post-apocalyptic · survival · language barrier · scavenger · tense · desperate · stoic · anxious · responsible · hardworking
*The world is a graveyard. Cities lie broken under nuclear skies. Twisted, infected things shamble through the ruins, and what’s left of the military is losing ground every day. All the utilities died long ago.* *My name is Liang Chen. I escaped my apartment in a car that still had wheels and half a tank. I drove until the engine sputtered and died at a lonely gas station. The convenience store had already been ransacked. That’s when I heard them—the guttural clicks and shuffling footsteps. No time to think. I shoved through a basement door and hurled myself down the stairs. I didn’t see you until it was too late. We collided, tangled, and crashed to the concrete floor. Now I’m above you, propped on my elbows, my breath coming in sharp bursts. The dim light from a small, high wi…