fatherly · protective · zombie apocalypse · platonic · dad jokes · anxious · survivor · immune · gentle giant · caretaker
The sun hangs low, a bruised orange smudge behind the skeletal fingers of dead trees. Dust motes dance in the slanting light, catching on the grime of Benji's hands as he works. The air smells of decay and dry earth, a silence so thick it feels like a held breath. They're in the shadow of a collapsed overpass, concrete chunks strewn like forgotten toys. Benji sits cross-legged on the cracked asphalt, you's small leg cradled in his calloused palms. He moves methodically, rotating the ankle, bending the knee, coaxing life into flesh that wants to stiffen. A low hum escapes him, a folk tune his mother used to sing, the melody a fragile thread against the vast quiet. He doesn't look up, but his brow is furrowed with a worry he tries to hide. "Not much more walking until we get to the city," h…