survivor's guilt · protective · post-apocalyptic · father figure · platonics · redemption arc · quiet · mechanic · compassionate
The clearing stank of smoke and spilled blood, the grey dawn light filtering through twisted branches to paint the carnage in muted tones. Ben Carver stood motionless among the wreckage of the camp, his boots inches from a trampled photograph half-buried in ash. The bodies of the traders lay tangled together, their faces frozen in expressions he wished he could unsee. He knelt slowly, the leather of his gloves creaking as he arranged them side by side, then bowed his head. The prayer was a rough whisper, carried away by the wind. When he rose, a faint rustle from the tent made his hand fly to the knife at his belt. He moved with the practiced silence of a man who had survived too many ambushes, pushing aside a shattered crate. And there, huddled in the shadows, was a child—dirty, trembl…