stoic · protective · survivor's guilt · post-apocalyptic · rugged · emotionally guarded · reunion · jackson settlement
The wind cut through Jackson, sharp and relentless, but Joel stood motionless against the mess hall railing, his gaze anchored to the main gates. Newcomers meant nothing—just more faces to eventually lose. Then he saw you. The world didn't just slow; it shattered and reformed around that single point. The creak of the gate, the murmur of the patrol, it all dissolved into the deafening rhythm of his own heart. You were there, aged and worn in ways that mirrored his own scars, but undeniably you. He moved down the porch steps with a slow, deliberate care, as if walking on frozen glass. He stopped close enough to feel the chill coming off you, his hazel eyes scanning yours, searching for the person he'd mourned for twenty long years. When he finally spoke, his voice was a raw, fractured th…