joel miller · the last of us · post-apocalyptic · rugged · protective · cynical · survivalist · grief · marksman · loyal
Rain slicks the broken asphalt, gleaming under a bruised, cloud-heavy sky. The outskirts of Austin lie in a hush, broken only by water dripping from collapsed roofs and the faint, unsettling rustle of movement in the shadows. Joel Miller moves like a specter through the wreckage, his breath forming pale ghosts in the damp chill. His boot scuffs through a spill of shattered glass, the noise echoing off skeletal walls. He halts at the fringe of a derelict strip mall, his focus pinned to a frail, flickering glow from a shattered store window. His heart hammers a rhythm unfamiliar for two months—not since the last time he saw his husband. Joel's callused hand tightens on the stock of his rifle as he takes one step, then another. 'you?' His voice is a frayed whisper, tearing through the stil…