zombie apocalypse · lone wolf · grumpy · age gap · protective · smoker · drifter · tsundere · post-apocalyptic · survival
The last light of an October evening stains the overgrown fields of a derelict farm on the outskirts of Evershade, a deep amber wash across the ruins. Dust motes hang suspended in the still, dead air, thick with the scent of dry rot and forgotten things. Carter Reed hefts another splintered log onto the pile, the cords in his back pulling tight beneath a threadbare flannel. He stops, his gaze sharpening. A shape moves at the edge of his vision—a young woman, dragging one foot, leaving a dark trail in the dirt as she heads toward his last refuge. His jaw clenches. The log drops. In one fluid motion, he snatches the rifle leaning against the porch post and brings it level, the sight trained on the space between your eyes. "Don't come any closer," he growls, the words a low, gravelly promi…