Firecracker

A loud siren echoing through the trees jolted Raine right out of her deep slumber. She bolted out of her tent and looked around to see where it was coming from, her hand instinctively resting on her gun just in case. A few moments later, a red car pulled into the camp and Glenn stepped out of the driver's side. Raine pointed harshly to the car, irritation overwhelming her.

"Turn the damn thing off!" She shouted, taking a few steps towards him. Shane popped the hood and Jim quickly detached the battery wire. The car instantly turned off and Raine let out a relieved sigh. She shot Glenn a glare and she was about to walk off, but the rest of the group pulled up behind him. Raine turned to see Andrea and Amy greet each other, then Morales and his family. Carl walked off with Lori with tears in his eyes. This was too painful for him and Raine wanted nothing more than to take that away, she wanted to somehow bring Rick back.

"You are a welcomed sight. I thought we had lost you folks for sure." Dale said with a grin.

"How'd you get out anyway?" Raine asked as her arms crossed over her chest.

"New guy got us out."

"New guy?" Shane questioned, his hands resting on his hips.

"Yeah, crazy vato just got into town. Hey helicopter boy! Come say hello." Morales called out to the stranger in the truck. Raine pinched her eyebrows together and watched intently as the man climbed out of the truck.

"The guy's a cop like you." Morales added as he looked over at Shane. Raine's eyes widened, she couldn't believe it. There was no way in hell that he was standing right in front of her. It was Rick. Tears filled her eyes and she raised a hand to cover her mouth.

"Oh my god." Rick whispered, his own tears coming up.

"Dad! Dad!" Carl screamed as he ran over to Rick. They both fell to the ground grasping each other tightly. Lori ran up behind their son and latched herself onto her husband. Rick's blue eyes brought themselves up and he saw Raine standing a few feet away, tears streaming down her cheeks. He let go of Lori and Carl and walked over to Raine, pulling her into a bone crushing hug. She hugged him back just as tight, relishing the feeling of having her brother back.

"I'm so glad you're all okay. I knew I'd find you guys." He said as he pulled away from his sister and went over to his wife and son again. Raine wiped the tears from her eyes, this was still too bizarre for her. She was so happy to have him back, but she was terrified that it was all a dream and she'd wake up.

"I hope she wasn't too much trouble." Rick teased, looking over at his best friend. Shane chuckled and rested his weight on one hip.

"Man, you have no idea. Fought me tooth and nail every damn day over everything." He responded.

"Yeah, she can be like that." Rick looked over at his sister who stuck her tongue out. Deciding to let him spend some time with his family, she started setting up the fire pit for dinner that night. The thought of eating made her stomach growl, Daryl needed to get back from his hunting trip. She was starting to get impatient.

That night, Raine didn't get any sleep. She was still too excited over Rick being back, she just couldn't settle down. So, she perched on top of the RV and let Dale get some sleep. By the time morning rolled around, she still wasn't very tired so she went ahead and started on the chores for the day. She helped Carol fold a bunch of laundry and was just about to move on to something else when she heard Carl and Sophia screaming.

Raine dropped everything she was doing and ran to them with Rick, Lori, and everyone else behind her. She reached them and made sure they were safe before sending them over to Lori. She pulled her knife out and grasped it tightly in her hand, walked quietly to the clearing. There, they saw a walker chewing on the neck of a deer. Raine watched the creature with furrowed eyebrows as it finally noticed them and stood up, a loud roar emitting from its throat.

Everyone took turns beating on it, not giving Raine the chance to step in, until Dale cut its head off. Everyone sighed and looked at each other, but then a twig snapping caught their attention. Shane raised his gun while Raine's brown eyes noticed the crossbow bolts sticking out of the deer, she knew exactly who was out there in the woods. Just as she was about to say something to Shane, Daryl appeared from behind a bush.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" Daryl kicked the walker's body repeatedly and Raine had to fight back a small laugh.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale mumbled. Daryl glared up at the old man and walked over to him, getting within a few inches of his face.

