Firecracker

The only sounds Raine could hear were the groups feet crunching leaves and twigs as they walked through the woods. It wasn't that loud, but Raine winced with each step. She was terrified that a walker would hear them and attack them. She wasn't worried about herself as much as she was everyone else. She could handle herself just fine, she had plenty of times before. As she walked, an arm draped over her shoulder and she looked up to see Rick smiling down at her.

Raine returned the smile but it didn't reach her eyes, she was still beating herself up over Sophia. She didn't think she would stop until they found her.

"Hey, you know it wasn't your fault right? You did what you had to do." Rick assured softly. Raine shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her boots as she walked.

"I don't know. I should have grabbed her and ran back the second you caught up. Leaving her was a terrible idea."

"Raine, we both know how impulsive you are. You don't think before you act, you jump the gun a lot, but you're never wrong in the decisions you make. If you felt the need to help me, then that's what you needed to do. If you hadn't I could be dead right now. Stop doubting yourself."

He kissed the top of her head and removed his arm from her shoulders. His words bounced around in her head, forcing her to think about them. He was right, she really was impulsive, it was one of the best things about her, but she still didn't feel right about leaving Sophia like that. As they rounded a few trees, a tent came into their vision. Rick held up his hand, signalling everyone to stop while Daryl and Shane moved forward to check it out. Raine pulled out her gun and raised it slightly, following them closely for a few feet.

Rick called for Carol to come over and call out for Sophia while Daryl slowly opened the tent flap and got ready for the little girl or whatever else to come out. Raine held tightly onto her gun, her finger resting on the trigger. She knew it was a terrible idea to use her gun for just one walker, but she didn't have any other weapon besides her knife. She made a quick mental note to search the other cars for a different weapon when they got back, maybe she'd have a stroke of luck and find a bow. She didn't care if she was terrible at it, she'd learn really quick.

When nothing came out of the tent, Daryl carefully went inside and Raine felt herself stop breathing. She hoped that he wouldn't get hurt, that nothing would attack him. If she lost her best friend, she wouldn't know what to do with herself.

"Daryl?....Daryl?" Carol called out softly after a few moments. Daryl quickly stepped out of the tent and shook his head.

"It ain't her."

"What's in there?" Raine asked, lowering her gun and slipping it back into her holster.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?" The moment the words left his mouth, the sound of church bells rang through the air. Raine looked around frantically, desperate to know where the noise was coming from. In a second, everyone took off running towards the sound. They came to a clearing and Raine skidded to a stop, almost face planting onto the ground.

"What direction?" Shane asked, looking at Rick.

"I think that way. I'm pretty sure." He replied and Raine let out a frustrated sigh.

"It's hard to tell. Everything echoes out here." She said softly, looking around to determine which direction they should go. It wasn't long before they were on the move again and Raine could feel herself growing exhausted but she didn't dare stop. There was a big chance that Sophia was ringing those bells and they needed to find her.

When they finally found the church, Raine had built up so much hope she was almost afraid to go inside and look. She didn't want to be let down, she liked the idea of Sophia being inside that building. But she couldn't just sit around and not find out. Rick, Shane, and Daryl went inside and killed the three walkers that were sitting inside and Raine barged in, brown eyes searching for the little girl. When there was no sign of her, Raine swallowed the lump in her throat and stormed out of the church.

She was absolutely heartbroken.



Daryl searched the church grounds for the brunette that he had grown so close to. After they got to the church and didn't find Sophia, Raine stormed off and he hadn't seen her since. He was about to worry, but then he saw her leaning against a headstone with a cigarette between her fingers. Sighing, he walked over to her and sat down across from her.

She didn't say anything, she just looked at him with intense brown eyes and took a hit from the delicious menthol stick. Daryl cleared his throat and removed his bag from his back, digging through it quickly. He pulled out a carton of her cigarettes and handed them to her. She gave him a small smile and took them from his hand, shoving them in her own bag. Daryl saw the frustration and heart ache on her face and he sat down beside her, they were silent for a moment and then Raine looked over at him.

"You're upset with me too." It wasn't a question, it was statement. Of course he was upset with her, she dropped the ball and put everyone in this situation. Daryl looked up at her and pressed his lips into a tight line.

"I was, yeah."

"But you're not now?"

"What's the point? You made the wrong call, but you're trying to fix it now. That's what matters. Come on, we ain't gonna find that little girl sittin' on our asses."

Raine and Daryl stood up from the ground and walked over to the group. They were huddled together, waiting to discuss a plan. When they got over to them, Carol shot Raine a look that ripped right through her. She didn't know what else to do to make it right, she was trying her hardest to find Sophia, but that's all that she could do.

"Y'all gonna follow the creek bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough." Shane explained, looking at the group who was silent. Nobody was really in the position to argue, but they weren't happy with being split up.

"You're splitting us up. You sure?" Daryl asked, adjusting his crossbow on his shoulder.

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you." Rick assured.

"I want to stay too. I'm her friend." Carl chimed in, causing Raine to look at him with wide eyes. She wasn't completely comfortable with her nephew breaking away from her and Lori, she couldn't be sure that he'd be safe. Rick and Lori exchanged a look and then nodded.

"Just be careful, okay?" Lori brushed Carl's hair off of his forehead and he smiled.

"I will." Lori pulled her son in for a hug and Raine looked up at her brother.

"I'm staying too, then. Daryl can look after them, I want to stay for Carl." Raine mumbled, she wouldn't tell him that she had a really bad feeling something was going to happen. That would just cause an un-necessary panic. Instead, she just decided to go with them so that she could keep an eye on things herself. When she looked over at Daryl, he was giving her that famous irritated look that he so often held. Rick excused himself and walked into the church for a few minutes and Shane was off pacing around. Daryl took advantage of the fact that Raine was alone and he walked up to her, getting a few inches away from her.

"You ain't goin'!" He whispered harshly. Raine crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes, trying so hard not to feed into his anger.

"Daryl, I'm going. I'm looking out for my nephew, trust me, I'll be okay." She replied, tying her hair into a messy bun. Daryl shook his head vigorously and grabbed her upper arm.

"No, you're comin' with me."

"No, I'm not." She yanked her arm out of his grip and took a few steps back, anger boiling through her veins.

"You couldn't look out for Sophia, what makes you think you can look out for Carl? Hmm? You ain't going."

The hurt that radiated through her brown eyes almost made Daryl fall to his knees and beg for her forgiveness, but he didn't. He was angry and she was continuing to push his buttons. How was he supposed to look out for her if she was constantly running off and putting herself into dangerous situations? Raine didn't stick around for another second when she saw Rick coming out of the church. She angrily stomped away from Daryl and didn't bother to look back at him, of all the horrible things he had ever said to her that was the worst.

"You okay?" Rick asked, noticing how upset his sister was. She nodded her head and checked the magazine in her gun.

"Yeah, fine. Let's go."