TLOU - Crystal Clear

Lost

James looked around and whistled low at Vee, she got up and walked towards him as the others started packing up. James soon crouched, his breath becoming heavy as he looked around. Sweat collected on his brow as he walked silently. The people were everywhere as Ellie and Joel followed. James hid behind a tree and so did the others not far behind him. He heard someone walking and a foot was seen. He quickly grabbed the person and put a cloth over their mouth and stabbed them in the neck before he dragged it away quietly. James looked over at Joel and Ellie as he whistled quietly at Vee. And she fell behind him staying with Ellie making sure she would stay silent. He hid behind a tree when someone came near him and he threw his hand back, knocking them in the face and Vee pounced, biting his neck as the body became still. She fell back again and he continued walking quietly. His breath became shallow as his hear beat quickened and pounded in his ears. The sounds around him becoming almost unbearable as he kept a close eyes around his surroundings making sure not to be seen and killing off his prey slowly as he did so. His movements were quick and slow as he walked, being careful not to step on anything that would make noise and he whistled loudly and soon they booked it to a different direction to cause a diversion as the people made their way over to the spot they were in James looked around, spotting a clearing as he ran. Before he could get to the clearing a loud noise was heard and he fell to the ground with a huge gage in his leg "Fuck, fuck!" He got up quickly and limped but he wasn't fast enough so Joel picked him up and they ran quickly. They ran and the sun began to fall and as it did the men got their flashlights and everything blurred together as it clashed with the trees and as the reached the river bed and walked across it the gun shots and lights stopped and they didn't follow them anymore. Joel propped James against a tree and opened his bag once they were far enough away. "Shit, kid.. that deep." James winced in pain and Vee sat beside him, laying her head in his stomach as her ears folded downward and she whimpered. He pet her to calm her down speaking softly to her every now and then saying that he'd be fine and soon Joel patched him up. He'd have to lay low for awhile and he'd have to be careful with how he stepped. As night had fallen James closed his eyes first, falling into a light sleep and so did the others. James soon awoke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, his face was pale and his eyes became frantic. After awhile Vee started to whimper and he calmed down a bit and pet her softly while looking around. He wouldn't be able to fall back asleep so he'd stay up for the rest of the night. As morning arrived he looked over to see Joel looking at him in a sympathetic way and he diverted his gaze to Vee and looked away. "You didn't sleep much did you?" Joel spoke in a whisper as to not wake up Ellie and James just nodded. He sighed and got up. "Keep an eye on her, I'll be back." James looked up at him. "Where are you going?" "To find a creak nearby, we're low on water already." He nodded and stayed there, staring off into space as he waited for Joel.
He kept hearing noises and soon, Ellie woke up, she rubbed her eyes as she looked at him. "Where's Joel?" He looked at his with soft eyes to try and calm her down "He just went to find a creak nearby, he'll be back soon."

After awhile of waiting James got worried. Since Ellie had fallen asleep he didn't want to leave her but Joel had been gone for over an hour and he was getting anxious. As he tried to stand he groaned and looked over at Ellie to see if she awoke. Seeing as she tossed slightly he sighed and Vee bit his shirt to try to get him to lay back down but he dismissed her. Vee walked infront of him and growled and he gave her a firm look and she sat back down with her ears folded back. James limped over to the creak and he looked around. He couldn't see Joel anywhere and before he walked any further he felt a tap on his shoulder. "James, you can barely walk. What are you doing?" He turned and saw Ellie, she looked confused but when she saw his face she knew what as going on. "Where is he?" James looked around. "I don't know, I didn't hear anything earlier when he left.. maybe he went upstream, it looks to mudded over here for drinking water anyway.." He turned to look at her and her eyes diverted everywhere and he put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll find him Ellie, he's old, he couldn't have gotten that far." He gave a reassuring smile and a playful wink before walking over to the stream and dropping his fake demeanor.

After searching the bank, they looked in the water, in the brush, the trees, they even checked different creaks and went back to camp at least three times. They didn't want to yell out for him and attract any infected so they tried to stay quiet. Ellie began to freak out and James was almost out of ideas to keep her calm. After searching Vee barked and they ran towards her.
She was sniffing the ground and ran I to the wooded area as they ran into trees, bushes, twigs, rocks and mud they looked around in worry trying to follow Vee as fast as they could. When they finally found her, it was Joel's jacket and James held Ellie as she began to cry. He picked it up and let Ellie put it on so the wouldn't lose it And they looked around all night.