bullet boy • joel miller

five • kansas city

Theo sipped at his coffee, eyes following a bird that traversed the woods a few feet away from him. He watched it with mild interest when the sound of movement caught his attention and he turned around, catching Ellie shuffling around in her sleeping bag before glaring at the bubbling coffee pot beside her. She moved across the ground akin to a worm, dragging herself over to the pot, before opening it with curiosity.

Immediately, her face filled with regret and she flinched away. "Ugh! The fuck is that?"

Joel turned to face her with his eyebrows raised and Theo snorted. "You don't like coffee?"

Ellie stared at him in disgust before slamming the lid closed and flopping back down onto the floor, still wrapped up tight in her sleeping bag. She looked over to Theo, eyes dropping to the drink in his hand, and the disgust on her features only deepened. "You're drinking that shit?"

He shrugged, taking another sip."Helps me stay awake."

"Smells like puke," she mumbled. "Why do you even need to stay awake anyway?"

"I'm drivin' today. Gotta make sure I don't fall asleep at the wheel."

"No shit! He's actually letting you drive today?"

"Hey, I'm right here ya'know," Joel said, rolling his eyes as he threw his backpack into the truck. "And yeah, I am."

"Whatever, man. Are we leaving soon?"

"Just waiting on you, kid," Theo replied. Ellie groaned and stood up, stretching with a loud yawn before collecting her belongings. "Need any help?"

"Nah, I got it."

He nodded and soon enough the three of them were back in the truck, Theo at the wheel. Joel sat beside him and Ellie lounged in the back, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Theo sipped at his coffee as he drove, stifling a yawn as he took a turn and found himself back on the main road. Much to his disappointment, Joel drank some coffee too, disregarding the fact that he'd stayed up all night and needed to rest.

"Is that seriously what those Starbucks in the QZ used to sell?" Ellie asked, looking between the two men and their drinks.

"Well, theirs was a lot fresher than what Bill saved up, but, yeah, this is what they sold," Joel answered.

"Smells like burnt shit."

Theo chuckled. "Smells like burnt shit and puke? Bit of an exaggeration, don't ya think?" He glanced over to Joel to see him glaring at Ellie, slurping on his coffee obnoxiously loud, and he rolled his eyes. "Now who's acting like a child? Keep your eyes on the map, mister."

Joel continued to gulp down his drink and threw the map toward Ellie. She cheered, sitting back with a proud smile as she opened the map. "Okay... 76 west and then... 70 west for, like, ever. Where in Wyoming did you say your brother was?"

"Last contact came through a radio tower close to Cody."

"Cody. Cody, Cody." Ellie looked over the map, dragging her finger across the paper as she searched. She eventually found what she was looking for, jabbing her fingertip at the location twice. "Ah, man. That is deep up in there."

"Yeah."

Theo took another long sip of his coffee before clearing his throat. "And if he's not there?"

"Then odds are he'll be near a settlement, probably close to another city out there. Ain't too many of 'em in Wyoming."

Ellie searched the map again. "Chee-Yen."

Theo and Joel glanced at her before correcting her at the same time. "Cheyenne."

"Che–really? Cheyenne... Laramie... Casper... What's his name?"