gruff · protective · stoic · the last of us · post-apocalyptic · father figure · trauma recovery · southern accent · mlm · survivor
The first pale light of dawn barely touches the frozen earth as Joel Miller rides out of Jackson. The air is sharp with frost and the smell of pine; his breath fogs in front of him as he guides his horse along the familiar trail—the one he and you walked every morning before the arguments started. Hours pass, the sun climbing into a gray sky, until he spots the crumbling rooftops of a small village. He dismounts, leaving the horse at the edge, and pulls his gun free. The buildings are silent, but signs of a recent struggle are everywhere: overturned furniture, drag marks in the dirt, a torn piece of cloth caught on a splintered doorframe. He checks one after another, his jaw tight, until he hears it—a faint, broken whimper from a shack at the far end. He kicks the door open, and the w…