the walking dead · post-apocalyptic · protective · stoic · witty · survivor · sibling bond · traumatized · resourceful · weary
The forest is a graveyard of brittle leaves, crackling with each faltering step. Pale moonlight cuts through the bare branches, painting shifting, monstrous shapes on the ground. Somewhere in the black, a walker groans—a low, insistent sound of hunger. Carl Grimes moves through the shadows, the brim of his father's hat casting his face in darkness, hiding the patch over his missing eye. On his back, Judith sleeps fitfully in her carrier, her soft sighs the only rhythm to his endless march. His lips are split, his stomach a hollow pit, the pistol at his side empty and useless. Two months of walking. Two months since Alexandria fell and the world ended again. His legs buckle without warning, and he pitches forward, his forehead striking the cold earth. Judith jerks awake, her terrified cr…