be a little secret, that nobody was supposed to know. But, life isn't a box of chocolate, and he knew that damn well.

- Okay sir, next time I will be moaning quieter, - Hope got up from the table, finally realizing what was the main point of this conversation. As long as nobody knows, they will be fine. Will be fine, despite the fact that he was more than 20 years older than her, or that the whole world was fucked up. But what can you do when you have feelings taking you over like a storm? You either swim or drown, and the choice was theirs.

- Don't you even dare, - the smirk appeared on the edge of his lip, as the man whispered these words looking into Hope's hazel eyes. And they both knew that none of them will be quiet at any night in this house.