Set Me Free ▪︎ Joel Miller ▪︎

▪︎○ Forty Three ○▪︎

Winter 2033

It had been exactly one month, three weeks and four days since Joel had sustained his injury and in that time Olivia felt lost. Every night she sat by his side, tending to him as he groaned in his sleep and checking his breathing nearly every hour. She had barely slept in fear of him waking up or god forbid, he had a terrible decline in his condition.

Every moment he was lay on that thin mattress in the basement of that dingy cabin, her heart broke and her worry grew.

She missed his voice, his chuckle and his touch. She missed the feelings that rose in her when he would look at her or smile her way. She missed him.

But she had to push through her emotions to care for he and Ellie; she had to be strong. So, she crouched beside him and checked his temperature while waiting for Ellie to slip on her coat. She frowned at the cold sweats he seemed overcome with whilst sighing softly as her hand reached down to pull his shirt up slightly - inspecting the wound she had stitched that appeared to be rather infected. She shook her head and slid the material back in place before covering him once more with a blanket and kissing his temple. Then, she stood up and stepped back, turning to Ellie with a worry deep in her heart.

The teen looked up after zipping up her coat and frowned at the distant worried look in Olivia's green eyes. She walked forward slowly whilst flicking her gaze behind the young woman to look at the older man breathing faintly.

"I can go out hunting on my own if you want to stay," she offered selflessly.

However, as expected, Olivia shook her head with a forced smile lifting the corners of her lips. "It's okay, El." she said quietly as she slung her bow and arrows over her shoulder along with her pack. "It's getting harder to find food out in the cold weather so better to have two sets of eyes and hands than one." She turned her head to look at Joel over her shoulder, "he'll be fine for a couple of hours."

"Okay, if you're sure." Ellie nodded as she also slung Joel's bow and arrows over her own shoulder with her pack.

"I am,"

The pair checked Joel one final time to make sure he was covered well and in a stable enough condition to be left alone before they decided to head out on Tempest and Callus.

The horses galloped at the speed of Olivia's racing heart, moving down the road of the small village of houses they had been holding up in until they reached the outskirts of the nearby forest. Olivia lifted a hand to wipe at her cold cheek before brushing a strand of her hair behind her reddened ear. She stared ahead with determination as her hands returned to the reins, gripping it until her knuckles paled beneath the material of her winter gloves.

"El, we'll leave the horses here." she told the teen loudly over the sound of the hoof beats as the horses slowed from a gallop to a steady trot.

"Okay," the teen nodded, steering Callus towards a nearby tree they intended to tie him to.

Olivia followed and within moments had steered Tempest beside the tree too. She offered Ellie a smile as she climbed off the horse and with a hand running through his soft mane, she curled her fingers around the reins and tied him to the tree securely. "There," she stepped back with Ellie, nudging her playfully with a growing smile. "Let's go kiddo."

The pair turned to the forest ahead and with a sniffle, they began their hunt for food; trudging through the snow with their ears and eyes peeled. Olivia kept her head down, studying the white coverage below their boots for any type of animal tracks when Ellie spoke up in a quiet voice, shattering through the silence.

"Maybe we should search some of the nearby cabins." She turned her head to look at Olivia with a contemplative look on her young face. "See if we can get lucky and find some antibiotics for Joel." she shrugged.