Thoughts have begun to fill the emptiness that has become of my mind, and while it feels as though it’s only been a day, loneliness has begun to infect my dreams. Creeping forth into nightmares; harmless daydreams causing both doubts and anxieties. Maybe if I had known what would happen, I could’ve changed, and then maybe they could’ve taken me with them. Yet despite the horrors that awaited me in the silence of my thoughts, I couldn’t help but find myself taking refuge in the deep recesses of my mind. The enticing memory of those I once held closest, providing me with escape and refuge.

At first it was nothing more than the simple misunderstanding that they had gone out. But as the minutes turned into hours, until finally the hours amounted to days, I remained in place, hoping that one day they would come back. But no matter what I did or where I slept, every night it felt as though I was transported to the night everyone disappeared.

Streetlights silently fought off the darkness in my neighborhood, something that once brought reassurance- yet there was no sign of the people who stood beneath them. The sight of which was more often than not unsettling to most who stayed in the rented air-b&b upstairs, but not to me.

No, to me they were nothing but friendly. The neighborhood was cliquey, yet for some reason they accepted me as one of their own; always taking time out of the day to hold a conversation in passing; keeping watch on for hoodlums trying to steal the lunch money of a school-kid in transit. No matter what weather, they always took the time to act as my guardian- from bringing me clothes and food, to shielding me from the glare of the plastic clothes models of the local department stores; they were always there for me.

My parents once held disdain for them- saying “They shouldn’t intrude in our business,” and such; a line of thought that never changed for the time they were here. Maybe they were simply people of the night- homeless men and women looking for a quick buck, and a quick high to restore the euphoria their youth could no longer provide- but they were my friends, and they cared for me when it seemed as if I was alone.

Nobody stood under the streetlight that night though; the thought they gave up their lifestyles was all but an impossibility, which brought to question their whereabouts. I climbed out of my bed and quietly walked to the elevator down the hall, careful not to wake my parents as I checked what happened. They didn’t dislike the people of the night, but they definitely didn’t want me going out of my way to be friendly with them.

The walk down to the elevator was quick and simple, but it was quiet- almost too quiet. The monotonous hum of the LEDs overhead brought some comfort, however as I walked down the barren hall it became more eerie than not, and made me relish stepping into the elevator where the sounds of unknown jazz artists replaced the lucid liminality of the hall upstairs. Each ring of the passing floors were louder than gunshots compared to the LEDs, and both quickly became overwhelming at some point.

The elevator stopped at the bottom floor, and as the doors opened I was shocked to be greeted by the same lack thereof I had observed from my bedroom window. Nobody meandered about the open lobby, no people sitting at the tables playing chess, and no concierge stood with a fake smile behind the front desk. I glanced around, my eyes resting on the hallway opposite of me; the first-floor apartments lining up so uniformly, my eyes needed a second to adjust. A vocalized denial of their endlessness was needed to convince my own mind I could trek through and not get frozen in place; running in the same direction yet never reaching my destination.

I blinked and shook the anxieties from my head. I wasn’t here to walk down hallways- I wanted, no- needed, to know what was happening. I quickened my pace through the empty lobby; the sounds of my shoes were loud against the cheap tile, and upon making my way past the front desk, and through the main entrance I was greeted by even more unnatural silence that had overwhelmingly conquered the urban atmosphere. I glanced up and down the street, my eyes searching for the hoodlums that always harassed walkers.

There was nobody there though.

Walking out onto the street, I made sure to look back and forth so I didn’t get hit by the usual traffic.

There was no traffic either.

A faint wind carrying the smell of urine and gas exhaust blew through the street, shaking my clothes like a child trying to get my attention. Even the wind itself didn’t make a sound, maybe from fear of becoming the next target of whatever whisked the people away. I took a moment to collect myself, looking up and down the road at the beams of light descending from their respective poles.

My shadow kept me company as I took a few steps forward, wary of the nothingness that filled the night’s darkness. An explosion sounded off in the distance, followed by a cacophony of crashing. But even this was short lived, because it was only a few minutes before it returned to silence.

The sight of plastic statues modeling the latest seasonal clothing filled the windows of the department store across the street, creating an eerie illusion that made it seem as though someone stood there staring at me.

“Hello?” My voice sounded far away. “Is anyone there?”

There was no reply. Nothing. Not even a whisper. My stomach sank as I continued looking at my surroundings.

“Hello?” I called out again to no avail. The breeze gusted past once more, bringing with it a chill that only isolation could muster. There was nobody around, and in a city that supposedly never sleeps- it seemed as though I was the only thing awake. I turned to face my building as a sinking feeling in my stomach grew.

Are my parents gone too?

