lost & found || Joel Miller

August, Queen of wisteria

ᖭི༏ᖫྀ

The river flowed so perfectly, it didn't seem real and the sounds felt like something straight out of a movie...

The trio had found themselves in the woods, or as Joel put it: Ten miles west of Boston, but who cares, it was beautiful and that's all that mattered—at least to August.

No one had spoken a word of August's near-death experience since the second it happened...It was mostly August's doing, seeing as though they had more important things to worry about...And well, she's alive right?

Joel was enjoying the river while August watched from afar as she sat with her back against a tree with her crochet tools in hand but she didn't use them, she was facing him while Ellie sat on a tree a few feet across August, facing opposite the river and rejected every time August told her to turn around and look at the river.

After a while, he began to walk away from the river and toward them, he was wearing a blue jean button-up shirt, which he'd worn all throughout their journey but it was only revealed a few hours ago because August had given her jacket to Ellie, to keep her warm and began freezing herself.

"You want your jacket back?" August asks as he's finally within earshot.

He shakes his head as an answer and continues walking until he reaches the tree which he claimed as his spot and begins to rummage through his bag until he finds a little baggie of food, eats a little and as he was about to shove it back into his bag, he turns to August and offers it to her.

She shakes her head as she began to crochet and he turns and throws it to Ellie, who takes it and begins to eat.

"I've never been in the woods," Ellie began as she gulped down a bite, "More bugs than I thought,"

Nobody says anything...

"Why—"  August suddenly begins, but Joel stops her.

"I don't want to answer that," He says frustrated, assuming she's going to ask why he'd left or come back.

"I wasn't going to ask why you left," She grumbles, "I was gonna ask why you're mad. I mean, you left us and look, we've forgiven you,"

"I'm not mad," August raises her eyebrows and Ellie snorts.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is: Nobody forced you to take us, nobody forced you to leave or to come back or to go along with this plan, it was your choice. You wanted that battery or whatever...Don't blame us for a choice we didn't make,"

There's a silence and Joel stares, thinking about her words before nodding his head, as a way of telling her 'Fine, I understand'.

He takes his bag and throws it over his shoulder, then takes his gun and the girls begin to get up, gathering their stuff and beginning to follow him up the hill.

"How much longer?" Ellie asks.

"Five-hour hike," Joel replies, taking a breath.

Ellie groans and August pats her back, "We can manage that," She looks up at Joel who was already looking and gives him a smile as she hands him his jacket back.

"Nice jacket, I might steal it," He just gives her a look and they continue their hike.

They walk through an avenue, but sadly it was such a short part of their hike and they'd reached another field.

It was a gorgeous one. Filled with flowers and trees and birds.

"Oh, my God, this is heaven," August breathes as she walks around, her head up high as she stared at the sky with a smile on her face.