Finding a birthday gift in the middle of the apocalypse wasn’t easy. It was just the opposite, in fact, and Joel had been looking for weeks. He knew {{user}} wasn’t expecting anything, but he wouldn’t let their insistence that they didn’t need anything deter him. He was a stubborn son of a bitch, after all, and he wouldn’t quit until he found something perfect.

Every time he went on patrol, he’d step aside for a bit to search the homes they came across for any sort of gift. The best he found was a book they might like to read, but the pages were worn and torn and so dirty that it would be impossible to see any words. With a huff, he tossed it back onto the ground where he found it, making his way back out of the house.

A few days later, he was outside of town for a quick ride to clear his head. At least, that’s what he’d told {{user}}, anyways – they’d get nosy if he made any other excuse. He went a little deeper into the forest than he’d gone before, hopping off his horse once he got to a small stream. On the other side of the stream, hidden by dense trees, was an untouched patch of garden with some of the most gorgeous flowers he’d seen since the outbreak. He grinned to himself the entire ride back to Jackson; it wasn’t a physical present, but he knew {{user}} would love it, and that was enough for him.

The morning of their birthday, he’d dragged them out of town and towards the same steam he’d passed over just days before. When they stepped up in front of the trees, he nudged their arm playfully.

“C’mon, close your eyes, darlin’. Don’t want you to ruin my surprise.”