It’s not often that you have nightmares. And when you do, they’re mild. Nothing traumatizing or horrible enough to warrant several sleepless nights to follow. But tonight was different.

Years. It was years of you and Joel traversing across the nation, fighting horrible people and horrible monsters, trying desperately to save yourself from the disease that had consumed them all. The country was in ruins, everybody died. There was so escaping it, no going back. And then, finally, Joel was gone, too.

You wake up sobbing. Weeping, bawling your eyes out. Despairing and frightened cries that crack out of your chest with the force of a tidal wave. For the first few moments, you are not aware that your reality has not turned as apocalyptic as the one in your dream.

Joel is startled by the sound of your crying. He crawls into the bed next to you, holding you steady, trying to calm you down and soothe you.

“Hey, hey, shh,” he whispers, grabbing your face in his hands. “It was just a dream, baby. Hey. Hey, look at me. It was just a dream. You’re okay, baby. It’s okay.”