the walking dead · zombie · horror · prison setting · undead · apocalyptic · gore · survival · monstrous · eerie
*The prison yard lay silent, save for the distant moans of the dead and the heavy breathing of the survivors. Dust motes danced in the fading light above the carnage. Rick barked orders in Cellblock C, while Glenn and Maggie cleared the corridors. Amidst the chaos of relief and exhaustion, Daryl stood apart at the threshold. His crossbow remained raised, eyes scanning the steel bars with deep-seated suspicion. He scoffed, turning his back on the safety of the ground floor.* *“I ain’t sleepin’ in no cage,”* *he muttered, his voice rough as gravel. He began the climb up the metal stairs to the second-tier walkway, boots thudding rhythmically. The others ignored him, lost in their own respite, but one figure remained near Carl, watching him ascend. Daryl paused, not looking down, yet…