Disclaimer: I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog and its creators.
A/N: Again Thnks to the people that are reading this and sorry to the ones that wanted this chapter to be posted early and I keep them waiting. I hope you wait not to be disappointed. Yeah, I know that the romance is been too slow, but we're getting there. Now let's continue with the story.
to Chapter 10: The Adventure Park Part-2
Ellie and Joel were almost finished with their food when Juan grabbed a seat from another table and sat with them. "Hey… ya están listos los dos para su aventura?" he asked with a smile.
Joel looks at him while finishing his drink. "La aventurera es más para ella… así que espero que todo esté listo," he said pointing at Ellie.
Ellie looks at both of them. "What?"
Both of them laugh a little at Ellie's clueless face. "He said if you're ready to start your adventure?" he said with a smile.
Ellie looks at them annoyingly. "Maybe I will get what he said better if you translate things faster to me," said Ellie while throwing a dirty napkin at Joel.
But Joel catches it before hitting him. "Sorry… sometimes I forget… Now, are you ready to go? I mean don't need to go to the bathroom or anything?"
"No, I'm good… and ready to go wherever you are going to take me… even if I don't have any idea where that will be yet." She stood up and looked at both of them. "But if you two think of taking advantage, oh me… let me tell you now that I now karate… and your balls are going to be sorry for a week," she said with a grin.
Both men quickly race their hands in front of them while looking at her. But Juan was the first to talk. "Tranquila chica… no tienes que preocuparte por mí… Estoy casado y mi mujer me mataría primero… Pero de Joel no puedo decirte nada, él sí es un pervertido… y tal vez-" the man stop when Joel hit him on his shoulder.
"¡Hey!" Joel stands up and looks at him. "Deja de decir tonterías… si no quieres que vaya a tu casa a hablar con tu esposa…" Ellie starts to laugh hearing the two men arguing in Spanish, even if she doesn't understand what they are saying.
"Ok… ok… no es para tanto," he said while standing up too. "Ok… vamos, ya todo está listo." Said Juan while turning around and started walking out of the place.
The three of them walk to a small building on the other side of the stables. Soon they got close, and Ellie saw two tracks on the side of the building.
"Solo pude conseguir dos… sin que nadie hiciera muchas preguntas así que puse las cosas que necesitamos en el mío… para que tu y la… cual era tu nombre… Ellie?" Ellie nodded at him as soon as she hear her name. "Tendrán que compartir el otro." Juan moves to the one with the big bags on the back and goes to sit on it and starts to check the engine. After a few minutes, he looks back to Joel and Ellie. "Pueden cambiarse dentro del almacén. Adentro hay unos casilleros donde pueden poner sus cosas… podemos irnos cuando salgan."
"Ok…" Joel said before turning to Ellie and translating what Juan said. Then Joel started walking toward the building. "Come with me… we can change inside," said Joel to Ellie while opening the door of the place for her. "I hope you bring something to change as I ask you because it is going to be a little messy and wet."
Ellie walks inside and looks around. "I bought a pair of shorts and a T-shirt." She quickly answered him. "So I hope that will be okay for whatever we are going to do."
"That will work fine… there is a curtain at the end, you can go behind it and change," said Joel while moving toward the lookers.
"Okay, thanks…" Ellie starts to walk but stops before getting to the end of the building. "Hey… where are you going to change?" she asked while looking at him.
Joel turned his head and looked at Ellie that was now in front of the curtain. "Don't worry… I only need to change my shirt and shoes… I will do it here." he said while opening one of the lockers and starting to put in some of his personal stuff. "Did you bring water shoes?"
"Yes… I did," she said while turning around and moving the curtain and moving behind it.
"Perfect, because you're going to need them," he said while starting to take his shirt off.
Ellie moves the creature a little and looks at him for a moment. Fuck! What is wrong with me? She said as soon as she saw Joel's chest. After a minute she moved her head back inside before Joel saw her. Fuck… he has a great body. Ellie tries to shake the image of Joel out of her mind. So she put her backpack on the floor and started to take her T-shirt off. Soon she was in her top bikini, she proceeded to take her jeans off too. She didn't know where Joel was going to take her, but she put her bikini on just in case. Soon Ellie was with her clothes off, she took out the other clothes that she brought to change and put them on a tube that was on the wall. She took the one she was wearing and put it on the backpack.
