(yes I know I'm not doing everything in chronological order, but give me a break, it's a fanfic and I'm making the story my own. Please enjoy and dream with me people lol ;) )
A few days had passed since the unexpected hostile encounter with Daryl and Rayne had made it a point to avoid him as best as she could. Her fever had completely vanished and though her leg still shot up jolts of pain when she stepped too firmly, she was able to maneuver her way around helping out where ever she could. It seemed like everyone had a job and she wasn't exactly sure where it was that she was meant to fit in. There was an interesting group dynamic and it didn't take long for her to pick up on it. Something was definitely brewing between Rick and Shane though she wasn't surprised much by that. Maybe Shane had been a different person before the world changed, but the few interactions she had with him left her feeling cornered and fronted, not something she often experienced and wasn't a fan.
Something was also happening between Lori and Andrea, a very pensive atmosphere seemed to follow whenever the two women faced each other for long. Apparently there was an upset involving Hershel's youngest girl whom Rayne had hardly seen for more than a few moments at a time. She understood the feeling of hopelessness that was racking the younger girl's heart, had she not had Layla to watch over she may have felt the same at one point or another.
"You look thirsty, want some lemonade?" The voice belonged to Carol and Rayne was shocked to hear it. The sad woman had barely said more than a few words to her since she had arrived. Rayne dropped the blanket she had been hand washing and gratefully accepted the sour liquid, "I can't get over this place. Where else in the zombie apocalypse can you find chilled lemonade on a day like this?" Carol's stormy eyes scanned her before looking about awkwardly.
Rayne sipped the drink and glanced up, "Is there something else?" This seemed to surprise her into movement and Carol shook her cropped head while Rayne gestured beside her, "Would you like to sit? I could always use the company. It's just been me and a four-year-old for the past few months." Carol looked out and then sat down gingerly beside her, taking one side of the blanket to ring out though Rayne suspected it was more for an excuse of something to do with her hands than actual helping.
Not that she minded, Rayne had been very curious of the bird-like woman, but due to urging from the group she didn't pursue a relationship with Carol unless she approached first. They sat in silence for a few minutes until a sweet voice cried from across the lawn, "Rayne can I go with Carl to the river?" Without even looking up Rayne answered, "Can you?"
Layla stopped running towards them and corrected herself exasperated, "May I go with Carl to the river?" Rayne lowered the blanket and looked to Carol, "I'm not sure where the river is, is it safe?" The impossibly thin woman shook her head slightly, "Nothing is safe for children anymore." Rayne felt the gravity of her words fall on her like the wet blanket she was wringing out. Her attention turned back to her reason for living and shook her head, "Sorry kitty cat, not this time. Wait until my leg feels better and I'll take you out then."
The blonde little girl sighed and dropped her head before turning to look at the boy dressed in black waiting for her. Rayne knew Layla's body language well enough to know that she was expressing her displeasure to Carl for having to be stuck at the house. She didn't like it either, but Rayne had almost lost her once and wasn't planning on doing it again.
"They're so sweet at that age." Carol's voice sounded almost as dreamy as her eyes when she watched the small girl skip off to pick some daisies that were littering up Hershel's lawn. Rayne smiled, "Layla is uncommonly sweet, always has been. She just has such a need to please everyone around her." Carol nodded, "My Sophia was like that. Always at my side, always smiling at me in a way to say that it didn't matter what happened, she was mine. You are so lucky."
Rayne gave her some more slack on the blanket and looked down, "I heard your little girl was turned. I know that nothing I say will make anything better, but I'm very sorry for your loss. If there is anything you need from me, please don't hesitate to ask." To her surprise Carol spoke up instantly, "There is something I need from you. I need you to watch over that little girl. Don't let anything happen to her because you'll realize when she's gone just how precious she truly is."
There was so much hurt in her tone that Rayne couldn't help but put her arm around Carol's shoulders though they were impossibly thin beneath her touch, "Sophia is in heaven now. You know that don't you?" Carol twisted slightly and looked at her surprised, "Are you Catholic?" Rayne shook her head, "Nope, non-denominational Christian. Though I did go to a Catholic wedding once and it was lovely, but too much kneeling for me, I have a bad knee as it is. Besides, they always promise those little wafers are for you but they never are, torture is what it is!"
At that comment, for the first time, she saw Carol smile. Rayne felt her heart pinch at the sight of it, "You have such a lovely smile." Carol placed her hand to her mouth as if she was just as surprised as Rayne. She sighed and looked away, "Well it will be nice to have another believer around the farm. Even if we are from different faiths and you don't want those wafers anyway, they don't taste good at all."
Rayne laughed and bumped her arm against her new friends until a shouting caught their attention, "We brought back a spy! No one is to go near him!" Everyone on the farm looked to each other and then to Rick and Shane who were carrying up what looked like an adolescent male with a bag over his head. Blood was dripping down what looked like an improvised tourniquet and instantly Rayne worried about walkers being drawn to the scent.
