Ellie POV:
It had been almost two days and Joel still hadn't gained full consciousness, I pulled up Joel's shirt checking on his wound it was red, weeping and looked like it hurt like a bitch
There was nothing more I could do so I pulled the blanket back up over him.
"You thirsty?"
I looked behind me to see (Y/N) standing with a cup directing her question to Joel
He was unresponsive..
she knelt beside me and began dipping her fingers into the water and tapping it onto his lips hoping he'd get some hydration
She then looked over at me sharing my look of concern,
I pulled her into a tight warm hug not wanting to let go and return to our cold reality
My stomach grumbled.
I let go of (Y/N) and unwrapped our final piece of jerky taking a bite and handing it to her, she hesitantly nibbled a piece off before placing the rest on Joel's chest
"That was the last of it."
"We're gonna have to go out and get a rabbit or somethin"
(Y/N) said,
playing nervously with her hands
"Yeah.."
I trailed off staring down at Joel, I leant down and whispered into his ear
"We're gonna be right back, okay?"
I felt (Y/N)'s warm hand begin to rub my back as I moved away from Joel, I offered her a short smile
I then grabbed Joel's rifle which was way too large for me, and pulled on my eggplant coat and beanie as (Y/N) did the same preparing for the cold outside and left the safety of the house.
We checked our surroundings before deciding the coast was clear.
Objectively (Y/N) was a better shot than me but when it came to living things and not the dummies Joel would set up she would freeze and I didn't want to put her under any unnecessary stress, considering I had seen Joel do it so many times I was basically a pro.
We crept through the woods, in search of any animals, I came to a halt when I spotted a white rabbit just a little ahead of us, I quickly positioned the rifle to aim.
But the rabbit heard us coming and began to hop away. I sped up chasing after the rabbit as (Y/N) followed close behind, I almost had it but my feet caught a branch and I fell face-first into the snow the cold of the snow stinging my face
"Oh shit! El are you okay?!"
(Y/N) scrambled over to me checking for injuries
I looked away in embarrassment, angry I wasn't able to get the rabbit
"Yeah I'm fine" I sighed,
getting up and brushing myself off, flipping off the branch
We continued into the cold when a distant clicking sound caught our attention. I was afraid it was a Clicker, but to my surprise, there stood a stag grazing behind some nearby trees.
I rested the rifle on a log and laid down removing my right glove, (Y/N) crouched down beside me, hope glistening in her beautiful eyes as she watched me line up the deer through the scope, taking a deep breath I gently squeezed the trigger.
The shot rang out and the deer wailed as the bullet struck it, overhead the birds in the nearby vicinity made a commotion, cawing and flying away from the loud noise,
The stag began to flee
"No fucking way."
I breathed out in disbelief that I'd hit the thing.
"You did it!"
(Y/N) high-fived my cold ungloved hand, before helping me up and together we began to chase the wounded deer following the trail of crimson blood it left behi
