A/N

Chapter four alreadyyy? :o
Well this one is dedicated to Willow The Collie! She leaves the best reviews and has been with me since Chapter One! Thank you dear ;3

As for the rest of you...thank you for adding me to your favorite story and story alerts! ^^ That's really awesome, but I wanna know what you're thinking! So stop by and leave a review sometime ;D

That's in for the PSA...I do not own The Walking Dead!

It was like falling down a rabbit hole...and not the sweet Disney kind, or even the cracked out Tim Burton kind. It was darker. Something pulled straight out of American McGee's brain and thrown into her own subconscious. Maybe she was just reliving what had happened completely. Maybe it really did happen the way she was dreaming it now. Not that she knew she was dreaming, no, it felt very real. Shadows and faces, people screaming, writhing in agony, blood everywhere. God, she hoped this was all just a greatly exaggerated version of what she'd been through...If these were just straight up memories, it was a wonder she hadn't found a pistol and bit the bullet - literally. She didn't know where she was going, but her feet seemed to. Her ankle was fine, she was just as fast as ever, but it felt like a giant hand was squeezing her lungs, her heart was about to burst through her chest. She didn't know why, but she was terrified. It wasn't so much what she was seeing in front of her. The Walkers were horrifying in their own right, yes, but that wasn't her main concern. More than anything, the Walkers just made her sad...Those were people once. Someone loved them, they loved somebody. She supposed some survivors found it easy just to shoot them in the head and move along, and that was probably the safest attitude to have...but she couldn't help seeing the face of someone she loved every time she was forced to defend herself.

The shadowed hand was gripping even tighter now, and she tried to speed up. She could feel sweat drops pouring down her neck, they were burning so hot that, for a moment, she thought she was on fire. Suddenly she felt fingernails dig into the flesh of her back, ripping through her shirt. She screamed, but she continued to run. Someone was calling out to her. The voice was faint, but so familiar. She ran faster and faster, dodging through dark alleys, through gangs of the undead, determined to reach the person calling her name. Though it was still faint, the voice was getting louder. Finally she saw a silhouette glowing brightly, standing out from the darkness of the world. Tears sprung to her eyes as she realized who it was that was calling to her.

Just a short distance away, she saw her mother standing there, reaching out for her.

Hope tried to call to her, tried to reach out and touch her, but she was suddenly frozen. Fear gripped at her insides as her mother continued to repeat her name, sadly. All of a sudden, her mother began to cry, and Hope found herself unable to hold her tears back as well. Then, her mother started to scream. Her body began to bleed and the skin on her face began to peel away as if a demon were digging their fingers into her. Hope screamed in agony and tried to lunge forward, trying to save her mother, but she immediately felt nails in her back again. Then they were everywhere.

The entire base awoke to a blood curdling scream. Glenn's heart lept into his throat as he instantly realized who it was. It wasn't hard to guess. He was out of his bed and on his feet in no time, a pistol in his hand, just in case. Since T-Dog was on watch, Daryl was right behind him, immediately followed by Shane while Dale hurried along as quickly as he could. As they neared the room Hope shared with the other women and children, he saw a small shadowed figure limp out into the hallway. He called out her name, and she fell against the wall, disoriented and seemingly only half awake, she continued to try and slide down the wall, attempting to get away from some unseen force.

"Hope!" He called again, this time dropping the pistol and pulling her to him. She was drenched in sweat. For a moment, she screamed and struggled. "Hope! It's okay, it's me! It's Glenn! You're alright, you were just dreaming! You're alright.." After a moment of them standing there, Glenn hugging her close while everyone looked on, worried, the young woman finally calmed down. (Enough to stop screaming, at least) Her breathing slowed, and her muscles relaxed slightly. Still, Glenn continued to try and comfort her, telling her she was safe, she didn't have to worry, she was among friends...they wouldn't let anything happen to her. He meant all of it, and he hoped that she could tell.

Slowly, he felt her pull away from him, until he only loosely had a hold of her shoulders. She didn't look at anyone, it was almost like she was seeing things that no one else was, shadows in the hallway. Her eyes wouldn't focus on anything in particular. Abruptly she lurched forward, throwing herself towards the nearby room of showers and falling against the door. He could tell that her ankle was really not helping the situation. She took a few more steps and disappeared into the room. Without missing a beat, Glenn began to follow her.

"Glenn." Rick called, causing the young man to pause and glance at him. "Give her a minute."

Everyone looked around at each other nervously, just waiting.