As Joel was changed, he turned his head toward the curtain where Ellie saw the light coming from the small window on the back wall letting him see Ellie's body form through the curtain. He already saw her in her bikini, but looking at her now it was like she was naked behind the curtain. Soon those images came to his mind, Joel quickly turned his head and finished changing.
After Ellie finishes changing, she grabs her backpack and opens the curtain, and goes out. Soon she does, Ellie looks toward Joel that was putting a t-shirt on. She looks at his shirtless back for a moment before turning her head to the side and waiting for him to finish before moving toward him. She already saw him shirtless, but every time she does it makes her feel something on her stomach. After he finishes, Ellie starts to walk toward him.
"All done… what next?" she said as soon as she got closer.
Joel turns around and looks at her. "Give me your backpack… I will put it here. Also, put your phone in there, it will get wet if you take it with you."
"But I want to take pictures and videos…"
"Is going to get wet,"
Ellie passes him the backpack but takes the phone out first. "Don't worry I have a phone with water protection… it will be fine," she said while hanging her phone around her neck."
"Okay… I just hope that works." he put her backpack inside the looker and closed it. Then he put the key in his pocket before looking at her again. "Okay, adventure girl… are you ready for the trip of your life?"
"I would prefer to know where we are going, but I'm ready for anything… so bridging it on," she said while doing some gestures with her hands.
"Okay… that is the spirit. Now let's move out. Juan is a little impatient if you keep him waiting for too long." Ellie laughs a little before following Joel out of the little building.
"Hey… ¿Qué hacían allá dentro ustedes dos?" Said Juan in a mocking way.
Joel rolled his eyes. "Oh por favor no empieces…" he said walking toward his four-track.
"Hey… you two… stop talking in Spanish… especially if it is about me… no… entiendo lo que dicen," said Ellie while walking behind Joel. Soon she was closer, she hit him on his arm.
"Hey… I didn't say anything… bad," he quickly protested.
Juan laughed a little, before starting his four-track. "Ya veo que hacen una buena pareja… pero ya basta de juegos estamos algo atrasados."
Joel gives him a bad look before sitting on his four-track and starting the engine. He put his helmet on and grabbed the other. "Okay, put this on…" he said while passing the other helmet to her. Ellie grabbed it and put it on. After a minute, Ellie jumps on the back part of the seat and moves her arms around Joel's waist to hold herself tight. "Ready? is going to be a bumpy ride," he said while turning his head to look at her.
"Ready… so let go, cowboy," she answered.
Juan looks at them before moving forward his four tracks, toward a path in the little forest. Joel quickly drives him and follows him. They were a few minutes later driving on the path. Juan was at the front to guide them on the route, even if Joel already knew where they were going. Ellie was excited as they continued driving on. The four tracks jump a few times as the ground changes its level with some holes on its path.
"Did you have a ride in one of these before?" Joel yells as he continues driving.
"Nope… but this is great…. I love it," she yells back while moving her body close to him.
"Glad you like it…" Joel accelerates a little trying to get closer to Juan and give Ellie a more exciting ride. He saw the little river that they needed to pass and continue on. "Hold on tight and prepare to get wet." He said while looking at Juan entering the low water.
Soon they hit the water, and Ellie starts to scream in excitement. "Wow Hoooo!" she yelled as a lot of water hit their body. After they cross the little line of water Joel continues on the path. "Wow hoooo… that was so cool," she said while moving her body close to Joel. "I hope we find another one of those…"
They drive on the path for 10 more minutes before getting close to their destination. "We're getting close…" said Joel as soon he saw the sign on the edge of the wild road. They start to get up into a small hill, before entering another clearance. After a few more minutes, Ellie saw another sign entrance and a small shack building at the end of the road. "We're here," said Joel as he watched Juan stopping close to the small building.
Joel stops his four tracks beside Juan and watches him get off of his. "Como fue el recorrido hasta aquí… Ellie… Te gusto?" Juan said while looking at them and took his helmet off.
Ellie let go of Joel and got off the vehicle and waited for Joel to tell her what he said. Ellie looks at Juan and smiles. "Si… me gusto… mucho… It was really exciting." she said while taking her helmet too.
"Excelente… pero eso solo fue el principio." Said Juan moving closer to the shack door. He took out his keys and proceed to open the door. "Ahora vendrá la mejor parte."
