Daryl Dixon X OC

All I’ve Ever Known Part 1

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"Never thought you'd miss Winter huh?" Ellie Mitchell whispered, talking to herself had become a source of comfort. She couldn't count the amount of conversations she'd had solely with herself to keep the voices out of her head. Singing worked too, not loud enough to lure walkers but just enough to fill the constant silence she'd lived in for almost two years now.

"All I've ever known is how to hold my own

All I've ever known is how to hold my own

But now I wanna hold you too

Now I wanna hold you."

The words were like a second language to her now, she'd written that song years ago in the back booth of a greasy run down diner with her mamas old guitar. She sang when the sun was shining or the rain pouring, she sang when she didn't think she could make it another day on an empty stomach or when her bones hurt so bad she thought they would snap. She sang when the moans and groans of the walkers kept her up at night.

The snap of a branch had Ellie swinging around, knife poised and ready to throw at whatever thought it was a good idea to sneak up on her. A flash of bright blue and blonde zoomed past, far too quick to be a walker but too small to be any kind of grown man. The blur of blue fabric lunged behind a tree, a dirty sneaker sticking out from its hiding place... small foot.. faded rainbow laces and smiley face stickers on the heel.

Holy shit.. was this.. was this a kid?

"You can come on out, I already saw ya. If I wanted to hurt ya you'd be gone already." Ellie spoke firmly, if she was wrong and this was some kind of trap it was going to be awful to have to kill a kid but she would do it, she'd do just about anything to survive.

The tiniest whimper filled the air followed by long arms and big brown eyes, a messy tangled mop of sandy blonde hair and ripped capris stumbling out from behind the twisted oak tree.

"Please don't kill me.. I... I heard you singing and I just wanted to see.. I wanted to listen...I don't know where I am. I've been runnin' for days." She whispered, sloppy raindrop sized tears cascading down her dirty cheeks leaving streaks of muddy brown on her smooth skin.

She was little, no way she was older than 10 maybe 11 and she was a mess, Her knees bloody and cut up and her face far too skinny. She looked haunted and terrified and something about the way she was shaking in her sneakers had Ellie instantly bending down and brushing the back of her hand against the little ones cheeks, wiping away the never ending tears.

"Hey.. hey I won't hurt you. My names Ellie, what about you?" She stuck her hand out to shake and smiled the best she could, she was never good around other people, kids seemed to like her just fine but still...

The little girl hesitated for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip before taking Ellie's hand in her own

"S..Sophia. I'm ten." She whispered.

"Sophia..." Ellie wracked her brain for a moment before looking down at the ten year old with soft eyes and an encouraging smile "Wisdom. Your name is Greek, It stands for Wisdom and skill. It's a great name to have."

Finally the tears started to subside, sophia looked up at Ellie with wide eyes.. clearly intrigued by the new discovery of her name.

"Really?" She whispered again. At least she wasn't too loud, her quiet would come in handy out here.

"Sure does. Now what's a little thing like you doin' out here all on your own? You got a mama lookin' for you somewhere."

Sophia shook her head aggressively

"Yes! I got lost a couple of days ago. There was

walkers, a lot of them and I got separated from my mom and Rick told me to stay but I didn't and then I just got lost and now I don't know how to get back and I know my mom is looking for me but I don't know where... there were lots of cars and road.." She rambled desperately.

Ellie placed a hand on the frantic little girls shoulder and squeezed reassuringly

"I'll help you find your mama. Can't be too far if you only got lost a few days ago, we'll find her. Find your whole group and help them get their Wisdom back. Lord knows they're all probably goin' crazy without it."

Sophia whipped around, tiny hand gripping the hem of Ellie's jacket and tugging

"You'd do that? You'd help me find my mom?"

She sounded almost amazed, it made Ellie sad to see a child so young so jaded, looked an awful lot like herself.

"Course I will sugar, can't have your mama turning over the world to find ya. I like my world right side up." She tweaked Sophia's nose and nearly shivered when the little girl laced her fingers with hers and beamed up at the older woman beside her. How long had it been since she'd had anyone come close to touching her? To even being this close to her body? Human Contact.. it was a strange and foreign thing to Ellie even before the world turned to shit.

