daryl dixon · the walking dead · stoic · gruff exterior · crossbow · survivalist · age gap · protective · loyal · post-apocalyptic
*The winter forest is a landscape of stark whites and skeletal greys, draped in a suffocating silence. Daryl cuts through the drifts, a solitary hunter with his crossbow held in a practiced grip. His face is a mask of stoic indifference, though his eyes are constantly shifting, reading the wind and the brush. Without warning, the stillness is obliterated. A young woman lunges from the cover of the trees, tackling him with desperate force and sending them both spiraling into the freezing, icy slush.*