Firecracker

The relief that Raine felt was astronomical, Carl had made it through the surgery as well as they could have hoped for and he was well on the road to recovery. Shane had made it back just in time last night, but Otis was a different story. As pissed as she was about him shooting Carl, she was upset that he had died. After all, he did everything he could to try and make things right, but something didn't feel right with Shane's story. But maybe she was just being paranoid.

As Raine helped pile some stones for Otis' funeral, she heard the familiar rumbling of Daryl's motorcycle and her heart jumped up into her throat. She stopped what she was doing to put a hand up to block the rays from the sun. When he pulled into the yard and shut off the engine, Raine started making her way over to him, her hands twisting together nervously.

When Daryl saw Raine walking towards him completely unscathed, he let out a sigh of relief. However, he was still mad at her for going off in the first place. She had him worried sick and that was a feeling he didn't particularly like.

"Hey." She mumbled, looking up into his bright blue eyes with her brown ones. He nodded his head to her and slipped the crossbow over his shoulder.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry." She admitted, looking away from his eyes briefly. Daryl squinted his eyes at her and waited for her to further explain herself. She scoffed and kicked at a rock under her boot.

"Look, apologizing isn't something I'm good at. Can you just accept it so we can move on from this? And besides, I'm glad that I went with them. If I hadn't I wouldn't know what was going on and I wouldn't have been here for Carl."

"It's fine, I get it." He replied shortly, stepping around her and walking off towards the group. Raine sighed and pushed some hair out of her face as she walked back over to the group. They were about to have Otis' funeral and honestly, she didn't really want to be apart of it. She didn't know him that well and she was never very religious, something else she and Rick had in common. When she got over to them, Rick and Lori both pulled her gently to them, wrapping their arms around her. They both deeply appreciated everything that she had done and it meant the world to her.

"Blessed be God, father of our lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, in Grace." Hershel said softly and everyone looked down at their feet, unable to find words.

"Shane, will you speak for Otis?" Hershel asked and Shane immediately clammed up.

"I'm no good at it. I'm sorry."

"You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning." Patricia begged, tears falling from her eyes. Raine's heart went out to her, but Patricia couldn't act like she didn't see this coming. Raine didn't want to sound rude or heartless, it's just that everyone dies in the end, whether it's by walkers or something else.

"Okay. We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping, it was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We gotta save the boy', see that's what he said. He gave me his backpack, he shoved me head. 'Run' he said, 'I'll take up the rear. I'll cover you.' And when I looked back, if not for Otis, I'd never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis, he saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his." Shane spoke softly and what appeared to be nervously, he placed one more stone on top of the others and took a few steps back.

Raine didn't by his story at all, she was thankful that he made it back for Carl's sake, but something wasn't right with that story. It just wasn't settling with her, something started nagging at the back of her mind. Sighing, she excused herself from the group and walked off towards the R.V. She climbed inside the vehicle and sat down at the small table area. After a few moments, Daryl walked in and she felt her pulse speed up, ever since that night at the C.D.C, she had been getting that feeling a lot more. |

"You alright?" He asked, adjusting his crossbow. Raine looked up and forced a smile.

"Yeah, I'm just exhausted and worried about Carl. It's a lot of work being an aunt." She joked, tapping her fingers rhythmically on the table. Being an aunt wasn't that hard in a normal world, but in an apocalypse? It was impossible. Especially when your nephew doesn't seem to want to stay put when you tell him to. Daryl pressed his lips in a tight line and walked to the back of the R.V, coming back a few moments later.

"Here. Found it on the highway. Need a better weapon than just your knife and a gun." He said with a small smirk as he handed Raine a crossbow. She furrowed her eyebrows and took the weapon from him, her eyes scanning over it. It looked practically brand new and it made her wonder, who in the hell would leave it behind?

"But I don't know how to shoot a crossbow." She countered, setting it softly down on the table. Daryl chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment before jutting his thumb towards the door of the R.V.

"Come on, I'll teach you."

Raine smiled and quickly stood up, grabbing the crossbow as she went. It was a little bit heavier than Daryl's but not by much and it wasn't a struggle to hold it. She followed him over to an open area and watched curiously as he grabbed a random bale of hay and set it down a few yards away from her.

"Put your foot through there and pull the string back until it clicks." He instructed as he walked over to her. Raine did as he said, struggling with the string a bit before it locked into place. She pulled a bolt out of the quiver and loaded it into the weapon, looking over at her friend when she was finished.

"Just aim for the center of the hay." He took a few small steps back and watched intently as she raised the crossbow and looked through the sights. After a few long moments, she pulled the trigger and sent the bolt flying into the center of the hay.



By the time Raine was finished practicing, she was practically dripping with sweat and she felt like she was about to faint because of the heat, but she couldn't complain. Thanks to Daryl she had gotten pretty good with her crossbow, even though she'd only had it for a few hours. He said that she had a 'natural ability', she wasn't too sure about that, she thought that she was just a fast learner.

She chugged nearly half of her water and slung the crossbow on her back, much like Daryl did with his. Her boots dug into the dirt as she walked over to where Rick was standing with Hershel and Shane.

"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel asked, leaning against the yellow jeep.

"This is day three." Raine answered as she walked up to them. Rick looked over at his sister, furrowing his eyebrows at the crossbow on her back. He didn't push it though, he knew it was actually a good thing for her to have another weapon on her.

"County survey map. Shows terrain and elevations." Maggie chimed in, setting a map on the hood of the car. Rick looked over at it with relief and smiled slightly.

"This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams." He spoke excitedly. He desperately wanted to make it up to Carol, but he really didn't need to. He did what he had to do, if anything, Raine was the one that needed to make it up to Carol.

"Not you. Not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out. And your ankle, push it now, you'll be laid up for a month, no good to anybody." Hershel said sternly, turning his attention to Shane.

"Guess it's just me. I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there." Daryl piped up.

"Me too."

"Raine, no." Rick argued, shaking his head and placing his hands on his hips.

"You can't stop me. I have to do something, I can't just sit here waiting. Besides, it's my fault Sophia didn't get back to us. I'm going." She said sternly, adjusting the crossbow strap so that it wasn't rubbing her neck raw. Before her brother could say anything else, she walked off to prepare for her's and Daryl's search for the little girl.

The guilt still ate at her even though it wasn't technically her fault and it wasn't going to go away until they found Sophia. The possibility of not finding her weighed on her shoulders and she knew that it was more than likely going to happen, but she wasn't going to stop. She needed to know if she was alive or dead, she was hoping that she was alive. Raine was hoping that Sophia had found some abandoned home to hide in, it would be the safest thing for her to do.

It didn't take long for Daryl to come over to her, but he didn't say a word to her. He just walked right by. Raine rolled her eyes and fell into step behind him, lengthening her strides to keep up with him.

"Daryl. You okay on your own?" Rick asked as he took a few steps toward them from the house. Daryl and Raine stopped simultaneously and turned to look at the former police officer.

"He's not on his-"

"I'm better on my own. I'll be back before dark." Daryl interrupted, causing Raine to shoot him a slight glare. He stole a glance at the brunette beside him and turned on his heel to walk away, but Rick spoke up again.

"Hey. We got a base. We can get this search properly organized now."

"You got a point or are we just chatting?" Daryl snapped, turning to look at Rick.

"My point is it let's you off the hook. You don't owe us anything."

Daryl scoffed and started walking again, Raine following close behind.

"My other plans fell through."