From that point on the two girls had been inseparable, Sophia stuck to Ellie's side like glue and Ellie made sure she was always just a few feet away from Sophia at all times, their was no way she was delivering this kid home to her mother in a body bag. They'd come across a herd just a few days ago and Sophia had nearly passed out when she'd witnessed Ellie take down nearly 20 walkers with nothing but her knives, this had resulted in about an hour of the 10 year old asking her all kinds of questions about what kind of life she lived before this one.

That was definitely not a story for a child.

They were about two weeks into the hunt for Sophia's group when they'd stopped at an abandoned factory to scavenge for something edible, Ellie had given the child most of her canned goods just to build her strength up but with all the walking they were doing, being as weak and tired as she was wasn't good for staying alert.

"Gotta be somethin' in here. Anythin' really. I'll eat dog food if I have too." Ellie wiggled her eyebrows at Sophia and smiled tiredly when she scrunched her nose up in disgust and giggled.

"You will not! You'll get sick if you... mmmph!" Ellie cut off the blonde little girl by smacking a hand to her mouth and tugging her behind the nearest wall she could find. Sophia mumbled something g beneath her fingers and Ellie quickly shushed her, eyes peering over the side of the wall at the back of large shadowy figure.

"We got company sugar. Stay put and stay quiet. If someone comes at you I want you to scream as loud as humanly possible and run as far as you can get... here." Ellie shoved a small hunting knife into Sophia's open palm and wrapped her tiny fingers around the handle "you do what you have to do ya understand?"

Sophia looked up at her with watery eyes and nodded slightly

"Don't die." She whispered desperately.

Ellie felt herself wince, this was part of the reason she liked to be on her own.. she didn't want to lie to anyone and she didn't want to break promises that were inevitably built to fail. So she bent down, pressed a kiss to Sophia's forehead and advanced on the man who currently digging through an empty desk drawer.

"I won't ever stab a man in the back unless he deserves it so do me a favor and turn around nice and slow."

Ellie kept her voice calm and collected as the man in front of her stiffened, his hooked hand contraption raising up in surrender as he turned to face her with a annoyingly cocky smirk, the second his eyes landed on her the smirk grew wider.

"Well well Well... if you ain't the prettiest knife wielding, light footed angel I've ever seen." He drawled, his accent thick just like hers.. he must have been born close to Senoia.

"I'm no angel, I reckon you walk out that door right now and leave and I won't send this knife flying right through that bald skull of yours." She threatened, the venom in her voice further proving just how dangerous she was.

"Ain't lookin' for trouble sweetheart, lookin' for food. Same as you, ya ain't nothin but bones." His eyes scanned her figure blatantly and she didn't stop herself from rolling her eyes this time.

"Well since you're so smart I'm sure you've already figured out that I ain't in the mood to share. So do yourself a favor and walk out of here with one good arm in tact." She took a step forward and the man stepped back, his eyes dropping and his shoulders slumping, he did look awfully hungry and she hadn't expected him to surrender to her so quickly.

"Alright girl.. fine.. this one's all yours. Ain't gonna find anythi.."

"Mr. Merle!"

Suddenly Sophia was darting out from behind the back wall, her skinny legs sending her flying directly into the bald man's body, her arms wrapping around his waist as he stared down at her in shock.

"Sophia?! What the hell are you doing! Get over here!" Ellie whisper screamed, eyes wide and stunned at the carelessness of the little girl she had come to understand.

"Sophia?" The man stepped back, pulling away and holding the young girl by her shoulders "Well I'll be damned." He chuckled ruffling her hair and scanning her quickly for any injuries. Ellie watched as Sophia grinned up at the man and reached for his missing hand carefully.

"I'm sorry I feel like I'm missing something." She dropped the knife she was holding back into the holster on her thigh and raised a brow at Sophia expectantly

"This is Mr. Merle. He lived with us for a long time.. his brother is Daryl, the one who brings us the squirrels!" Sophia smiled excitedly before it turned to confusion as she looked back at Merle "my mom said you died. Said you were too stupid and died."

"Rude." Merle mumbled, his eyes sparkling when he looked back to Ellie. "You know who I am now girly, who the hell are you and why do you have Carols kid?"

