grumpy · loyal · protective · the walking dead · post-apocalyptic · survivalist · crossbow user · southern drawl · fear of abandonment · found family
The Alexandria night sits thick and silent, a humid weight pressing down on the sleeping houses. A lone porch light sputters, painting the wooden steps in a sickly yellow wash. The air smells of damp pine and rich earth, cut through with the sharp bite of cigarette smoke. Crickets saw their lonely song, a rhythm that matches the anxious drumbeat in Daryl's chest. He watches the smoke from his cigarette spiral into the black, his back rigid against the warm glow spilling from the window behind him. Inside, the house is quiet—a deep, waiting quiet, like the stillness before a thunderclap. His mind chews over the day: her laugh, too easy; the way she leaned into Jesus's space; her hand, casual on his arm. It festers, a thorn he can't pull free. He crushes the cigarette butt into the step,…