Death With Dignity - The Last Of Us

Chapter Five - Drunkin' Huntin'

"Rise n' shine. Coffee?"Joel offered, holding the cup in front of Steven, he took it and downed the bitter contents with little care. Rising from the hotel bed with a yawn,
"We goin' somewhere?" Steven asked, Joel smiled,
"Were goin' huntin'," Joel said, immediately Steven's heart sank. Guns?
"I..."
"Don't worry, we ain't usin' a gun. We're using a bow."

The younger man sighed with relief as he stumbled to his feet, wandering outside bedside Joel.
"So how far do we have to walk?" Steven asked, walking alongside Joel as they made their way through the forest.
"Not too much longer now." Joel assured, "If I'm honest I'm not much of a hunter, but we need the food," Joel said, walking a little faster and deeper into the trees, following a faint path in the grass.

Steven was confused about how Joel knew where he was going, he must've walked through this already or something. Had he been waiting for him to wake up?

"Alright," the boy agreed, trailing a little behind Joel as the two of them walked further in, moving quietly and keeping an eye out for game. Spotting a rabbit, Joel slowly took out a pistol and handed it to his companion. "Joel I can't hear this," Steven mumbled,
"I put a silencer on it, shouldn't hear a thing."
"What about the bow?"

"Right, well, let's practice this first on something small and moving. You see that rabbit over there? An arrow would split it in half." Joel observed, pointing over at a white rabbit sniffing at the ground, white tail shaking about. Steven nodded, holding up the pistol with a wavy hand.

"It's hoppin' away. Go on baby you got this," he encouraged, watching Steven closely. Remembering what Joel had said to him, Steven aimed carefully, taking in a deep breath, firing as he exhaled. Steven missed just barely, the bullet almost hitting its leg, the lucky rabbit scurrying off quickly. The sound of rustling foliage is the only remainder of the animal.

Shooting it felt good, the way the gun kicked, the power. And without the sound of the shots he can actually shoot without passing out. It's bizarre. It's like he's lying to his brain.

"It's alright. Moving targets can be tricky. We'll go further down and try again," Joel consoled, gently patting Steven's back. He smiled warmly at the encouragement and nodded.

"It ain't that it's movin' it's that the little bastard is so far away!" Steven whined, pinching his fingers together a little, Joel laughed lightly, nodding along and agreeing with him. "You'll get 'em this time."

Finding another colony of rabbits, Steven decided to pick the fattest one. Maybe he had a better chance at shooting something larger. Holding up the gun again, Steven aimed a little further up and pulled the trigger, shooting straight through the rabbit's delicate body, leaving it on the ground, limp and bleeding.

"Ah! I got it!" Steven exclaimed, smiling proudly at himself. "What the hell do I do with it?" He asked, approaching it and kneeling to pick it up by the back paws, watching it drip with blood, its glazed-over dead eyes staring at him. He couldn't look it in the eyes, he'd feel bad. Steven grimaced a little and looked at Joel, subconsciously searching for his approval.

"Here, hand it to me, and let's move onto somethin' bigger," Joel suggested, holding out his hand. Steven immediately handed it over to him, dusting his hands off and sniffling. "Alright, let's walk somewhere else and find some deer."

The walk was silent beside each other, not going too fast nor too slow, following along a stream of water, and Joel took the time to admire Steven in the high noon sunshine. The way the sun kissed his skin and the breeze tussled his hair, making it look extra fluffy. Steven turned to look at Joel, about to ask where to go next, when Steven caught him staring at him. He cleared his throat and averted his eyes a little, then slowly looked back at him, smiling at him.