I gasped, wrenching upright in bed. I was disoriented for a moment, seeing the darkened room, the plain walls, the still curtains.
It was just a dream.
I was here. Joel was here. Safe in our house in Tommy's town. We were fine. Fine, fine, fine.
I clutched my head in my hands, fingers curling around locks of my hair, tugging at my scalp.
Joel was fine. He hadn't been bitten. He hadn't turned. I hadn't had to shoot him.
"Just a dream." I whispered to myself.
We weren't in the mall. Joel wasn't Riley. Joel was here.
But Riley wasn't. And I was.
I wrapped my arms around my legs, pulling my knees up to my chest to rest my head on them.
"Dozens like me. They'd stopped looking for a cure. I couldn't have helped." I whispered to myself. I repeated the words, breathing them to myself over and over, like if I said them enough times, they would become the truth.
Catz: I recently finished The Last of Us and wanted to write a little thing about Ellie feeling survivor guilt and show that she didn't really believe Joel. I don't think that she really did, she just seemed unconvinced. Leave a review, Skittles! It helps me out a lot to hear your thoughts~