The thought hadn’t occurred to me when I first left the apartment, but I never checked the other rooms. I ran back inside and into the elevator, the excruciatingly loud jazz sounding muffled against the sound of my own heartbeat. The floors made their way past slowly as I ascended the elevator shaft, running directly out of the box as soon as the doors opened to my floor. My feet sounded out loudly against the tiled floor as I sprinted back to the room I had only just left, barging through the door to be greeted by both darkness and the dim light on my nightstand which shone through my half closed bedroom door.

“Mom? Dad?” I called out, the fog of panic settling veiling over me. I sped over to the door and turned the doorknob, pushing it forward to reveal an empty bed, covered in loose articles of clothing.

“Where did you go?” I took a step forward without removing my eyes from the bed. I slowly turned to face the bathroom door to my right. Lunging towards it, I pushed it inward only to be greeted by more empty space. Defeated, I walked over to the bed and sat on the edge- staring forward at the blank television. Reaching to my right, I grabbed the remote off the nightstand and clicked the power button, but as I scrolled through all of the channels, I became increasingly uneased by the fact that every channel was off-air.

Thank you for watching, we’ll be back soon.

***
I don’t know when I fell asleep, but the sunlight shone across my closed eyes, and the

warmth of the new day heated the covers atop just uncomfortably enough to stir me. I rolled out from the bed and got myself ready for school. I used my parents bathroom, opting to take a long shower with heat on to the max. I remembered reading somewhere that lonely people liked hot showers.

How long has it been since that night?

I couldn’t tell whether it had been one night or one year; time seemed to elude me.

I rubbed my face before stepping out of the shower and wiping away the dust that covered the mirror; taking a second to look myself in the eyes before rubbing my body down. I yanked the comb forcefully as I straightened out the many knots that tied up my hair. My parents weren’t here to yell at me, so I decided against making the bed before leaving for class.

As I strolled down the hallway, I thought about my friends at school; would they be there? I had no way of calling them because my family wasn’t wealthy enough to afford an extra phone. I debated on whether or not I should go to school, but I wanted to see if my friends were there too. Maybe it was only the adults that disappeared, which would be so fun; The thought of it made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy with excitement. A giant play date with all of my friends and no adults- what more could I ask for?

My body ran on autopilot as I thought about the party; my legs taking me from the safety of my apartment down the darkened stairwell and straight to the city outside.

The light of the sun blinded me for a few seconds as my eyes adjusted. Once again the streets were empty, and the same urine filled wind blew through my clothes, blowing them around slightly as I began my walk down the street. I took my time carefully walking past the department store, but the plastic models were nowhere to be seen so I chose to move on before they came back.

The sight of animals moving around in the alleys caught my attention, both deers and foxes scurried around the scattered cars on the road, all of which were caught deep in a small forest of grass that sprung up from through the road. The only sight crazier than that would have to be the plane that had landed in the buildings a few blocks away from my apartment. That was definitely something I’d have to tell my friends.

The brick building quickly came into view; gargoyles covered in vines and moss sat perched on the two pillars that held up the roof in the front. I looked at my cracked watch before returning looking back to the stairs ahead. School started in a couple minutes, so I decided to pick up the pace as I walked forward, running past a few knocked over barrels of trash that provided feasts for the local alley cats.

I passed all of the cars that blocked the road in front of the school, and walked up the stairs to the entrance of the old building. Papers littered the floor of the dim brick building, and the same cheap tile that made up the floor to my apartment’s lobby stretched throughout every hallway in sight. Opened windows let a warm breeze course through the building, at the expense of blowing some of the papers around. Ignoring this, I walked over the mess while ignoring my reflection in the school’s dusty chrome wall- entering my classroom only moments after arriving at the building, because luckily for me it was on the first floor. My face flushed as I glanced around the class- everyone watching me in silence as I made my way to my seat. Two of my friends sat on either side of me, both of whom sat still and staring forward.

“What’d I miss?” I whispered forward, to no reply. “Pst,” I tried getting his attention once more to no avail. “Fine, I’ll figure it out myself.” I put my bag on the ground a little too forcefully, and the books of my friend ahead of me fell to the floor with a loud crash.

“I am so sorry-” I climbed out of my chair and immediately started picking the books up, taking a second to look up and into the eyes of my friend, who still sat staring forward. His hat fell down from the breeze that came from both my moving, but also the wind that blew through the classroom’s open window.

“Hey you know it’s not cool to sleep in class, it’s disrespectful.” I stood upright and pulled his hat back to reveal his face. I furrowed my brow at him; something was off, I couldn’t quite figure out just what it was. His blue eyes still remained fixated on the blackboard in the front of the classroom, where the teacher sat in her chair- her face blank and staring directly back at the class. I put my hands on my hips and looked around. There was something wrong here, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure it out.

“What’s going on here…” I said aloud. Nobody in the class answered my question, and they all remained still in their seats- their faces and bodies fixated on the board ahead. I looked around, their expressionless, and motionless bodies filled the room but for some reason nobody could answer me. I walked to the front of the room and began to address the class.

