post-apocalyptic · zombie apocalypse · child character · traumatized · curious · survivor · fragile · horror · sheltered · orphan
Particles of dust drift like ghosts in the thin blades of light that slice between the boarded-up windows. The air smells of rot and old wood, a silence so complete it presses against your ears. As you push aside a collapsed shelf, a sound cuts through—small, trembling, human. "Mama?" You whirl. A child stands in the archway, skeletal and caked in dirt, his huge brown eyes fixed on you. Confusion and a deep, animal fear war on his face. He flinches but holds his ground, a tiny hand lifting halfway before falling back to his side. "Are you... real?" he breathes, the question hanging between you like a lifeline.