Joel goes off of the four-track and takes his helmet off. "Okay let's get things ready to go." Joel walks toward Juan's four-track and starts to get off the bags the man has there,
"What is all that?" Ellie asked while moving behind him.
"Equipment we're going to need." He takes out a few things including two life-serving vests. "Here put this one on…" he said while passing one to Ellie.
Ellie grabs it and starts to look around to see why they need that for. Then she saw the small deck on the other side of the shack and started to put the vest on. "Are we going into a river?" she asked before watching Juan pulling out a rubber raft from the small building.
"Hey… Joel… ¿Puedes ayudarme aquí?" said Juan while pulling the thing toward the deck.
"Seguro…" Joel put his life vest on top of the four tracks and walked toward him. Joel grabs one side of the raft and helps him carry it toward the deck. "¿Estás seguro que esto todavía flota?" said Joel while looking at the thing that hasn't seen any mantenes in a while.
"Seguro… las revise yo mismo. Solo necesitan un poco de aire… eso es todo. Recuerda que el paseo está cerrado todavía, pero el jefe ordenó revisar todo hace un mes para mantener el equipo en buenas condiciones." Ellie walks toward them and watches as they put the raft on the water.
"What does he mean… que está cerrado?" Ellie asked.
Juan looked at her with surprised eyes. "Que!… Joel no te dijo?" The man stood up after securing the raft to the deck and looked at Joel. "No le dijiste? Ok, tu explicale eso… Yo iré por las otras cosas y la otra balsa." Said Juan while walking away.
Joel turns around and faces Ellie. "Okay… Sorry, I didn't tell you before, but it was a surprise. This was a river ride that was part of ranch activities. The ride follows the river and goes through a long cavern and goes out to the other side of them. There is a lot of stuff to see around the ride and in the cavern."
"Oh Joel, that sounds cool… But why did Juan say that it is closed?"
"Well, there was a storm last year that damaged some parts of the ride, but we didn't know until we got some people into the ride a few weeks later and some people got hurt, and two of them almost drowned. They use the ranch and they have to close it until the case is resolved." Joel explains to her.
"Ohh I see… What about the ride? Did they fix the problem?"
"The ride was fixed and is not dangerous… all that was because of the storm… so you don't need to worry. I won't bring you here if I know that the place is not safe." he turned toward the river and looked at the tree on the side of it. "Sorry, I didn't tell you… I thought it will be cool for you, but if you don't want to go I-"
Ellie moves behind him and grabs his hand to make him look at her. "No, I still want to do it… it sounds exciting and if you said it is secure… I trust you." There was that again the feeling in her guts that made her feel safe in Joel's hands.
Joel looked into her eyes. "It's safe, but if you are unsure, we can cancel it… is okay. I should have told you before we arrived here, but as I see that you like adventure… I thought it-"
"Is okay Joel… let's do it," she said with a smile on her face.
"Hey… si ya dejaron de chacharear… necesito algo de ayuda… aquí. Esto no se mueve solo," said Juan while pulling the other raft out of the shack.
"Okay, ya voy… deja de quejarte." Said Joel while walking toward him.
"Can you bring the helmets that are on the bags and the other things here? I will help Juan to put the other raft on the water."
"Okay," answered Ellie while watching Joel walk away.
Soon Joel starts to help Juan to put the raft on the water, the man starts to give him a look.
"What?"
"Nada!" said the man with a grin.
Soon the other raft was in the water Joel looked at him. "No empieces con las tonterías sobre Ellie… y yo… ok."
"Yo no, he dicho nada…" he said while tying the raft to the wooden deck.
"Pero se que lo estás pensando." Joel moves close to the man, making sure Ellie was still away from them and whispering. "No hay nada entre esa chica y yo ok… así que deja de hacer insinuaciones, especialmente enfrente de ella."
"Lo que digas amigo… ¿Estás seguro que no quieres ir solo? Ya tu conoces la ruta… así que no creo que necesites un guía," said the man with a smile.
Joel looks at the man trying to see if he is planning something. "Es mejor si tu vienes, no he venido aquí desde el accidente así que sería bueno tu compañía en caso de que pase algo."
