Ok, this is the first time I'm actually going to make a fanfic about a tv show that's not animated, and so I might mess up a little on the episodes, but I'll try. This takes place in season two and this is my own story that takes place between Secrets and Pretty Much Dead Already, but once I'm done with this, I'm going to write about Pretty Much Dead Already. So I hope you enjoy, and it might be a little fast in the beginning when I introduce my OC, so sorry.
It's been hard for everyone, trying to find Sophia, and Daryl got hurt real bad when he went out on his own, and Carol was still real depressed and desperate to hope she came home safely. Nobody could find a trace of her, Shane and Andrea even went out to a nearby town and looked in some houses, but had didn't find anything.
And not only looking for Sophia was happening now, tensions and danger levels were rising against the group and the Greene family. Right now, it was only noon and everyone was just doing what they normally did, they plotted where they should look now or just lazed around the camp site. Daryl was even up and about already, even though most of the group protested on how he should rest.
"You shouldn't be walking around, you're still recovering from your wounds" Carol advised.
"I'll be fine, like these kind of injuries aren't gonna keep me down" Daryl objected.
"She's right" Rick agreed, "You got an arrow to your side and a shot to the head, you need to rest for a while"
"Well you kind of need me, I'm the only one who can track" Daryl informed.
"That's why we're going to check some of the towns and houses to double check and so you can rest" Rick said. Before Daryl could protest, they heard Dale shouting from on top of the Winnebago.
"Guys Guys! Come look!" Dale urged excitedly, climbing down from the RV.
When everyone had gathered around, Dale suddenly handed Carol his binoculars and he pointed down towards the woods. She looked through the binoculars and gasped, covering her mouth in shocked and tears started to leak down her face.
Everyone was looking to where she was looking and saw two figures walking out of the forest, they could barely see who they were, but one was very small and the other was only a little taller than the other. When Carol handed Dale his binoculars back, she started to run.
"Sophia!" Carol shouted. When everyone heard her shout that name, they started to follow her.
"Mom!" Sophia shouted and started to run as well, leaving the person she was with behind.
Sophia soon ran into her mother's arms and they both broke down crying, holding each other tightly. The group soon made it to the two and so did the figure that brought Sophia back.
The person was a woman, she had a petite height and looked young, in her early twenties, she had waist length auburn hair and grey eyes. She was wearing a white tank top and black cargo shorts with black leather combat boots; strapped to her back was also a Mossberg 590 "Compact Cruiser" and attached to the small of her back horizontally was an 18 inch black sheath of a machete.
She had a small smile on her lips as she watched Carol and Sophia hug and cry and saying they love each other and that they missed each other very much.
"Excuse me, who are you?" Rick asked, approaching the woman.
"My name is Echo" she reached her hand out for his to shake. Rick accepted her hand and gave a kind smile.
"Rick; thank you, thank you so much for keeping Sophia safe" Rick said with a big smile.
"Thank you for bringing my daughter back home!" Carol cried, calming down a bit, but continued to hold Sophia. Echo smiled warmly and walked towards Carol and Sophia and kneeled down to their level.
"It's ok now, I'm just happy to see Sophia back to where she belongs" Echo said. Carol smiled and gave Echo and hug, she was surprised at first, but she smiled and hugged her back.
"Can you stay for a while Echo?" Sophia asked, wiping her tears from her cheeks. Echo pulled out of the hug and looked at her with uncertainty.
"Oh, uh, I don't know, I don't want to impose on your group" Echo stammered.
"Please, it's the least we can do after you saved her" Rick insisted.
Echo looked around at the group and gave a small smile and nodded. Carol and Sophia soon stood up with Echo and everyone walked back to the camp site; they all sat around the campfire and introduced themselves and had a small lunch.
"So how did you find Sophia?" Glenn asked.
Sophia continued to run, trying to get away from the three walkers that were following her, but she was running out of breath and barely had a rest, but she continued to run. When she only stopped to take a breather for a second, she felt a grip on her arm and she turned to see a male walker and she started to scream and cry; she tried to get out of the walkers grip as he tried to bite her, but his grip was too strong.
Just as his teeth were close to her shoulder, a shot was heard and the walker's grip loosened and he fell to the ground. Sophia stopped crying and looked around and saw that there was a woman holding a 9mm gun in her hand, the woman placed her gun back in her back pants and ran towards Sophia. When she got to her, she kneeled down and placed her hands on her shoulders.
"Are you ok, he didn't bite you?" the woman asked worriedly, looked over Sophia to make sure she was alright.
Sophia was still shocked and upset, so she couldn't answer, but she nodded and calmed down, but when she heard moaning and grunts, her fears shot up and she looked back and saw the walkers coming their way. The woman removed her Compact Cruiser and machete and held it in one hand and swirled around so her back was facing Sophia.
"Get on!" the woman said quickly.
Sophia didn't need to be told twice and jumped on the woman's back; the woman stood up and started to run fast. She only ran for a few minutes before she stopped at a tree; Sophia looked up and saw that there were two duffle bags and a red and black backpack hanging from the branches.
"Start climbing" the woman ordered.
Sophia grabbed onto the branches and started to climb until she made it to where the bags were hanging. When Sophia looked down, she saw that the woman was still down there and she hung her Compact Cruiser on a branch and unsheathe her machete, revealing a black steel blade.
When the walkers caught up to her, she didn't turn until they were close and she swung her sword to slice half of a walkers face off, then she gave a roundhouse kick to another walker, knocking it down and then she stabbed the third walker between the eyes, the she finished the last one by stabbing it in the top of the head. The woman swung some of the blood on her blade off and placed it back in her sheath, then she grabbed her gun and started to climb up to Sophia. Once she was there, she leaned against the tree to take a breather, and then she turned her attention to Sophia.
