Suddenly, I thought of my aunt. Mom had written that they were going to the mourning ceremony. My aunt would 100% know if they were there. Thinking this, I called her. But still the same. The call went through, but no answer. I kept calling. Still nothing. Where are these people? Why is no one answering?

  By now, I was getting scared. No one was answering my calls. What do I do now? Who can I contact?

  My sister was supposed to go to the movies. Maybe I could find one of her friends’ numbers.

  With this idea, I entered her room and opened her laptop. It had a password, but I knew it: 3589. She always used this code. I tried it but…

  *Incorrect password*

  “How is it wrong? She always uses this password! Maybe I typed it wrong.” I thought before trying again.

  *Incorrect password*

  “What?” I blurted out while staring at the screen.

  No, I typed it correctly this time, but it still didn’t work. What could the password be? I had one last try. Nothing came to mind.

  “Maybe she changed it to her phone password?” I thought.

  I had no other ideas. As a last resort, I tried that.

  And Boom! No error this time. The loading symbol appeared under the input field. So she did change the password.

  It spun for 5 seconds. Suddenly, a message popped up:

  *Password entered incorrectly 3 times. Try again in 5 minutes. *

  “What?” I blurted out again.

  That wasn’t the password either? What’s the password then? What am I supposed to do? Her phone is not here, I don’t know the password to her laptop. How am I supposed to contact her?

  Anyway, I couldn’t waste time on this. I had to find another way.

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  Suddenly, I remembered the cameras! Our house didn’t have any, but the neighborhood did. But how would that help? At best, I could check the neighborhood cameras, check the direction they went and when they went. Then what?

  I’d figure that out later. Maybe a neighbor knew something? If I saw anyone, I’d ask them.

  Thinking this, I went to my room to change clothes. After changing, I left the room, put on my shoes, and headed out. I locked the door and put the key in my pocket.

  I went to the building’s entrance. Strangely, no one was around. But since it was lunchtime, I didn’t dwell on it.

  I went to the next building where the security guard lived—third floor, left door.

  Knock! Knock! Knock!

  I knocked. They had a doorbell, but it was broken. I didn’t even try it. Since it was my classmate’s house, I’d visited here a few times. That’s how I knew the bell didn’t work.

  Knock! Knock! Knock!

  “Mr. Turner!”

  I tried calling his name, in case they thought it wasn’t their door.

  But there was no response.

  Knock! Knock! Knock!

  “Mr. Turner, it’s Daniel!” I said, hoping he’d recognize me.

  Still nothing. No sound, no movement. I had to leave empty-handed. I wasn’t going to break in, of course.

  Then I remembered the neighborhood market. I didn’t know the cashier well, but he knew my parents. Maybe I could ask about them or Mr. Turner. Why didn’t I think of this earlier?

  Muttering to myself, I rushed downstairs and headed to the market. There was still no one on the street. No sounds, no familiar or unfamiliar faces. It wasn’t normal, but I couldn’t focus on it. My family was missing, and I had no clue. I had to solve this first.

  Lost in thought, I reached the market. Since it was a local shop, it didn’t have big supermarket doors—just a simple entrance with toys outside: balls, some stuffed animals, and a broom.

  As I approached the door, a sign in the window caught my eye:

  ‘Closed’

  How? Impossible. A family from the next street was running this market. If one wasn’t there, another would be. It would be open from 7 AM to midnight. Sometimes they wouldn’t even close the market before 2 AM. Why was it closed now? Where was everyone?

  “Wait, am I dreaming?” I thought to myself.

  Yes, I must be dreaming. What else could it be? No one is here. Everything feels abandoned.

  Wait. Everything? If no one was here, then…

  “Is anyone heeere?” I started shouting.

  “Helloooo?”

  “Heyyyyy!”

  No response. No voices, no one looking out the windows.

  Just in case, I waited for a minute while looking around and tried one last time:

  “Heyyyyy!”

  But there was still nothing.

  Now I was sure: no one was here.

  I pulled out my phone and checked social media. No updates since midnight. No posts from friends or influencers. I checked MyTube. Nothing there either. As if humanity vanished after midnight.

  Thinking about how terrifying this was, I realized: This is a dream. I’m sure of it. And there’s an easy way to prove it: bite my finger. If I bite it, I’ll wake up. But why would I do that?

  The whole world is mine. I’m the last human. The world belongs to me. Why not enjoy it?