"Seguro, como quieras…" Juan turned around and watched Ellie walking toward them. "Ya sabes, si quieren estar solo en algún momento solo-ahhhhh!... y porque fue eso?" The man protested as soon as Joel hit his shoulder hard.
"Te dije que dejaras eso… deja de actuar como si fueras un adolescente."
Ellie walks into the dock and gets close to the two men. "Here… is this all we're going to need?" she said while passing two helmets to them and putting the bag on the dock.
Joel grabs one and passes the other to Juan. He put his on and then grabs the bag with the rest of the stuff they will need for the ride. "Yeah… that will all… thanks." he moves close to his raft and put the bag on it.
Juan put his helmet on too and walked toward the first raft. "Ok… espero que te gusto el ride," Juan said while looking at Ellie, then at Joel with a smile. "Ok… vamos entonces… espero que sepas remar bien, " he said before going into his raft and sitting on it.
Joel moves to the other one and stops to help Ellie to get on it. "Did you ride in one of those before?" he said while extending his arm toward Ellie.
"Yes… so no need to worry about me," Ellie grabbed his hand and got into the raft with Joel's help. Soon she was in, she looked at Joel. "Are you going to lead or I will?" she asked as soon Joel passed her the row stick and moved to the back.
"I'm the heavy one… so I will be on the back, don't worry you just need to follow Juan," answered Joel, before sitting down.
"Okay… this will be cool, I have never led before… so are you sure?"
"I think that you will do it fine," Joel waits for Ellie to sit down before grabbing the row and getting ready.
"Okay… thanks," she said before grabbing her rowing stick. "Okay… I'm ready,"
"Hey… ya están listos haya tras?" asked Juan before he started to move.
"Ready!" said Joel while putting the row on the water and pushing the raft away from the dock.
"Ok… pues vámonos…" said Juan while starting rowing and moving his raft forward.
"Okay… Ellie, you can start," Said Joel waiting for Ellie to start rowing. Soon the raft starts to move, he does the same. As soon as both Joel and Ellie start rowing, they start to follow Juan down the river.
The river wasn't wide and probably didn't go too deep either. As they row, Ellie watches the two sides of the river that was covered with trees and bushes. She can see some big rocks on the shore too, but not in the middle of the river. The current was smooth compared to the ones her father took her when she was younger. After a few minutes on the river, she started to see a few things on the side.
"What are those?" she asked as soon she saw a few big rocks with some drawings on them.
"They're Totens made by the original native of this island… well, not the original ones, just replicas, but you will see a lot of them alongside the river.
"Oh… that is so cool." As they continue. Ellie can see a few more of them and some statute that looks like old Indian people. They were indifferent, posing like telling the people their story. Ellie turns her head and looks back at Joel. "Oh… Joel, this is so great… Thank you."
"Glad you like it…" said Joel with a smile. "Look ahead…" said Joel as soon he saw a wooden bridge that crossed the river. But it was high enough that it was not a problem to go under it.
The thing looks old and has some vegetation all over it. "Cool…" she said while looking at it. "So people are still using that?" she asked as they moved closer.
"I don't think so… that thing was probably made more than 80 years ago… is a miracle that it is still intact after the storm," said Joel as soon as they started to pass under.
Ellie looks up and watches the down part of the bridge. "Wow… that is so cool."
They continued down the river and after a few minutes of silence, Ellie spoke. "You know… This looks easier than the one I have before…" she started without looking at Joel. "I went on a river ride before and that river was crazy… The water was fast, it had rocks everywhere. It was a bumpy ride if you could see the current… Wow, that was crazy."
"Yeah, I know what you're talking about… So you go to one of the fastest rivers in the US? Did your father take you?"
Ellie turns her head and looks at him. She does not want to talk about the thing she did with her father, but sometimes it slips out. So now she needs to answer him. "Yes… he did. My father likes to take me to a lot of places and teach me stuff… even if my mom doesn't like it."
"Don't tell me, she thought it was too dangerous for you… right?"
"Something like that," she answered with a lower voice. She needs to change the subject before Joel continues asking things about her father. "What about you? Did you do dangerous things when you were young?"
Joel continued rowing at Ellie's rhythm. He doesn't want to talk about his past, especially the one that involves surfing. But maybe he can tell her a few things without saying too much. "I did a lot of dangerous things… when I was young. I think everyone does stupid things at some point," he answered after a minute.
