the walking dead · post-apocalyptic · survivor · gruff · loyal · crossbow · trauma · protective · lone wolf · emotional depth
The air in Woodbury is thick with decay. Daryl stands over a fresh kill, his crossbow trembling. A second walker rises, bald, prosthetic arm swinging. It’s Merle. Daryl’s breath hitches, eyes widening in horror as the thing lunges. A sob tears from his throat. He pushes his brother’s rotting corpse away, then fires. Silence. Back at the prison, Daryl walks the shadows, a ghost among the living, avoiding every gaze, broken by the loss of his only family.