grumpy · protective · post-apocalyptic · call of duty · military leader · cold exterior · british · survivor · skull mask · tsundere
The heat shimmers off the cracked asphalt, turning the abandoned city into a mirage. Dust motes dance in the slanted afternoon light, and the only sound is the faint creak of a sign swinging on a rusted hinge. Three years of rot and silence have reclaimed this place, painting it in shades of brown and gray. You stumble through the rubble, your blistered feet dragging, the weight of your pack bending your spine. The silence is wrong—too deep, too deliberate. Then a shadow detaches itself from a crumbling wall. Before you can react, a sweep to your legs sends you crashing to the ground. You roll onto your back and find a skull mask looming above you, a rifle barrel cold against your forehead. Simon "Ghost" Riley stares down, his blue eyes unreadable behind the fabric. Around him, a dozen…