25TH AUGUST 2026

I don't know how long I've been running....maybe an hour... Or maybe more... I stopped looking at the time a long time ago because, honestly, it doesn't even matter anymore....everything around me looks the same now...empty roads, abandoned cars, broken buildings, and a silence so terrifying that even the smallest sound makes my heart race.... every time I hear a scream in the distance, I freeze for a second before forcing myself to run again....I don't even know where I'm going anymore. I'm just... running.. because stopping doesn't feel like an option.

My legs hurt so much that I can barely feel them anymore, and every breath burns my chest.... i want to sit down.. just for a minute..but I'm scared that if I stop now, I won't be able to get back up..I don't even know what I'm running from anymore...every shadow feels dangerous....every sound makes me panic...what should i do now?

What scares me the most isn't the darkness around me...it isn't the monsters roaming outside... it's not knowing where they are...i don't even know if they're safe...i don't know if they're hiding somewhere...i don't even know if they're still alive!

My family..

Not the one I was born into... but the one I found when I wasn't even looking for one....

A bunch of strangers or i say clown.. from different states who somehow became the people I talked to every single day....tthe people who made me laugh when I was upset, annoyed me for no reason, argued over the dumbest things, and somehow managed to make an online chat feel more like home than I ever expected...

It's been days.... Or maybe weeks.... I don't even know anymore... I haven't heard from any of them...

No messages... No calls.... No random reels of men flexing their body.... No "MÁMIIIIIIII!!" from Yihwa.... No daisy finding a new way to embarrass me...... No one telling me, "fuyu... language"... No "my luv" just to get on my nerves.... Nothing.... It's just... silence.... Just silence....

I used to complain that my phone never stopped buzzing....that i have been receiving way lots of texts and reels and because of all this I used to mute the notifications because they wouldn't let me sleep....but now... I'd give anything just to hear it vibrate one more time....

With shaky hands, I pulled my phone out of my pocket.... it's on the verge of dying, no network connection, nothing ..the screen was cracked, and dried blood covered one corner of it....I didn't even know if it was mine anymore.... i unlocked it anyway and opened the only chat I'd been checking over and over again, hoping... praying... that maybe I'd missed something....

"CHICKS"

Yes, our group chat was literally called "Chicks" and before you ask...No, she wasn't into farming....the absolute creator behind this gc.... my rasmalai, Sri, just had a habit of adopting random girls.....everywhere she went, she’d find a new one and just... keep her....i spent half my time screaming "no more girls!" but did she listen? Nope! Never! Oh god i miss her....I really, really do

The group was empty..not a single text....nothing.... the gc that was once filled with hundreds of messages every single day now looked... empty..... I just stared at the screen for what felt like forever, waiting for that one reply to appear under someone's name.... but it never did.... Then i started typing....

I didn't move......I just kept staring at the screen....maybe someone had finally found a safe place.... maybe someone's phone had just turned on.... maybe someone was looking at the same chat, hoping for a message just like I was.....

One minute passed....then another.... But there's nothing.... no reply....no one online..... i closed my eyes for a second and hugged my phone tightly against my chest....

i heard a loud crash suddenly somewhere behind me.... I froze...i just froze there... then came another sound....it was much closer this time...i didn't dare turn around.....my heart was beating so fast that I could barely think.... without wasting another second, I shoved my phone back into my pocket and started running again..... i didn't know where I was going.... i only knew one thing..... i wasn't ready to lose hope.

A month earlier!

My phone wouldn't shut up...buzzing against the nightstand, over and over, vibrating like crazy.....at first I tried to ignore it , but it just kept going.... Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. God, it was annoying...finally, I snapped, let out this heavy, exhausted groan, and blindly groped around in the dark to grab the damn thing....

📱58 Unread Messages

Sanskari Ladies🎀

Without even brushing my teeth... Without even getting out of bed... I opened the chat....

I pinched the bridge of my nose... already annoyed...

I smiled to myself.... This... This was how every morning started. No logics.... No normal conversations.... Just pure nonsense..... And somehow... I wouldn't trade it for anything...