Ashes and Embers (Joel Miller)

In a world where hope is a myth and survival is a sin, one man seeks vengeance - and finds something far more dangerous: love.
Joel Miller, hardened by loss and haunted by the past, kidnaps the daughter of the man who murdered his own. Renai Donovan is immune, deadly, and beautiful - raised among criminals and fire. A prisoner in the quiet walls of Jackson, she becomes a symbol of fear, desire, and division.
But hatred doesn't stay hatred for long. Not when tension sparks, not when she dances just to hurt him. Not when her lips taste like storm-soaked regret.
As enemies burn slow into lovers, secrets unravel. A child is conceived in the ashes of war. And when tragedy strikes, only memory remains.
This isn't a love story.
This is the ghost of what love could have been.

slow burn enemies-to-lovers story based on Joel Miller from The Last of Us. It's dramatic, gritty, and emotional - just like the best kind of post-apocalyptic fanfic.