She called Layla over to her and was about to move farther from the house when she turned the corner and nearly ran into Daryl. He looked her over briefly before pointing at her child, "Make sure to keep back. This guy is dangerous." Rayne nodded to him and he brushed past them and into the house, probably waiting orders from Rick.
There was silence for a few moments until a loud, pain-filled howl erupted from the second floor. Rayne covered Layla's ears with her hands and looked around glad to see that it wasn't only herself that was uneasy about this situation. She shooed Layla over to the RV where most of the group was waiting with confused looks.
Glen came out from the truck that Maggie rushed him and his face was gravely serious when he pushed her away slightly. He looked to the rest of them, "We were shot at by that guy's group and then swarmed by walkers. The town is covered now and I don't know how many of their people are left or where they are. The kid fell from the roof and landed on a fence post so I guess Hershel is going to fix him before we question him."
Dale called from the RV roof, "He's just a kid, what is there to question?" Rayne pulled Layla closer to herself, "Do you think he is really dangerous Glen?" He shrugged slightly, removing his baseball cap and running a hand through his dark hair, "I don't know, they just left him there to be walker chow. I don't know much about this group, but I don't feel good about what I've seen."
T-Dog came out of the RV holding weapons cleaning materials with Andrea and his brow furled at the information, "Ricks gonna want Daryl to question him most likely. I'll go see what he needs from the rest of us." When he left and the group dispersed a bit, Rayne felt herself backing up until her shoulders touched the RV. Layla had squirmed free from her grasp and went to play with Carl, leaving her guardian worrying her lip as she considered what it was they would be facing.
Taking a breath, she climbed up the ladder to sit beside Dale and share the shade of the umbrella. Her gaze scanned the treeline certain she would see the lumbering form of a walker or in a way, the more terrifying strut of a man set to claim what was hers. She didn't like variables in her life, especially when it had finally begun to get calm again.
"Why the long face?" Dale asked while Rayne settled down a bit, "Just worried about this new arrival I guess." The older man laughed, "Interesting how you were the new arrival only a few days ago. The wheel keeps on turning, I suppose. Don't worry, Rick is an honorable man, he'll take care of things." Rayne nodded and watched Layla squeal as Carl chased her with some kind of reptile. Her eyes were constantly watching, assessing, checking for danger so she was hardly aware that Dale was speaking until he laughed, "Now that's the first time I've heard Carl laugh in a while. I think having your girl here has been good for him, after Sophia and all."
Rayne looked up to him, "I keep on hearing about her. She was Carol's daughter and turned walker yes?" Dale nodded under his floppy cap, "Yes but there was more to it than that. We were pinned down on the highway by a horde of walkers and Sophia ran off afraid with two following her. Rick tried to lead them away, but she went missing. We all searched but nobody as hard as Daryl, I think that's why he has taken it so hard."
This piqued Rayne's interest and she turned her body to look at Dale, "Can you elaborate on that? I've been receiving a lot of hostility from him and I'm not sure what I've done to deserve it." The kind man shrugged, "Who can explain why Daryl does what he does? For this case however I think he really believed he would find Sophia. He went through hell and high water one time and came back to us covered in blood and an open wound from his own arrow. Most of us thought he was a walker from far away with how dead he looked. So when Sophia or whatever it was that was wearing her face, stepped out of that barn, Daryl shattered. He has been even more closed off from the rest of us than usual."
Rayne looked down, suddenly feeling very guilty for being upset with him. No wonder seeing Layla upset him so much if he had so much invested in this other child, "He...he wouldn't hurt my girl would he? I don't know what kind of man he is." Dale smiled, "No, that is one thing you can rest easy on. Daryl may be thick skinned, hard headed and any other kind of cliche you want to throw out there, but inside he is just a little boy who wants a hug."
This made both of them laugh slightly though the truth of it was very apparent in his tone. Rayne slid off of the RV and walked over to where Layla was hiding from the boy who was holding a lizard in his palm, "Rayne! He won't stop!" Carl looked up at her with that wicked smile that only little boys have, "Come on, don't you want to see him? He's really cool."
Rayne flicked his sheriff hat and knelt down, "Sure, I've never met a lizard I didn't like." Layla hid behind her guardian while Carl peeled away his fingers to reveal the brown and black lizard with a blue tail licking the air nervously. Rayne smiled, "Cool! These are the lizards that can drop their tail to get away from predators if they have to."
Carl smiled, "Awesome, I didn't know they could do that." Rayne patted him on the shoulder, "Stick with me kid and I'll teach you about all things scaly and gross. Layla, I'm going near the house, I want you to stay in Dale's sight at all times do you understand me young lady? If you can't see Dale then he can not see you." Layla nodded and placed a daisy chain in Rayne's hair, "I'm not running off."
Rayne patted her head, "Good girl." She rose up out of her crouch and headed into the living room where people were all starting to congregate. Their faces grave with concern and mistrust and the sense of foreboding filled the room as she settled on one of the couches, "So what are we going to do?" Rick was sitting on the couch with Lori's head on his shoulder, "I don't know."
