Firecracker

Raine will never forget the day the 'apocalypse' started. She was just getting home from work when her sister-in-law Lori showed up with her son and Rick's best friend. At first Raine thought they were just dropping by to pick her up before going to the hospital to see her brother, but she was wrong. She was so very wrong.

"Raine, we have to go now!" Lori exclaimed the moment Raine opened her front door. She looked over Lori's shoulder and saw Shane sitting in the drivers side of his car with a worried expression; Carl was in the backseat with watery eyes.

"Lori, what's going on?" Raine asked, noticing just how serious this was.

"Something's happening. They're rushing people out of the city. Raine, dead people are coming back to life and eating us. I know how crazy this sounds but you have to come with us. Please!" If Lori hadn't been so panicked, Raine would have laughed the whole situation off and continued on with her day, but her gut was telling her that this was really happening. She rushed to her room and packed her bags and made sure that she had some food and her gun. She followed Lori out to Shane's car and they hopped in.

"Oh god, Lori, we have to get Rick."

There was silence.

"We can't just leave him!" She shouted, anger filling in her stomach. Lori turned to look at Raine with tears in her eyes, she shook her head and Raine felt the breath leave her lungs. Rick was dead. Her brother, who was the toughest son of a bitch she had ever met, was dead. She said nothing as she nodded her head once in understanding and leaned back against the seat. Carl, her nephew, scooted closer to her and rested his head on her arm. She couldn't help but let out a sad sigh, Carl was going to grow up without a dad. At least he had her and Lori to take care of him.

Raine wiped away the sweat from her forehead as she sat on the ground and cleaned her gun. It was a generic Glock 19 that her brother had gotten her for her birthday. It wasn't anything special as far as guns go but it meant the world to her. She looked up with her brown eyes as a voice came over the radio, she could have sworn it was Rick. But that wasn't possible, he was gone. In a way she was glad, he wouldn't have to suffer in this world like she and the others did. He was lucky.

Sighing, she glanced down at her watch and bit her lip. T-Dog, Andrea, Jacqui, Merle, Morales, and Glenn should have been back by now, she immediately feared the worst. She quickly put her gun back together and tucked it into the safety of the holster that was strapped to her thigh. She stood up from the ground and walked over to Shane.

"I'm gonna take your jeep, head into town. If they're stuck they're gonna need help." Raine didn't bother to ask his permission, she was going to do it regardless of what he had to say about it. Shane looked at her with raised eyebrows and shook his head.

"You know I can't let you do that. Ain't gonna get yourself stuck too. You best stay put." He demanded causing Raine to let out a soft snort. She pulled her long, curly, dark brown hair over one shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest. It was obvious that she didn't like being told what to do, she never had. She had always been an extremely independent person that relied on nobody, so for Shane to tell her no, it wasn't a very nice feeling for her.

"I'm going." She said simply, turning on her heel to walk to the jeep. Just as she reached the vehicle, Carl ran up and put his hand on the door, his eyes pooling with tears. He gave her a pleading stare and Raine felt herself growing weak to his bright blue eyes. They were an exact match to Rick's.

"Please don't go. I-I can't lose you too." He whispered. Raine dropped to her knees and pulled him into a tight hug, her own tears fighting their way to the surface. She blinked them back and released Carl so that she could look at him.

"Okay, I'll stay." She stood up and walked over to Lori with Carl holding tightly onto her hand. The two women smiled softly at each other, both completely unsure of how exactly they were going to survive this. One thing was for sure, they needed to try their hardest.



"Hey Dale, I'm heading out. Sweetheart, I want you to stay where Dale can see you, okay?" Lori turned her attention to Carl and Raine looked up to see what exactly was going on. Lori had a red bucket in her hand and Raine knew instantly that she was going out to pick berries.

"You too. Don't wander too far. Stay within shouting distance. If you see anything, holler. I'll come running." Dale responded. Lori mumbled something with a small smile and went straight into the woods. Raine climbed the ladder on the back of the RV and sat down next to Dale, he looked over and gave her a warm smile.

"How you holding up?" He asked softly. Raine looked at him for a moment before a scoff left her lips, it was a strange and stupid question to ask.

"You tell me. We're living out in the middle of nowhere, it's hot all the damn time, we're all starving, oh, and there's dead people trying to eat us. How do you think I'm doing?" Her tone wasn't snappy, but it wasn't all that pleasant. Dale just chuckled and shook his head.

"Maybe, but at least it's pretty out here. You've been surprisingly calm about this whole thing, almost like this doesn't effect you."

"It doesn't. I have to be calm and I have to be strong. I have a nephew that I have to take care of." Raine replied, looking over to Carl who was sitting with Sophia as they did their school work. She felt sad for him, he would have to grow up in a cold, cruel world without a dad to take care of him. Rick was supposed to teach him how to do all of the father/son things. Instead, Shane was trying to step in a do that which, for some reason, pissed Raine off to no end.

Lori came back to camp a little bit later with Shane following close behind. He immediately went over to Carl and began to show him how to tie a knot. It didn't take long for Raine to figure out that there was something going on between the two of them, which further fed her disgust for Shane. She could sort of understand it though, Lori was still mourning and she was looking to fill that empty space. Shane however, seemed to just be taking advantage of that, that's what pissed Raine off.

As Raine watched the three of them, she heard the familiar sound of thunder rumbling and she looked up to see the storm clouds rolling in. She climbed down from the RV and went to her tent, she had no interest in getting wet. She lied down on her sleeping bag and let her eyes droop closed, a small nap wasn't going to hurt anybody. And she needed the sleep, she had gone four days without sleeping and it was really taking a toll on her. She just needed to sleep for a little bit.