“You guys know it’s really rude to ignore someone when they ask you something?” I chastised. “I’m here trying to figure stuff out and nobody- I mean, nobody, is willing to help me out. You guys are all lousy friends.” As I finished my sentence, another gust of wind blew into the room, shaking the girl closest to me out of her chair, and causing her to fall to the ground; her head bouncing away from the rest of her body. My stomach dropped as I screamed out in horror. “No! Oh my, oh my,” My breathing rate increased as adrenaline began to pump throughout my body. “I’m sorry for yelling, I didn’t mean it!” I ran and grabbed her head, screwing it back on to her body as I looked into her eyes to make sure she was still with me. Once it was reattached, I sighed and looked around, even despite what had just happened they were still quiet- probably in awe of my heroism.

“We can’t have that happen again, now can we?” I walked over to the window and closed it, taking a quick moment to look around at the street outside. Tall grass grew throughout the paved street, and moss covered derelict cars that sat in front of the building. Vines fell down the length of the stone buildings nearby, growing into the windows that had seemingly long since shattered from mother-nature reclaiming her territory. I ignored all of this, because of something that felt as though I hadn’t seen in a lifetime; a group of people were walking down the street. I blinked my eyes to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, and took a small step away from the window.

As I turned to face my class however, my stomach sank at the sight. All of their heads were turned to me, watching me from behind as I looked out the window- yet with another blink of my eyes, everyone had returned to staring forward to the blackboard. I checked the person outside once again and felt a sense of relief when I saw the same group slowly moving down the street- away from the school building. I glanced over at the teacher to make sure she saw it too, but I was greeted by the sight of her blank face staring directly into the side of my head.

I swallowed hard and walked back to my chair, where I retrieved my backpack. “Please excuse me.” I said to her. “I don’t feel too well today, I’m afraid I have to go home.” Without saying anything else, I returned to the hallway where I was greeted by my reflection in the chrome wall. Dust and grime covered a fair majority of the surface, yet I was still able to make myself out; a horrific shell of what was once human. Long and greasy hair cascaded down the sides of my head, and a ratty beard covered the bottom of my face, stretching all the way down to my chest. Sunken eyes stared forward, and dirty skin made it seem as though my complexion was darker than it should’ve been. I looked away in disgust from the mirror and down at my clothes. My shirt was several sizes too small, and only covered the upper sternum. My shorts were no different; tattered with holes, which allowed them to stretch to the degree they did. My toes could be seen poking through the ends of my shoes, long toenails grew out- resembling claws.

“Oh my god!” A woman’s scream echoed from down the hallway. “Chuck there’s a Desolated!” I turned my head to meet her eyes.

“What does that mean?” I yelled out, raising my hand to wave. As I finished talking a man poked his head through the front door, and grabbed the woman by the wrist before pulling her behind him.

“Get behind me and go to the others. You know these things are too crazy to be around.” The woman- Ava, kept her sight fixed on me before retreating behind the man, who shifted his weight to reveal a large rifle strapped over his shoulder. I took a step forward, but stopped when the man pointed the gun in my direction.

“Stay away from us. I’ve lost way too many to you sick bastards.”

I cocked my head a little bit. I didn’t know what they were talking about; I had never met these people before in my life. I took another step forward.

“I’m not sick!” The man and I stared at each other for a moment as he weighed my words. “I’m a healthy thirteen year old! I don’t get sick much.”

I took another step forward.
The man’s jaw tightened as he let out a sigh, his brow furrowing.
“I need to stop believing you sickos.”
“Can’t you help me find my parents? They went missing last night!”

I took yet another step in his direction. The man shook his head and shouldered his gun.
“Back up.” He looked down the sight of the rifle. “You are a cannibal who went crazy after The Desolation, twenty years ago. You are not a boy, and if you take another step, I will shoot you.” I glanced over to the people that poked their heads inside behind him, all of whom stared at me with fear and concern.

“But you all look so kind- do you think you could help me find my parents?” I took yet another step forward. “I forgot my lunch today too, would you-”

Before I could finish my sentence a gunshot filled the air, and my arm erupted in pain as the force of the bullet pushed me back. I looked down at the hole in my arm for a moment before my attention snapped back to the main entrance. The man with the gun was no longer there; the door had been slammed shut. I ran over to the front door and slammed myself against the wood.

“Let me out!” I screamed, my voice quickly going hoarse from the violent screaming. “Let me out!”

The sound of something barricading the door came from outside. No matter what I banged the door with, be it my hands, legs, or head- the door didn’t budge. The pain in my arm almost completely went away as I rammed myself into the wood, but after a few minutes of

begging and crying I blinked away the tears and tried to register what just happened. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t in class, so after a few seconds of trying to remember what happened, I walked back to my classroom, and was once again greeted by all of my peers staring at me. The teacher’s voice rang out sweetly.

“How nice of you to return, let’s continue.”