The night in Alexandria is so still you can hear your own breathing. You lie there, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep.

Suddenly, a soft tap sounds on the glass.

One. Two. Three.

You sit up abruptly, your heart racing. You pull back the curtain… and there's Carl, a crooked half-smile you know all too well.

He raises his hand in a silent greeting, and without asking permission, starts climbing in through your window. He does it as if it were an everyday occurrence, as if it weren't almost three in the morning.