Ellie opened her mouth to speak before Sophia cut her off

"Ellie's helping me find my way home. She's been keeping me safe and killing all the walkers and giving me all her food and making sure I get the warmest sleeping spot!" Sophia grinned moving back to take Ellie's hand and curl against her side.

"Oh yeah?" Merle questioned "and what's in it for "Ellie"" He drew out her name and she had to do everything in her power to not haul back and break his already crooked nose.

"Nothing, I'm not looking for a reward. I don't have anything better to do so I'm bringing her home. Beats walking around and trying not to become some zombies dinner." She explained, a genuine smile crossing her face when Merle laughed out loud.

"Got a point girly. Well how'd you like to add a new member to your rescue mission? I'll go with ya, need to find my brother anyway. Fresh eyes never hurt nobody." He hiked his bag over his shoulder and headed towards the door, Sophia hung back with Ellie waiting to see her next move.

Obviously she was going to let him come, his brother was out there too probably looking for him. But it wouldn't hurt to let the cocky man in front of her think she was still deciding. Merle made it to the front door and turned around, Ellie could tell he was nervous of the rejection by the way his good hand wrapped tight around the edge of the door.

"You comin or not?" He pressed grumpily.

After another few seconds Ellie finally let the megawatt smile light up her face as she grabbed Sophia's hand and tugged her past Merle practically skipping as they swung out the doors

It was quiet for a while, they all walked in silence, caught up in their own thoughts before Sophia broke the quiet.

"The three musketeers! That's what we are! The three musketeers." She glanced back and forth between them, her smile wide and proud.

Ellie sughed dramatically and flicked Sophia's nose

"Don't mention that name.. I would kill for a three musketeers right now.. or maybe a snickers bar." She sighed.

It was just a few seconds later when Merle dropped a heavy metal can in her palms, a mischievous smirk on his lips.

"It ain't chocolate but it'll get that stomach a yours filled." He grinned, walking a bit ahead as she flipped the can around to read the label

"Beef and Gravy Dog Food."

Ellies head snapped up to his shaking shoulders as he silently cracked up in front of her.

"Son of a ..."

When fez gets out of prison he has no idea what he’s coming home too. Hundreds of letters left unopened probably revealing the answers to all of his questions but he can’t read them, he doesn’t deserve too.

It turns out the store hasn’t been taken over by the bank but instead an auburn haired teenager with big brown eyes and a heart of gold.

*Worlds Apart- Eric x OC*

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“I can’t believe we’re stuck in fucking Amity, this place gives me hives.” Eric Coulter swatted away at another low hanging Weeping Willow dangling dangerously close to his line of sight.

It had been way too early in the god damn morning when his cell phone went off, Max’s frantic voice on the other end going on about “the factionless attack on Amity” and how “he better pack a bag because he would be on overnight patrols until further notice.”

What a shitty way to start the weekend.

“I don’t know, I think it’s kind of nice.. fresh air and sunshine never hurt anyone.” Four smirked at the perpetually grumpy grimace on his friends face. “I’m just saying…we’re always cooped up underground in dauntless I haven’t seen the light of day in months.”

As if on cue an orange and yellow butterfly fluttered daintily in front of the two boys before Ianding on Eric’s shoulder and perching there casually. Eric’s entire body tensed as he stood stock still, his shoulders up to his ears and a wide eyed expression on his face, Four had to clamp a hand over his mouth to quiet his hysterics as he stared at the oversized, tattooed man filled with anxiety over a little butterfly.

“Get. it .off .of me.”

He growled through grit teeth nudging his arm slowly and cautiously before four flicked his hand and the butterfly flew off, Eric settled his rifle back over his shoulder and squeezed his eyes shut, shuddering in disgust “I’m going to throw myself into the river before this week is over.” He hissed, marching ahead to lean under the shade of a canopied building and away from the ever present too warm sunshine that seemed to seep through the trees in this faction.

“How long do you think we’ll be here?” Four questioned, moving to stand beside him and closing his eyes as he leaned back.

“Don’t know. Max says until they find who’s leading the factionless armies. Amity is a huge target because of the resources they provide to all of the factions. It’s why they were attacked.” Eric dug his pocket knife into the beds of his nails, it was getting late and someone would be coming to relieve them from their posts soon, he couldn’t wait to sleep this day off and have a beer.. if there was one thing Amity excelled in it was their liquor production.

