( Joel does not look back to see if she is following. Part of him hopes that she isn't. A more sinister part considers the benefit of her being pulled down into the group gaining ground on them: a bleak but advantageous distraction as he hurries to think quickly while seeing through the laborious task of breathing through a flat sprint with a group of Infected not far enough behind. Footsteps bounce off of the buildings on either side of the alley, not just his but an accompanying, syncopated rhythm that's not far behind him. The slap of the soles of their feet punch through the static noise of the crowd eagerly gaining on them, and Joel knows from experience that if they do not get off of the street fast, there won't be any street left to get off of.
He could turn and shoot her, right through the knee. His aim is good enough and it would be more than capable of drawing the attention of the Runners, buying him time to find an escape route so that he can hunker down and wait out the rest of the swarm, biding his time until he's able to get back on the ground and search for Tommy and Tess. Doing so would require stopping and turning, though, eating up precious seconds that he doesn't have. It would mean sacrificing a bullet for a shot that he isn't sure would land the way that he wants it to, regardless of how capable he's become, how proficient. And there's no guarantee that the woman currently trailing him wouldn't return his volley with a favor of her own, especially should his shot go wide. That she had pulled up almost as if in an attempt to help does not cross his mind. Extending a hand to others has rarely ended in anything other than disaster.
A dumpster has been left along one of the exterior walls up ahead, and Joel cuts his path to the right in order to climb on top of it. The fire escape dangles several feet overhead, and Joel thinks, as he presses both of his palms flat on the lid, that he can reach it if he jumps, get both hands around the final rung and pull himself up the rest of the way. As soon as he slams into the solid metal frame with a hollow clang, he hoists himself up, sparing only a moment to watch ten or so Runners barrel down the open passage with single-minded determination, hellbent on sinking teeth into exposed skin. With a sharp curse tangled up in the rapid fire pacing of his breathing, he reaches down with a hand to pull the woman up behind him.
The fire escape is too high for him to reach alone. )
no subject
He could turn and shoot her, right through the knee. His aim is good enough and it would be more than capable of drawing the attention of the Runners, buying him time to find an escape route so that he can hunker down and wait out the rest of the swarm, biding his time until he's able to get back on the ground and search for Tommy and Tess. Doing so would require stopping and turning, though, eating up precious seconds that he doesn't have. It would mean sacrificing a bullet for a shot that he isn't sure would land the way that he wants it to, regardless of how capable he's become, how proficient. And there's no guarantee that the woman currently trailing him wouldn't return his volley with a favor of her own, especially should his shot go wide. That she had pulled up almost as if in an attempt to help does not cross his mind. Extending a hand to others has rarely ended in anything other than disaster.
A dumpster has been left along one of the exterior walls up ahead, and Joel cuts his path to the right in order to climb on top of it. The fire escape dangles several feet overhead, and Joel thinks, as he presses both of his palms flat on the lid, that he can reach it if he jumps, get both hands around the final rung and pull himself up the rest of the way. As soon as he slams into the solid metal frame with a hollow clang, he hoists himself up, sparing only a moment to watch ten or so Runners barrel down the open passage with single-minded determination, hellbent on sinking teeth into exposed skin. With a sharp curse tangled up in the rapid fire pacing of his breathing, he reaches down with a hand to pull the woman up behind him.
The fire escape is too high for him to reach alone. )