"What was the worst one?" she asked with some curiosity.
"I don't even remember… But I can tell you that I didn't listen to my parents too much."
Ellie turns her head again and looks at him. "Ahhhh… C'mon… it has to be something you remember. Things like that are hard to forget… so you can tell me."
"Well, I think that being a tour guide for a young woman like you is the most dangerous-," Joel had to turn his head to the side when he saw a splash of water coming his way. "Hey… watched… girl. That is not cool," he said after Ellie sent some more water his way.
"Why are you protesting? If I remember well, you said that this was going to be a wet ride," she said giggling.
Joel continues to paddle but looks at her back. "Don't start anything you are not gonna be able to handle… it will always end badly for you," said Joel with a smile.
Elie turns her head and looks at him. "Is that advice or a challenge? Because I always like a good challenge…" She turned her head back to the front. "Beside… I always finish what I started… so it will be you who will end badly if you challenge me."
Joel stares at her back for a few minutes. He never finds someone that was so close to Tess's personality before. Tess and he had a great connection since the first time they met, but this girl is starting to remind her a lot. "Well, I bet you will do your best to win… but no one ever wins on everything."
Ellie continues to paddle. "Are you talking by experience? Because I always win on all the things I put my mind to. I also won a lot of competitions in school when I was younger," while they were discussing, the river current started to turn to wilder and Ellie saw some rocks on the water and tried to avoid the first one. "Hey… Joel is this normal?"
Joel looked to the side and noticed the change. "Hold on… girl. This is where the fun begins…" he said while moving his row to the side to move the raft away from the big rocks beside them. As they continued forward, the current started to get faster. Ellie saw Juan in front of them, as he start to fight with the water to keep himself steady.
She knows that fighting water like this is harder for one man. So she was lucky to be with Joel in this one. Controlling the raft is easier with two people on it if they know what to do. Ellie starts to get excited and wet as the water starts to hit them violently. "Woohoo!" she yells as they continue down the river. This ride starts to remind her of the ones she has with her father. Even if it was a little scary at some points, she always enjoyed it.
"Okay… Ellie, I hope that you're telling me the truth when you said that you did this before… because on the next curve, comes the hard part." they're now more cliffs on the side of the river than trees and the water is running faster. Soon they pass the curve that they barely maneuver without any incident, and Ellie starts to have a bad feeling about what was ahead of them.
Ellie's instinct served her well as she saw the little fall that was ahead. She opened her eyes wider as soon she saw Juan's raft go down and disappear. "Hummmm… Joel!" she said with a worried tone.
Joel smiles as he knows what is coming ahead. "Press your legs against the raft and get ready for the fall," said Joel as they continued forward and got closer to the little water drop.
"JOEL!" Ellie yells as they get closer to the falling water.
"Stay rowing… and keep your balance,'' he said while controlling the direction of the raft for a few minutes before the raft got to the water border and started to fall down.
"AHHHH!" Ellie screams as they fall toward the water below that it was not that high. They get all wet as soon they land on the water below. "Fuck!" that was a little scary… why didn't you tell me?" she said while looking back at Joel.
"What will be the fun in that?" he said while laughing a little.
"You… asshole, I thought we were going to fall down on a waterfall or something."
"I told you to be ready for anything," said Joel while continuing to row faster toward Juan that was now a little ahead of them. The river starts to get stretched by high cliffs on the two sides. They get taller as they continue forward.
After a few minutes, Joel and Ellie get beside Juan's raft and look at him. "Hey… Todo bien? No tuviste ningún problema?" asked Joel.
"Solo un poco al caer… pero todo bien." Juan said, while looking at Joel, then at Ellie. "¿Estás bien señorita?... se está divirtiendo?" Juan wait for Joel to traduce what he said.
Soon he does, Ellie looks at him. "Yes… that was fun, I get all wet taught… estoy… toda… mojada."
Juan laughs a little. "Me alegro que la estés pasando bien… el mojarse es parte de la diversión," he said while rowing faster to get ahead of them again.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Joel asked with a lower voice. "Some people… don't like to get wet on the ride, that is why they get a warning of that before the ride begins."
Ellie turns her head to look at him. "Is okay Joel… it was fun… as I said I rode a river worse than this one."
