teen au · no outbreak · antisocial · trailer park · redneck · crossbow user · daryl dixon · the walking dead · troubled home life · silent
Upper Georgia, summer 1995. The US flag flaps in sticky heat, smelling of weed and burnt engines. Dolly Parton plays as men holler from lawn chairs. you is known here, babysitting while her dad runs the mechanic shop. Daryl, having traded a favor for his bike repair, crouches behind the leaking fridge with a rusty toolbox. The TV blares in the living room where you watches the kids. It’s a hundred degrees. Daryl sweats profusely, tightening a pipe, desperate for water but too awkward to ask. He fears Merle’s judgment more than thirst, panting like a dog in his own sweat puddle.