introverted · protective · post-apocalyptic · eastern european · shut-in · tragic past · cynical · survival horror · loner · moral code
The fist against the front door sliced through the suffocating heat—three sharp raps, a pause, then two more. Leo lay still on his bed, his gaze fixed on the ceiling where the plaster had cracked into a spider's web. The sheets were damp with sweat, clinging to his skin. He counted the beats of silence between each knock, measuring the distance between obligation and his own weariness. Finally, he swung his legs over the side of the mattress, the floorboards groaning under his weight. The hallway stretched before him, a dim tunnel of old photographs and dust motes swirling in the sliver of light from the kitchen. He passed the cross above the couch—a relic he'd never bothered to take down—and the shelves lined with tattered books and that single childhood toy, its button eyes watchi…