Don't let go: Joel Miller x OC

Puppy love

"Feels just like the old times, huh?" Tommy smirked as he and his horse strolled slightly on ahead.

Joel was closely following behind, he gave Tommy a small shrug. It wasn't quite the same as before. Yes, on both occasions it was about collecting supplies in order to survive but this time round it was much more ethical. Their didn't have to be any further blood on their hands. Nobody innocent had to die for it... but he understood what his brother meant. It was more about them being out in the wilderness together.

"Minus the horses, yeah, a little. I guess"

The brothers and a couple of others had left Jackson around thirty six hours ago to go on a supply run after hearing rumours of an abandoned settlement nearby in Dubois. Much to their luck, the place was pretty much cleared out bar from a small horde that they soon noticed wandering the streets.

As with most places these days, after twenty years the majority of the shops shelves were swiped clean of anything that would be deemed as a 'survival necessity'.

Tommy called out to address the rest of the group as he grounded to a halt, "We'll tie up here and spend the night , see what we can find and then head back tomorrow"

Each member swiftly dismounted down from their rides, tying them up onto nearby trees before heading separate ways to scout the place out.

Joel quietly made his way through one of the narrow pathed streets just off the main high street. The buildings infrastructures looked weakened with nature taking over, walls traced with vines of unruly ivy and the evidence of burned out tendrils. Most shops either had the front windows smashed or were boarded up.

He sighed as he kicked a broken pane of glass to the side of the pavement. He wasn't holding out much hope for finding anything substantial but anything was better than nothing.

Further down the road he came across an old boarded up apothecary. He reached for the rusted crow bar stored in the back pocket of his rucksack and wedged it between the borders, beginning to heave and tear down each of the stiff boards to gain entry.

As soon as the first board came down, he could hear an array or shrill screeching flying towards him from the inside. The creature was quick to make itself visible, sticking its head through the hole in the door and clawing at the remaining boards. He acted quickly using the instrument already in his grip, beating the clicker over the head and once decapacitated enough, he grabbed for his handgun putting a bullet through its skull. Blackened congealed blood and fungus splattered the surrounding partition and pooled onto the floor as the infected body went limp.

Joel let out a grunt as he pulled down the remaining boards, allowing them to crash to the ground alongside the now deceased clicker. He cautiously edged inside being wary for any other infected figures lurking in the shadows. Clear.

He made his way through the aisles, scanning for any untouched items on the shelves. It was unexpected but this particular shop was still particularly well stocked. Several boxes of over-counter pain killers, contraceptives and other medications were quickly swiped into his bag.

Joel looked up and noticed an old pharmacy at the back of the room. He moved towards the counter and hopped over landing with a crunch. Looked down to see that his boot had landed and sunk through the burnt out body of another clicker with a further three almost disintegrated bodies scattered the floor in front of him. He guessed that this was the reason why so much was left in the shop. He kicked the bodies aside as he once again started grabbing for any boxes remaining in the back room cabinets. Bingo. A stash of various antibiotics, insulin and steroid creams.

He swiftly made his way back down through the shop floor before a shelf on the right hand side caught his eye. A shelf that contained hair products. He stuffed a couple of bottles of shampoo into his rucksack and then noticed on the very bottom shelf, a single box of DIY hair bleach. He smirked to himself as he grabbed the box, turning it over in his palms whilst his eyes scanned it over for any punctures. He gathered fairly early on that Ava's hair wasn't naturally the icy blonde it currently was, the observation only becoming more evident as her dark roots grew through. He stuffed the box into the inside pocket of his coat and then continued out of the building.
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