Well if that little stunt didn't make her look like a Grade A nutcase, she wasn't sure what would. Hope's senses were gradually returning to her as she sat, fully clothed and leaned against the shower wall while the cool water soaked her to the bone. It was just a dream...It was just a dream. She had just been dreaming. Glenn's words were ringing in her ears, but the dream still felt so real. The death grip on her lungs, the way her heart wanted to explode, the complete fear and agony she had felt...and those nails digging through her flesh. The image of her mother's face being clawed off was shining like some kind of macabre beacon every time she closed her eyes. No matter the context, Hope felt like she should be relieved to hear her mother's voice. At first she didn't sound so sad...it just sounded like she was looking for her, she didn't know where she was. Thinking back on it just made her heart heavier and her eyes began to well up again so she shut them, only to let out an agonized whimper as her mother's disfigured image popped back into her mind.

Maybe she really was going batshit insane.

Glenn was soon left alone in the hallway. As everyone calmed, they decided that it was time to go back to bed. There was no guessing about who was going to make sure their new addition was okay. So there he sat, across from the door, just staring. Waiting. Counting to one hundred, like Rick had instructed. It seemed ridiculous to him, this waiting. What if she was sitting in there, having some kind of nervous break down, clawing at her skin? What if she found something sharp in there and tried to take her life?

...Quickly deciding that the number one hundred was overrated, Glenn vaulted to his feet and opened the door softly, taking a look around. He heard one of the showers going and cautiously walked over, peaking into the curtain he found only slightly pulled closed.

"Hope?" He called, his voice soft. The image of her sitting on the cold shower floor, clothes soaking wet, just staring off into nothing instantly broke his heart. He opened the curtain all the way, but didn't shut the water off. If nothing else, the cool water could help bring her back to her senses. "Hope?" He tried again, a little louder this time. When she still didn't respond, he shifted his weight and tried to shake the sinking feeling he had in his chest. "Come on...you're gonna make yourself sick."

When she still didn't move, Glenn stepped into the water with her and sat down. Slowly, not wanting to startle her, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her gently to his chest. He rested his chin lightly on top of her head and held her close. Words failed him at this point, and he was pretty sure they were useless. She didn't resist in the slightest, though, which he considered to be a positive thing...unless she was still in her crazed dream state. Then it didn't really matter anyway, he supposed. He watched her carefully, studying her breathing, looking for any signs of problems. Suddenly she shivered, and he moved to stand.

"Come on, you need to get out of this cold water."

"Everyone thinks I'm crazy now." Her voice was normal, even. Quiet. He froze and waited a moment before pulling her back to look at him. Her eyes met his briefly, then she quickly looked away.

"No, Hope. They don't think you're crazy. They're just worried about you...I'm worried about you." Her shoulders sank lower and her gaze turned towards the drain. They sat in silence for a tense moment, then Glenn spoke up again, gripping her shoulders gently. His actions surprised her, and she looked him in the eye again. "I know you probably don't want to talk about it right now, I understand. But we can all tell that you've been through a lot...more than we can imagine. So...if you don't want to tell everyone at once, if you don't want to tell me...just tell someone. It's not good to hold everything inside like that, you could really be hurting yourself." Her eyes stayed focused on him as he spoke, but she didn't move a muscle. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, maybe she was just trying to process things. Whatever was on her mind, it was making him anxious. He brought a hand to her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb. Her eyes were just a little red now, he hadn't seen her cry but he could only imagine. It broke his heart all over again. "Hope, just tell me what to do. Anything. What do you need me to do?" She didn't respond immediately, which only caused his concern to grow. He was about to ask again, but she finally spoke up.

"Just..." She started, but quickly looked away, suddenly unsure of herself. He stroked her cheek one more time while his other hand slid from her shoulder, finding her hand and giving it a tender, reassuring squeeze. Still unsure, she timidly met his gaze again. "Just...hold me like that again." She had barely even whispered those last five words, but they rang in Glenn's ears like he was standing next to a bell tower. And his heart, instead of breaking once more, melted in his chest.

She couldn't believe she just said that. It was so pitiful and pathetic. It made her skin crawl! She hated herself for saying it. Glenn was just being nice following her in here the way he did. Then again, he had been following her awful closely since the first moment they laid eyes on each other. He was probably just trying to get in her pants, right? Really, the world had ended and guys still just want to get some ass. That's probably the only reason he even ran after her, he saw his chance. Poor little wounded dove needed his care and he just came in and swooped her up.

In an instant, she was cuddled up to his chest again and her eyes widened in surprise. He held her closer this time and rocked for a while. Just when she felt herself being lulled back to sleep, despite the cold, she felt him plant a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"I'll hold you like this for as long as you want." He spoke in a low voice near her ear, trying to keep quiet since he wasn't sure if she was sleeping yet or not. Hope felt a short burst of happiness explode through her chest and one last tear escape before she was lulled back into a dreamless sleep.

A/N:

Cheesy enough for you?

Sorry if parts of the dream were a little too graphic...I was listening to creepy music o.o

I would love to know what you thought about this one!
(Seriously, though, was that cheesy enough?)