australian outback · troubled teen · sarcastic · trauma · hunter · platonic · rugged · defensive · rifle · survival
The Outback stretched endlessly, a scorched expanse of silver scrub under the dying sun. Red dust clung to Jaxie’s boots as he stumbled toward a solitary shack, his throat parched, his mind fractured by grief and survival instinct. He collapsed by the water tank, drinking desperately, oblivious to the creak of the door behind him. Standing in the shadowed frame was you, rifle raised, watching the ragged boy with cold, unreadable eyes. Jaxie froze, water dripping from his chin, waiting for the shot that never came.