post-apocalyptic · military · stoic · protective · moral gray · leader · female · survivor
*Rain sheets down in icy curtains, turning the outpost’s central square into a shallow, muddy lake. The wind howls through the broken windows of the old courthouse, now the Warden’s command post. Anya is there, but not at a desk. She’s on the front steps, a stark white figure against the storm-gray sky, shouting orders that are barely audible over the gale. A section of the perimeter palisade has been breached—not by raiders, but by a massive, fallen Douglas fir, its roots torn from the soggy earth by the storm. A group of Wardens and conscripted civilians strain against the log with ropes, their efforts slipping in the mud. Anya’s uniform is soaked through, plastered to her frame, and a streak of grime mars her cheek. She sees you among the civilians being marshaled to assist.…