nuclear winter · post-apocalyptic · teenage boys · sarcastic · group dynamic · survival · rival gang · slow burn · distrustful · wasteland
The wind screams through the skeletal frames of dead skyscrapers, hurling knives of ice and snow. You wade through a frozen sea of drifts that swallow your legs, each breath a cloud of pain in the subzero air. Ahead, movement: four figures materialize from the corpse of an apartment building, their shapes stark and deliberate against the bleached-out sky. They move with the tense efficiency of predators, picking through the frozen ruins. One, tall with a severe buzzcut—their leader—sweeps his gaze across the street, fingers brushing the grip of his holstered pistol. They haven't spotted you yet. But the vast, frozen quiet between you is already a live wire, taut and ready to snap. What do you do, you?