[color=ed1c24][h1]Joseph Reed & Winifred Turner. Haven.[/h1][/color]

Night terrors were common. For those who had survived this far and had not let the undead drag them down or the looters and murders take their life from them, night terrors was a quite a common occurrence. Haven was full of survivors - those who had to commit unthinkable acts to keep themselves alive. There was no blame or judgement on their shoulders, survival was not an easy task when it was you against the world. Haven saved them from that. 

Joseph Reed was no stranger to night terrors, or even lucid dreams. On good nights, he would see his farm in it's prime. Crops reaching for the clear blue sky, livestock crooning with delight, the sun smiling down at him and the life he had made for himself and his family. His wife would be down at the pond dipping her toes in the chilled water to keep herself cool during the scorching summer day. His son would be strolling through the fields, surveying the crops and running his tender hands across the leafs that displayed themselves like works of art. 

On bad nights, the fields would be bare. The livestock dead or starving, nothing but miserable clouds towering above the farm. And Margaret and Tom would be tied up in the stable, blood dripping from their jaws and the calcium clouded in their eyes. They would growl at Joseph, almost hiss his very name. And nothing could drown out the sound of their gnawing teeth, their demented screeching, their gargling throats. And somehow, in all of it, there was always his name. With every snarl, his name was embedded within the sound.

[i]Joseph!

Joseph!

Joseph![/i]

"Joseph!" Winifred shook the man awake, holding onto the arm that was so tightly clenched. "Joseph, wake up."

His eyes fluttered open. This was here. This was now. On the floor of one of the buildings in Haven, with half conscious members strewn across the floor, half still holding onto their slumber, half already awake. He was safe. Joseph allowed the reality set in, letting go of the nightmare. His body slowly relaxed, his shoulders slumping back. He finally looked over to his adopted daughter, concern written all across her face. She was used to these violent night terrors - they were a regular occurrence. But time nor constant happenings could take away her worry. 

"Hey, it's alright," she said soothingly to him, now caressing the arm that she had shaken.    

"I know," was all that the bearded man said. Because he did know. Sure, everything around them had literally turned into a man-eat-man world, but Haven made it better. Tolerable. Anything was better than sulking in that lonely farm house or living out of his truck, wondering where their next meal was going to come from. And Joseph need not say more than what he had. Winifred knew too. 

"What time is it?" he asked her. Judging by the number of residents that were still sleeping, Joseph reasoned that it couldn't have been that late. 

Winifred shrugged. "Dunno. But the run's today."

Joseph gave her a challenging look. "I trust you don't have any bright ideas planned like last time." Despite being told sternly to stay in the town while the adults went out for the run, she managed to tag along, following the group from a distance until they had gotten too far to tell her to go back.

"Nah, I learned my lesson. Even though I held my own just fine without any help for a full two days. You remember that story, right?"

Joseph only blinked at her, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. It was too early for her energy. On mornings such as these, he could still remember the taste of hot coffee seeping down his throat. "I'm gonna get some fresh air," he told her softly, shakily getting to his feet and stepping around the scattered bodies, making his way to the door.

"I'll come with you," Winifred exclaimed, bouncing up to her feet and following him out. 

As the man stretched, he sucked in a lung full of the morning air. Sometimes it was hard to believe that this was his life now. Before everything had gone to hell, he was certain he would die on the farm, in the bed that he shared with his wife. He never had any plans of leaving it behind in a fit of walkers and bullets. 

"And I mean, you know Johnny's gonna die but you just can't help but think maybe, just maybe this time, he won't die. Like it's a book, you can't change it. But you can hope, you know?" Winifred was rambling on about her book, the only one she had managed to keep with her through all of this. And she had read the damn thing thirteen times through. Sometimes Joseph was convinced she said things just to say it. No real reason behind it, just because she couldn't stand not to say [i]anything.[/i] 

Her voice seemed to just fade into background noise as Joseph peered out into the open land surrounding the settlement. There were few people out on the streets at this time and it was not often that there was traffic around them. But that morning, Joseph could swear he saw something in the distance. Hobbling along the trail, shuffling it's feet and set straight for Haven.

"But it's not like Dallas can do anything to save him. The guy got stuck in a burning building. But he takes it to-"

"Winnie, do you see that?"