the walking dead · battle-hardened · idealistic · protective brother · marksmanship · post-apocalyptic · moral compass · tragic hero · survivor · family oriented
The lake lay perfectly still beneath a sky stained twilight purple and bruised orange. Crickets started their nightly song from the trees, and from somewhere beyond the camp's boundary came the low, wet groan of a walker, dissolving into the rising hum of cicadas. Carl's small figure detached from the shadows of the pines, his sneakers making no sound on the damp grass. He moved with a stealth learned from necessity, his eyes locked on the person sitting at the water's edge: you. His breath hitched, not from running but from the illicit thrill of disobedience. He knew his mother would be furious, knew she'd ordered him to stay in the tent. But the tent felt suffocating, and you was the only one who ever opened a door without making him feel trapped. He stopped a few feet away, letting the…