Derek was still caught in the liminal space between dreaming and reality.
During that long, heavy stretch of unconsciousness, he had been trapped in a relentless loop of something bordering between a dream and a nightmare.
Everywhere he looked, there was Suzy. He dreamed of the day they first met, and of every quiet step that had brought them closer together.
He remembered her silent, unassuming care before the apocalypse—the countless ways she had looked after him without ever asking for anything in return—and the fierce concern she had shown him after the world collapsed.
Every memory was a physical ache, proof of how much she mattered to him.
Then, she disappeared.
Without warning, the Suzy in his dream vanished.
Derek searched for her desperately through a void that stretched on for what felt like years, yet no trace of her remained.
