Save each other // Joel Miller

What difference does it make?

"You see anything?" Joel calls out, squinting through the summer sun.

"Yeah, I got two more over here." Tommy calls back.

He walks through a thicket of tall grass towards Joel, rubbing his forehead with his hand and leaving a dirt mark. Joel shakes his head as he approaches.

"This isn't sittin' right with me." Joel grumbles out, placing his hands on his hips and shifting his weight to bend a knee. His stare is through the woods, a far off gaze, looking for something he's not even sure of.

"That makes two of us, brother. We've been out here for 4 hours and found, what, 6 engravings? They all say the same thing." Tommy responds, taking a mirrored look of his older brother.

They left Jackson to look at the sign they found carved into a tree and found more, many more, all around the forest surrounding their town. As they continued to stumble on them, Joel felt urgency to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Do you recognize the date? The letters might be initials. Maybe just someone who was trying to mark their way?" Tommy pondered out loud. Joel stood in stoic silence, racking his brain over all the possibilities. A grumble traveled through his chest before he answered.

"I don't know, maybe a log book might help. We could look up the dates and see if someone passed by or the notes from events that day. One thing I do know..." his words trailed off as he turned to look Tommy dead in the eyes, "this cannot get back to Jackson. If anyone finds out before we know more info, there might be panic." Joel's words came out gruff, a warning to his younger brother.

Tommy's eyebrows pinched but he didn't elaborate on his thoughts. The men took to their horses and road in silence to the first check point location near Jackson, a small log home, build into a tree. It stood above the ground with a good vantage point to see all around them. The cabin had windows lining the entire living space, and although small, was cozy for a glorified tree house.

They climbed the ladder leading into the home, closing and latching the door behind them wordlessly. Joel moved slowly to the dusty couch and sat, kicking his tired feet up and tilting his head back. He closed his eyes and listened as Tommy shuffled around the place, searching drawers for the log book records.

"Bingo." Tommy sings out as he finds it, not bothering to close the drawer as he flips through the pages. Joel's mind wanders to the night before in clips of Sophie and her drunken words. He can feel his chest tighten as he pretends to relax, wondering if any of it was true and how she must be feeling now. The morning came so soon after she fell asleep and he couldn't stay to say goodbye or see her. A shame he's willing to admit to himself but never out loud.

"Holy shit." Tommy utters, breaking Joel completely out of his own thoughts. He sits up and places his feet back down, looking to Tommy with a silent question for answers. Tommy rings his hand through his hair as he stares at the worn page from the notebook. The look on his face is enough to make Joel stand.

"What?" Joel asks with impatience. Tommy huffs out a unamused laugh and looks at Joel through worry lines. He flings the book at Joel and takes a seat on a bar stool. The book hits Joel with a smack in the center of his chest and he catches it with one hand. He gives Tommy a stern look but his younger brother isn't looking at him anymore.

"Take a look yourself." He says stiffly. Joel's feathers are ruffled at Tommy's sudden attitude but he flips through the pages regardless, looking for the date etched in the trees. He stops on the page and already, without reading it, he can tell it's eventful day. The notes on patrol are usually a few sentences at most, but this day takes up the first page and the next. He squints to read the handwriting, not recognizing it.