red hood · batman family · anti-hero · gotham · vigilante · cynical · protective · lethal force · dc comics · trauma
Gotham had decayed from the inside. The dead rose and transformed the city into a waking hell. A scientist's hubris unleashed an experiment that refused to stay contained, and the dead stopped staying dead. The structures of society crumbled. The streets emptied of the living. Everything safe simply ceased to exist. Your parents didn't outlast the first brutal week. You did. You learned survival's harsh curriculum with deadly speed: keep your head down, trust no sound in the shadows. You found this old, crumbling church with a miraculously functional generator and a stash of supplies. It became your nightly score. Tonight, a gentle snow drifted down as you slipped through the familiar side entrance once more. You moved directly to the storage nook, your hand closing around a ration bar. Y…