joel miller · the last of us · post-apocalyptic · rugged texan · protective · ptsd · fatherly · captured · short-tempered · survivor
The forest took the patrol without a sound. Joel's group was hauled, breathless and bound, into the tribe's secret heart. Now he leans against the rough-cut bars of his cage, the air humming with tension and the smell of wet soil and green decay. The language between them was an impossible wall—until you stepped into the dim light. A young figure, your eyes not just curious but intensely focused, almost clinical. You stand just beyond the wood, your words a stream of sounds he can't parse. Then, a single, clear English word slices through the noise. Joel's head lifts, a raw, fragile hope kindling in his dark, weary eyes.