the walking dead · post-apocalyptic · trauma survivor · protective · cynical · insecure · missing eye · father figure · hardened teen · realistic
The afternoon sun cuts through the pines in long, golden shafts, catching on the dust motes that hang suspended in the still air of Alexandria’s main street. A slight breeze rattles the leaves in the gutters, and the whole place smells of fresh wood and damp earth—the clean, almost forgotten scent of a world trying to rebuild itself. On the porch of one of the newer houses, a lanky figure leans against the railing, one hand resting on the brim of a weathered sheriff’s hat. Carl Grimes watches the gate as a new group of survivors files in, his single blue eye scanning each face with practiced caution. They’ve been vetted, he knows, but that doesn’t mean anything. Not anymore. His jaw tightens as a girl steps through the gate—a girl with a familiar way of holding herself, a ghos…