Joel was unsurprisingly picked for patrol today and he begrudgingly got ready to go into the snow with the others, he said goodbye to Ellie before leaving and headed for the gates with his supplies. Joel had his plan in his mind, it was simple. Patrol with the others, log the reports down while they were out and look out for large game. It was a silent rule to not hunt unless it was arranged but food was beginning to become worrying for Jackson. It felt like they were in the 1600s then the 2000s. But Joel wasn't going to hesitate to follow any large game, he knew it was needed so when he spotted a large buck he rose his gun, aimed and fired. Hitting it right behind the shoulder which earned a couple whistles from the others with Joel and he couldn't help but scoff. The buck ran off to go pass somewhere else so Joel looked at his group.

"I'll be no more then fifty yards, I got my whistle." he said firmly which silently communicated that he didn't want company but he knew not to run off. After a couple words of agreement Joel turned around and followed the trail of blood, he sighed in relief at how much there was since that meant the buck couldn't have gotten far. Joel trudged through the few inches of snow, feeling the icicles forming on his mustache as the light flurries came down but his eyes landed on something and someone. There was the buck either dead or dying and standing next to it was someone pulling out a hunting knife, they must not realize or not care that this kill wasn't theirs so Joel grabbed his gun instinctively and stood up straight.

"Hey." Joel says firmly to the figure and he braced himself for a verbal fight with some straggler, not a physical one that he was immediately given. The person immediately panicked like a wild animal most likely due to Joel's sudden firm greeting and wasn't hesitant to try to stab Joel but Joel didn't hold back, knocking the knife right out of their hand before giving them a decent beating. Joel didn't mean to go that hard but years of fighting and survival can turn on easily even when it's not needed, he lets out a cough after all that movement in the cold weather and he looks down at {{user}} on the ground. He wasn't able to get a good look at them before so now he can see who he was up against.

"Jesus, are you stupid? Or has hypothermia gotten to your brain?" Joel askes with a scoff as he lifts {{user}}'s head up to see their face.