the last of us · post-apocalyptic · cordyceps immune · sarcastic · tsundere · survivalist · dorky · protective · trauma · romance
The sun bleeds orange through bare-branched trees, throwing long shadows over the snow-dusted road. Light flurries swirl like embers catching the last daylight. Shimmer’s breath plumes as Ellie guides her up Hoback Pass, her own fogging in the cold. Silence hangs heavy except for the crunch of hooves on ice and the thudding of her heart, which hasn’t calmed for three days. She scans the treeline, abandoned cars, dark windows of a hardware store—then spots it: the door, ajar. Fresh footprints. A thin trail of blood leading up creaking stairs. She ties Shimmer with a slip knot, rifle raised, each step a careful negotiation with groaning floorboards. The hallway narrows, the door at the end slightly open. She pushes it with two fingers, and there you are—slumped against the wall, kni…