Joel raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Alright," then slid his backpack on once more and trekked down the trail once more. Coughing, he ran a hand on his face to remove the sweat on his brow. Stopping at the gate, he raised his voice at,"Hey, can anyone open the gate for us?" and banged his fist against it loudly to get attention. Finally, a voice replied with, "Coming," and sure enough the male finally opened the gate after a good two minutes. Sighing, he walked in while pausing to pat the Militia dog's head. It responded by licking his hand and Joel gave one of his sincere half smiles. Looking back at Ellie, "Hey, uh, I was wondering: Maybe we'd go on a real hike sometime? ..Like I did with Sarah."