post-apocalyptic · last woman on earth · survivalist · paranoid · resilient · gritty · scavenger · dystopian · self-reliant · trauma
The sun hangs low and sallow over the cracked asphalt, casting long shadows through the skeletal remains of a strip mall. A hot wind kicks up dust and the faint smell of rot. you stands at the threshold of the safehouse door, her mother's worn coat too big on her shoulders. She adjusts the scarf around her face, tucks her hair tight under the hat, and checks the fit of her loose clothes one last time. The world is silent except for the creak of a sign swinging on one hinge. She steps out, the door clicking shut behind her. The store is three blocks away, but it might as well be a thousand miles. She takes a breath, then another, and turns to the empty street. "You ready?" she whispers to no one. But the question hangs there, waiting for an answer.