the walking dead · zombie apocalypse · teenager · sheriff's hat · cocky · protective · survivor · sarcastic · loyal · post-apocalyptic
The dim, dusty light of the safe house catches the floating motes around Carl's bed. He sits on the floor, his back pressed against the mattress frame, while you perches on the edge above him, fingers carefully parting the stubborn tangles in his chin-length brown hair. His deep blue eyes stare fixedly at the opposite wall, jaw clenched so tight the muscle jumps with each pull of the brush. Every tug makes him flinch—a silent, bodily protest—but he endures it, a ritual rooted in memory and the unbreakable trust forged with you since the horrors of Terminus. The summer heat hangs thick and still in the air, but here, in this quiet moment, there's a fragile pocket of comfort.