August 10, 2024

We were descending the mountain amidst the heavy fog and passed by many half-abandoned settlements on our way down. The world was dying around us but we had places to be. Some survivors were stuck in their twisted mass of skyscrapers which seemed to have no discernable way in or out other than the windows high above. The ones who still had the ability to would make loud wailing cries at the sight of us, hoping for someone to save them.

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I was sitting in the backseat of a friends car along with another friend when the driver suddenly had an outburst of suspicion and paranoia. They started asking where my new friend was “really” from and said how they had to “send him back”. We quickly got out of the car when I had a feeling that we weren’t actually being driven to where we wanted to go.

We walked down and through the crowds to the subway platform and there were so many people that we had to wait for several trains full of passengers to get on ahead of us. I had lost track of my friend at this point, although I now joined up with another friend who was traveling with my niece.

While waiting for more trains to pass us by, we bumped into my grandma who was getting off at our stop. We said hi before she continued walking past us, but I noticed she kept turning back to look at us, which was when I realized that I probably should’ve introduced the people I was traveling with. I thought about how long it must’ve been since she’d last seen her great grand daughter. Did she even notice it was her?

There was a heavy smell of diesel when an old train rolled up to the platform. No one else was getting on but there was still space near the front of the driver’s seat. I climbed up the ladder to climb into an incredibly cramped and hot chamber before the train started moving again. I realized that the sheer discomfort of the ride must’ve been the reason no one else got on.