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'? I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" Daryl asked as he gestured to the chewed up area on the deer.

"I would not risk that."

Daryl and Raine locked eyes and a small smirk came across her lips. She wouldn't admit this to anyone, but aside from her family, Daryl was the only person she cared about. He had quickly become her friend and the only person she could really talk to around camp. Everyone else got on her nerves and made her want to pull her hair out. She turned on her heel and walked back to the main area, losing interest in what was currently going on. She was too hungry to care.



Raine, Rick, T-Dog, Glenn, and Daryl raced through the streets of Atlanta, making their way to Daryl's brother. Rick had handcuffed Merle to a roof, said he was causing a bunch of trouble. Needless to say, Daryl wasn't too happy about it but was willing to let Rick help get him back. Raine instantly jumped on the opportunity to get away from the camp, even if it meant putting herself in danger. Rick wasn't exactly thrilled by it but they needed the extra hands and Raine was light and quick on her feet. She could dodge any sort of danger if she needed to.

They made their way up through the building and T-Dog used the bolt cutters to break the chain on the door. Daryl kicked it open and they rushed onto the roof, searching for Merle. Raine's eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she saw that nothing was there, except for a hand. Merle's hand.

"No! No!" Daryl cried as he paced around, completely unaware of what to do with himself. Raine wanted to reach out to him, but she opted not to. Neither one of them would like that very much. Daryl calmed down a little and then in an instant, had his crossbow aimed at T-Dog. Rick pulled the hammer down on his revolver and pointed at Daryl's head. Raine just stood back, watching the whole situation with an amused glint in her eye.

"I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it." Rick seethed. Daryl got the message and he lowered his crossbow.

"You got a do-rag or something?" He asked. T-Dog pulled a blue bandana out of his pocket and handed it to Daryl. Raine watched with disgust as Daryl picked up the hand and wrapped it up, he shoved it in Glenn's backpack for 'safe keeping'.

"Looks like he made a tourniquet." Raine said softly, her brown eyes staring down at the blood soaked belt. She may have not been Merle's biggest fan but she had a little admiration for him in that moment. She didn't think she'd be able to cut her own hand off if she was in his situation, she probably would have sat there and rotted or let the geeks get her. The small group followed the trail of blood into a building where they found Merle had fought his way through a few walkers.

"Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches. One handed. Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails." Daryl spoke as he loaded another bolt into his crossbow. Raine bit back a snort as she fiddled with her knife.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is." Rick replied in a low voice. Daryl rolled his eyes and they continued on through the room looking for more clues. They came to another room and Daryl decided it was a good idea to holler out.

"Merle!" His voice caused Raine to jump slightly and she gave him a hard glare.

"We're not alone here. Remember?" Rick hissed.

"Screw that. He could be bleeding out. You said so yourself."

"I don't think he is." Raine chimed in as she stared at a still lit stove, the smell absolutely horrid. They followed her gaze and saw what she was staring at. Rick picked up a flat piece of metal and inspected it.

"What's that burned stuff?" Glenn asked, his face screwing up in disgust.

"Skin." Raine and Rick answered simultaneously.

"Told you he was tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle." Daryl's voice was hoarse and his eyes were squinted as he looked at Rick.

"Don't take that on faith. He's lost a lot of blood."

"Yeah? Didn't stop him from busting out of this death trap." Daryl looked out a window and down to the fire escape, Merle's blood wasn't anywhere to be seen but he had definitely gone through the window.

"He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?" Glenn panicked slightly, the idea completely bizarre to him.

"Why wouldn't he?" Rained shrugged her shoulders. Everyone looked at her, understanding what she was saying. Merle didn't know that they were coming to get him, he was just trying to survive. They would do the exact same thing. Rick sighed and followed Daryl through the window, they needed to keep moving if they wanted to find him before they lost daylight.