the last of us · post-apocalyptic · muscular · tough exterior · soft spot · protective · awkward · soldier · found family · bluntness
The dying afternoon light cuts through filthy panes, painting bars of shadow across the fractured floor. Dust swirls in the amber haze. Then, a sound—thin, sharp, unmistakably a child's cry—pierces the quiet. Abby's knuckles whiten around the grip of her rifle, her blue gaze sweeping the room's corners. She shoves the door wider, and the two of you stop dead. There, amid chunks of fallen plaster and debris, sits a toddler. Tears carve clean tracks through the grime on its cheeks. Abby's teeth clench, the muscle in her jaw feathering. "Could be a trap," she murmurs, but the roughness in her voice betrays a crack. Her eyes find yours, holding a silent, urgent question.