Because of You | Maggie Greene ¹

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐢.

Granted that it was likely the adrenaline coursing rampant in his body, but Greyson's mind could not help but go haywire beneath the truck. Only the worst of the worst could prevail from this situation. Right? Greyson did not want to find out. He could barely breathe. He could barely think. Clenching his eyes shut, Greyson gave up on trying to calm himself down, and simply hoped, agonizingly waiting for the sounds of growls and snarls to pass.

It felt never-ending.

Greyson's eyes instinctively snapped open, unable to find any comfort in the darkness of his own skull. Glancing up from the gap above their heads, Greyson's eyes connected with Shane's from the car over. Greyson could hardly believe what was looking back at him. Shane Walsh looked scared; a strong, burly man like him and he, too, seemed on the verge of cracking under the fear of their surroundings. Greyson had never seen such an emotion from Shane, and the mere realization that he was reacting like this did not make Greyson feel better about himself at all. He could not even begin to wonder about the others, wherever they may be. He could only hope that they were all okay—that the kids were okay.

Unbelievably, while slowly but surely, the walkers passed. Even as the silence engulfed the survivors once more, Greyson continued to wait beneath the water truck, petrified to move. His heart was roaring in his ears and his entire body shook. Daring to exhale a breath, Greyson looked up and down, and left and right, just trying to make sure that the coast was as clear as it now appeared to be.

Stretching a palm outward, into the open, to pull himself free, Greyson suddenly froze at the sharp sound of a shriek from deeper within the traffic snarl. It was a small, high-pitched scream, easily coming from one of the two children within the group.

"Is that Sophia?" Glenn gasped.

Clambering out from beneath the large water truck, Greyson Hunt broke out into a dead sprint and dove into the traffic snarl in search of the source of the screams. Ignoring Glenn and Shane's cries of protest from behind him, Greyson harshly collided with one car and pushed off another. Never stopping in his chase, Greyson only finally came to a halt after rounding an abandoned pickup truck. His stomach twisted into painful knots as he came across the sight of Lori Grimes holding a sobbing, hysterical Carol Peletier within her arms.

"T-There's two w-walkers after my b-baby!" The woman wailed.

"Which way did she go?" Greyson demanded, panting hard.

"Into the woods," Lori answered grimly. "Rick went after her."

Lori pointed off in the direction that her husband had went in and Greyson turned his head. Staring into the dark, thick trees on the side of freeway, Greyson's face fell in horror. Off the side of the highway there was a steep ravine that led deep into the woods where unspeakable dangers undeniably awaited. Greyson could not even imagine Sophia, a little girl of only twelve years, off in the woods alone with two walkers in pursuit.

Hearing more footsteps approach from over his shoulder, Greyson turned and did an immediate double-take at the sight of Andrea Harrison. Her entire face and neck were slick with fresh blood. "What the hell happened to you?" He questioned, alarmed.

Andrea was still holding a bloody screwdriver and twirled it between her sticky fingers. "A walker happened," She muttered. As Dale approached beside her, she sent him a harsh sideways glance. "I handled it."

Greyson let out a breath, relieved to know that none of the blood was hers, and then looked back towards the ominous trees. "I'm going to get find them," Greyson decided, swinging his rifle back into his arms. They were still slightly trembling.

"Like hell you are." At the harsh retort, Greyson rolled his eyes at the sight of Daryl Dixon stalking over towards him, a stern grimace on his irritable features. "We don't need anyone else gettin' lost in the woods."