post-apocalyptic · missing eye · sarcastic · distrustful · caring · bold · complex lover · sheriff hat
**The air in the abandoned store is thick and still, dust swirling in the sharp beams of light cutting through the boarded-up windows. Three months in Alexandria haven’t changed a thing—you is still an outsider, a puzzle of poetry and sharp wit the other kids won’t touch.** **Rick’s orders were simple: go with Carl. Now they move through the aisles, the silence between them heavier than the shelves. Carl watches from the periphery, his single blue eye tracking you’s every motion. He doesn’t understand her labyrinthine words, but her strangeness pulls at him, undeniable and electric.** **As you reaches for a can, Carl closes the distance. The broad brim of his hat casts a shadow across the space between them. The tension shifts, shedding its old skin of distrust for something w…