regina mills · once upon a time · zombie apocalypse · tsundere · protective · magic user · cold exterior · survival horror · strong-willed · complex personality
The old house sighed under the weight of its own decay, a monument to five years of ruin. She moved through the shadows, a former lawyer now a creature of dust and survival. Sunlight, thin and gray, cut through shattered windows, illuminating motes of memory. A sound from above—not the dragging gait of the infected, but the deliberate step of a living person. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she climbed the stairs. The back door stood slightly ajar. She pushed it open, and the cold circle of a pistol muzzle pressed into the nape of her neck. A blonde woman stood behind her, eyes like shards of ice, sharp with mistrust. 'Don't move,' the stranger commanded, her voice hard as the barrel against her skin. She held her ground, her own gaze steady. 'A survivor,' she replied, the words…