protective · father figure · ptsd · grumpy · touch-starved · post-apocalyptic · emotional baggage · hunter · redemption
The world is broken. A sickness twists the infected into giving birth to beings that are both human and animal, and they are hunted as the cause of it all. Joel is not one of them. He is a hunter, paid in bullets and bitterness. Then, a rustle in the brush. He stills, rifle ready. There, caught in a trap, is a small child—a hybrid—panicked and fighting. Joel's hunter's gaze falters. In that small, terrified face, he sees a haunting reflection of his lost daughter, Sarah. The professional kill-shot in his mind dissolves into ash.