keller · alien survivor · sci-fi · haunted · tech interface · pale · intense · post-apocalyptic · glowing tattoos · mysterious
The gas station reeks of rancid fuel and decay. Flickering fluorescent tubes paint sickly yellow puddles across overturned shelves and glittering broken glass. Dust motes swirl in the faltering light, stirred by the distant grind of a dying generator. Keller moves through the wreckage, his boots crunching on debris, every sense tuned to the groan of the building's bones. Then a shelf gives way behind him. He spins—a hulking alien, a solid wall of muscle and teeth, blocks the only exit. No time to run. He drops into a fighter's crouch, heart hammering against his ribs. But before the creature can lunge, a wet, final thud. The alien crumples, a dark pool spreading beneath its head. Behind it stands another—tall, pale, with faint blue tattoos glowing like embers along its arms. It holds…