"Okay… glad to hear that. I just want to be sure that you're enjoying the ride," he said with a smile. "Now get ready, we're getting close to the best part," he said before they got into a river deviation and this time the current was against them. We need to row faster, this part is a little hard. Ellie did as he said until she saw the waterfall in front of them, but this time the water had fallen from about.
"Hey Joel, the river track ends there, should we paddle to the shore?" asked Ellie while they started to get closer to the waterfall.
"No, just keep going," said Joel while continuing rowing.
"But we're going directly to the waterfall there is no more-'' Ellie stopped when she saw Juan's raft go under the waterfall and disappear. "Holy shit!... are they a cave on the other side? Man, that is so cool," she said excitedly. Ellie looks up to watch the waterfall before they go through it. Ellie quickly took out her phone and took a few pictures, before they got too close. "Wow!... this is incredible," she said before covering the phone and lowering her head before the water hit them from about. The water was not falling so hard so it was like taking a shower with a hard hose.
It only takes a moment to go through the waterfall and get into the darker cavern ahead. Even when the raft got a lot of water they stayed floating. The cavern was dark and they only saw Juan's little light ahead of them. Joel quickly switched on the light on his helmet to illuminate the path in front of them. "Switch on the light on your helmet… There is a part ahead where we can stop to get some rest." Joel looks at Ellie and watches how she looks around the caver. Even though it was dark their light illuminated part of it.
After a few minutes, Ellie saw the light ahead of them stop moving, so it was because Juan just arrived at the part Joel told her. After a minute she moves her head and starts to look around the cavern. At some point, the cavern was getting clearer. "Wow… Joel, this is incredible…" She again takes her phone out and starts to take some pictures.
"Yeah… it is. The cavern has some light system that illuminated a little part of it but got damaged during the storm, and I can see it has not been repaired yet." After a few minutes, Ellie felt the raft hitting something, so she put her phone away and looked to the front to see what it was. Then she was illuminated by Juan's helmet light.
"¿Cómo les fue? Está disfrutando del paseo… señorita?" asked Juan as he grabbed the front of the raft and started to secure it to a small wooden pair on the side of the water river.
"Yes…" she answered after Joel translated. "Wow… I can tell you, Juan, this is soo cool," she added while looking at him.
"Me alegra oir eso." He extended his arm to help her out of the raft. "Podemos estar aquí si lo deseas y tomar fotos… solo le pido que no las publiques, pues como ya sabes no se supone que traiga gente aquí." he said as soon Ellie get into the small pier. Juan smiles at her before moving up on a little stair into a bigger wooden platform.
Soon Joel goes out of the raft and moves closer to Ellie. "Don't I will explain to you," Joel said to Ellie while watching Juan walk away.
"Okay…" said Ellie while looking around. "Oh Joel, this is so cool."
"Yeah it is…" he said while helping Ellie toward the platform. "Okay, this is a little place where all the people on the ride make a stop to rest and take pictures of the inside of the cavern." Joel started as soon as they went on it. You can take pictures, but don't put it only, because we're not supposed to be here."
"Oh… okay. Yeah, I can take a few for me," she said while moving around and looking at the rock formation. "I know that you and Juan have taken a risk on this… so I thank you both."
"Sure… I'm glad that you're having a great time… even if you got all wet." Joel turns his head and looks at Juan. "Hey… Juan, ¿las luces de aquí todavía sirven?"
"Creo que las revisaron la semana pasada… así que déjame ver si el generador todavía tiene gasolina," Juan walk to the otherside of the platform and kneel beside the generator. After a few minutes, he turns on the main switch and little by little the lights on that spot of the caver start to light on.
"Gracias," said Joel while watching Juan give him his thumbs up.
Ellie looked surprised as the caver was getting more illuminated and she could see more of the beauty of the place. She starts to walk around the wooden construction and starts to take some pictures. "So… all this was an attraction on a ranch?"
"Yes…" answered Joel while moving beside her. "It was the best part of the place where you can experience it. The subterranean river continues on inside the cavern for like one mile and goes out on the other side of the mountain," said Joel while they moved close to a metal railing and started to look around.
"Yeah… I bet. This is so beautiful and the ride on the river was so cool too. Yeah, we got wet but it was worth it."