Rayne watched the body language between them and something was off though she couldn't quite place it. It felt like Lori was overly-affectionate whenever he was near her like she was trying to prove something. She wondered who she was trying to convince? The others trickled in and it didn't take long to notice how they all looked to the sheriff for leadership, but Rayne felt her eyes drifting to the man who was leaning against the banister, admittedly amazing arms crossed over his chest. Daryl seemed so closed off and while she found that annoying at first, now she understood what he was doing. She smiled slightly as Dale's words went through her head, he really did look like a little boy who was terrified to admit how afraid he was.
Her mind went back to when she used to teach Sunday school and the little boy named John who she had to coax to join the group. He wanted so badly to belong, but the second his mother's hand left his, it was all he could do not to cry. John stood away from the others in the exact same position as Daryl, that closed off posture that says, "I'm protecting myself so none of you can hurt me, but I still want to be included in some form."
There was another scream from upstairs and everyone looked up as if they could see the source of pain through the roof. Once it quieted, Shane snarled, "I don't know why we are wasting our supplies on him. He shot at you, brother. We should just finish off what was already started." Rick lowered his head into his hands, "He's just a kid, I won't feel right just killing him."
Rayne's lips parted surprised a little when Shane rolled his eyes, "If a kid can point a gun at you, he's dangerous enough. What if he breaks out and tells his group where we are? You want to lose everything we've gained so far?" It bothered Rayne that what he was saying actually made sense even though it was a horrible prospect to be agreeing with Shane about anything.
T-Dog held up his hands, "Lets talk about this once everyone has chilled. Now isn't the time to be making rash decisions and I don't want a life on my hands unless it is really the best thing." Rick looked like he was going to drop and Rayne worried for him so she instantly agreed with T as did the others. Shane scoffed and headed out the door. Daryl nodded to himself and left as well and Rayne wanted very much to follow.
She waited a few moments until most everyone had cleared out before standing up slowly, "It's going to be dark soon, I need to finish putting away that laundry." She wasn't sure why she felt the need to announce what she was doing, maybe she wanted desperately for them to see that she was trying her best to be helpful? Lori smiled at her when she left and Rayne worried her lip while she continued washing.
When the sun set and she had made sure Layla had eaten and was secured to sleep between Beth and Maggie, Rayne quietly crept out the door and out back. The nights were getting colder and the breeze caught her hair making her shiver. Though Rayne was grateful that Maggie let her borrow one of her lighter dresses to combat the heat of day, she wished she had brought a jacket for the colder nights. Her bare feet pushed the grass aside as she headed to the fire built away from the rest of them and the man she hoped wouldn't take off her head.
She approached slowly, making enough noise to announce herself so Daryl wouldn't point his crossbow at her again. His blue eyes caught the firelight as he looked to her, "The point of coming out here was to get away from you people." Rayne nodded when she stepped into the light, "Fair enough, but I wanted to bring you something." She exposed the folded blanket she had been washing earlier in the day, "It's getting cold out and I wanted to make sure you were warm enough."
Daryl seemed surprised when she held out the blanket to him. He stared at it then back at her, "I have blankets in my tent." She smiled and shrugged one shoulder, "Yeah but how clean are they? I just washed this one today. Go on, take it, no reason to be afraid of a little blanket." His eyes squinted slightly as he took it quickly, "I aint scared of nothing."
Rayne smiled sweetly, "I didn't think so."
He set the blanket down beside him and looked up at her, "Something else?" She worried her lip slightly before nodding, "Yes, may I talk to you for a little bit? There is something I want to say." He shrugged and Rayne didn't miss how he scooted away from her when she sat down on the log beside him. She waited for a moment, looking into the flame before taking a deep breath, "I wanted to apologize to you."
He looked at her surprised, "For what?"
Rayne glanced in his direction and Daryl tried not to notice the way the firelight danced in her eyes when she spoke, "For getting so angry with you the other night. I didn't know the whole story about Sophia and I can see why having Layla around upsets you. It was wrong of me to assume anything about you without knowing your story first. I was wrong and I'm sorry."
His eyes stayed on her for a moment before looking back into the flames. They sat in silence for a few moments and Rayne cleared her throat, "Well that's all. I understand you want to be alone so I'll just..."
"You don't have to go."
Rayne stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him. Daryl's eyes were searching the ground when he spoke, "You can stay out here... with me...if you want." Her heart fluttered a bit in her chest when she smiled remembering John again when she had given him a cookie and invited him to sit beside her through her class.
"Who knows why Daryl does what he does? He maybe hard headed, thick skinned or whatever cliche you want, but inside he is a little boy who wants a hug."
With a small smile she sat back down, "It's a nice night, I'd like to stay for a bit." He still didn't look at her, but she didn't miss the way his body turned towards her slightly. They spent a few moments in silence until the wind passed through the trees and made her shiver slightly. Daryl's trained eyes noticed and he held the blanket out to her, "You're cold. Take it."
She smiled at him before unfolding the blanket and draping it over his legs as well. Daryl jumped back at her touch and looked to her guarded when she smiled patiently, "Now we can both be warm. No reason for anyone to be left out in the cold."
