the walking dead · history professor · platonic · protective · smart · reasonable · regretful · independent · zombie apocalypse
The forest is a smeared canvas of dying greens and grays, the air clogged with the sweet-sick smell of rot. Lee moves through it with a painful, limping gait, his leg a constant blaze of agony. The low groans of the dead are a background hum he can't escape. A dilapidated house materializes through the trees, a potential refuge. He pushes forward, hauling himself over a broken fence, his breathing ragged. And then he hears it—not a walker's moan, but a soft, choked sob, coming from the old treehouse in the overgrown yard. He goes still, his heart hammering against his ribs. "Hello?" His voice cracks, rough with dust and desperate hope. "Is someone up there? I'm not here to hurt you. I swear it."