It's difficult to describe what it's like, watching death come towards you. The closest thing Rayne could attribute it to was standing in a field as a storm blew in and being swept away by it. They were everywhere, from every tree, over every inch of the farm, the dead stumbled towards them. Rayne took a step back when Hershel informed them that they weren't going to abandon the farm. Her eyes turned from him to Daryl when he said, "Are you serious? There is probably a hundred walkers out there."
The old man loaded his shot gun, "This is my home, I'll die here." To this the hunter shrugged and leapt off the banister, "As good of night as any." Had she not been responsible for anyone else but her, Rayne may very well have followed him in this mentality, but she had someone to keep safe. Her eyes stayed on the herd of walkers steadily getting closer when she yelled, "Layla, come here!"
A small hand came into her own when the blond girl replied, "Rayne, I can't find Carl anywhere. He isn't in the house!" To this Lori gasped, "What?! He was upstairs! I just saw him!" Everyone jumped to her panic trying to offer peace of mind, but Rayne knew that if Layla couldn't find him, he wasn't nearby. Her eyes turned to Hershel, "I know this is your home, but I have to keep her safe. What do we do?"
The old man glanced to her and the little girl clutching her hand, "We have cars and guns, you go with the others and get out of here. I'm staying with my farm." She opened her mouth to say something, but instead bent down to lock her eyes with Layla's, "Ok, we need to run now baby. Stay with me, do you understand? You are going to stay with me at all times. You hold onto my hand and you do not let go, no matter what." Layla nodded, her green eyes tearing up.
Rayne stood and walked to the edge of the porch where Beth, Patricia and Carol were moving towards the cars. The plan was for them to drive around, honking the horn so the walkers followed and to shoot them like fish in a barrel; Rayne never had faith in these kind of plans. She knew a hopeless situation when it was chomping at her. Her eyes turned to Maggie and Glen, "This isn't going to work, I'm telling you that we need to run now!"
Glen looked like he agreed with her, but Maggie was busy loading up her weapon, "If my dad is staying, I'm staying. Get Layla out of here." She looked from face to face of the people whom she had come to adopt as her new family. She didn't feel right leaving them, but the little one pulling on her hand proved otherwise. Rayne looked back to the horde which was closer than she thought possible and her mind went into overdrive thinking of what to do.
Even if she ran now, there would just be more walkers in the forest to stop her. Unless she had a vehicle it wouldn't be safe to run in the woods at night. She couldn't go in the house because they would be trapped, couldn't go in the barn, her eyes turned to a very large tree that was away from the house and swept up Layla in her arms to run towards it.
The grass was wet beneath her feet but it didn't stop her sprint as she neared the life-saving tree. Climbing up a ways, she shifted her weight so that Layla was on her shoulders, "Climb up to that big branch there." The small girl obeyed and settled herself on top of it, her tiny legs curling under herself. Rayne was about to climb up as well until something took hold of her boot and drug her down.
Layla's scream was piercing when a walker tumbled over from the woman's weight. Rayne rolled and got to her feet, squaring off with the dead man who was quickly recovering. "Never let 'em get their arms around you..."Daryl's voice came to her mind and Rayne grabbed her dagger from her belt. She started to circle, not wanting any extra noise to attract more walkers to this spot.
"Never let 'em get your back."
Rayne adjusted her pacing so that the monster was following her as she made a wide circle. The walker smacked decayed teeth her way and she moved quickly to avoid him. "Always watch your feet, because you never know when..." Just like in practice the walker lunged towards her, but instead of being tackled, Rayne sashayed to the left and brought her dagger down into the dead man's skull.
He quickly dropped and she looked up to her god-daughter who was clutching the trunk of the massive tree with huge eyes. She raised a finger to her mouth and gave Layla the shushing motion before she went to work on any other walkers nearby. It was too late for the farm, it always had been, but she would give up her life to save Layla's and if they were both in the tree there would be no way to prevent them from being swarmed.
It must have only been moments, but it felt like years until the farm finally fell. Rayne had just split a dead woman's head in two when the barn suddenly went up in flame. She could feel the heat even from her place and wondered what could have happened to make the barn suddenly ignite. It was then that she noticed a lot of the walkers heading towards the fire, distracted by the noise and the movement. This was her chance!
Rayne looked up in the tree where Layla had her hand clamped over her mouth trying not to let her crying be heard. She held up her arms, "Layla, jump down. I don't have time to climb up to get you. Jump!" The four-year-old slid down the trunk a bit before falling down and into her guardian's arms. Rayne had to adjust her footing so as not to lose it, but she switched Layla to her hip so she would have a free arm where her pistol was at the ready.
The vehicles had stopped circling, one of them being completely covered in walkers and Rayne flagged down the blue pick up truck that was being operated by T-Dog with Lori and Beth in the passenger seat. They screeched to a stop, T yelling, "What are you waiting for?! Hop in!" He didn't have to tell her twice. Rayne flung herself into the back of the truck, holding Layla close to her side when she beat on the glass, "Go! Go!"
