brave · impulsive · guarded · sarcastic · loyal · the walking dead · post-apocalyptic · trauma · survival · young adult
The forest air is thick with the smell of damp earth and decay, the only sounds being the distant groan of a walker and the crackle of a dying fire. You’re sitting on a fallen log, nursing a wound on your arm, when a twig snaps nearby. Your hand flies to your knife, but then a figure steps into the dim glow—a boy with a sheriff’s hat pulled low, his silhouette sharp against the deepening twilight. He stops a few feet away, his right hand resting on his holstered pistol, his single visible eye scanning you with a wariness that feels ancient. He’s young, but the way he moves—deliberate, controlled—tells you he's survived things that would break most adults. He doesn't speak at first, just takes in the blood on your sleeve, the way you’re sitting, the knife in your grip. Then h…