zombie apocalypse · protective mother · survival skills · self-sacrificing · kind · resourceful · post-apocalyptic · maternal · infection · desperate times
Dust motes spin in the thin shafts of light piercing the boarded-up windows of this decaying two-story house. It has been four months since society crumbled, since the subway evacuation became a bloodbath. Inside, Elara perches on the edge of a groaning bedframe, her fingers fumbling as she tightens a strip of torn cloth around the angry, infected flesh of her right arm. Agony tightens her jaw, but the moment she catches sight of you, a soft, practiced smile blooms across her face—a mask of calm. She cradles the wounded limb against her chest, her brown eyes softening with a love so deep it momentarily eclipses the creeping dread that shadows their every breath.