Don't let go: Joel Miller x OC

My forever burning flame

29th June 2024

With not even the faintest wisp of a cloud in sight, the weather had finally regulated itself. Spring was well and truly in the past as Summer forced its way into Wyoming. The sun had been beating down gloriously all week, the bushes blooming with an assortment of pastel coloured flowers, the lakes were tranquil and the birds chirped cheerfully within the abundance of trees in and around the community.

Joel had been out since dawn, route six being easily an eight hour stint that ventured over to east side of the lake and towards the mountains. Todays patrol had been hindered slightly due to him taking a new aspirant along with him to shadow. Joel had been familiar with the eighteen year old, Jesse for some time. He had been advised by other members of the team that the kid had already shown great promise at becoming a valued member of the group; bold, efficient and ambitious- just what was needed within this type of role. Joel also knew him as an apparent good friend of Ellie, a new friendship that seemed to have blossomed over the course of the last year, the young man having become a regular fixture in his kitchen on a Saturday night along with a couple of others as they'd raid the cupboards before disappearing out into Ellie's shed turned annex. As good as he may be and despite being a familiar face, it didn't stop the boy from being a bit of a gob-shite; there was an apparent reason why him and Ellie got along so well.

It had been an early start, leaving Jackson's gates just after first light and finally catching sight of the checkpoint just before eleven that morning. Something in the surrounding air feeling charged, an uneasiness in the atmosphere that could be felt by all. The animals they sat upon becoming antsy and nervous as they closed in on their destination, eyes bulging and mouths fighting against the bit as both men persisted in pushing them forward. The pair agreeing to dismount and tether their horses to a nearby tree trunk as they began to fight more and more resulting in Jesse almost being thrown from his mare.

"Easy, girl." Joel's palm stroked down the velvet chestnut fur of Reds neck. His brow furrowing as he studied her body language; ears pricked, high head carriage, hind muscles trembling and eyes almost popping out of her head. He glanced over his shoulder to where Jesse stood trying to pacify his own animal who jigged and snorted on the spot.

"What the hell is wrong with them?" Jesse strained as he just about managed to secure his horse.

The older man pressed his index finger to his lips as he looked to teen, his voice no louder than a whisper. "Keep your voice down... They've sensed somethin'..."

"Sensed something? Like what?"

Joel edged forward, each foot placed with caution and deliberation, "They're prey animals. Could be anythin'; moose, bear, infected... Keep your eyes peeled."

They heard them before even being able to catch sight. The throat tearing croaks and squawks, obscured behind the old dilapidated cabin that they needed to reach. With their hands placed on their weapons, they continued to soundlessly approach. It wasn't quiet enough, the subtle vibrations of footsteps carrying through the earth being enough to alert the diseased beings. There was a beat of total silence, an apprehensive beat where everything froze still. A single beat followed by those heart stopping throaty screeches and the sounds of scrambling feet. Fighting and flailing from behind the wooden slats of the hide out, the small horde made themselves known. A small combination of advanced runners and the stage after.

The god awful guttural sounds they produced reverberating through each of their nervous systems, the blood pumping through their veins just that bit faster and a sheen of perspiration forming across their foreheads. They had a matter of seconds to prepare themselves in a bid to avoid succumbing to the fast spreading infection that had wiped most of the human race from the planet.