Firecracker

Raine stared at the barn, waiting for the gunshot to echo through the farm. She wished that she could see what was happening, but Daryl would run her off if she was even remotely close to them. As she flicked out the butt of her cigarette, her eyes honed in on a small figure making its way to the barn.

”Carl.” She whispered angrily. She jumped up from her seat on the porch and went running after him. She didn’t get to him in time. He was standing at the open barn door, staring inside with bright eyes like it was Christmas morning.

”Do it, dad.” The words left his mouth and Raine froze, looking down at him with furrowed eyebrows. Her nephew had just told his dad to kill someone, like it was something to be enjoyed. She reached forward, her fingers gripping the little boy’s arm tightly. Shane stormed up and gave Raine the look of death.

”The hell is he doin’ here?” He demanded, getting within an inch of Raine’s face. She swallowed the lump in her throat, for the first time she was terrified of Shane. He killed Otis for no real reason, he could very easily do it again.

”I- I tried to stop him.” She answered softly, looking past Shane and over to Daryl who held a blank expression. He hadn’t wanted her to see this. He didn’t want her to look at him any differently. Though one glance into her eyes told him that she was okay with this, told him that she understood that he was just doing what was necessary.

Shane sent Carl back to the house and was about to go back into the barn, but Rick shook his head. He put his gun back in his holster and looked up to Daryl.

”Take him away. Take him away.”

”Get up.” Daryl snapped, pulling Randall roughly to his feet. They pushed past Shane and went off towards the shed. Raine followed a safe distance behind them. As soon as Daryl had Randall tied safely back up in the shed, she approached him, her hands in her pockets.

He looked over at her and sighed. He reached up and touched her cheek. She leaned forward and kissed him, her stomach twisting and erupting with butterflies. Daryl grabbed her hips toughly, his fingertips digging into the skin, leaving bruises. Both of them could feel that something was wrong, something bad was going to happen. When Daryl pulled away from her, she looked into his bright blue eyes and felt a small smile tugging the corners of her lips.

She didn’t think she could ever love somebody this much. It was almost sickening how much she loved him. And he loved her just as much, it was just hard for either of them to express it properly.

Raine opened her mouth to say something else, but a loud scream cut her off. Her ears perked up, trying to pin point the exact location. Daryl immediately took off in the direction of the scream and Raine fell into step right behind him. The only time she had ever ran that fast was the day Carl got shot. She slowed to a stop, her hand coming up to cover her mouth in shock. Dale was laying on the ground, his stomach ripped open, a walker on top of him.

Daryl reached forward and plunged his knife into the walker’s skull and then kicked the body off of Dale. Raine dropped to her knees beside him and grasped onto his outstretched hand. The others arrived shortly after them and they were all in a panic, but Raine had blocked it all out. Her guilt was already beginning to consume her.

”He’s suffering. Do something!” Andrea shouted, her tears streaking down her cheeks. Rick pulled out his gun with a clenched jaw and pulled down the hammer, fighting back his own tears as he aimed at Dale’s head. Daryl glanced up and saw that Rick was struggling, so he grabbed the gun and knelt down.

”Sorry, brother.” He mumbled before pulling the trigger, ending Dale’s suffering forever.



The sun was creeping higher up into the sky as Raine sat on the porch, her knees pulled up to her chest and a cigarette between her fingers. She had dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep and they were puffy from all the crying she had done. Dale’s death had taken more of a toll on her than she thought.

Daryl had tried his hardest to console her, but nothing was helping. The guilt was overwhelming her. He tried to tell her that there was nothing she could have done, but she wasn’t listening. She felt like maybe if she had tried to stand up for him then he wouldn’t have gotten upset and wandered too far away.

Raine glanced up from the ground when Daryl showed up in front of her. She rolled her eyes and tossed the cigarette butt away.

”What do you want?” She asked, her voice completely monotone. Daryl sighed and shifted his weight onto his right leg.

”The funeral’s about to start. Come on.” He extended his hand out to her and she begrudgingly took it, pushing herself up from the porch. He held onto her hand tightly as they walked over to the group, his thumb rubbing circles on her soft skin. When Rick saw that his sister and Daryl were with them, he began his speech.

”Dale could- could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn’t afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I’d make a decision, I’d look at Dale. He’d be looking back at me with that look he had. We’ve all see it one time or another. I couldn’t always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us- the truth. Who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives. Our safety, our future. We’re not broken. We’re gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we’re gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale.”

When Rick finished speaking, everyone stuck around for a few extra moments to take in everything and then they dispersed. Raine was one of the first to walk away. Daryl wanted to run after her, but he looked over at Rick and saw him shaking his head.

The former police officer walked over to his friend and sighed, his hands resting on his hips.

”There ain’t nothin’ I can do.” Daryl commented, his head shaking slightly. Rick pressed his lips into a tight line and shrugged.

”No, there’s not. Raine wallows in her feelings, that’s how she copes. You’re best bet is to just leave her be, let her heal and then she’ll be back to her old self.” Rick explained before giving Daryl a light slap on the back and walking off.

Raine watched from a slight distance as Daryl jumped into the back of the blue truck with Andrea. They, T-Dog, and Shane were doing a perimeter check to make sure no other walkers could get in. Raine wanted to go, but she figured it’d be best if she didn’t. After last night’s incident, Hershel decided it was best to let them all move into the house. She needed to stay behind to help move things around.

She felt bad for acting so cold towards Daryl, who was only trying to help her, but she couldn’t help it. She felt somewhat responsible for Dale’s death. There were several things that could have been done to prevent it and she did nothing...nobody did. They just let him die.