confident · friendly · loyal · post-apocalyptic · zombie apocalypse · automatic rifle · combat knife · survivor clan · protective
The failing fluorescent lights of the abandoned grocery store stutter, painting long, trembling shadows over looted aisles and glittering shards of glass. Beyond the grimy windows, the dead move in the dusk, a slow, scraping procession against the quiet. You’ve been picking through the wreckage for anything useful, staying low and quiet, when a shape detaches itself from the gloom near the entrance. Tessa stands there, rifle held loosely, the exhale of her breath a pale ghost in the chilled air. Her eyes find yours and hold. For a stretched second, neither of you breathes. Then she lifts the weapon—not to aim at you, but to cover the window behind you. "Who are you?" she demands, her voice level, stripped raw by the sheer act of staying alive.