"Are you ok?" she asked again.
Sophia nodded and wiped her tears, then when she calmed down, she looked at the woman, "Thank you for saving me"
"It's no problem, I'm just glad to know you weren't bit; I'm Echo" Echo said, holding her hand out.
"I'm Sophia" Sophia said, smiling for the first time in a while and shook Echo's hand.
Echo described the first half, but when it came up to when they got to the tree, Sophia took the action into her hands, seeming very excited about it.
"That's amazing" Lori gasped.
"It wasn't that amazing" Echo denied, smiling shyly as she sat beside of Sophia and Carol.
"Of course it was amazing, the way you took the walkers down and saved Sophia!" Carl said excitedly.
Echo smiled and chuckled a little. Everyone continued to talk and have a good time, Rick even introduced the Greene family to her and she offered to help out around the farm. Then while Echo was playing a little with Sophia and Carl with Carol and Lori standing by, a black and grey cat jumped in Echo's lap.
"Nuna!" Sophia gasped excitedly and started to pet the cat.
"You have a cat?" Carl asked, petting the cat as well.
"Yeah, I found her in a dumpster and decided to bring her along with me; she usually hangs around for a while, but she goes off every now and then" Echo explained, scratching Nuna's ears and smiled as she purred loudly.
The day continued by and everyone was real happy, now having Sophia back safely and a new addition to the group. It soon got dark and everyone headed out to bed, having a peaceful sleep for the first time in a long while; but in the middle of the night, Echo quietly unzipped the tent she was bunked with Carol and Sophia and grabbed her machete that was lying on the table with her two 9mm guns and Compact Cruiser. She strapped her machete to the small of her back and was about to head out.
"Where are you going?" the gruff voice called out.
Echo looked up and saw that it was Daryl sitting on top of the Winnebago, must be on watch just in case any walkers came by.
"I was going back to my site" Echo answered calmly.
"So you're leaving?" Daryl questioned, climbing down to stand in front of her.
"No; Sophia asked me to stay, so I need my stuff" Echo answered, her face blank.
Daryl nodded and Echo started to walk off, but she only walked a few paces before she stopped and looked back, seeing that Daryl was right behind her with his crossbow on his shoulder.
"You don't have to come" Echo said, her face still blank.
"There are more of those things after dark" Daryl stated.
"It's ok, I'll be back soon"
"I wasn't asking for your permission!" Daryl said in a firm voice. Echo looked at him for a bit before smiling a little.
"You didn't need my permission; I just didn't want to put you through the trouble, but if you want to come, it's your decision" Echo soon started to walk off again and Daryl followed.
They walked through the woods for what seemed like a long time, and they didn't run into any walkers on the way. It was quiet between them, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as it was, but kind of peaceful. Then when Echo stopped and looked up, Daryl looked up as well and saw that there were some bags hanging from the branches.
"How do you sleep?" Daryl questioned.
"It was difficult when you try not to fall off," Echo explained as she started to climb the tree, "But if you lean against a branch and tie yourself to the tree, you won't fall, but it's only a little uncomfortable; but it was a little hard for Sophia"
Daryl looked around as he listened, then he heard a thud and looked to see Echo throwing her bags down to the ground, then when she grabbed her backpack, she started to climb back down. When she landed on the ground, Nuna came running and started to rub against Echo's leg, meowing a lot.
"Nuna, did you follow us?" Echo questioned.
She reaching into the pocket of her backpack and pulled out a bag that was filled with what looked like fish, and then fed some to the cat. After she fed the cat, Echo picked her up, then grabbed one of her duffle bags and when she was about to grab her second one, Daryl picked it up.
"You won't be able to carry it" Daryl stated, strapping the bag to his shoulder.
"Thank you" Echo said with a smile, and then they started to walk back. While walking, Daryl took a glance at Echo and saw that she was staring at him with a smile.
"What?" Daryl questioned.
"I was thinking how nice you are" Echo said, and then looked forward.
"You just met me"
"Yeah, but Carol told me that out of everyone in the group, you tried your hardest in looking for Sophia, even when you got hurt" Echo informed.
"I don't think she really needs to tell people that" Daryl said a little rudely, but Echo wasn't fazed by it.
"But it's true; while I was with Sophia, she remember that she dropped her doll by a lake and I went to go look for it" Echo explained, and Daryl looked at her as she told the story, "and when I arrived at the place where she said she dropped it, I only saw two of those 'walkers' dead and I saw some blood, then I heard someone shout 'Yeah you better run!'" Echo then looked at Daryl, "It was only when I realized that it was you when I brought Sophia back; the only way I found my way to the farm was because I followed you"
"You followed me?" Daryl questioned, wondering how he didn't realized that he was being followed.
"Yeah, I saw that her doll was strapped to your belt and I figured that you must have known her, and I wanted to make sure you got back safe; I freaked out when you got shot, but I was relieved to see that you were still alright" Echo answered honestly. Echo looked forward and a smile formed on his lips, "You should have seen Sophia when I told her if she was ready to go home, she was so happy"
Daryl allowed himself to smile a little too and they continued to walk back to the farm in silence again. Once they made it to the farm, Daryl and Echo placed her bags outside of Carol's and Sophia's tent and Echo let Nuna in first and she turned to Daryl.
"Thanks for helping me, have a good night" Echo said and went inside.
"Night" Daryl soon went back to the Winnebago and climbed to the roof for watch.
Done, I hope you liked it, next one will come soon.