“Well atleast you got a free meal out of it.. you have to stop giving these guys chances V. They’re not worth your time.”

Fours eyes snapped open and he looked to Eric with a raised eyebrow, they hadn’t seen anyone walking the streets in the past hour or so considering the time.. everyone in Amity seemed to be settling in for the night or out to dinner.

“I know.. but what’s the harm.. you know I can’t say no.. that would be awfully rude.”

Eric and Four stood straight and tall watching as two women rounded the corner of the street.

“You can most definitely say no! It’s not like you’re not busy.. you’re a nurse for Pete’s sake, the head nurse at that.” A short brunette with dark skin and beautiful curls spoke excitedly, her hands flying every which way. She was wearing a pair of dark jean overalls and a yellow bandana around her neck, her feet tucked into clean white slip ons.

“Sophie, I have to have a life too.. I’m trying. you know that.” The most beautiful blonde Eric had ever seen in his entire life spoke calmly to her friend, her long blonde hair was pulled up into a styled bun, pieces loose and dangling by her cheek bones. She had sun kissed golden skin and the longest legs known to man tucked into a pair of strappy heels, her white dress was short and off the shoulder and her shiny chocolate colored eyes were framed by long dark lashes.

“I know that Violet, I’m just tired of seeing you waste your time on these guys who could give a shit less about you.” The brunette sighed.

“I’m going to be just fine, I love that you care but you don’t have to worry about me.. I’m..” violet trailed off, her eyes falling to the two much larger men watching them from against the buildings to their right. Eric watched as her eyes fell to the huge guns clutched in their hands before she quickly took a step in front of her friend and nudged them both back a bit.

“Good evening gentlemen.” She smiled, tense and tight but still the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. “Beautiful night isn’t it?” She was testing the waters, cautious and smart as she observed the two guards curiously.

“Sure is mam. We were just admiring how late the sunshine stays out here in Amity, it doesn’t get this warm in dauntless.” Four answered easily, his eyes lingering just a bit longer on her curly haired friend.

The blondes shoulders loosened dramatically and she seemed to breathe out an audible sigh of relief before she stuck her hand out for four to shake

“I just want to Thankyou so much for what you’re doing for our faction, I know a lot of people were pretty shook up by the attack and having you guys here just makes us feel much more secure and safe. My names Vioet and this is Sophie.. it’s great to meet you.”

“Four, And likewise.” Four shook her hand and smiled before turning to shake her friends hand. Violets body shifted so she was close to Eric, her hand extended and the smell of her strawberry shampoo wafting up towards his nose. The smell made him feel slightly drunk and he had to shake his head to get rid of the thoughts he was currently thinking about the girl in front of him, he fixed his face into his usual sarcastically stoic expression.

“It’s Eric. We’re just doing our job. You usually walk around the streets dressed like that?” He blurted out before he had a chance to stop himself, the question coming out sarcastic and snappy, both Four and Sophie turned to him with equal parts confusion and annoyance.. violet just laughed.

“Not usually no but I was on my way home from a pretty awful date and didn’t think it would be polite to change in the restaurant. Luckily my house is just a street away so if necessary I can just run over there and grab my all black outfit and combat boots.” She teased, eyeing his own outfit up and down.. he did stick out like a sore thumb amongst Amity’s light colors and florals.

He did everything in his power to tamper down the smile threatening to form at her sassy response and teasing manner, he was successful for the most part except for the tiny tilt at the side of his mouth that gave him away. Violet smiled right back before stepping away

“Well we better get going I have to be up early for work and Sophie’s always angry when she doesn’t get enough sleep.” Violets eyes fell to her pretty friend giggling when Sophie shrugged

“Can’t argue with that. A girl needs her beauty rest.” Her sparkling eyes landed on Four for just a split second before she was tugging Violet along with her, the blonde waving one last time before disappearing around another corner.

Four and Eric didn’t say a word for atleast two solid minutes before the shorter boy turned to Eric and grinned.

“Amity’s not so bad after all.”

Eric shook his head and chuckled, rolling his eyes

“Shut up.”