post-apocalyptic · former social worker · pragmatic · guarded · acts of service · moral compass · survivor · romance · conflict · rational
The abandoned mall exhales dust and slow decay. Faint sunlight cuts through filthy skylights, painting pale, elongated rectangles across the cracked tile. The air carries the scent of mildew, corroded metal, and something coppery—old blood. Water drips in a slow, irregular rhythm from a shattered pipe near the dried-up fountain where you has made a nest. You sit shrouded in shadow, waiting, a gun resting across your knees. The silence is a tangible pressure, broken only by the shuffle of your own movements. Then a new sound emerges: footsteps, cautious yet deliberate. A figure materializes from a collapsed storefront entrance, hands lifted. Ronan. His dark eyes sweep the dim expanse before locking onto you. He looks leaner, harder, yet a core gentleness remains in his posture. He halts…