I had a dream that I was in a dark void. I didn't know what was happening or where I was. But I heard a voice. I wasn't sure who it belonged to.

"Sometimes, when faced with impending danger, we become blind to the needs of our loved ones. Then, when something bad happens, we regret not being there for them." The voice continued.

"It's okay to be afraid. But take solace in knowing that you aren't alone. Be the person your brother needs you to be."

I woke up to see my brother standing on my bed looking down at me. He looked upset.

"Hey bud." I said to him.

"Tim, please wake up." he pleaded, his face full of hurt. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"I'm up. Sorry about yesterday, I was just really tired." I told him. His hurt expression was replaced with relief.

"Are you going to play with me?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, I just... Let me make breakfast." I said as I got off the bed with him.

"Why are you crying?" he asked as we were heading towards the living room. I was confused until I put my hand on my cheek and felt tear particles.

"Oh, um, it's nothing." I replied.

"Did you dream about the bad people too?" he asked. I looked down at him.

"Did you have a dream about them?" I questioned. He nodded. His face was sad.

"I dreamed they hurt us and a lot of other people. I don't want them to hurt us." he said. I put on a smile.

"There's no need to worry about that." I said as I peeked at the clock. It was midday. I must've really slept in today.

Suddenly, I heard a pained grunt and became alarmed.

"Stay here." I told him as I approached the kitchen. I heard it again, it came from outside. Drawing my stone sword, I opened the door outside and saw two people wearing full coats of black leather armor attacking our cow. The cow fell over and burst into smoke. I immediately was filled with rage.

"Hey! Get the hell out of here!" I roared as I held my sword out. The two looters immediately took the meat and leather from the cow and sprinted off before I could chase them.

"Dammit!" I hissed. Our cow was now gone. I felt like I had lost a friend.

I went back inside to see Max in the living room with a worried look on his face.

"What happened?" he asked. I closed the door behind me so he wouldn't see that the cow was gone.

"Nothing bud. Just some animals wandering around where they weren't supposed to." I lied. His face held an expression as though he was doubting what I had said and I ignored it, going through the food chest, but there was no more food left. I frowned. Looks like that's it... I thought to myself, This is truly it. I went back out into the living room.

"Hey bud. Looks like we're all out of food right now, but that's alright, cuz I have something I think you'll like." I told him. He looked curious as I reached into my inventory. I paused for a moment and tried not to let my hesitance show as I pulled out the potion of weakness. "You see, this is a drink that adults get to drink. It makes you feel really good." I informed him, making sure my smiling facade was on tight.

"Oh really?" he replied as he gazed at the glowing bluish liquid. I nodded, trying harder than I've ever tried before to keep the straightest face I could.

"You proved to me that you're a real man when you caught that fish, so I want to give you a reward. I'm acknowledging you as an adult now." I told him as I handed it to him. He smiled at me.

"Thanks bro!" he exclaimed joyously as he began to drink from it. His face instantly became disgusted. "Gross, it tastes terrible!"

"Yeah, it's very bitter. But I also have something that'll make it go down much better." I told him as I brought out a bottle of honey I had been holding on to for this very day. I handed the honey to him and as he started to consume both of them at once, I felt a tear forming in the corner of my eye.

Once he was finished, he had a huge grin on his face.

"That was delicious! The honey made it taste very good. Thanks!" he said. I nodded and looked for any change.

"Do you feel any different?" I asked him.

"Just warm in my chest. It's kinda nice." he informed me. For a brief moment, I envied him being able to have his first drink before me, but felt ashamed for feeling that way. I'm getting my little brother drunk. I thought to myself. This is absolutely horrible... But I reminded myself that it was much better for him to be this way so that when it happened, he wouldn't even notice.

"Hey bud, how about we stay inside today? Today might not be the best time to be outside." I suggested.

"Okay! We can play with my toys." he pointed out.

"That sounds like fun, why don't you bring them in?" I requested and he nodded, quickly making his way to his room.

After a couple moments, he returned with a bunch of his toys in his hands and dumped them on the floor. Scattered among the mess were many items such as his compass, a clock, a lead, a slimeball, a lump of coal, a creeper and skeleton head, and a loose painting.

"How about we place the painting?" I suggested to him. He nodded a bit slowly and picked up the painting, and brought it over to the wall by me and placed it. It instantly transformed into a two-by-one with a creeper head peeking over a ledge.

"Ooo, that's pretty scary." I said with a smile. "Imagine that thing looking at you from the woods. I know I wouldn't want to meet that guy in an alley."

"Yeah." was all he replied, a hint of sluggishness in his voice as he punched the painting, knocking it off. Then, he placed it back on, and the painting morphed into a one-by-two painting of a really tall faceless man in a black suit. There was something a bit unsettling about the painting and I broke it down and placed it back on. It turned into a one-by-one painting of an empty yellow wasteland.

"Alright, enough of this thing." I said as I broke the painting again and looked back at Max. He looked like he was having trouble concentrating. I knew that had to be the potion of weakness at work and felt guilty. "How about we pretend to be monsters?" I asked him as I put on the skeleton head.

"Sure." he said, putting on the creeper mask. I pulled out my bow and pretended to shoot at him while he hissed and pretended to blow up every time he got near me.

We played for several moments until he wanted to stop.

"Um, brother. I don't feel very good." he said. He was stumbling and was no longer making eye contact with me. I was growing worried. I took both our masks off and put my head against his chest to hear his heart. It was beating with a slight delay, but still going strong. I looked at the clock and noticed that it was nighttime.

"Alright, how about we stop playing for now?" I suggested. "I think... I think it's time we both go to bed." He slumped forwards against me.

"Can we play again in the morning?" His words made me tear up as I wrapped my arms around him.

"Sure bud. I promise." I told him as I lifted him up and brought him back into our room.

"Hey Max, could you sleep right by me tonight?" I asked him, feeling tears beginning to fall down my face.

"Uh... sure..." he said in a daze. I sat down on my bed, with my brother in my arms. I hoped he couldn't see my face, because I had tears streaming down my face. My brother didn't deserve this. He deserved to live a happy life, like every other kid. When I had woke up this morning, I thought I would be able to be strong for him, but I couldn't even stop myself from crying. What did we ever do to deserve this?

I laid him down right beside me and wrapped him up in the bed covers, keeping my arm around him. Not just so he could feel comforted, but so I could feel him with me during this. I didn't know if we were going to wake up to the sun or to the sound of the invasion, but I wanted him with me.

I hugged him tightly as I listened to his soft breaths. He was asleep. Good, because I couldn't keep it in anymore. I sobbed loudly. I had my whole life ahead of me as well as Max. There were things I wanted to do that I'd never get to. My life would end within several moments. I could only hope that I had made Max's special.

I wished the best for everyone else still alive in the village. If there were any survivors, I hoped they would tell people what would happen here. I hoped people would know about the tragedy that took place here. The tragedy of Toffblock Village.

"I love you Max... Let's meet the morning... together..." I said through the tears as I heard a sudden toll of the bells. That only meant one thing-that this was it. I closed my eyes and held my brother close to me as I accepted that this was the end. I didn't want to die. But in the end...

At least he was okay.