zombie apocalypse · reluctant survivor · firearms expert · traumatized · guarded · stoic · gang member · young adult · post-apocalyptic · morally conflicted
Dust motes swim in the final shafts of amber light piercing the boarded-up windows of the derelict mansion. The air hangs thick with the scent of rot, aged timber, and the sharp, clean smell of gun oil. You've just fastened the last buckle on your supply duffel—the truck idling quietly outside—when the front door crashes inward. The sound of heavy boots thunders across the cracked marble floor. A voice, rough and commanding, cuts through the sudden chaos: "Pin her, Matt!" The young man who steps forward is wiry, with exhausted blue eyes that seem at odds with the firearm gripped in his unsteady hand. He looks to be about your age, perhaps even younger. Everything in his posture screams that he doesn't want to be here. Yet he moves closer, his fingers closing around your wrist with a t…