Don't let go: Joel Miller x OC

Not Alone

It was as if all of a sudden the world seemed like a much larger place. So large, so vast, so full of danger and threat. Ava couldn't quite pin point the emotion she had coursing through her veins as she trailed behind the search party. Every beat of her heart felt strained and heavy, her chest felt as if it was slowly suffocating her, her stomach griping, her eyes weighted but incapable of succumbing to the darkness and yet at the same time she experienced a bone chilling numbness.

The burning rage and boiling blood had subsided for a moment, for her at least. In fact, it would seem that it had been stolen from her by Joel as he harboured it next to his own under the red cloud that had formed and gained control of his mind and soul, ready to hail down on all those who had dared to cross him.

She stayed quiet and out of his way. Simply being complicit to his orders as he threw them around. It was best that way. She hated this side of him. He was so distant and cold, as if she was just another accomplice he had no ties too. It unnerved her but she knew that this sheer brutality and determination was their best shot at finding Lily just as he had tracked her down those years ago and so for now she would oblige and pay no mind to it.

She wasn't much of a tracker but she was learning as they moved. Tommy had spotted some disturbed shrubbery, to neat for an infected to have passed through, not flattened enough for it to be anything larger but too disheveled to be from a apprehensive deer or a stalking coyote. Apparently this could be a sign of a human disturbance.

Shortly after, Tess had spotted a few strands of silky chestnut hair tangled within the bark of a tree trunk. Too long to be the fur from an animals back, far too fine to be from the horses that would have passed earlier on in the day... human hair. Sophie had long chestnut hair....

These mere morsels of evidence had Joel chasing after them like a hound on the scent of a fox. Eyes sharply peeled for anything else that would indicate that someone had passed through recently.

Joel pulled up to a sudden halt, the three following horses skidding to a stop behind him. His eyes zeroed in on the ground, narrowing to focus his vision. Faint footprints pressed into the hardened summer soil, so faint that they could have been easily missed.

She felt useless trailing along behind. These three were seasoned survivors, they could track, hunt and scavenge effectively... She found herself wondering how in the hell she survived travelling alone for so long before Jackson. Maybe she had been more equipped back then or perhaps it was all just pure luck and her ability to shoot a shot... What she did know was that her previous attempt at leaving Jackson with the aim to find her daughter would have been a sure suicide mission... and this is why she would just have to bite her tongue and put up with whatever Joel was going to give her.

The four followed the trail of broken prints for another mile, them eventually and completely fading out as they hit tarmac. Highway 191, that's what they'd hit.

Joel swallowed thickly as his eyes scanned the array of rusted trucks that were scattered into the horizon. A bleak memory of all those who had tried to escape, those who hadn't yet realised that there was nowhere to run. Some of the shelled out vehicles still containing the brittle bones of its owner in the drivers side... A thoughtful frown displayed across his brows as he dragged his attention to the cold tarmac road.

He found himself squinting at just yards ahead, his body automatically dismounting in a hurry before stalking over to the spot.

Thick black marks stained the otherwise grey asphalt surface. He crouched himself down, running a finger over the marks before rubbing it between the pads of his digit and thumb. It still carried a subtle warmth he thought as he inhaled the scent of the inky remnants on his print. A distinctive smell, one that wasn't massively uncommon in the pre apocalyptic world... burnt rubber.