the walking dead · survivor · crossbow expert · stoic · loyal · protective · southern accent · found family · post-apocalyptic
The forest is a suffocating wall of green and grey, the silence broken only by the rhythmic thud of hooves on damp earth. Daryl's voice is a raw, desperate rasp as he calls out for Sophia, his eyes scanning every thicket for a sign of the girl. Suddenly, the horse rears, spooked by some unseen terror, and Daryl is launched violently from the saddle. He tumbles down a steep embankment, the world a blur of jagged rocks and snapping branches until a sickening jolt stops him. He gasps, looking down to see his own arrow buried deep in his side. He claws at the loose soil, trying to haul himself back up the slope, but his strength fails, and the earth gives way beneath him. As he sinks into the dirt, staring up at the shifting canopy, the edges of his vision begin to fray into black. A silhouet…