He peeled out of the driveway, pushing the truck as fast as it would go. Rayne hid Layla between the back of the truck and her body, keeping her weapon at the ready in case any walkers dared to attack. Her eyes watched in horror as the barn toppled over into a fiery mess and the multitudes of walkers stumbling past it like phantoms in the night.
She tried to scan the darkness for any stray figures of their group, but found none. Where was everybody? They couldn't be the only ones who made it. Where is Daryl?Rayne held on tight as they went over the bumpy dirt road and onto pavement, driving quickly in no particular direction.
It seemed like they had been driving for about fifteen minutes before the early morning sun started to rise, shedding the barest amount of light on their situation and without warning the truck screeched to a stop. Rayne lunged forward, securing her hold on Layla as she looked inside the glass where Lori was yelling at T-Dog to turn back.
He didn't seem at all happy about it, but reluctantly agreed to turn around. Rayne couldn't deny that she was worried, she sent up a prayer for someone, any one of them to be alive and that they would find each other. One thing she had learned for certain was that she belonged with these people and if they were going to live out hell for the rest of their lives, she wanted to do it with them.
Layla clung to Rayne's side, "Rayne...is Carl dead? Do you think he is dead?" Rayne looked down to her child and sighed, "I don't know, kitty. I don't know." The blond girl lowered her head to cry on her guardian's shoulder, "He's my best friend. I don't want to lose him. He needs me." Rayne wrapped an arm around her trembling shoulders and nodded, "I understand."
In her own heart there was one person she wanted to see more than anyone else and she could only pray that he was all right. The truck bumped along for a bit until it came up to a clearing in the highway. Rayne had made such a point to avoid the roads that this seemed taboo to her, but Lori was convinced they would find the others near here.
The sun had risen enough so that she could clearly see around and her heart lifted when the sight of Hershel's white hair became visible. The truck came to a stop and Layla peeked out her perch, "Rayne! Rayne! It's Carl! He's alive!" The blonde little girl trembled with happiness and Rayne smiled when they left the truck, Lori holding her husband and Layla nearly tackling Carl with joy.
She scanned the area and saw Hershel holding Beth and Maggie with Glen bringing up the rear. Her eyes searched everywhere and her heart began to sink. Where was he? Where was Dar...But it was then that she heard the most wonderful sound she had ever remembered; the roar of a Harley and the man she didn't even know she had come to miss stepping off of it.
He shook hands with Rick and looked about the area until his eyes rested on Rayne. They stood there staring at one another, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest at the way his eyes showed more relief than any words could describe. She walked forward a bit and he matched her stride until a blonde little angel came between them, clutching his legs with her tiny arms, "Daryl! You didn't die! I'm so happy you're safe!"
Daryl was still looking at Rayne as if he wasn't sure she was real. She smiled tearfully to him and turned her eyes to Layla who was digging her face into his legs. Daryl looked down and scooped the little girl in his arms, "Of course I ain't dead! Who do you think I am huh? Little punk!" He spun her around a bit eliciting a trill of pleased giggles from Layla while the group embraced each other happily.
Rayne noticed Carol who was sitting on Daryl's bike watching her. Her blue eyes locked with the teary hazel and all Carol did was nod to her. It may not have been the warmest greeting, but it was better than nothing. Rayne returned the gesture until two strong arms came around her from behind and T-Dog lifted her from the ground, "Good thing we found you! Thought you had disappeared for sure."
Rayne coughed from the tightness of the embrace and nearly fell over when he put her down, "Of course we didn't disappear. You all are our family now. We aren't going anywhere." At this the black man smiled and ruffled up her hair before he went to talk with the others. Rayne looked to Daryl who had set Layla down and was staring at her with an expression that said more than he ever could in words. It was a face that told her, "I would have died if you did."
She did her best to return the look, but decided against any kind of embrace especially since Rick was talking, "Everyone, I have an announcement. We are going to stick together from now on, no matter what. I'm so happy to see all of you and my heart breaks for those we lost. But now isn't the time to mourn, we have to keep moving. We need to find shelter, food, water and it's only a matter of time until the gas runs out of the vehicles. Now isn't the time to celebrate either..."
The group watched him carefully wondering why he was dampening their mood and Rayne's eyes narrowed as she studied his body language carefully. Her career had taught her to watch the minute details of a person so you could see what they were really saying long before any word was spoken. Rick was afraid, afraid and desperate. Lori put a hand on his shoulder, "Where is Shane?"
The sheriff looked away from her, "He's dead, I killed him because he was trying to kill me." There was shock through the group but especially with Lori and Carl who were holding each other. Rick began to shake when he continued, "I bring this up so you all can understand something. Shane was dead already, no bites or marks when he came back...as one of them...a walker. I found out at the CDC...we're infected...all of us."
Rayne gasped and from the sounds of mutual shock she knew she wasn't alone. Everyone watched Rick in deadly silence, letting this information set in. Layla curled her hand around Rayne's and looked up to her, "Rayne, what does infected mean?"