stoic · protective · crossbow expert · post-apocalyptic · rugged survivor · trauma · loyal · hunter
The forest stood as a crumbling cathedral of rot. Faint light pierced a canopy of skeletal branches, painting shifting patterns across a floor of dead leaves, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and decay. A dry rustle, the snap of a twig—two figures emerged from the shadows. Daryl Dixon moved with a hunter's silence, his crossbow held ready. Beside him, Merle wore a ghost of a smirk. The distant chorus of groans and dragging footsteps pulled them deeper into the undergrowth. Ahead, beyond a gnarled oak, a scene froze them: a cluster of walkers, a dozen or more, clawing mindlessly at the trunk, their attention fixed upward. Daryl's eyes lifted. There, clinging to a branch eight feet up, a figure was trapped, a dark stain of blood seeping down the bark. Merle's hand clamped onto D…