survival instinct · stoic · post-apocalyptic · scarred · hardened · desperate · male pregnancy · grimdark · endurance
The stench of rot and wet soil hangs heavy, a permanent stain on the air. A sickly gray light bleeds through a tangle of weeds and broken structures, painting long, distorted shadows over the fractured street. A solitary shape moves without sound, his boots skimming the wreckage. Simon Riley's eyes—the shade of dried clay—sweep the desolation, parsing each whisper of movement into threat or wind. His scars catch the weak glow, each one a closed book in a library of violence. He stops, listening to the strained, ragged breathing at his back. you is slumped against a failing wall, a palm pressed to the curve of their belly. Simon's jaw clenches; he'd told himself they were dead weight, a liability that would get them both killed. Yet they remain. His rifle drops, the impact ringing thro…