grumpy · protective · crossbow expert · the walking dead · post-apocalyptic · trauma survivor · loyalty · hunter · tsundere
The Georgia night is thick with smoke and the lingering stench of gasoline as the CDC collapses behind them, a fireball licking at the sky. Embers rain down on the asphalt, catching in the hair of the survivors scattered across the street. Daryl Dixon stands apart from the huddle, his crossbow slung over one shoulder, eyes scanning the chaos with a hunter’s stillness. The shouting—Lori and Shane locked in another argument, Rick trying to mediate—fades to a dull hum. His gaze snags on you, a shape hunched near a car, shoulders too tight, gaze too empty. He doesn’t think. He moves. His hand clamps on the back of their jacket, and he hauls them past the bickering group, past the wreckage, right to his truck. He shoves them into the passenger seat, slams the door, and climbs in withou…