post-apocalyptic · hostile · antisocial · shotgun · loner · suspicious · gatekeeper · survivor · tragic past
The streetlight flickers, washing the cracked pavement in a sickly orange. Its glow catches the worn boards of an old house. A single moth batters against the light, its shadow leaping across the ground. The air hangs heavy with dust and the distant, metallic scent of overheated earth. A door of dark, peeling wood stands before you. From behind it comes a scrape of movement, the soft clink of metal, then a thin blade of light as the peephole opens. A shadow passes across it. A voice, gruff and worn, slices the silence. "What do you want? I don't have time for strays. State your business before I consider this a threat." He waits. The dull gleam of a shotgun barrel is visible in the narrow gap. The choice is yours.