Firecracker

Raine drove the truck in absolute silence, she didn't really know what to say. They lost Jacqui and they almost lost Dale and Andrea, for some reason she felt like the group was much weaker than it was before. Her fingers drummed softly on the steering wheel and her eyes stared at the road intently.

"Thank you." She said quietly, glancing over at Daryl who was staring out the passenger window. He turned at the sound of her voice and met her bright brown eyes.

"For what?" He asked gruffly, fiddling with the string of his crossbow. Raine sighed and pursed her lips.

"You're gonna make me say it aren't you?" His silence gave her his answer.

"Just thank you, for everything. Back in Atlanta, you helped make sure I was safe. You've been a real friend to me and that means a lot in my eyes. You could've left me for dead that day but you helped me. If Rick knew about it, he'd thank you too."

"It was my fault you got into that mess, the least I coulda done was get you out of it." He replied as if everything he had done for her didn't mean a thing. Raine wasn't the kind of girl to really open up about her feelings, but she would give credit where credit was due. When she looks at Daryl, she doesn't see the bad things that everyone else sees. She sees the good in him no matter how hard he tries to shove it away.

The rest of the ride was silent and eventually they all had to stop and gather some supplies. While that was being taken care of, Daryl got his motorcycle out of the back and moved his and Raine's belongings onto the R.V. They needed to lighten their load a bit now that they had less people. Raine didn't hesitate to get on the back of his bike, despite how unhappy Rick was about it. He still wasn't sure what to think of his sister and Daryl being as close as they were.

They had been driving for a good little bit but it was interrupted by all the cars that blocked the road. Raine rolled her eyes, of course there would be another bump in the road, why wouldn't there? Daryl turned the bike around and circled around the R.V to get to the driver's side.

"See a way through?" Dale asked and Daryl nodded his head towards the traffic jam, telling him to follow. They seemed to be going good until a loud hissing came from behind them, causing them to jump. Raine looked to see the radiator hose had screwed up again and Daryl stopped the bike and shut it off.

"I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times. Dead in the water." Dale ranted, staring at his vehicle as if it were the devil. Raine chuckled and crossed her arms over her chest as she sat on the bike. She was pretty comfortable so she wasn't going to move unless she absolutely had to.

"Problem, Dale?" Shane asked, holding his shotgun tightly in his hands.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of- Oka, that was dumb."

T-Dog suggested to everyone that they look in all the cars for a radiator hose or any other supplies that they could find useful. Raine sighed and got off the bike so that she could start looking around. Daryl watched her as she moved from car to car, he couldn't help but think of when they slept together at the C.D.C. He felt no regret over it other than he slept with Rick's sister. He felt as if he had betrayed his leader, but he wouldn't dare apologize. He told Raine that he wouldn't tell and it would cause more problems right now.

All Raine found was a pack of cigarettes, a few bullets, and some unopened bottles of water. It wasn't much but at least they were useful. As she moved on to the next car, a hand shoved her roughly on the ground. She turned and saw Daryl and was about to ask him what the hell he was doing, but the look on his face told her everything. There were walkers. He pushed her gently under a car and she expected him to be right there with her but he took off. She watched him intently, trying to remain as calm as possible. He rushed over to T-Dog who was bleeding profusely and killed a walker. He placed the dead body over T-Dog and then covered himself with one.

Suddenly, the walkers feet were visible to Raine and she tried to count them all but there were too many. They just kept coming, like they were spawning out of the ground. Several moments went by and eventually the walkers had moved passed everyone. Still, Raine didn't want to move from the car just yet. She wanted to be completely sure before coming out. But a scream caught her attention and she saw Sophia getting out from underneath the car. Raine instantly rolled away from the car and pulled herself up. She sprinted over to Sophia, who was heading off into the woods, and jumped over the guard rail. She slipped down the hill but didn't waste a second to regain her footing. Rick and Daryl were probably going to have her head for this, but she didn't care. A child was in danger.



"Sure this is the spot?" Daryl asked as he searched the creek bank with Rick, Shane, Glenn, and Raine.

"We left her right there. We drew the walkers way off in that direction up the creek." Rick explained, gesturing to where he was talking about. Raine ran a hand through her hair and her mind reeled. She had no idea what to do. She knew she should have stayed with Sophia while Rick took care of the walkers, but he needed her help.

"Without a paddle- seems where we've landed." Daryl commented.

"Where the hell were you?" Shane asked, looking directly at Raine. The brunette sighed and hung her head in shame.

"I went with Rick. He needed my help." She explained softly, she refused to look up at anybody. She was so mad at herself, but nobody else needed to know that.

"It ain't her fault." Daryl defended, giving Shane a hard glare. While Raine was grateful that he stood up for her, she really wished that he hadn't. All it was going to do was make everyone ask questions and that was the last thing she needed.

"She was gone by the time we got back here. I figured she took off and ran back to the group. I told her go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder." Rick said, pointing to the direction she should have gone. Daryl walked through the water and started looking for Sophia's tracks.

"Hey, short round, why don't you step off to one side? You're mucking up the trail." Daryl snapped to Glenn and Raine had to bite her tongue to keep from chuckling.

"Assuming she knows her left from her right." Shane countered.

"Sophia's smart, she knew exactly what Rick was talking about." Raine shot Shane a glare and climbed out of the water with Daryl's help.

"She understood me fine." Rick agreed.

"Rick, I'm gonna head back to the group, keep Carol calm. Be safe, all of you." Raine said softly, looking between her brother, Daryl, and Glenn. She knew it sounded insane and screwed up, but she didn't really care what happened to Shane. He had gone downhill since this apocalypse started. Before, he was a decent man and they got along great, but now he was completely different. Her boots crunched the leaves and twigs as she walked and she was constantly on her guard. She really didn't feel like being a walker's meal, that would seriously ruin her day.

When she got back to the highway, practically everyone rushed over to her demanding to know what was going on. She held up her hands and took a few steps back from them.

"They're looking for Sophia. Daryl's following her tracks, I'm sure they'll have her back in no time. Everything's fine, we just need to keep looking for supplies. I'm gonna be on look out with Dale if anyone needs me. Carol, can I talk to you for a second?" She asked softly and the older woman nodded her head, her face full of worry. The two of them walked away from the group and Raine sighed, shoving her hands in her back pockets.

"Look, I know you're scared and worried, but you have to remain calm. We're doing the best we can. Daryl is really hot on her trail and we didn't see any other walkers around. It'll be okay." Raine tried her best to comfort Carol but she just wasn't having any of it.

"Why weren't you with her? You could have prevented this whole thing. Now my daughter is out there in the woods, lost and alone. You should have stayed with her." Carol's words ripped through Raine like a dagger and she felt tears poking at her eyes but she kept them at bay.

"I know and I'm sorry, but Rick needed my help. We honestly thought that Sophia was going to stay put. Carol, you know I would never do anything to intentionally put your daughter in harm's way."

"Well, that's exactly what you did. You should have been with her instead of trying to prove yourself. You only care about yourself." And with that, Carol walked back over to Lori, leaving Raine feeling worse than before. Sighing, she walked towards the R.V and climbed the ladder. She paced slowly on top of the vehicle, hoping that this was all just a nightmare and she'd wake up any minute. She should have known that her actions were going to earn her the blame, that was just her luck.