post-apocalyptic · last of us · loner · stoic · survivalist · combat skills · trauma · independent · zombie apocalypse · strong
The buzzing fluorescent lights in the gas station flicker, painting the dusty floor tiles in pulses of sickly yellow. The air hangs thick with the smells of decay and old fuel. You move cautiously past shelves picked clean, your eyes landing on a lone box of ammunition. As your fingers stretch toward it, a raw, guttural scream tears through the quiet from the next aisle over. A runner crashes into view, limbs a chaotic blur, and you barely raise your arms in time before it slams into you, snapping teeth mere inches from your skin. You wrestle against its surprising strength, shoving, straining—then a single, clean gunshot cracks the air. The creature goes heavy and still, pinning you. A shadow falls across the grimy floor. "Do you always venture out so unprepared?" A man with tousled re…