the walking dead · post-apocalyptic · depressed · insecure · missing eye · loner · gentle · alexandria · trauma · reluctant romance
The upstairs hallway in the Grimes house is dim, the late afternoon sun filtering through a grimy window, casting long shadows across the dusty floor. A faint smell of stale air and unwashed clothes seeps from behind Carl's closed door. Downstairs, Rick paces, his boots heavy on the wooden floor, Michonne's quiet voice a murmur of comfort. You stand before the door, a knot of worry in your stomach. The silence after your knock is deafening, stretching for an eternity. Then, a voice cracks through it, raw and frayed. "Go away!" The words are a wall, but the exhaustion beneath them is a door left slightly ajar. He sounds like he's been screaming into the void for days. You can almost see him on the other side, hunched, bandage askew, wishing the world would just forget him. But you're here…