"Glad to hear that… normally the ride was 3 to 4 rafts at the time with a man guiding them across the river and into here. They stop here for 20 minutes, before continuing down the river. There are some lights posted through the cave so people can look better inside, but as you can see it is not all working yet." Joel looks at the ceiling of the cavern where he can see some movement there. "If you look up there you can see some bats moving a little, but don't worry they don't come down during the daytime." As Joel continued his conversation with Ellie Juan was looking at them with a smile on his face.
"So you work here as one of the guides?"
"Yes… I did it a few times… I did other things too… but this was the most fun part." Juan moved to where he put one of his bags and grabbed two towels. He walked toward Joel and Ellie and stopped behind them.
"Tengan, pueden secarse un poco con esto… El resto del viaje será más seco," he said while passing the two towel to Joel, then walk away again.
"Gracias." Joel takes them and turns to pass one to Ellie. "Here, you can dry your hair a little."
"Thanks…" said Ellie while grabbing the towel. She started to remove her helmet if it was stock.
"Here, let me help you," said Joel while putting his towel on the rail and moving his hand toward Ellie's head.
Soon he starts to undo the strap of the helmet, Ellie feels his body almost touching hers. They were so close that she almost felt his heartbeat and it was getting faster than hers. Ellie closed her eyes and as her imagination started to fly off, she was taken out of it by the screaming sound. "What is that?" she asked as soon she opened her eyes and Joel finished taking her helmet off.
"Don't worry… it's just the bats…" said Joel with a smile.
"That doesn't sound like a bat… are you sure it is just that?" she said while moving fast behind Joel.
"Tal vez es el chupacabras… creo que alguien vio uno aquí una vez." Said Juan from behind them.
"Did… he said el chupacabras?" said Ellie while wrapping her arm around Joel from behind.
Joel has to hold his laugh. He knew that Juan was just kidding. He likes to do that to the people that come here before. "Don't tell me that you believe him? I thought you were studying biology?"
"Marine biology, not land animals," she said while hugging him tight. "I don't want to be eaten by any chupacabras… and I know stories about people who see them…"
"Well, don't need to worry about that Juan was just messing around." Joel looks at Juan and notices that he was laughing while walking toward the raft. After a few minutes, Joel still feels the girl hold him. "Is it okay… Ellie there just bats… nothing more."
Ellie moves away from him. "Sorry… I think I'm overreacting." She grabs her towel from the floor and starts to dry her hair the best she can before starts to notice the white spots all around the platform floor. "Is that-"
"Yep… bats pop. Normally the crew cleans it every day, but since the ride has been closed for two years… well, they don't come here much."
Ellie quickly put her helmet back on, not wanting any bat shit to fall down on her hair. "So… what now? Are we going to continue with the ride?" she said while taking more pictures with her phone.
"Well, Juan will check the raft so we still have 10 minutes before continuing."
"Okay… can you take a few pictures of me here?" she said while passing the phone to him.
"Sure…" Joel grabs the phone and takes a few pictures of her around the place. Soon after he finished, Ellie took a few pictures of him when he wasn't looking. She lowered her phone and looked away when he looked toward her.
Joel stays silent for a few minutes, thinking about what she said a few days before. Yeah, he has some to share his life before, but all that is gone now. "We better be going, before someone notices the four tracks missing."
Ellie looked at Joel and knew that something was with him. But they're having some fun, so she doesn't want to ruin it. "Can we do another ride after we finish this one?"
"Well, you mention a horse ride, but I don't think we could do that after this." Joel starts walking toward the generator to turn it off. "Turn your helmet light on and go, Juan… I will set things off here. So we can show you the rest of the tour."
"Okay," said Ellie while walking toward Juan that was already on his raft. "Hey… maybe we can do the go-karts… that is easier."
"Sure why not…" said Joel before turning the power off.
The rest of the trip was great, Ellie took a lot of pictures of the cave, even some of Joel and Juan. After they got out of the cavern and got back at the pier they started and ended the tour. Soon after they go out of the river, Ellie insists on taking a few selfies of the three of them with all the gear on and one with Joel alone. After that get back to the shack where they leave their clothes and things. Ellie pays the man the cost of the trip and he only charges $200 dollars. When they get back to the ranch, Ellie buys some tickets for the go-karts and goes in with Joel. The day was one of the best she has with Joel and she was hoping to know more about him. But since their time together is getting close to the end, she is planning to ask him before that.