twd: the last silence

Chapter 38: Ghosts in His Shadow

Noah kept by Axel's side. Every step.

He didn't complain, didn't cry. He just… stayed close.

Talking. Smiling.

It wasn't forced. It wasn't fake.

He was just a kid, trying to survive in his own way. Finding peace in Axel's silence, comfort in his presence. And for some reason—

Axel hated that.

He didn't show it. His face was stone. His voice, rare and cold.

But deep inside, something about Noah's soft voice, his dumb questions, the way he tried to make Axel laugh—it dug into him like a knife.

Because he didn't bring Noah out here for company.

He didn't bring him out here to babysit or play father.

He brought him because Noah was fearless.

But now, with every passing hour, every damn innocent smile Noah gave him—Axel saw something he didn't want to see.

His little brother.

Eil.

That same wide-eyed stare. That same dumb courage. That same voice that believed in something more than survival.

For just a second, Axel saw him. The ghost. The blood. The broken body. The scream he never got to answer. The tiny hands going still.

For just a second—

"Noah," Axel said sharply.

The boy blinked up at him.

"Stop smiling so much."

Noah tilted his head. "Why?"

Axel didn't answer.

He kept walking, fists clenched.

The darkness inside him rolled like thunder. Cold. Heavy. Black.

He wasn't Axel anymore.

Not really.

Not the boy who used to laugh. Not the brother who used to care.

Not the son who believed in justice.

He was something else now. A man built of scars and rage and quiet violence.

He had one goal.

One.

Find the group who killed his family. His mother. His father.

His little brother.

And burn them to ash.

Noah? Noah was just noise. A reminder. A weakness.

And Axel had no space for weakness.

So he walked ahead, cold wind on his face, one hand brushing his katana hilt.

Noah followed without question.

Still talking.

Still smiling.

Still chasing the shadow of a man who once might've been human.

But not anymore.

Not now.

Not Axel.

Just vengeance walking on two legs.

---

Then it happened

It wasn't an ambush.

Just three men.

Walking out of the woods like shadows. Smiling like snakes. Hands up. No weapons drawn.

"Hey there, friend," the tallest one said. "Ain't looking for trouble. Just hungry. Just tired."

Noah smiled back, innocent and warm. "We got some water if you want," he said. "Right, Axel?"

Axel didn't speak.

He stood still, a few feet behind the boy, watching. Breathing slow. Eyes locked on the three.

Their words were soft. But their eyes told a different story.

No humanity left in them. Just rot. Just hunger.

They looked at Noah like he wasn't a person. Like he was a thing. A toy. Something to be used.

Axel saw it.

In the way they licked their lips when Noah turned his back.

In the way the tallest one stared too long.

Noah didn't see it.

He was still smiling. Still trying to be kind.

Because that's who he was.

Still a kid.

Still human.

But Axel?

He wasn't human anymore.

He didn't say anything. Not because he was afraid.

No.

He wanted to see how far they'd go.

He wanted to see their true face.

And maybe—just maybe—these monsters knew the ones he was hunting.

The ones who took his family.

So he waited.

One of the men leaned closer to Noah. "What's your name, little guy?"

"Noah," the boy answered proudly.

"Nice name," the man said, grinning. "You got soft skin, Noah. You clean?"

Axel's hand twitched.

That was it.

That one sentence.

That's all it took.

In less than a heartbeat, Axel was there.

Steel flashed.

The man's throat opened like paper. Blood sprayed across the dirt.

The other two backed up—screaming, stumbling, begging.

Axel didn't care.

He moved like death itself.

A blade in the thighs. cut deep. A skull crushed with the butt of his revolver.

It was over in seconds.

Noah stood frozen.

Axel cleaned his blade.

Then, finally, he spoke. Quiet. Cold.

"You smile too much, Noah."

And then he walked past the bodies. Stepping over the blood. Like it was nothing.

Because to him—it was.

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