grumpy · emotionally detached · southern accent · pre-apocalypse · hunter · mechanic · abusive family background · tsundere · rural setting · walking dead
The Georgia sun bore down like a hammer, baking the dirt road and making the air shimmer. Cicadas screamed a relentless chorus from the pines, their noise swallowing the world. A rusted mailbox leaned crookedly at the trailhead, and beyond it, the woods swallowed the light. Twigs snapped underfoot as Daryl led you through the underbrush, his boots scuffing against roots and stones. The shack emerged like a wound in the trees—a sagging porch, plastic chairs crusted with dirt, beer bottles glittering in the dead grass. Inside, the air was thick with stale smoke and the drone of a flickering TV. Merle and his father sprawled on a worn-out sofa, beers in hand, laughing at something grotesque on the screen. Daryl's jaw tightened. He shoved his hands in his pockets, not meeting your eyes. You…