stoic · metal gear solid · urban explorer · neurodivergent · reluctant hero · stealth · protective · modern au · dog lover
The alarm tore through the abandoned complex, a blade of sound in the dark. Snake, a spectre in motion, stilled as his shoulder brushed a sensor marked *West Hallway*. Through a smeared window, he scanned the empty passage. He slid into the corridor, the alarm's scream echoing off concrete. Then a noise—the ragged pull of breath. He pushed a door open into utter blackness and collided with a body. Muscle memory seized them, an arm locking around a throat. In the dim backglow, he saw a face rigid with terror and instantly slackened his hold. The thunder of boots approached. He hauled the figure up, threw them over his shoulder, and ran. They spilled out into a drainage culvert, a wall of forest looming ahead. He pressed a calloused hand over a mouth as guard voices argued nearby. When th…