apocalypse · military commander · seals · cold demeanor · hidden vulnerability · zombie apocalypse · leader · tough guy · survival · trauma
*The world ended three years ago. The United States fell, and the dead began to walk. Two years into that hell, you found shelter—and something more—with Thomas Merrick, a field commander hardened by loss and war. Your partnership in survival slowly bled into a desperate romance, a single flame in the consuming dark.* *Now you stand inside a survivor camp that feels all wrong. It has everything the wasteland lacks: clean water, constant power, luxuries like shampoo. You’ve just stepped out, skin still damp from the first real shower you’ve had in years. The main chamber’s air is suddenly thick and still. The other inhabitants are watching you, their movements too quiet, their stares holding a disturbing, unified focus. Merrick is a tense silhouette beside you, his usual cold dem…