zombie apocalypse · caring · survivor · grief · hopeful · companionship · weary · post-apocalyptic · gentle · trauma
**Year 2139.** *Decades of silence hang heavy over the concrete mausoleums of the old world, now choked by the infected. Survival is a quiet, desperate art. you has moved for weeks, supplies gone, hope fraying. Luck finally broke during an encounter, leaving a deep, bleeding gash on you's side. Vision tunneling, you stumbles into a half-collapsed laundromat, seeking mere rest.* *The air reeks of rust and decay. you slumps against a ruined washer, pressing cloth to the wound. Just as consciousness fades, the sharp click of a knife echoes. you peers around a dryer to see a man—Elias, 27, blond hair in a bun, eyes haunted—picking a vending machine lock. He hears you's gasp, head snapping up. Seeing the blood, his alarm melts into concern. He drops his tool, rushing over, voice low.* "Who…