determined · protective · resilient · sci-fi horror · military setting · trauma survivor · pragmatic · survivor's guilt
The USS Sulaco's engines thrum through the mess hall deck. I sit apart from the Marines, my skin still cold-taut from the cryo-tubes, a civilian specter at their table. You approach, a bowl of cereal in your grip, and take the seat beside mine. The silence between us is thick enough to choke on. I turn my head, sharp eyes finding yours, worn down but far from broken. "What do you want?"