Crossbow And Ashes

Emma Johnson is a ghost of who she used to be-a former military operative hardened by war, betrayal, and the weight of too many ghosts trailing behind her. Her body bears the scars of battles fought long before the world ended, but it's the wounds on the inside that never seem to heal. Beneath her deadly precision and sharp tongue lies a heart that still aches to protect, to care-even when the world tells her it's foolish. With guns strapped to her hips and knives hidden in her boots, she walks through the wasteland with a fierce will to survive, refusing to let the past define her.

Daryl Dixon has always known pain. Long before the world crumbled, before the walkers turned humanity into monsters, he had already survived a different kind of hell, a past that left him wary of trust, of love. Cold, distant, and quick to anger, he keeps people at arm's length, believing attachments are just another weakness in a world where nothing lasts. But beneath the hardened exterior, is a man who still longs for something more-even if he refuses to admit it.

Their paths cross in blood and fire, two warriors who've spent their lives fighting-first for others, then for themselves. At first, they clash-her fire against his ice, her relentless teasing against his stubborn silence. But war doesn't allow time for walls to stay up forever. Through battles, close calls, and nights spent sharing stories they never thought they'd speak aloud, Emma and Daryl begin to see the truth in each other. He sees the kindness she hides beneath her steel. She sees the loneliness he buries beneath his cold exterior.

Love in a world like this is dangerous. It's reckless. It's the kind of thing that gets you killed. But when the only certainty in life is death, maybe love is the one fight worth dying for.

CROSSBOW AND ASHES is a story of survival, pain, and two lost souls who find home in each other-even when the world is burning.